Desperate for a tropical getaway? You’re in luck with Qantas, Virgin Australia, and Jetstar all planning a late-March reboot to flights between Australia and Bali.
Most of us know that Australia’s border is set to reopen next month, but exactly how and when that will happen is yet to be publicised. Scotty from marketing didn’t us give a date but he did say Australia would reopen in November for those states that have reached 80% vaccination rates. Once they reach that target, NSW will be the first to open up, followed by SA. Fully vaccinated
Australians and permanent residents returning to the country will be able to quarantine at home for seven days, but those who are unvaccinated will need to complete 14-day hotel quarantine. Politics aside, if you’re itching to plan an island getaway, here is everything you need to know about getting from Australia to Bali.
In this post:
Direct flights from Australia to Bali
Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar have a surprisingly long list of routes between Australia and Denpasar (Bali), with Air Asia also joining the list at the end of October.
Sydney
- Qantas – Daily B737 from March 27 2022
- Jetstar – Four B787 flights per week from April 1 2022, daily from May 1 2022
- Virgin Australia – Daily B737 from March 27 2022
Melbourne
- Qantas – Daily B737 from March 27 2022
- Jetstar – Up to twice daily A320/B787 from April 1 2022
- Virgin Australia – Five B737 flights per week from March 27 2022
Brisbane
- Jetstar – Three B787 flights per week from April 2 2022, daily from May 1 2022
- Virgin Australia – Daily B737 from March 27 2022, nine per week from April 1 2022
Perth
- Jetstar – Daily A320 from April 1 2022, twice daily from May 1 2022
- Air Asia – Three times daily A320 from October 31 2021
Adelaide
- Jetstar – Four A320 flights per week from April 1 2022, daily from May 1 2022
Cairns
- Jetstar – Two A320 flights per week from April 3 2022, five per week from May 1 2022
Darwin
- Jetstar – Four A320 flights per week from April 1 2022
Redeeming points for Bali flights
Qantas Frequent Flyer
As you’d expect, we have found very limited Qantas Classic Flight Reward availability to Bali. For the most part, a one-way economy redemption with Qantas will set you back 20,300 points and around $150 in taxes, where business costs 57,000 points and over $200 in taxes. If you’re travelling from Perth, the cost is much higher.
The other option is to fly with Jetstar, where availability is greatly improved. Business class is available on Jetstar Boeing 787 flights.
Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane: Economy 18,000 points + $148-151; Business 42,200 points + $208-211
Perth, Adelaide and Cairns: Economy 14,400 points + $122-$144
Darwin: Economy 9,600 points + $130
Velocity Frequent Flyer
Velocity reward seats are not yet available for international flights, though they’re expected to return soon. When reward flights do open up, you’ll need 22,300 points + taxes in economy and 49,500 points + taxes in business.
How to find the best cash price
The best place to find flight deals for Bali travel is Google Flights. It is where we find all the best cash deals to travel the world, and allows for easy comparison between flight cost, dates and times. Here’s how:
1. Go to https://www.google.com/flights
2. Select a ticket type (round trip/one-way/multi-city), passengers and travel class
3. Enter your departure and arrival city and travel dates (you can enter multiple)
4. Click search and matching flights will be shown
5. Change the sort order to ‘price’ to see the cheapest options first
6. You can filter flights by number of stops, airlines, layover duration and more
7. To view the details of a flight, click on the arrow next to the price
Google Flights Calendar View
By clicking on the departure date Google Flights will bring up a two-month calendar showing the cheapest flights for each day over that period.
Google Flights Grid View
You can click ‘date grid’ between the search bar and flight list to compare ticket prices on different days of the same week.
Google Flights Price Graph
Another option is the price graph function, which shows the cheapest flights day by day. To view this click on ‘price graph’ between the search bar and flight list. As you hover your mouse along the blue bars you will see the total trip price change.
What if I need to change or cancel my flight?
With Covid still locking us down it might sound strange for me to say I have never booked so many flights. Before the pandemic, airlines offered little flexibility on cash bookings unless you paid a premium for a higher fare class, and while reward bookings were a more flexible option, it’s fair to say the cancellation process has been streamlined. The thing is, most airlines now have good policies around changes and calculations, making it easy to shuffle dates due to border closures and other commitments.
Below we share the flexibility for cash bookings as reward bookings are easily changed.
Qantas
Qantas is offering unlimited fee-free date changes or flight credits on international bookings made between 25 February 2021 and 28 February 2022, for travel until 31 December 2022.
Find out more on Qantas’ Fly Flexible page.
Jetstar
Jetstar is offering unlimited fee-free date changes on international flights booked directly on jetstar.com between 17 September and 31 December 2021, for travel until 30 June 2023.
Alternatively, you can request a credit voucher for the full value of your booking. To be eligible your flight must be scheduled to depart within the next seven days, and you will need to meet one of the conditions found on Jetstar’s Fly Flexible page.
Virgin Australia
Virgin is offering unlimited fee-free date changes and providing the option to cancel your booking for a flight credit. For flights booked on or after 21 April 2020, customers may change their date of travel, destination or turn their booking into a flight credit for travel until 28 February 2022. (check out our Virgin Australia discount codes here)
As this does not cover the March 27 Bali reboot, we can expect an extension of Virgin’s policy soon.
Find out more on Virgin Australia’s Flexible Flying page.
Air Asia
Air Asia is offering passengers unlimited fee-free date changes and the option to cancel bookings for a two-year flight credit. To be eligible, customers must be affected by Covid-19 travel restrictions. Date changes can be made for bookings made on or before 13 Jan 2021, for travel until 26 Jan 2021. New flight dates can be selected up until 31 March 2021.
Find out more on Air Asia’s Flexibility For You page.
Summing up: my take
Booking overseas travel does carry some risk. Even if Australia reopens borders as planned, there are tests to complete, plus the joy of quarantine on return. There’s still a chance that our Government won’t follow through by November, especially given previous border announcements.
But if you’re able to book flexible flights and accommodation, there’s not too much to lose by planning a Bali getaway for 2022. Here’s hoping.
What’s happened to Garuda on the Australia to Bali route? An absolute shame if they’re not returning, as in my humble opinion they are far and away the carrier with consistently better service in the business cabin on this route.
I’m sure they will be back once tourism well and truly kicks off next year!