After much deliberation about our holiday budget, we cut our initial plan of a two-week overseas trip down to a one-week interstate trip and settled on the sunny Gold Coast.
*Disclaimer: This post is intended as a guide only, utilising the offers and resources available to me at the time.
Flights
There are only two direct flights per day from OOL to ADL – one with Jetstar departing at 9:30am and one with Virgin departing at 11:15am. We opted for Virgin; the extra ~$20 would allow us a little bit of extra rest without rushing around (mornings are a huge struggle for the both of us) and the cost of check-in baggage with Jetstar (~$20pp for 20kg) would bring us level with Virgin pricing anyway (23kg check-in baggage is included with Virgin).
Flybuys Travel currently has an offer for 10x bonus Flybuys points with Virgin domestic flight bookings. Their prices were exactly the same as booking directly with Virgin, plus you still earn Velocity points. For 2x one-way domestic flights, I earned 3,334 Flybuys points.
Accommodation
We decided on the Mantra Legends hotel in the heart of Surfer’s Paradise. This hotel offers a spa suite room, with all rooms of this type located on the top two floors (views!)
7-night stay (incl. Friday and Saturday night)
Direct booking via hotel website: $1,203
Hotels.com price (cheapest deal on TripAdvisor): $1,159
Price we paid: $1,043
Average price per night: $149
I’m with a worker’s union and my membership fee is deducted from my pay weekly. This gives me access to a range of Frequent Values discounts, which is what I used for this hotel booking.
I’m pretty pleased with this price for a number of reasons:
– The room includes a kitchenette – one week away equates to a lot of meals, so it’s good to have the option of cooking.
– Location, location – we’re walking distance to attractions, saving on transportation costs.
– The SPA! This isn’t always a necessity of mine when travelling, but seeing as we’re away for a week, including Valentine’s Day, it’s nice to have the option of chilling in the room instead of constantly finding activities to amuse ourselves.
Of course, booking directly via the hotel’s website and signing up to their loyalty program (free) has its perks, including a buy one get one free voucher for their seafood buffet (I’m not the biggest seafood buff – hah), a welcome drink and free wifi (being within Australia means I can still utilise my phone data). I wanted to keep costs as low as possible, whilst still enjoying ourselves, however you may find benefits in booking directly.
Payment
Flights and accommodation were booked on my Qantas Premier credit card, which provides complimentary travel insurance when bookings are made with the card. Furthermore, I’m awarded one QFF point per $1, which is a great way to accumulate points for future travel.
Breakdown of earnings/offers
Flights: Earned Flybuys points, Velocity points and Qantas Frequent Flyer points via credit card.
Accommodation: Utilised union membership, earned Qantas Frequent Flyer points via credit card.
Comments/questions? Hit me up down below.
