What is a good airfare from Australia? Our 2026 price benchmarks

A good airfare is easier to recognise when you have a benchmark before you begin searching.

Below are our benchmarks for ten popular routes from Australia. For each route, we show three price levels:

• the common range shown by historical pricing data and our route observations;
• a good-buy price at which further searching is unlikely to add much value; and
• an exceptional sale fare near the bottom of our current documented evidence.

All prices are return Economy fares in Australian dollars, including taxes. Where a benchmark is based on a low-cost carrier, the fare may exclude checked baggage, meals and seat selection. As a rough guide, allow an additional $100 to $200 return per person if you need those extras, although the actual cost will vary by airline, route and baggage requirements.

The figures in this article are just guides, not predictions. You will not always find them for your dates, particularly when your planned travel date is relatively soon. Their purpose is to help you recognise when a fare is genuinely strong and make a decision without continuing to search for a theoretical lowest price.

For the search process itself, see our 30-minute method for finding cheap flights. This guide provides the numbers to use when you run it.

How to read the benchmarks

Common range is the broad off-peak range shown by Google Flights historical pricing data, supported by our own route searches. It is not a simple average and does not include the highest Christmas, school-holiday or major-event fares.

Good buy is a strong price for the route and itinerary type shown. If the dates, airline and fare conditions work for you, there is usually little reason to keep searching.

Exceptional sale fare is a rare, documented price near the bottom of our current evidence set. It is not necessarily the lowest fare ever offered, and availability at that level may last only a few days.

The basis column matters. Some routes have a meaningful price difference between non-stop full-service travel and a one-stop or low-cost-carrier itinerary. We show that distinction rather than treating the products as interchangeable.

Peak travel periods sit above these benchmarks. Late December, Australian school holidays, Easter and major events can add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to the fare.

Economy airfare benchmarks from Australia

Route	Basis	Common range	Good buy	Exceptional sale fare	Evidence for exceptional fare
Sydney–London	One-stop, full-service Economy	$1,900–$2,900	$1,700 or less	$1,550 or less	Air India via Delhi from about $1,537; Korean Air via Seoul about $1,831; lower Chinese-carrier fares in sale periods, July 2026
Sydney–Rome	One-stop, full-service Economy	$1,900–$2,700	$1,600 or less	$1,350 or less	China Eastern sale fares around $1,350 return, July 2026
Sydney or Melbourne– Los Angeles	Non-stop, full-service Economy	$1,400–$2,000	$1,250 or less	$1,000 or less	American Airlines sale anchor of $994; Qantas sale fares from $999, July 2026
Sydney–New York	One-stop, full-service Economy	$1,800–$2,600	$1,600 or less	$1,350 or less	Sale fares between about $1,300 and $1,600; Fiji Airways via Nadi among the lowest observed, July 2026
Sydney or Brisbane– Tokyo	Common and good: non-stop full-service. Exceptional: one-stop or low-cost carrier	$1,100–$1,400 non-stop	$950 or less non-stop	$700 or less with one stop or on an LCC	Jetstar Brisbane–Tokyo from about $670 return; one-stop sales from about $576 to $900, May–July 2026
Sydney–Singapore	Common and good: full-service. Exceptional: low-cost carrier	$700–$1,000 full-service	$650 or less full-service	$550 or less on an LCC	Scoot from about $540 return; Jetstar one-way fares from $173, July 2026
Perth–Singapore	Full-service baseline with low-cost-carrier sale floor	$450–$650 full-service	$350 or less on an LCC	$250 or less on an LCC	Scoot from $199 return in a May–June travel window; Jetstar from $243, July 2026
Sydney or Melbourne– Bali	Lowest acceptable low-cost or full-service itinerary	$400–$600	$350 or less	$250 or less	Jetstar Return for Free from Melbourne at $219 and Sydney at $259; Virgin sale fares from $319 and $339, April–June 2026
Sydney–Auckland	Lowest acceptable low-cost or full-service itinerary	$450–$550	$400 or less	$260 or less	Jetstar returns from $256; Qantas sale fares also observed, July 2026
Sydney–Melbourne	Discount Economy with fixed dates	$270–$330	$220 or less	$120 or less	Sale one-way fares between $38 and $92 across Jetstar and Virgin, April–July 2026

The broad pattern is clear.

Short-haul routes to Asia, New Zealand and Bali are heavily influenced by low-cost-carrier sales. Exceptional fares appear more often, but the advertised price may exclude the extras you need.

The United States benefits from strong non-stop competition. Return fares around $1,000 are not available every week, but they have appeared often enough to form a credible exceptional benchmark.

London and Rome are different. The lowest fares usually involve one stop and often come from airlines or routings that are not the first option Australian travellers search. The price saving may be substantial, but the journey time, transit conditions and fare flexibility still matter.

Tokyo has two distinct markets. Non-stop full-service fares command a premium, while the deepest discounts usually involve a low-cost carrier or a connection. Paying more for non-stop travel can be a deliberate comfort decision rather than a pricing mistake.

Route notes

Sydney to London

Based on our searches, Air India, Korean Air and the major Chinese carriers have produced some of the lowest one-stop fares. October and November have also shown stronger value than the Australian winter and Christmas periods.

Turkish Airlines currently serves Sydney to Istanbul via Kuala Lumpur and has indicated an intention to move to non-stop flying when suitable aircraft become available. No firm commencement date has been confirmed.

Qantas plans to begin non-stop Sydney–London services under Project Sunrise in October 2027, with tickets expected to go on sale in February 2027. The new service is likely to reshape the premium end of the market more than the lowest Economy fare.

Sydney to Rome

There is no non-stop service from Sydney to Rome. Qantas operates seasonally through Perth, while most alternatives connect through Asia or the Middle East.

Based on our searches, China Eastern has been consistently among the cheapest carriers on this route, particularly during off-peak sale periods. Check the current entry and transit requirements before booking any itinerary through mainland China.

Sydney or Melbourne to Los Angeles

Competition between several non-stop airlines has produced repeated sale fares around the $1,000 mark.

Fares rise materially during Christmas, the northern summer and major US holiday periods. Outside those peaks, a fare below $1,250 is strong, while a return fare close to $1,000 is worth acting on quickly if the dates and conditions work.

Sydney to New York

Qantas operates Sydney to New York via Auckland, while Fiji Airways via Nadi has produced some of the lowest fares in our recent searches.

Qantas plans to launch a non-stop Sydney–New York service after Project Sunrise begins with London. It has not yet announced a commencement date for the New York route.

Sydney or Brisbane to Tokyo

Non-stop competition gives travellers several full-service options, but the deepest discounts usually come from low-cost carriers or one-stop routings.

Cherry-blossom season and major Japanese holiday periods carry substantial premiums. Late January to February and May to June have generally produced better value in our searches.

Sydney to Singapore

Singapore is one of the most competitive international markets from Australia, with full-service and low-cost airlines serving the route.

The lowest fares often come from Scoot or Jetstar, so add baggage, meals and seat selection before comparing them with Singapore Airlines or Qantas. A low-cost-carrier fare near $550 return can be excellent value, but a full-service fare around $650 may be the better overall purchase once extras are included.

Perth to Singapore

Perth benefits from short flight times and strong low-cost-carrier competition.

Sub-$250 return fares have appeared in recent Scoot and Jetstar sales. These are exceptional seat-only prices rather than the level travellers should expect on every date. Full-service fares below $450 can also represent good value once baggage and meals are considered.

Sydney or Melbourne to Bali

Jetstar and Virgin Australia run Bali promotions frequently, but the lowest seats on school-friendly dates can disappear quickly.

A fare below $350 return is strong. A fare near $250 is exceptional, provided the itinerary, baggage costs and travel dates suit you. School-holiday and Christmas fares can sit well above every benchmark in the table.

Sydney to Auckland

Recent low-cost-carrier sales have produced return fares below $300. That level has appeared often enough to form a credible exceptional benchmark, but it should not be treated as the normal market price.

Compare inclusions carefully. A Qantas or Air New Zealand fare may narrow the gap once checked baggage, meals and airport convenience are considered.

Sydney to Melbourne

This route has frequent sales, but there is a large difference between a discounted fare booked in advance and a flexible ticket bought close to departure.

The benchmark applies to travellers who can commit to a specific flight. A fixed-price reward seat can also compare favourably with an expensive walk-up cash fare, so check both where you have a usable points balance.

Business class: compare the full journey, not just one fare

Business Class is harder to benchmark because travellers have several fundamentally different ways to get from Australia to the same destination:

1. buy a cash fare originating in Australia;
2. position to Asia and begin a separate long-haul fare there; or
3. use frequent flyer points where suitable reward seats are available.

These are not like-for-like products. Starting in Asia adds positioning flights, accommodation and separate-ticket risk. A points redemption requires availability and has an opportunity cost. They are still relevant alternatives when the question is how to travel from Australia to the destination in a premium cabin.

The ranges below are deliberately broader than the Economy benchmarks.

Route	Ex-Australia cash benchmark	Alternatives worth checking	Evidence and limitations
East coast Australia–Europe	Common major-airline fares around $8,000–$12,000 return. Value-carrier fares around $5,500 can be strong	Business fares beginning in Asia have appeared around $2,500–$3,000 return before positioning. Fully costed examples can land around $3,300–$3,800	China Southern Sydney–Istanbul from $3,775 return; Melbourne–Amsterdam from $6,365; Vietnam Airlines around $5,500; ex-Asia windows checked July 2026
Sydney or Melbourne– Los Angeles	Broad directional range of about $7,000 or more return, with Qantas often pricing above some competing airlines	Check reward availability before paying a high cash fare. Suitable points redemptions can compare favourably, but are not guaranteed	Cash sale anchor not sufficiently verified this quarter. Treat the range as orientation rather than a strike price
Sydney–Tokyo or Sydney–Singapore	Broad directional range of about $5,000–$5,700 return	Compare occasional cash sales with partner and Qantas reward seats	Points requirements were checked in July 2026. Cash benchmarks remain under review

Starting the ticket in Asia

Premium-cabin fares beginning in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Bangkok or Jakarta can be materially cheaper than fares beginning in Australia.

The comparison must include:

• positioning flights in both directions;
• baggage and foreign-exchange costs;
• accommodation for a safe connection;
• airport transfers; and
• the risk of travelling on separate tickets.

A lower ex-Asia fare is not automatically the better option. It becomes attractive when the saving remains substantial after every additional cost is included and the stopover fits the trip.

For a detailed worked example, where we found Sydney-London ex-Asia trips for a saving of $1,968 in Business Class and $5,291 in First Class, see our 30-minute cheap-flight method.

Comparing cash with points

A strong cash fare may still be beaten by a well-priced reward seat, particularly in Business Class.

That does not mean points always beat cash. The answer depends on:

• whether reward seats exist on suitable dates;
• the number of points required;
• taxes and carrier charges;
• the cash fare available at the time; and
• what else you could use the points for.

Using points to upgrade your cash ticket can be a strong value proposition.

Check our points valuations before transferring points or paying cash for a premium fare. We are also building a dedicated points-versus-cash comparison tool.

When the benchmarks work

Use these benchmarks when:

• your dates are flexible enough to act when an alert appears;
• you are deciding whether to book now or continue tracking;
• a sale advertises a large percentage discount and you want to test whether the final fare is genuinely strong;
• you are comparing a low-cost-carrier fare with a full-service option; or
• you need a target price before beginning a wider search.

The benchmarks are designed for off-peak and shoulder-season travel with enough lead time to compare dates and respond to a sale. They are less useful where the trip is fixed around a peak period or a major event.

When the benchmarks do not apply

Peak dates

Christmas, Easter, school holidays and major events can push fares well above the common range.

The benchmark can still show how expensive the dates are relative to normal travel, but it should not be treated as a realistic target if your plans are fixed.

Very cheap domestic markets

For a fare below about $150, spending substantial time trying to save another $20 may not be worthwhile.

Run a quick comparison, include baggage and payment fees, then make a decision.

Complex multi-city itineraries

A route table cannot properly benchmark a trip involving several destinations, open-jaw sectors, mixed cabins or separate tickets.

Those trips need to be priced as a complete itinerary rather than compared with a simple return fare.

Premium-cabin estimates

Where we have labelled a Business Class range as directional, use it for orientation only.

We would rather identify a gap in the evidence than present an estimated figure as a verified strike price.

A fare far below the exceptional level

A genuine mistake fare may occasionally fall well below the documented floor. More often, the difference reflects:

• a seat-only fare;
• an unusually long itinerary;
• an overnight airport transfer;
• separate tickets;
• restrictive conditions; or
• an online travel agent assembling a product that is difficult to manage if anything changes.

Check the operating airlines, baggage, connection arrangements and final booking conditions before treating the headline price as comparable.

What to do next

Choose the relevant good-buy or exceptional price from the table before starting your next search.

Then run our 30-minute method for finding cheap flights with that number written down. Use Google Flights to compare dates and turn on a price alert so a suitable sale can come to you.

You do not have to do the watching yourself. Our live deals board tracks every fare Qantas is advertising and shows how far each sits below the typical price for its route, and the weekly email delivers the strongest of them once a week.

If your route is not included, use the date grid and historical price range to build your own benchmark. Look across several weeks or months, record the common range and set a good-buy target below it.

If you are using a low-cost carrier, compare the final price after adding the baggage, meals and seat selection you will actually purchase.

If you hold a substantial points balance, compare the cash fare with any suitable reward seats before paying. A fare can beat the cash benchmark and still be less attractive than a strong redemption.

Quarterly benchmark review

We rebuild the tables in this article each quarter. The next scheduled review is October 2026.

A material change between quarterly reviews, such as an airline leaving a route, a new fare war or a sustained shift in fuel and operating costs, may trigger an earlier update. Material changes are recorded in the Program Change Log.

The observation date matters. A benchmark without a current evidence period can quickly become misleading, particularly on routes shaped by short sales and changing airline capacity.

Methodology and last checked

The benchmarks were reviewed on 6 August 2026 using three evidence layers.

First, common ranges were drawn from Google Flights historical pricing data and typical-price indicators, cross-checked against Rewards That Fly route observations. These ranges reflect ordinary off-peak and shoulder-season pricing rather than a simple annual average.

Second, good-buy and exceptional levels were tested against dated fare observations from airline sale pages, airline announcements and Australian deal-tracking sources between April and August 2026. Each exceptional benchmark shows the month in which the supporting fare was observed.

Third, targeted route searches were used to test product differences, including non-stop versus one-stop travel, full-service versus low-cost-carrier pricing and the effect of baggage and other inclusions.

Business Class ranges are published only where we have a reasonable evidence base. Figures labelled directional are not treated as verified strike prices. Ex-Asia and points options are shown separately because they involve different costs, risks and availability.

All figures are return fares in Australian dollars, including taxes, unless stated otherwise. Low-cost-carrier fares may exclude baggage, meals and seat selection. Fares and availability change frequently, so confirm the final itinerary, inclusions and conditions before booking.