Major airlines offer huge discounts as Aussies look for travel inspiration

If you're looking down the barrel of the working year and wondering when your next holiday will be, you're in luck.

Major airlines are launching their first big sales of 2025 with huge discounts and frequent flyer points on offer.

Flight search website Skyscanner found almost a third of Aussies are ready to make a big life decision in January, and around the same percentage would be likely to book a holiday if they found good, solid discounted travel inspo.

Look no further.

Virgin Australia is offering 800,000 discounted economy and business class fares starting from $49 for a one-way economy trip from Sydney to Ballina-Byron.

Domestic hot spots including the Gold Coast, Whitsundays and Hamilton Island are on sale, as well as foreign playgrounds including Bali, Queenstown and Fiji.

Miniscule domestic economy fares include Melbourne to Launceston from $59, Sydney to Gold Coast from $65 and Adelaide to Hobart from $99 - and these prices are valid in both directions.

Some of the return economy international fare highlights include Melbourne to Queenstown from $405, Sydney to Denpasar (Bali) from $569, and Melbourne to Nadi (Fiji) from $599.

Virgin is also offering bonus Velocity Frequent Flyer points. Earn up to 20,000 on eligible business return and up to 10,000 on eligible economy international long haul (including Euro summer!) for flights between certain dates - but you must book by Monday, January 20.

Also on offer until Monday, is Jetstar's Kids Fly and Stay free sale, with family-friendly package deals to popular destinations including Bali, Gold Coast and Cairns.

One child per full-paying adult can fly and stay for free at certain destinations. For example, for a holiday in Uluru, including return flights and a three-night stay at Sails in the Desert, a family of four (two adults, two kids 11 and under) costs from $1659.

Qatar Airways - the airline named the best in the world in 2024 - is also in sale mode, offering return flights to London, Athens, Toronto, Sao Paulo and more starting from $1799.

Flights must be booked by January 31 for travel from now until December 10, 2025.

If Qantas is more your style, go to www.qantas.com/au/en/flight-deals.html and toggle to your local airport to find deals at any time of the year.

For example, at time of publication, the site was offering economy airfares from Sydney to Canberra (one way) for $199 and Canberra to Nadi (Fiji) return for $657, for travel between certain dates.