Mystery Destination Flights – Ticket to Nowhere!
Ever imagined buying an air ticket, not knowing where you would be going? Sounds bizarre, isn’t it?
Such flights, called Mystery Destination Flights were popular in Australia in the 80s and 90s. It was like a real lottery, which made mystery flights exciting as a concept. And they were marketed cheap, which made them extremely popular.
You could end up having lunch on the beach on the sunny Gold Coast or end up freezing to death in some Godforsaken place. Sadly, Mystery Destination Flights were eventually discontinued by all airlines. The last airline to operate them was Virgin Australia.
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Beach destinations were most sought after
Within Australia, Ansett, East-West Airlines, and Australian Airlines (the predecessor to Qantas domestic) all ran mystery flights. However, they all operated mystery flights differently. Ansett and East-West did not disclose where passengers were headed until they reached the airport. This, however, caused the odd problem of people dressed for the beach and ended up in a wet hill station.
Australian Airlines would inform the passengers where they were going 24 hours before if they called the call center. Most passengers, except the ultimate thrill-seekers, called to found out and accordingly packed for their trips.
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No airlines in Australia offer mystery flights anymore.
Fun flights had a business goal in mind
Mystery flights were a simple and efficient way for airlines to fill empty seats at the last minute and generate some revenue. Destinations would be planned considering Yield Management, typically one the day before travel, based on sectors with the availability of empty seats.
“There is no way to guarantee a destination, it’s the luck of the draw,” the airline employee said.
Mystery flight tickets would be priced between about $50 and $150, depending on your origin city and who you were flying with. That might seem cheap, but this was 30 years ago, so it wasn’t really. Instead, it highlights how affordable airline travel has become in subsequent years.
One by one, those old school airlines flying around Australia disappeared off the radar. Ansett ate East-West and Ansett collapsed in 2001. Australian Airlines got subsumed into Qantas. In later years, Qantas never really embraced mystery flights.
East-West Airlines was one of the airlines offering mystery flights. Photo: Daniel Tanner via Wikimedia Commons
Virgin Australia’s Mystery Flights
The last airline to offer mystery flights until earlier this year was Virgin Australia. The airline offered an updated version of the old mystery flights deal. The package included return airfares, 4 to 5-star accommodation, and airport transfers. What you paid would depend on your origin airport and how many nights you wanted to stay away and you could end up in any destination within the country.
Even the most ordinary destination has its charms once you make an effort to scratch the surface. No airlines in Australia offer mystery flights anymore. They were a unique product that introduced a lot of people to flying when taking a flight wasn’t as common as it is now.
We hope mystery flights will be back once the travel situation improves and airlines are back on their feet. Were such flights operated in any other countries too? Leave a comment and let us know.
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