Heightened sanitation
Daily cleaning, installation of cabin HEPA filters on flights from Melbourne to Canberra
Low season |
April | Best time to beat the crowds (21% less expensive on average) |
|---|---|---|
High season |
June | Most popular time to fly (25% more expensive on average) |
Average price (return flight) |
$289 | (avg. price over the last 2 weeks) |
Good deal (return flight) |
$169 | or less |
Good deal one-way |
$101 | or less |
Qantas Airways, Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia have all waived their change and cancellation fees on flights from Melbourne to Canberra. Confirm policies on booking site.
Etihad Airways does not allow booking a middle seat on flights from Melbourne to Canberra.
The average direct flight takes 1h 00m, covering a distance of 470 km.
There are 266 (direct) flights between Melbourne and Canberra per week, averaging 38 per day.
In the past 3 days, the cheapest one-way tickets were found on Virgin Australia ($180) and Qantas Airways ($227), and the lowest round-trip tickets have been found on Multiple Airlines ($290) and Virgin Australia ($293).
Qantas Airways (11 times daily), Air New Zealand (9 times daily), Singapore Airlines (6 times daily) are the most frequent flyers on this route.
From Melbourne to Canberra, Sunday is the cheapest day to fly on average and Saturday is the most expensive. Flying from Canberra back to Melbourne , the best deals are generally found on Saturday, with Thursday being the most expensive.
When flying out of Melbourne you will be using Melbourne, often referred to as Melbourne Airport. You will be landing at Canberra, also known as Canberra Airport.
There is a long list of different airport restaurants located around the terminal at Melbourne Airport. Included in the options are Ali Baba, Bar Pulpo, Billie Chu, Boost Juice, Crown Lager Bar, Hungry Jack’s, McDonald’s, Nooodles, Salsa’s Fresh Mex and many more – whether you’re searching for a quick snack or a full meal, you’re bound to find something.
There are a few different car parks at varying price points if you need to leave your car at Melbourne Airport. Airport parking starts at approximately $40 per day for economy long-term parking, with other options costing more. Melbourne Airport features an online car park booking system, which can be more cost-effective than booking on-site.
The car hire kiosks at Canberra Airport are located on the lower level of the arrivals area outside the terminal. There are several different car hire agencies operating here, including Thrifty, Hertz, Redspot, Avis, Europcar and Budget Rent A Car. Availability can vary, so be sure to book early for the best price and a guaranteed vehicle.
The designated rideshare pick-up area at Canberra Airport is located at the GREEN indoor car park on the ground floor, which is just a short walk from the arrivals area. The rideshare companies operating in Canberra are GoCatch, OLA, Uber and Glide taxi, so to save time be sure to download the corresponding apps before your flight departs.
KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from Melbourne to Canberra.
KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to Canberra from Melbourne is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.
Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional return ticket. You could then fly to Canberra with an airline and back to Melbourne with another airline.
Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying to Canberra from Melbourne up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.
Scores according to KAYAK customer reviews
Pros: "On time. Very efficient staff. More of this please!"
Cons: "Not a lot!"
Pros: "Great crew & nice meals."
Cons: "The touchscreen menu icons does not seem to be working as you have to keep tapping the function tabs so many times. This is wasting a lot of time."
Pros: "Everything, I was upgraded to the upper cabin, crews are wonderfully friendly and warm."
Cons: "First aid kit, in case of sudden nose bleed caused by dry air. Other than that, perfect!"
Pros: "Everything was fine, a bit late taking off but the time was made up"
Cons: "We left about a half hour late, but made up some of the time in the air."
Pros: "The departure was on time and arrival before time. The comfortable headphone The menu with possibility choose a dish before hand."
Cons: "Passport control in San Francisco took a very long time."
Pros: "It's a pleasant experience"
Pros: "Crew was great."
Cons: "Leg room was just ok."
Pros: "Quality of interior"
Cons: "Food"
Pros: "WiFi on board"
Cons: "Still don't like greasy toasties for breakfast but better than butcher muesli"
Cons: "Food was awful."
Pros: "Could not fault"
Pros: "Nice crew"
Cons: "Delayed by an hour. Gate change to a gate too small to accommodate people. Food was pretty ordinary. Seats very cramped."
Pros: "Overall feel of the flight. The focus in safety"
Cons: "The flight was delayed for 3.5 hours. Limited selection of movied"
Pros: "Personable staff"
Cons: "Delayed 2 hours with little info."
Pros: "Snacks provided were very nice. Flight was shorter than expected."
Cons: "Nothing we didn't like, all was good!"
Pros: "Great flight on the 787 Dreamliner and the crew were fantastic. I wish I could say the same thing for Baggage services. I have a business meeting tomorrow morning and presently they can't even reconcile their own Baggage Receipt number! I expect more when travelling (and paying) for business class."
Cons: "Plane was approx 1 hour late"
Pros: "Crew member Trevor was funny and the perfect host. Good selection of movies."
Cons: "Seats are super uncomfortable and there is no privacy ... worst Business class facilities I’ve ever experienced. Seriously substandard might as well fly economy or better still use a different airline."
Pros: "Crew members were attentive and helpful."
Cons: "The seat was too narrow for keg space. Especially when I had someone who seated in front who's big n he has to bend his seat far behind"
Pros: "Once we boarded the experience was positive."
Cons: "The flight was late causing me to be late for a meeting"
Pros: "Staff polite and friendly. Entertainment on my ipad with wants content great."
Pros: "New business layout is more comfortable comfortable and private."
Pros: "Really nice hostesses. Professional, friendly, interested in travellers. Very welcome when you're travelling home after a long day."
Cons: "Planes are looking a bit tired."
Pros: "Staff were friendly. Enjoyed getting a meal included in the ticket for everyone."
Cons: "Could be more of a range of movies to watch"
Pros: "Flight was straight forward, left and landed on time"
Cons: "QANTAS cancelled my original 10am flight with a text at 5.20am that morning, this stressed me quite a bit as we were flying to Sydney for a wedding that afternoon"
Cons: "Crew service was disgraceful"
Pros: "Staff and flight was perfect otherwise."
Cons: "Flight delayed out of Melbourne."
Pros: "Individual usb charge port and meal"
Pros: "Looking out the window."
Cons: "Flight changed from an A330 to a B737 perhaps as Resukt if the public holiday"
Cons: "Terrible procedures in Sidney and Los-Angeles with uncertainty, broken schedule , chaos and wasting passengers' time."
Pros: "Comfortable plane. Good entertainment. Very nice chicken salad. Friendly staff."
Cons: "The soggy pies were a bit, well, soggy ... The changeover at Dubai seemed unnecessary. Having to go through security tho get from airside to airside was a bit daft. The crew gave little information on how that changeover was going to happen, and when they did it was just before landing."
Pros: "Friendly crew."
Cons: "Nothing that is unique to Qantas or just flying in general."
Pros: "Everything."
Pros: "On time efficient service"
Cons: "Food."
Cons: "I was right by the toilets"
Pros: "Landing with strong winds went well."
Cons: "No seat pillows"
Cons: "Late leaving and still pretending it was going to leave sooner than it did. It boarded 15 mins after the published delayed departure time. Staff wouldn't even call to find out when it would really leave. Lounge closed before the flight was called,"
Cons: "All round excellent"
Pros: "Everything."
Cons: "can not think of any."
Cons: "Only one channel of audio was playing--made listening to Tubular Bells just plain WRONG..."
Pros: "Emma on board staff was friendly and professional"
Cons: "I understand planes are late in and late to leave but the QANTAS staff just get worse at communicating and unapologetic."
Pros: "On time , efficient service"
Cons: "Crowded"
Pros: "The crew manager worked tirelessly to move rows of passengers to other seats because the entertainment system didn't work for a bank of passengers on the long haul flight."
Cons: "Our entertainment system didn't work and we had to split up to move seats."
Pros: "Great check in, comfy plane, with arm rests that go fully up, even when the plane is taking off and landing."
Cons: "The lamb meatballs with couscous was the worst tasting thing I've ever eaten on a plane ever."
Pros: "Arrived on time"
Cons: "Qantas crew occupied other business class seats and were given preference for meals. When the attendant got to me, there was no selection left. flight attendant got my drink order wrong"
Pros: "cabin staff better"
Cons: "toilets appalling"
Pros: "Upgraded to busienss 5 of us together"
Pros: "Great price Service was great Updated on everything from gate change to flight on timen"
Cons: "Didn't book through Kayak on my previous flights"
Pros: "The jumbo-ness of the craft. I felt kind of like being on a cruise ship - which is good! The attendants were terrific."
Cons: "Overhead light kind of spilled over to my neighbor's seat (me being in the outer aisle chair) even after being adjusted as much out as possible. Not a problem if my neighbor had one of those sleep masks..."
Pros: "Movies good Boarding and luggage retrieval good"
Cons: "Arrived an hour late Was another passengers fault tho but annoying"
Cons: "Lounge is disorganised with bad coffee"
Pros: "The virgin lounge."
Cons: "Bit more variety."
Pros: "Left and arrived on time. The plane was nice and clean"
Cons: "Nothing. It was all good"
Cons: "Virgin app did not authorise my boarding credentials"
Pros: "Great luggage allowance and best prices."
Cons: "Not Applicable"
Pros: "Free wifi"
Cons: "Not much"
Pros: "fast boarding"
Cons: "better movies"
Cons: "Could not add baggage online"
Pros: "Quick easy painless and on time"
Pros: "The flight was 45 minutes because they put on the burner"
Cons: "The fact that 8.30 flight is delayed 2.5 hours and they had no other aircraft available to schedule ."
Pros: "I didn’t die"
Cons: "Where’s the coffee? What about a proper snack? Why are the stewardesses so grumpy?"
Cons: "That the flight didn't wait 15 minutes for me to get on it."
Pros: "The service from the crew was great."
Cons: "I’m vegetarian, the Meals offered were really bad and i was disappointed that I wasn’t offered some of the more appealing vegetarian options that were available for the rest of the passengers"
Pros: "We arrived in Adelaide"
Cons: "Having to wait in a massive line for an hour to check in our bags after landing in Melbourne from a Virgin Australia international flight - there should be a special counter for guests who are transferring."
Pros: "The lounge and space on the flight"
Cons: "Bizarre that the passenger across the aisle from me had a ticket to Sydney which had been scanned twice by staff, didn't work, they couldn't work out why and let her on anyway after phonecalls from steward. She wasn't too pleased to be in Adelaide with all her luggage supposedly on the Sydney flight (last minute gate change). Security breach and error!"
Cons: "Going Melbourne delayed nearly 1.5hour Back home Brisbane another nearly 1.5hour and gate change a few times Very very bad experience"
Pros: "they eventually returned it"
Cons: "they lost my bag"
Cons: "they lost our bag on a direct flight, how can they do that? when we got there they only have an agent who told us to contact virgin airlines in melbourne!!!"
Pros: "The staff were lovely."
Cons: "The flight was delayed by two hours, the earphone jack only worked through one side."
Pros: "Everything was great. On time and very nice service Thanks"
Pros: "A+"
Pros: "Free drink and snack Courteous service Arrived on time Free registered luggage"
Cons: "Nothing"
Cons: "Flight cancelled, then booked by Virgin without consultation, onto a flight via Sydney that would take 6 1/2 hrs to get there, had to request another flight but still lost most of the day of my holiday, plus left with many phone calls re change of rental car, arrival , parking bookings, and no compensation and then stress when I got to the airport and was told that despite being "booked " on the much later flight, now I might not actually have a seat. I had to wait while attendant at counter tried to find seats and only watch as they were taken by someone else several times. So unnecessarily stressful and misleading. Lost my original seats, had to sit separate from my companion, and no real concern by Virgin about their impact on customers' plans. Last time I flew, the plane was cancelled, and we had to wait hours for another one in the terminal, so I missed the body corporate meeting that was the ONLY reason I was flying to Brisbane, paying for overnight accommodation and car rental and flight and I MISSED it. Huge cost for NOTHING, as despite driving straight to the meeting, it was just finishing. Whilst at the airport trying to fly home, I heard another Virgin flight cancelled , again due to "unscheduled maintenance". Seems that maintenance and mechanical problems are common and way more common than they should be. So that is a big worry!"
Pros: "Breakfast mushrooms were good."
Cons: "No butter for breakfast roll."
Pros: "Rebooked on earlier flight and it was early!"
Pros: "Every employee I've met has made my trip seamless and delightful. Your employees are very professional. Wish you were in the US!!"
Pros: "everything was great, more movie options would be better"
Cons: "Luggage of 23kg per piece and not able to share across allocated family total"
Pros: "Great crew and good service."
Cons: "Two things - I dont like is the size of the seats. They are far too small. Most people are relatively big these days and when you sit next to a large person or between two large people the whole flight is so uncomfortable. The other thing is the air vents - no where near enough air coming through those - please fix :("
Pros: "Like the corporate image & modern design of different facilities etc. The check-in was nice & smooth."
Cons: "No greeting or smile from crew staff (I think it's important as it shows welcoming)."
Cons: "Waiting time on transfer Staff attitude"
Pros: "Liked that they boarded from front and back"
Cons: "Nothing"
Pros: "Flight crew were lovely."
Cons: "Got told to "sit back down and don't worry" when our first flight was delayed, after I asked the lady at the gate that we may miss our connecting flight. She put other customers on different flights to make their connections, but when I approached was denied, and ensured we would make out next flight. Missed the next flight and had to wait another 3.5 hours for the next flight, even after explaining the situation to a gentleman at the customer service desk, he said he could not help us, and gave my partner and i am $8 food voucher while we waited as a 'sorry'. Then on the way home another 30 min delay. horrible first experience flying, Was very disappointed in the customer service & missed my brothers wedding. I should have booked Qantas instead of Virgin."
Cons: "Flight was very bumpy, and the air inside the plane was stuffy. I felt nauseated all the way through from take off to landing"
Pros: "Agent service"
Cons: "No entertainment"
Cons: "I paid $65 for a seat with extra legroom, 13F, but at the airport found that I had been moved to 8A. Couldn't get my seat back, so spent 25 minutes on the phone to Virgin Australia today getting a refund."
Pros: "Reached Sydney, eventually"
Cons: "Hour late. Crowded plane, cramped. No service. Poor communication about delays."
Pros: "Efficiency at the check-in and the excellent service by the crew on board."
Pros: "Food & service fine- no complaints"
Cons: "Perhaps food could be better"
Cons: "The line for the Bag drop was much longer than anticipated (usually fly with Qantas which is v. quick & automated), meaning I nearly missed the flight."
Cons: "The only vegetarian food option contained gelatine, and when I asked for something different, I was told that they 'don't do that'. However, when a couple asked for something different for religious reasons, they were given another meal. I have been a vegetarian for 16 years, but apparently ethics means nothing when compared to religion. Staff were not sympathetic at all, and we went without a meal, after paying a lot of money for the flight, and checking in advance that there would be vegetarian food. Gelatine is not vegetarian."
Pros: "The awesome app"
Pros: "Everything was a pleasure, the staff, the flight were all great,I will definately be recommending virgin to all my friends. Thanks for making the experience most enjoyable!!"
Pros: "It didnt happen so not much"
Cons: "They cancelled the flight and didnt tell me. The only reason i knew is Tripcase sent me a notification"
Pros: ""
Cons: "You are all ways late"
Cons: "The flight was cancelled the last minute and I called the carrier airlines and they say that nothing can be done and I asked to speak to someone from Kayak and I called a mobile number and had no answer , I will never book again"
Pros: "Pleasant crew"
Cons: "Virgin still doesn't cater for gluten intolerance dietary requirement...it's so easy with a stew, curry, salad etc...anything without pasta or bread..yet they manage to ensure that there's gluten in EVERYTHING, even dishes that shouldn't normally have them...not happy Virgin, take a leaf from Qantas!"
Airlines flying from Melbourne to Canberra have enacted additional safety measures and adjusted policies to better accommodate travellers. Policies vary by airline.
Heightened sanitation
Daily cleaning, installation of cabin HEPA filters on flights from Melbourne to Canberra
Mandatory masks
Masks required on board, masks provided on flights from Melbourne to Canberra
Social distancing seating
Middle seats unavailable to book on flights from Melbourne to Canberra
Pre-flight testing
Testing for antibodies, testing for symptoms for flights from Melbourne to Canberra
Flexible cancellations
Waiving of change fees. Search flexible flights from Melbourne to Canberra