Australia Christmas 2025

whatawaster

Hi,

We are thinking about a family trip to Sydney for Christmas 2025 (coming back after the New Year).

Could be 12 people in total.

I understand that this is not going to be a cheap time to fly, but looking for specific advice around:

- best time to book - is it a case of the earlier the better when it comes to Dec/Jan flights?

- best way to manage booking for a large group - travel agent perhaps?

Any advice / considerations would be appreciated.

Thanks

ArrBee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365246/australia-christmas-2025

I've booked family flights out that way a couple of times and this is what I have found re:Christmas…

1. you can only book up to 12months before your return flight.
2. prices go up and down a fair bit. it's not just a case of prices starting off cheapest and only going up.
3. booking during a high demand time can inflate prices significantly. eg. booking during Easter for Christmas flights.
4. There tends to be a cusp around Dec10 where you can save a lot by flying out before it.
6. Flight itinerary can make a big difference to how well you cope on the flights and after landing.
7. Always get a single ticket booking for when things go wrong!

My personal preference these days is:
-leaving dublin in the afternoon/evening,
-avoid America transiting
-In the past I have found May a good time to book.

sioda

12 seated people ie no kids under 2 could entitle you to a group rate and it's worth contacting the airlines directly.

Also if you are going to be booking accommodation and extras some travel agents have the ability to get flights ahead of the 12 month limit allowing you extra time to save.

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar give the fastest flights with one stop. Less to go wrong as well.

whatawaster

Thanks for the comments

The reason I was leaning towards travel agents was for the possibility of not paying 100% at booking and having them manage the logistics of booking so many people.

However, looking at some airline sites, it looks like group booking could be a good option. Qatar, for example, allow you to pay a deposit and the balance 10 days before departure.

From what I've read - it's unlikely that prices for Dec will get any lower (maybe there are exceptions to this) so we would probably be best sorting out our itinerary as soon as possible and booking the flights in January.

Sheep Shagger

Pretty sure it's about 11 months out before you can book that kind of long haul. I'll be looking at some of the cheaper Chinese carriers purely to try and keep costs down. Also opens the chance to have a stopover in the likes of Beijing.

Logistically it could be hard for you and not sure how much costs mean but buying tickets ex Dublin can have a kind of paddy tax on them instead of flying from one of the European hubs like AMS, FRA or IST (although if you choose a middle Eastern carrier that won't matter).

finbarrk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122523378#Comment_122523378

How do you mean point no7? Single ticket?

ArrBee

As in don't buy a separate Ryanair flight to UK, then another fright from UK to Australia.

All flights should be on the same ticket.

Or another way to think of it... One price and transaction.

Sheep Shagger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122544598#Comment_122544598

You can often save by starting your long haul trip outside of ireland though, we often get ripped off here. Just give yourself plenty of time between flights.

ArrBee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122545681#Comment_122545681

Sure, it's possible. It's also usefully doing it that way to access airlines that don't codeshare to Dublin.

My experience has been contrary though. I've always found it cheaper to buy IRE to AUS compared to UK to AUS + IRE to UK.

But sure, if you've found it to be cheaper for you then thats great.
I've only ever gone at Christmas time if that makes any differnece…?

Sheep Shagger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122546812#Comment_122546812

I've only done it via EU airports. No fx either.

Guess it just depends on availability whenever you are travelling.