Holiday hack: Get $450 off Easter travel with your state vouchers
How to travel eggstravagantly for less this Easter break, while not using any of your annual leave.
TAKE ME TO: NSW vouchers | Victoria vouchers | Queensland vouchers | SA vouchers
The Easter holidays are fast approaching and with them come 2 public holidays and a 4-day long-weekend (15-18 April) that's worthy of an egg-citing getaway.
As every state and territory has these days off, and historically it's been a pricey one for travellers.
However with some crafty hacking using your state or region's travel vouchers, this year it can be a relatively "cheep" one.
New South Wales: $200 for individuals or minimum $450 for families on travel
New South Wales residents have a few vouchers available to them, all of which can be used over the Easter long weekend. These can cover accommodation, dining and experiences.
All you need to sort out is how to get to your destination.
- NSW Stay Vouchers: Everyone over 18 can access a $50 voucher to go towards accommodation in the state. You can bundle these with mates to cover more of your stay.
- Dine & Discover NSW: Throughout the life of the Dine & Discover program, each eligible resident should have received 6 x $25 vouchers to use on food, drinks and experiences. That's a total of $150.
- Parents Voucher: Parents of school aged children have been given a bonus $250 in vouchers to spend on accommodation, experiences and meals.
Individuals are entitled to one $50 stay voucher as well as $150 worth of Dine & Discover vouchers. So long as you haven't used them yet you can put these towards a cheeky getaway and score $200 off your trip.
Single-parent families with school aged kids can tap into $250 worth of Parents Vouchers on top of their Stay and Dine & Discover vouchers. That's $450 worth of discounts.
2-parent families can get 1 Parents Voucher plus double the Dine & Discover and Stay vouchers, amassing a total of $650 in savings.
All vouchers are available through the Service NSW app.
Where can I spend my NSW Stay voucher?
These are our top picks with rooms available over the Easter long weekend.
Meriton Suites Kent Street
Finder Hotels
Katoomba Mountain Lodge
Finder Hotels
Pacific Garden Hotel
Finder Hotels
Where can I spend my Dine & Discover and Parent NSW vouchers?
By booking activities priced $25 and under you can pretty much have a free holiday. Klook has made this super easy with this list of 150+ activities that you can book for free by using your NSW Parent or Discover Voucher.
For other options, here are our top picks of dining and experiences available over the Easter long weekend.
Indulgent Seafood Dining Experience by the Harbour
RedBalloon
Quad Bike Adventure Tour
RedBalloon
Sydney Attraction Pass
Adrenaline
Victoria: $200 travel voucher
Victoria released its fourth round of travel vouchers in late March giving residents another chance to explore their backyard.
There was a limited number of vouchers each worth $200. So if you were lucky enough to score one you can put it towards your Easter travel as they need to be used between 8 April and 27 May.
The vouchers can be used on accommodation, attractions, tours, experiences, ski resorts and hot springs if it's a paid tourism experience. However, to use your voucher you have to book a minimum of 2 consecutive nights in paid accommodation. Which won't be too hard to do particularly if you're spending the whole long weekend away.
You also need to spend at least $400 upfront. You will then get $200 as cashback once you complete your holiday.
Where can I spend my vouchers?
These are our top hotel picks with rooms available over the Easter long weekend.
The Hotel Windsor
Finder Hotels
Foothills Conference Centre
Finder Hotels
Sanctuary Inn on Westernport
Finder Hotels
Queensland: $250 off Cairns and Great Barrier Reef tours
You don't have to be a Queenslander to get a healthy $250 chop off your Tropical North holiday with the Cairns & Great Barrier Reef Travel Bonus scheme. However, you do need to spend more than $1,000 with Viva Holidays, My Queensland or Flight Centre to get this voucher, which can be put towards a range of tours and experiences in the area.
"You can snorkel with turtles at Fitzroy Island, stand-up paddleboard through the forest, or dive with giant potato cod," suggests Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive officer Mark Olsen on what you can get up to in the region.
8,000 vouchers are up for grabs and can be used until 20 April 2022.
South Australia: $100 off 1-day experiences or $200 off multi-day experiences
The latest round of Great State Experience vouchers were released on 9 March with South Australians putting their names down in a ballot to win a travel voucher.
On the table was either a $100 voucher to put towards a 1-day experience or a $200 voucher for multi-day experiences.
If you scored one, Easter is a brilliant time to spend it as the vouchers need to be used by 31 May 2022.
According to the South Australia website, bookings for these vouchers are now closed.
How to save even more over the Easter holidays
- Don't travel on Thursday or Good Friday. According to KAYAK this is the most searched departure date for flights which means the busiest and one of the most expensive.
- Travel on Saturday. Yes, you'll miss out on one of the long weekend dates but by leaving after Good Friday, KAYAK data suggests you can save 15% on domestic flights compared to flying out on Thursday 14 April.
- Consider flying there. While Easter road tripping is a popular option, the soaring petrol prices may mean flying could be cheaper this year. That said, airfares have also been increasing month-on-month with KAYAK noting flight prices up 28% between February and March. Compare your prices before committing.
Want to save even more on your Easter trip? Check out the best April travel deals.
