Are you planning a holiday? How exciting! After all, cities around the world are teeming with adventure — from food and culture to wildlife and natural landscapes. And we have a holiday budget calculator to help you set a reliable travel budget to take advantage of these experiences in popular travel destinations.
The Australia Skyscanner budget calculator is a tool that can help you make the most of your trip. This tool is designed to help you quickly and easily calculate key travel expenses for your next trip from Australia to popular holiday spots.
Whether planning a cultural trip to Sydney or a rugged backpacking trip through Thailand, this calculator can help you budget it all!
How to plan your holiday with our travel budget calculator
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use our calculator to plan your next trip from Australia to a destination of your choice:
- Enter the number of travellers in your group.
- Choose whether your budget is for one traveller or an entire group.
- Enter your travel budget — how much money you have — for your trip.
- Select your starting point or the first city where you want to begin your trip.
- Select your ending point or where you would like to finish your trip.
- Click “Calculate,” and the budget planner calculator will begin planning your trip and provide budget estimates.
Is the estimate too high? That’s because we’ve based it on average travel prices, which are usually higher. If you book ahead and use Skyscanner’s flights, hotels and car rental search to explore options and different dates, you may find cheaper prices and deals for your unique trip.
How to travel from Australia on a budget
Here are a few strategies to help you travel from Australia on a budget:
- Travel during the off-season to save money on flights, hotels and tours. For flights out of Australia, this is typically between February and June and September and early December.
- Find free things to do. Some cities have free museum days, while others have great architecture and public parks that won’t cost you a thing.
- Walk or take public transport whenever possible. Transportation costs can add up quickly!
- Research beforehand, including checking out travel blogs and podcasts for recommendations.
These are just a few top recommendations for reducing your trip expenses. Now, let’s look at more specific ways to save money on flights, accommodations and car rentals.
Save on flights and accommodation to have more spending money
When it comes to a travel budget, flights and accommodations are great areas to cut costs. With flights, you can use Skyscanner to play around with your travel details. Changing your destination city or even the exact arrival airport you use can save you hundreds.
Another great way to save some money is with your accommodations. Use Skyscanner’s hotel tool to look for budget-friendly hotels over luxury accommodations. And look for hotels outside the city centre — where you can still walk without the price gouging common with downtown locations.
Once you start brainstorming, you’re sure to find other areas where you can save on travel costs. Doing this loosens your budget, so you have more to spend on important things, such as experiences and dining out.
Australia travel budget FAQ
We answer a few questions to help your travel budget go further when travelling from Australia.
A few areas where being flexible can save you money on airfare:
Travel dates. Can you move around your departure and return dates?
Seating options. Does your group all have to sit together? Can you wait to pick your seats?
Layovers. Can you opt for a longer layover or one in a different city?
Luggage add-ons. Can you cut down on your packing list and only use a carry-on bag instead of paying for checked baggage?
Skyscanner’s flight comparison tool can show you different areas to save money.
Let’s discuss ways to save money on accommodations when travelling from Australia. Every city has different zones — some more expensive than others. When looking to save money, look at accommodations all over the city to see which areas are more economical.
Your accommodations will largely depend on your travel style. If you’re a backpacker and plan to stay in hostels, this can cut down on your trip costs. But if hostels aren’t your thing, there are various hotel options where you can save. For example, you can opt for smaller hotel rooms with fewer amenities.
Finally, play around with your travel dates to see if arriving on a different day can lower your accommodation costs. If you find that a particular area is more expensive, you may cut down on the number of nights you spend there.
Narrow down your options with Skyscanner’s hotel booking tool.
Here are the four biggest travel expenses you can expect as you travel from Australia:
Transportation
Airfare
Lodging
Food
But there are additional travel costs you should consider, including the price of travel insurance, visas and other necessary travel documents. Knowing and accounting for all these travel expense can help you be more financially prepared for your trip — and avoid racking up a hefty credit card bill.
Of course, food budgets can vary widely depending on your personal preferences. But there are still ways you can save in this area.
For starters, shop at local grocery stores whenever possible and find foods that fit your needs. If your accommodations offer a kitchenette, you can cook entire meals, cutting down on your total budget. Do your accommodations offer free breakfast or snack options? Take advantage of these as much as possible!
If you decide to eat out, here’s what you can expect to pay:
Fast food restaurants. $14 AUD per person
Midrange/sit-down restaurants. $22 to $30 AUD per person
Upscale restaurants. $40+ AUD per person
Check currency exchange rates for your local currency to see how these prices will impact your travel spending.
This question largely depends on the areas you visit — and whether a cross-country road trip is part of your plans.
Public transportation is fairly widespread and reliable within larger cities around the world. Walking is another great option in these areas since everything is fairly close together.
If you’re planning on visiting more of the rural parts of a country, a rental car is your best option. Life is a lot more car-centric in these areas, meaning most people get around with cars.
Skyscanner’s car rental tool can help you choose the best car based on the size of the car you want, where you want to pick it up and what features are most important to you.
Methodology
Flight, hotel, car rental and meal prices were collected to determine how far your travel budget can go. Flight prices were sourced from Skyscanner’s internal flight data, where the origin city accounted for all airports in destination cities. Hotel prices were collected from Skyscanner’s hotel booking tool, where the prices of the top 10 hotels under the category “Best” were averaged. Specifically, the rooms looked at were for two adults, and the calculator adjusts the number of rooms needed based on the number of travellers.
Car rental prices were collected from Skyscanner’s car rental tool, where the prices of the five cheapest rental cars in each size category were averaged. The travel budget calculator identifies the cheapest combination of rental cars needed for travel groups larger than seven. Meal prices were collected from Numbeo.
Flight, hotel and car rental data were sourced from Skyscanner’s internal data. Meal price data was sourced from Numbeo. All cost figures are estimates, which may not reflect the actual price. Values are subject to change.
The data shown by the calculator are estimated using the sources indicated but might not reflect the actual prices. These values are subject to change based on booking time frame, destination, etc.
About Skyscanner
Skyscanner helps travellers find and reach their dream destinations as easily and affordably as possible. We compile all available travel options and ideas into one easy-to-navigate place. Let the journey begin.
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