Gday mates,

The end of this year im off to the land of Oz, staying for a month at least with one of my best mates. (the end of my gap year )

The only problem so far is the flights out there, and being honest, thats a pretty big problem!!

Im wondering if anyone here could help me out with ways to get the cheapest flights to brisbane?

Has anyone been over before? any tips or advice for getting there on a pretty tight budget?

all comments welcome!

*edit* I can fly from any london / midlands airport

I haven't been myself, but for the cheapest of flights when friends of mine have tried doing these things on a budget they've flown with lesser known airlines with multiple changes. This was for visiting Japan.

Without knowing exact date requirements it's hard for me to search internet sites. Don't automatically dismiss the airline's own site - includes Quantas and Singapore Airlines to name but two. When I went to Singapore despite much searching I got my cheapest fare with Singapore Airlines.

Also, it's very time consuming searching the internet for flights. As well as doing this get in touch with a local travel agent. Use a small indepedent one rather than Thomas Cook or whoever. They won't have any reason to prefer any airline over another, I'm not sure whether the larger companies can't search every single option available. Small travel agents are often incredibly helpful and are so because they know you may use them again.

Good luck, and also try searching for travel forums for advice.

well, id be travelling out around the 24th june, however we are not sure if we are going to stay longer than a month!

So if there was some kind of open return option then that would be best for me.

Thanks for the advice, its probably best to get in touch with a travel agent, the internet is all well and good, but sometimes i guess you need to speak to someone!

Consider a Round the World Ticket rather than a return. These offer much more flexibility and are often cheaper.

Alternatively consider smaller airlines. A colleague went to Oz with Royal Brunei - cheap but no booze on board.

Or get near Australia and then use low cost ailrines to do the rest of the trip.

thx for the tip, i might well go for round the world, only a few more pounds gets you everywhere!

i managed to find flights with china eastern for £560 to sydney which is a bargain by all accounts!

i did look for flights to Oz and im sure i found flights for like £400

i was looking at a different part of the year when it wold be cheaper