Need help - flying in family members for a holiday

[Ade]

Hello Fellow AFF'ers,

I live in Sydney. My parents and sibling are based in Chennai, India.

I'm planning to bring my parents, sibling and two other family members for a holiday to Sydney. The dates for the holiday are around last week of October until second week of Nov 2019.

I'm going to be sworn in as an Australian citizen in last week of October and I'd love to have my parents & sibling to be present at the ceremony.

Assuming that I'd be applying for their visa by next week - I'm looking for some advice/suggestions/recommendations from our community on the below ;

1. Air fares - I'm flying in 5 of my family and I'll have to foot the bill for 3 of them. The other 2 are happy to pay their share of air fare - I looked up on ITA Matrix, flights with decent connection times are costing around A$1200. That times 5, I'm looking at initially A$6000 airfare bill. Any suggestions on how to get some cheaper fares?

2. Accommodation - I looked up AirBnB and found some nice places in & around where I live right now for A$1500-A$2000 for 10 nights. Guess that's fine ? any suggestions here ?

3. Taking them around Sydney - I can't drive in Australia, yet So I won't be able to drive'em around to places around Sydney. So are there any tour companies that I can sign them up with? I'm guessing a tour company that would typically pick us up from our accommodation or we go their pick up point ? Or as we're 6 people in total, any chance of getting a private tour ? like a van for ourselves and we're happy for the tour company to come up with a tour plan. Suggestions/contacts on this please?

Although I've lived around Australia for the past 6 years, I've never found the time to travel. I've always been busy at work and didn't take the effort to go around. So my list of places to see in Sydney is very limited and I also know that my family members are not "let's go and explore" type of people. They'd be happy if I took them to some iconic places - Opera House, Circular Quay, Manly, Bondi beaches, temples (for sure, a very religious & orthodox family), Toronga zoo etc. I've also planned to spend a couple of days in Canberra (take the bus from Sydney, to save costs)

Anything else I should consider? How do I go about planning this trip ? Seriously, I've never planned a trip so far - it was always my roommates who do the planning and I just join them on the day the trip begins.

Any help from our community to help me plan this trip will be highly, superbly, supremely appreciated

Cheers, Ade

 

[wandering_fred]

1. Air lines
If saving money is the important bit, Air Asia group has reasonable timings and fares MAA-KUL-SYD
26 Oct AK12 MAA 2345 KUL 0615 // D7 220 KUL 0855 SYD 2020
11 Nov D7 221 SYD 2140 KUL 0315 // AK 11 KUL 0605 MAA 0725
Total including the basic value pack (meal/luggage/seat) will be less than AU$800 each (from Air Asia website pointed to by google flights)


Sri Lankan would be more competitive if going to MEL and crediting to a One World FF program were a priority but only a bit less than your $1200 to SYD.

Happy wandering
Fred

 

[Forg]

Blue Mountains (Katoomba particularly) isn’t a bad day out, and keeps you occupied the whole day.

I don’t know how ticketing sites work, but is it possible to use a VPN such that it appears you’re booking from India rather that Australia, to avoid paying Australia Tax?

 

[Ade]

1. Air lines
If saving money is the important bit, Air Asia group has reasonable timings and fares MAA-KUL-SYD
26 Oct AK12 MAA 2345 KUL 0615 // D7 220 KUL 0855 SYD 2020
11 Nov D7 221 SYD 2140 KUL 0315 // AK 11 KUL 0605 MAA 0725
Total including the basic value pack (meal/luggage/seat) will be less than AU$800 each (from Air Asia website pointed to by google flights)


Sri Lankan would be more competitive if going to MEL and crediting to a One World FF program were a priority but only a bit less than your $1200 to SYD.

Happy wandering
Fred

Thank you Fred. Will look into Air Asia as an option

 

[Denali]

I always take my OS visitors to either Featherdale (Doonside/Blacktown) or the Koala Park (Pennant Hills) instead of Taronga Zoo.

Taronga has the view but the above are more pettting zoo vibe and they can pet the kangaroos and get within a few meters of the Koalas, which is what my OS friends want to see. Featherdale also have many other aussie animals. Take a train to Blacktown and then a bus, theres a bus stop right out front of Featherdale. Dont forget Opal cards for everyone. There are tours that will do Blue Mountains and Featherdale.

 

[Denali]

Oh, and congratulations on your citizenship!

 

[luxury-lizard]

Here another idea on airfares - get one of the group (internet savvy) to search fares from India - if they find a better fare you could transfer them the funds to pay for the tickets.

Also a great day trip (with a van and driver) is up to Palm Beach and Cottage Point, the National Park, Lions Head lookout etc. Its not a typical tourist tour - like the Blue Mountains (but I also second that as a great day tour). Sorry but I can't recommend any private small tour operators but there must be a number of these in Sydney.

 

[dajop]

Also try looking at kayak.co.in. Just be wary of any Air Asia fares showing on that site as they won’t include luggage.

 

[Ade]

Oh, and congratulations on your citizenship!

Thank you Denali

 

[Ade]

I always take my OS visitors to either Featherdale (Doonside/Blacktown) or the Koala Park (Pennant Hills) instead of Taronga Zoo.

Taronga has the view but the above are more pettting zoo vibe and they can pet the kangaroos and get within a few meters of the Koalas, which is what my OS friends want to see. Featherdale also have many other aussie animals. Take a train to Blacktown and then a bus, theres a bus stop right out front of Featherdale. Dont forget Opal cards for everyone. There are tours that will do Blue Mountains and Featherdale.

I see what you mean - I was thinking Featherdale too. Went there with a mate a few years back. It was much better. I will change to Featherdale from Taronga.

Re Opal cards : thanks a lot. It almost slipped my mind

Re tours : any recommendations? any tour company you know/heard of ?

 

[Ade]

Here another idea on airfares - get one of the group (internet savvy) to search fares from India - if they find a better fare you could transfer them the funds to pay for the tickets.

Yea, I've asked my cousin to look into fares ex-MAA. My uncle also has some connections in the travel agencies - he is also looking to get some cheap fares. Fingers Crossed

 

[andye]

Slightly longer journey than Featherdale/Pennant Hills but we often take visitors to the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby near Gosford. Good variety of animals (including a croc and Tassie Devils) and good talks on spiders/snakes etc.

Agree with Blue Mountains, Palm Beach, ferry to Manly, Opera House and The Rocks.

The coastal walk to/from Bondi is good. The Manly to Spit walk though not super tough is harder going but enjoyable.

Shelley beach near Manly is lovely and a good snorkelling spot. The water temp should be very comfortable then.

I like the Queen Victoria Building and Powerhouse museum but would depend on guests likes.

A nice picnic spot is The Basin, a short boat trip from Palm Beach ferry station-sometimes they have wallabies there. Plenty of other nice parks though.

 

[Forg]

Regarding Opal cards, as long as you're using STA/CityRail it all works with contactless credit & debit cards these days doesn't it? ie. no need to get a bunch of Opal cards which will each have a few unusable dollars left on them after the visitors leave?

 

[luxury-lizard]

Regarding Opal cards, as long as you're using STA/CityRail it all works with contactless credit & debit cards these days doesn't it? ie. no need to get a bunch of Opal cards which will each have a few unusable dollars left on them after the visitors leave?

yes but does it work with foreign issued cards - I presume you can only top on/off one person per card so each traveller would need their own card (credit card or Opal card).

 

[Denali]

Regarding Opal cards, as long as you're using STA/CityRail it all works with contactless credit & debit cards these days doesn't it? ie. no need to get a bunch of Opal cards which will each have a few unusable dollars left on them after the visitors leave?

Does each person need their own debit card to tap on/off as I dont understand how you can do as a group.

And for Opal card balances, you link all the cards to one account and then transfer balances - I did this a few months ago with a UK project team when they left, moved the balances to my Opal card

Edit: Also Opal has a Sunday spend cap so if youre going to do trains, ferries & buses ect - Sunday is a good day to do it. My guys were getting $30 travel on a Sunday for something like $2.80 (i think that was the cap)

 

[Forg]

Is there a way to pay for more than one traveller with an Opal card?

 

[Ade]

Is there a way to pay for more than one traveller with an Opal card?

I don't think that's possible. But one can buy any number of Opal cards and link them online. If I do this for my family, then I can transfer any unused $ to my primary Opal card that I use for my everyday travel

 

[knagelli]

Hello Fellow AFF'ers,

I live in Sydney. My parents and sibling are based in Chennai, India.

I'm planning to bring my parents, sibling and two other family members for a holiday to Sydney. The dates for the holiday are around last week of October until second week of Nov 2019.

I'm going to be sworn in as an Australian citizen in last week of October and I'd love to have my parents & sibling to be present at the ceremony.

Assuming that I'd be applying for their visa by next week - I'm looking for some advice/suggestions/recommendations from our community on the below ;

1. Air fares - I'm flying in 5 of my family and I'll have to foot the bill for 3 of them. The other 2 are happy to pay their share of air fare - I looked up on ITA Matrix, flights with decent connection times are costing around A$1200. That times 5, I'm looking at initially A$6000 airfare bill. Any suggestions on how to get some cheaper fares?

2. Accommodation - I looked up AirBnB and found some nice places in & around where I live right now for A$1500-A$2000 for 10 nights. Guess that's fine ? any suggestions here ?

3. Taking them around Sydney - I can't drive in Australia, yet So I won't be able to drive'em around to places around Sydney. So are there any tour companies that I can sign them up with? I'm guessing a tour company that would typically pick us up from our accommodation or we go their pick up point ? Or as we're 6 people in total, any chance of getting a private tour ? like a van for ourselves and we're happy for the tour company to come up with a tour plan. Suggestions/contacts on this please?

Although I've lived around Australia for the past 6 years, I've never found the time to travel. I've always been busy at work and didn't take the effort to go around. So my list of places to see in Sydney is very limited and I also know that my family members are not "let's go and explore" type of people. They'd be happy if I took them to some iconic places - Opera House, Circular Quay, Manly, Bondi beaches, temples (for sure, a very religious & orthodox family), Toronga zoo etc. I've also planned to spend a couple of days in Canberra (take the bus from Sydney, to save costs)

Anything else I should consider? How do I go about planning this trip ? Seriously, I've never planned a trip so far - it was always my roommates who do the planning and I just join them on the day the trip begins.

Any help from our community to help me plan this trip will be highly, superbly, supremely appreciated

Cheers, Ade

Congratulations on your upcoming ceremony.

Are they travelling to Australia for the first time ?

I guess I did similar planning for my family when they came in 2017. Before I can suggest airlines and places to take them around ,... are you specific about travel dates in October and does either of your parents require any assistance if there is any transit involved.

Personally I would not recommend Air Asia but if you want to fly using budget airlines from Chennai , however you can explore the option of booking Silk Air from Chennai to Singapore and then Scoot from Singapore to Sydney.

As to places you can visit , will you prefer booking a van/driver or are they okay to use public transport ( bus/train).

 

[Ade]

Dear All,

Thanks to each and every one who provided inputs in this thread. I've got some updates ;

I had a lot of overseas trips in the last 3 months and had to delay my ceremony date by 4 months, which I think has caused some confusions and my invitation letter got lost between council, DIBP and DHA So, after a lot of back and forth between the council, DIBP and DHA - I finally got my ceremony date It's on the 22nd October.

It's funny how the invitation letter was dated 27 Sept, but I only got it yesterday and I live in the same suburb (2 streets away, actually) as the council offices

With less than a week to plan, book, travel - I booked tickets for my parents and sibling last night on MH at $1600/person ... didn't have a choice but to spend the big bucks ... it's alright I guess

They're only here for a week, mum couldn't take more than a week off work and sister runs her business, so can't stay away for longer than a week. Dad was happy to stay back, but guess he changed his mind in the last minute

Re : tours - Spoke to a mate of mine who runs a travel agency and he was more than happy to take us around to SYD and MEL for the week.

Re : accommodation - Looking at AirBnB and QF Hotels. It's all EXPENSIVE !!

All in all looking at around $15K for a week's time in SYD and MEL

Looking forward to spending time with family

 

[Denali]

Congratulations again!

This is one of those times you tell yourself the memories will be priceless. Wishing you great weather and a happy time for all.