Non posso decidere
Dan kdg dilema dateng tiba-tiba, menghantui benak sepanjang jam kerja, membuat gue ngga produktif (boh ... vaffanculo!). Gue pengen ambil off work, tapi spt biasa mesti nego dg bos dulu.
Blm pasti sih, tapi kemaren udah liat2, cari2, browse, dan lain lain (! alors, apanya pula yg blm pasti? !) euh beneran, masih ragu2. Tapi rencana gue sbb: krn Januari itu teammates gue pada ambil leave (cuti) mereka, gue pikir awal Februari lebih baik, setelah weekend Australia Day krn long weekend dg hari kejepit - gue mungkin mau sante2 di rumah sajah.
Lalu mata melotot, tangan dan jari gores2 tarif tiket yg ditawarkan di situs-situs lokal, boh ... gue biasanya liat perkiraan tiket online berapaan untuk periode tsb, lalu baru berburu di agen. Cari yg termurah dg cara pintar, ini jaman online, Bung! Hu hu, padahal gue sendiri sampe saat ini blm punya, blm pernah pindain data via bluetooth!
Untuk situs, mungkin yg paling (lebih) lengkap dan bisa diandelin: zuji.com.au dan travel.com.au - yg lainnya selain kapasitas tiket onlinenya dikit, harga ngga bersaing, pun situsnya lelet.
Plan Sigma:
Tasmania, durasi 1 mingguan, tiket terjangkau, waktu tempuh 2 jam, lokasi [Hobart dan Launceston], keeksotisan: 4 out of 10.
Plan Epsilon:
New Zealand, durasi 10 - 14 hari, tiket hmmm... sekitar 500 bucks, waktu tempuh 3 jam, lokasi [Christchurch, Auckland dan kota-kota Middle Earth lain diantara keduanya], keeksotisan: 6 out of 10.
Tasmanian Tiger atao Kiwi Bird?
Aidez moi - mi aiuto - help - tolong?
Christchurch Launceston
Perkara penerbangan murah - cheap flights - ai ya ya, di sini kompetisi dikit bgt maka ngga heranin harga tiket salah satu yg termahal sedunia.
Seorang temen bilang dia bayar 600-an SGD buat tiket Singapura-Sydney, sementara kalo dibalikin mungkin gue harus relain sekitar, minimal, AUD800 (setara 900SGP). Blm lagi tiket ke Asia, Amrik, dan Eropa.
Tiket domestik, dibilang lumayan yah lumayan lah. Tapi ngga ada tai-tainya dibanding AirAsia yg KL - JKT 99rb rupiah (exc tax), yg termurah di sini biasanya rute-rute sepanjang pantai timur, terutama antar ibukota negara bagian. Dulu kala, pernah ada tawaran $1+tax, tapi itu pun jumlah tiketnya sgt sgt sgt terbatas sekalih. Sekali lagi, sori vulgar, ngga ada tai-tainya dibanding Ryan Air di UK yg selalu konsisten dg no-frills tiket murahnya.
Skrg udah ada VirginBlue dan VirginPacific, sblmnya Qantas itu raja monopoli nembak harga tinggi tanpa malu2 (bloody Dixon!). Ansett bangkrut, lalu muncul Australian Airlines yg tawarkan kelas all-economy di setiap penerbangan Asia Pasifik-nya. Lalu VBlue melejit dg sukses. Qantas ngga mau kalah, bikin anak perusahaan Jetstar -yg kini sukses- dan Jetstar Asia berbasis di Singapura- yg kebalikannya, kini dlm kesulitan finansial. Dua minggu lalu peluncuran OZJet, all business class, penerbangan perdana Sydney-Melbourne dan terjual semua bangkunya!
Momok terbesar industri penerbangan di sini itu ketatnya proteksi pemerintah AUS thdp Qantas. SIA udah bertaon2 minta lisensi Australia-USA yg sgt lucrative dan menguntungkan. Emirates pengen dibolehkan terbang Perth - Sydney, dan penetrasi jalur domestik lainnya. Hingga kini semuanya blm dikabulkan, selalu dibilang tengah di-review oleh Tribunal Anti Kompetisi tapi banyak lobi siluman oleh CEO Qantas ke senator2.
Hm ... there is more than one way to skin the cat, one says.
Kalo niatan berburu tiket murah udah bener2 kentel, ada cara jitu. Virgin Blue punya HAPPY HOUR, antara jam 12 - 1 pm ada deal spesial, dg rute random, mulai dari $1 hingga $10 off. Jetstar, biasa lah ikut-ikutan strategi marketing org lain, bikin RUSH HOUR, jam 1 - 2pm dg konsep sama.
Tapi ... jatoh2nya tetep mahal juga. Tiket di sini tuh walopun mahal tapi tetep (mau ngga mau, dibeli juga) laris. Che sorpresa, dici cosi ? Entah Ausshtralians udah ketajiran bakar2 water-proof dosh mereka, atao gullible hingga ke akar-akarnya !
Blm lagi pajak penerbangan. Arffff ... bloody CEOs, y'all twats! Masa tax bisa 50% harga tiketnya itu sendiri ! Dulu bgt, tax ke US atao Eropa ngga sampe AUD200, skrg ampir AUD500. Lalu alesan, oh kami harus meneruskan kepada konsumen fuel surcharge krn harga bahan bakar dunia yg naik. Tau ngga sih, itu surcharge membunuh kantong konsumen, emang harga petrol naik 200%. Lalu, harga petrol stabil, menurun hingga normal, tapi surcharge-nya ngga diapus. FECKEN G R E E D Y BLOODY B A S T A R D S !
Cheap global tickets could spark travel boom
QANTAS has promised its long-haul "value-based" carrier Jetstar International will make overseas flights cheaper than ever when it launches its service by January 2007.
Qantas has sparked fear among unions with its vow that Jetstar International will "deliver the lowest cost air operations of any international carrier operating to Australia".
Qantas confirmed yesterday the two-class carrier would start off with a fleet of 10 wide-body aircraft and would fly to cities within 10 hours of Australia. The airline not expected to announce its new routes before June next year. It is speculated Jetstar International could replace Qantas services on low-yielding routes such as Honolulu and Manila, and open up new ones such as Ho Chi Minh City and Phuket.
The chief executive of Qantas, Geoff Dixon, said the airline would eventually undertake "two-stage flying to European and other destinations".
Unions are worried the airline's plans to have a 40 per cent lower cost base than Qantas will mean lower wages for workers, and possibly some jobs being based in Asia.
Qantas has yet to rule out using the Federal Government's new workplace legislation, which include the ability of a new venture to draw up its own labour agreements, without bargaining with unions or employees.
"We will not rule anything out, but won't rule anything in either," Mr Dixon said.
With Qantas due to place a $20 billion fleet order next week, Mr Dixon said union complaints about the airline making record profits while cutting down on costs were misdirected.
Jetstar's chief executive, Alan Joyce, said the airline aimed to offer cheap tickets to stimulate traffic. "For the routes that we're looking at, fares [will] be below the average market [price]," he said. "That's what Jetstar has always been about in the domestic market." However, he declined to to give an indication of what Jetstar International's ticket prices would be. Mr Joyce said the airline would be about drawing more Australians overseas for the first time.
He said Jetstar had already led to a surge in Australians flying domestically because of its cheap fares, noting up to 10 per cent of Jetstar's domestic passengers were first-time flyers.
Just as it used the launch of Jetstar in May last year to stem Virgin Blue's growing share of the domestic market, Qantas hopes to curtail the growing influence of foreign carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Emirates. Qantas's share of international airline traffic into and out of Australia has slumped from 40.7 per cent to 28.6 per cent since 1995.
Emirates, which launched services to Australia in 1996, now has a 5.3 per cent share. The Dubai-based carrier now wants Federal Government approval to double its flights into Australia.
"There's a whole range of competitors that we are losing ground to," Mr Joyce said. He said Qantas wanted Jetstar International to help boost its slice of the international market back to over 30 per cent.