Qantas releases over 170,000 discounted regional fares from $99

Hey Australia, your next regional escape just got a whole lot cheaper.

If you weren’t already aware, regional Australia is having a moment. From charming country towns to laid-back coastal escapes, Aussies are increasingly heading further afield in search of slower holiday spots.

Now, Qantas is making those getaways even more enticing – and a lot more affordable. As rising fuel prices and cost-of-living pressures continue to shape the way we travel, our national carrier has launched a major sale across more than 50 regional routes.

Here’s what you need to know

QantasLink plane — QantasLink celebrates 25 years of service in 2026. (Credit: Getty/Thurtell)

Originally established in May 2001, QantasLink was launched as the official regional carrier for Australia’s flagship airline. Today, it services more than 100 regional routes across the country, marking 25 years of regional connectivity. To celebrate this milestone, Qantas has slashed rates for roughly 170,000 QantasLink seats, with prices starting as low as $99.

“As an airline founded in regional Australia, we know how important aviation is in keeping this country connected. We’re incredibly proud of the role we’ve played over the past quarter of a century and to celebrate the milestone we’re putting every destination on sale," says QantasLink CEO, Mark Dal Pra.

Kicking off earlier this week, the celebratory sale covers more than 50 destinations, from coast to country, outback to island. It’s the perfect excuse to finally book that romantic getaway, head back to your hometown and visit loved ones or simply explore one of the many amazing towns that call Australia home.

“From Weipa in the far north to Launceston in Tasmania and Exmouth in the west, there are great value fares available, giving customers the chance to see friends and family or explore more of our amazing backyard," says Dal Pra.

A destination for every traveller

QantasLink’s birthday sale includes flights to 56 regional destinations across every Aussie state. Whether you’re craving a sunny weekend by the beach or a cosy autumn weekend away, there’s a pocket of Australia to suit every kind of traveller.

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

For a winter weekend

Swinging Bridge Wines in Orange, NSW — Spend an evening at Swinging Bridge Wines in Orange. (Credit: Destinations NSW)

If you’re keen to embrace the cool change, there are plenty of places that do winter right. Fly from Sydney to Orange for just $125 to visit the region’s award-winning wineries and sample a variety of cool-climate drops. Or head out to Armidale for the same price and delve into one of Australia’s top country towns of 2026.

For an outback experience

Uluru in the Northern Territory — Nothing quite compares to seeing Uluru in person.

While there are myriad ways to experience the outback, some destinations capture its quiet, ancient magic better than others. For just $339, fly from Sydney to Uluru and bear witness to Australia’s beating heart up close. Or head to Broken Hill this August for the epic Mundi Mundi Bash music festival, with flights for $195.

For a coastal reset

Beachside yoga in Byron Bay, NSW — Start your day with beachside yoga in Byron. (Credit: Destination NSW)

With temperatures dropping, the urge to escape overseas may be kicking in. But instead of dropping thousands on a long-haul flight, why not fly from Sydney to Byron instead? For just $105 and an hour in the air, you’ll be by the sea and soaking up the sun in no time. Or head to Broome to experience year-round sunshine for $465, departing Sydney.

For a foodie fiesta

Freyja restaurant in Melbourne, Vic — Freyja is just one of Melbourne’s countless top-notch restaurants.

Those who prefer to follow their taste buds can fly from Sydney to Melbourne for just $185. Eat your way through the Victorian capital’s top restaurants, sampling everything from local ingredients to global flavours. Or head to South Australia (Sydney to Adelaide) for $226 and see which restaurants receive Australia’s first Michelin stars.

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For an art-driven adventure

The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, ACT — Browse local and international exhibitions at the NGA. (Credit: VisitCanberra)

Home to the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra is the ultimate destination for art lovers. With flights for just $155 departing Sydney, you’ll be admiring Monets in no time. Looking for something a little more eccentric? Fly from Sydney to Hobart for the same price to make the most of quirky museums and ultra-cool events like Beaker Street Festival (6–17 August).

For an off-grid escape

Sal Salis on Ningaloo Reef, WA — Settle into your private glamping tent at Sal Salis on Ningaloo Reef. (Credit: Tourism Australia)

Sometimes, we just need to switch off – and where better to do so than Exmouth? As the gateway to WA’s Ningaloo Reef, fly from Sydney to Learmonth for just $480; it’s all coastal walks, marine life encounters and luxe glamping stays from there. Or for a little extra, fly from Sydney to Gove (Nhulunbuy) to experience Arnhem Land’s raw natural beauty – it’s worth every cent.

The fine print

Before you start planning your regional escape, there are a few key details worth noting. To secure discounted fares through QantasLink’s birthday sale, flights must be booked and paid for between Wednesday 20 May and Tuesday 26 May at 11:59pm – unless sold out prior.

While your window for travel spans from July 2026 to April 2027, discounted flights are only available on select travel dates. Airfares quoted in this article apply to one-way flights in economy class and include checked baggage, as well as complimentary in-flight food and beverages.

While the sale offers travellers the chance to explore more of regional Australia for less, QantasLink CEO Mark Dal Pra says the airline is keen to give back to Aussies even more.

“We’re continuing to invest heavily in QantasLink, including through dozens of new aircraft, as well as cabin and regional lounge upgrades, so we can continue to serve regional Australia for the next 25 years."

All prices and availabilities listed are accurate at the time of publication.

Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat, now one of the largest estates.

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. — The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate, whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor, who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will, who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate — Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods. “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

Come for the wine, stay for the food

pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford — Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges — Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield, embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House.

Eating there

Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument, which also has a sculpture park.

Drinking there

wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges — A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds.

the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage — Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Playing there

a scenic river in Castlemaine — Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens, hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

purple flowers hanging from a tree — Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Qantas releases over 170,000 discounted regional fares from $99

Hey Australia, your next regional escape just got a whole lot cheaper.

Here’s what you need to know