Travel Budgets For Students: How much Do You Need To Visit Australia?

Australia is an amazing country to visit as a college student! Who would not like to see the legendary Opera House or the Great Barrier Reef? Unfortunately, it is quite expensive to visit Australia particularly for students who are known to be on a tight budget. In today’s post, we will tell everything you need to know about vacating to Australia.

Yearly, Australia is visited by about 4 million tourists from all over the world.

Why is a trip to Australia so expensive?

• Australia is a country with a high standard of living, thus the salary of an ordinary citizen is very high there as well, and these result in expensive prices.
• As you may know, the local currency is Australian dollars, but do you know that Australian banknotes are not made of paper but of a polypropylene polymer, that is thin plastic.
• This country is located on the other hemisphere and the flight there takes about 23-25 ​​hours. This means that a plane ticket will be quite pricey.
• In addition, it is unlikely that you want to limit your student trip by staying in one city only. Between cities, students travel using local airlines, which could result in some additional expenses. So we recommend you google “cheapest places to fly in Australia” in advance.

Let’s move on to the specifics and consider what expenses you will have and how to make your trip there cheaper.

Visiting Australia on your own or through a travel agency?

Since this country is a very popular destination, you are sure to be offered several travel options at an agency, including cheap trips for college students. Strangely enough, it is often cheaper to hire the services of an agency rather than to plan a trip on your own. This is due to the charter flights and arrangements between travel agencies and hotels which are willing to provide a partner discount.

Traveling through an agency is convenient because it is a turnkey solution and it is possible to additionally receive many convenient options, such as a transfer from and to the airport. In a chosen agency, you will only need to provide the necessary documents and choose the tour you would like.

Another plus of traveling through a travel agency is that you do not need to waste time on coming up with an itinerary on your own as it is already made with places of interested to visit. Your task is to get on the bus and partake in the organized tour, which is very comfy for a student.

In Australia, there are many famous sights, which must be visited by every student who goes there. For example, Sidney Harbor Bridge, Kakadu National Park, Port Arthur and Swan Bells. If you have been assigned an essay to write on one of these attractions, you can get some assignments help online. On the other hand, when you organize a trip through an agency, you can be somewhat limited by the tour program. Therefore, if you prefer to make spontaneous decisions about the travel program, you will have to weigh all the pros and cons and decide the most convenient option for you: through the agency or on your own.

How to save on a trip to Australia?

If you are an experienced traveler, then you should know at least two ways to save on the trip. You can either turn to a travel agency in advance, or on the contrary a few days before the trip. Buying a travel tour 7-12 months prior, you can save up to 30% of the cost. Therefore, whenever possible, take care of your trip in advance or sit on your suitcases in readiness to fly away.

Another way to get a cheap tour is to constantly monitor student travel deals, discounts and promotions; often they are very attractive but they do not last long.

Any other options?

Do not forget that the continent to which you are traveling is located in the other hemisphere. Hence, summer there occurs during our calendar winter months. This means that getting to the sunny continent will cost a substantial amount of money, because the Australian summer is the high-tourist season. Thus, you can go there either in spring or autumn, as it is in the off-season and you can get really cheap student flights.

There is a number of tourist information points scattered all over the country, where you, as a student-traveler, will receive the necessary information and help if you face any problems. There, you should also take a special free catalog, as it has a map of the city in it plus many coupons and discounts for popular tourist places. Thanks to the coupons from this catalog, you get a discount of up to 50% in some places, which is quite a lot when it comes to budget travel.

Another small, but nice thing to mention is that if the cost of souvenirs that you purchased, while traveling, is more than 300 AUD, you are entitled to get 12% back from the value of goods. To get this compensation, before flying out of Australia, you should find the TRS office, present receipts for your purchases, plane tickets and a passport.

Final words

Despite the fact that Australia has a reputation of an expensive country particularly for a budget student, it is quite realistic to go there with an average budget if you know how to save your money. You can go there as part of a tourist group, live in a hotel, set up a camping tent, take a rental car or discover the country on foot – there are lots of options and each one has its pros and cons. It’s up to you what option to pick: a comfortable trip encompassing popular tourist places or complete immersion in the local atmosphere.

We wish good luck to all the students who are planning to visit this country. Australia is waiting for you!

Bio:

Sandra Hayward is a 42-year-old college professor who specializes in cross-cultural studies. She enjoys traveling to exotic countries and discovering the wonders of the world.
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