MWR travel packages make Australian vacations more affordable

ARNEWS ^ | May 17, 2006 | Tim Hipps

[SandRat]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Army News Service, May 17, 2006) – Morale, Welfare and Recreation patrons will be hard-pressed to beat the cost of an Australian vacation purchased through their Information, Ticket and Reservation office.

A five-night stay in Sydney or Melbourne is available for $838 per person based on double occupancy. The “G’Day Good Deal” packages include three- or four-star accommodations for five nights, round-trip airfare from Los Angeles or San Francisco aboard Qantas Airways and a 15-hour calling card that can be used to dial the United States. Taxes and surcharges are not included in the base price.

“Normally, when you’re talking about a trip to Australia, your opening bid is $1,800, at least,” said Dan Yount, chief of Army Leisure Travel Services at the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center. “This is a major savings.”

Trips to Sydney can be routed through Los Angeles or San Francisco. The Melbourne package is available only from San Francisco. Travelers are responsible for reaching the debarkation points in California.

Authorized Morale, Welfare and Recreation patrons can access the packages on the Internet at www.ittaustralia.com and begin a step-by-step process of building itineraries to a vacation Down Under. After preparing the itinerary, they can visit a supporting Information, Ticket and Reservation office or Information, Tickets and Tours office to finalize the booking, confirm arrangements and pay for the vacation.

The Australian packages are a combined Army, Navy and Marine Corps ITR/ITT program available to active duty, members of the Reserve component, retired military, Department of Defense civilian employees and family members.

Travel must be completed before June 8 or between Aug. 1 and Aug. 30.

“When you’re looking at Australia, this is kind of in the fall and winter,” Yount said. “But winter in Australia in the worst place is kind of like winter in Northern Florida. Most times you’re going to be very comfortable in a T-shirt or certainly a long-sleeve shirt and maybe use a windbreaker in the morning.”

From Sydney, host of the 2000 Summer Olympics, to Melbourne to Brisbane, Australia offers sun-drenched horizons, white sandy beaches and sophisticated modern cities. Aside from its natural beauty, the hospitality and U.S.-friendliness of Australia is rivaled by few countries, Yount said.

Additional day trips can be added to itineraries.

“You can add other tours and segments while you’re there if you want to go up to the Great Barrier Reef or the rain forest,” Yount said.

Participating ITR/ITT offices in the National Capital Region with telephone numbers:

Aberdeen Proving Ground (410) 278-3931

Fort Detrick (301) 619-3237

Fort Meade (301) 677-7354

Annapolis Naval Station (410) 293-9210

Bethesda Naval Medical Center (301) 295-0434

Naval Weapons Station Indian Head (301) 744-4850

Patuxent Naval Air Station (301) 757-1394

Fort Belvoir (703) 805-3714

Henderson Hall (703) 979-4011

Marine Corps Base Quantico (703) 784-6259

Pentagon Headquarters Department of the Army Recreation Services (703) 697-3816

Naval District of Washington (202) 433-6666

If not in the Washington, D.C., area, check with your local ITT/ITR office for availability.

(Editor's note: Tim Hipps writes for the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center.)

[CWOJackson]

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[SandRat]

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by Courtesy photo

May 17, 2006

Built for speed and strength, the kangaroo is an Australian icon and easily recognizable as one of the country's national symbols.

 

Images on the Army Web site are cleared for release and are considered in the public domain. Request credit be given as "Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army" and credit to individual photographer whenever possible.

[E.G.C.]

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