Jetstar has some great prices to Uluru / Ayers Rock if you pick the right ones.
For example: 29 Jan to 30 Jan - a quick trip, but $190 return.
Various others around Jan/Feb 2019.
thats a scorcher of deal, quite literally!
1 night is enough. we booked 2 and regret it. so exxy
hey sal, how much was accommodation and other expenses? Love to go but know it's not cheap all up.
They should build an airstrip on top of the rock. Would be a huge attraction.
Seriously, they used to have an airstrip right next to Ayers Rock. Thermals and winds made flying in difficult and crazy, so they moved the airstrip further out
Remember, get proper insurance from someone other than Jetstar. Jetstar's insurance only covers some cases where you can't travel. You may need something to cover you for delays and cancellations by Jetstar.
If you book long term parking book at least 2 days extra. Maybe more
If anything goes wrong, keep all receipts when you purchase food etc. You may be able to claim back later.
I just did Jetstar's Melbourne to Ayers Rock / Uluru and back. The return journey had a lot of issues in summary (taken from what the flight crew, and others said to us)
a- the plane used had first showed problems back in Perth
b- at ~8.30am, Jetstar sms'd that the 11am flight was ~2 hours late
c- after boarding, there is a long delay, while the crew are doing some tests
d- disembarked as something couldn't be restarted to reset something
e- no Jetstar staff in the departure area to let us know what was going on, mostly silence on the PA for us
f- ring up Jetstar and part way through the automated menus they hang up
g- we were told around 2.15pm, ~ the 3 hour 15 minute mark, that an engineer was on the way and that, he just needed to do some tests and check off that we can fly; they also told us then, that they would give us $8 each to use at the cafe for refreshments (a sandwich costs $10.50 … )
h- A lot of silence on the PA and lack of staff to talk to us
i- 3.50pm we were told the engineer should be arriving in 10 minutes
j- ~4.50pm we were told the engineer arrived. Also that, IF the engineer says we can go, we will need to go quickly so … we will be updated soon.
k- ~5.20pm baggage is unloaded and we are there is some confusion and stress from what the JetStar representative is telling us and what we get from JetStar. People ringing up are being told Jetstar doesn't know about this delay and give us conflicting information to what the representative is telling us. (The representative says we will be flown direct back to Melbourne from Alice Springs, if possible and Jetstar phone staff are saying Jetstar doesn't operate direct flights to Melbourne from Alice Springs so cannot help with that)
l- part way through us trying to find out and get straight what Jetstar is doing, the representative disappears and never comes back
m- we are then put onto buses to be trapped there for ~6 hours till midnight, when we will get to Alice Springs. It turns out we won't have mobile signal for almost the entire journey … so we won't be able to talk with Jetstar, receive communications, rearrange travel plans etc
n- there is a stop along the way, where we are told there will be food, maybe not hot. It's not explained that we will have to pay for the food ourselves
o- midnight we get to the hotels and can check in, and the next day we can find out what's happening with breakfast since there's no information given to us about that other than, Jetstar will give us breakfast (but no explanation on what that means)
p- we are taken to that Alice Springs airport a bit after 9am the next day. Some get to fly direct back to Melbourne, some will be sent via Sydney, some via Adelaide and others are in limbo because no booking has been made for them
q- I was sent to Adelaide. There we were to go to a Jetstar representative (who wasn't waiting for us at the gate, we had to go find their station) to sort out the next ticket. We weren't put on the next flight to Melbourne with QANTAS or other carriers. We were put on another JetStar flight. No refreshment vouchers etc or anything else this time
r- We got to board the plane around 15 minutes late, but were told we'd be in the air soon and it'd only be 56 minutes to get home
s- around 10 minutes later, they welcomed on board one of the pilots and started looking for where they could store is bag (bad luck whoever had that duffle bag they were hitting to squash it in, so they could put the guy's bag in there)
t- it would eventually turn out there were problems with this plane and that they were having problems resetting something, so they needed the engineers to come, do checks … sign off on things … also there was some paperwork they said that hadn't been signed off yet
u- after over an hour of waiting, finally we got to fly
People who rang up to ask about compensation etc were told things like, if you choose not to fly today, we can give you partial (but unspecified) compensation, in 6 weeks.
Overall, I'd say be wary of Jetstar and their Uluru flights for some time. Make sure you don't have plans for the next 2+ days after the trip, in case you are unlucky enough to end up in this situation and make sure your car pickup can be 2+ or more days later than you expect to get home.
Just in case.
Overall it was pretty badly handled. We were left in the dark for most of the time and then we were supposed to just trust what they were saying for the rest, without seeing or hearing from any JetStar staff or getting vouchers and documentation etc. People who rang up about compensation or what could JetStar do were treated pretty rudely and told things would happen that just didn't (free drinks etc)
Those who prepaid for meals or seats on the return journey, haven't been offered compensation.
From what I've heard, those who push hard with complaints can, at best, get a Jetstar voucher, which you will have to pay a sizeable fee, every time you use a bit of it.
Anyways, I'm not planning to fly with Jetstar again.
Note: Uluru / Ayers Rock and Kata Tjuta / Olgas are incredible, especially close up and with guides
Wow thats almost as mad as the people who visit there at that time of the year.