Departures · six guides
Six guides, each read from its official source
Every guide carries a three-letter code, the way a bag carries the code of the airport it is going to. The last column is the day each one was checked against its sources.
| Code | Guide | Read from | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| CXL | Your rights when travel is cancelled | ACCC, NSW Fair Trading | Checked 8 Oct |
| INS | Travel insurance basics | Moneysmart, Smartraveller | Checked 8 Oct |
| SMT | Smartraveller and its four advice levels | Smartraveller (DFAT) | Checked 8 Oct |
| PPT | Passports: timing, renewal and fees | Australian Passport Office | Checked 8 Oct |
| SCM | Travel scams, from booking to coming home | Scamwatch, Smartraveller | Checked 8 Oct |
| CMP | Complaints about travel | ACCC, state agencies, Infrastructure | Checked 8 Oct |
Before you pay
Five things to look at before a booking is paid for
These come from the federal transport department’s air passenger guide, Smartraveller and the ACCC. Each links to the page it came from.
- The terms and conditionsRead the terms before you book, and if you book through an agent or another middleman, read theirs as well as the airline’s, cruise line’s or tour operator’s: the ACCC says both apply. The ACCC suggests asking the business to confirm in writing anything that is unclear. ACCC: travel delays and cancellations.
- The names on the bookingThe department’s guide says the names on a booking should match your ID exactly, spelling and hyphens included, and that an error caught within 24 hours might be fixed for free if you contact the airline or agent quickly. Australian Air Passenger Travel Guide: book smart.
- The expiry date on the passportSome countries will not let you in if your passport has less than six months to run from the date you plan to leave, and some airlines apply the same rule. Smartraveller says it can apply even if you are only transiting. The passports guide has the timing and fees.
- The advice level where you are goingSmartraveller suggests checking the advice level of a destination before you buy insurance, because most policies will not cover you in a level 4 country. The Smartraveller guide explains the four levels.
- The insurance, at the moment you payThe department’s guide suggests buying travel insurance as soon as you pay for the trip. What a policy covers is set out in its product disclosure statement. See travel insurance basics.
Via an agent
What changes when a travel agent makes the booking
A travel agent sits between you and the airline, hotel or tour operator that actually provides the trip. The federal transport department’s air passenger guide says agents can be helpful, particularly for complex trips, and that they come with their own fees, terms and conditions.
Your rights do not change with the channel
The ACCC says the consumer guarantees apply whether you book directly with the airline, cruise line or tour operator, through a travel agent, or through another intermediary such as a booking platform. What does change is whose terms you are reading: both the agent’s and the provider’s apply, and the ACCC notes that legally an agent may only need to pass on the remedy the provider offers.
Refunds and news travel through the agent
According to the department’s guide, when you book through an agent, changes and refunds are usually handled by the agent, so a refund can take longer, and an airline may send you back to your agent for help. Updates about your trip may also reach you through the agent rather than from the airline, which can mean a delay. The guide suggests two things to ask for: that the agent puts your own contact details into the ticketing system, so updates reach you directly, and how to reach the agent out of hours during a disruption.
Questions Consumer Affairs Victoria suggests asking
- Is the agent accredited? Accredited businesses have to meet set professional standards, and some accreditation schemes have their own dispute resolution options.
- Does the agent have insolvency insurance, which can help if the agent stops operating before you get what you paid for?
- What are the agent’s terms for changing or cancelling?
The department’s guide adds that agents based overseas, particularly online, can be hard to contact, and that enforcing Australian Consumer Law against them or using Australian complaint bodies may be difficult. When something does go wrong, the complaints guide sets out the order to take it in, and the cancellations guide explains refunds and credits.
Where to check
The official places behind this guide
Each of these keeps the rules or the advice this site explains, and each is linked from the guides that use it:
- The ACCC, on consumer rights when travel is delayed or cancelled.
- Your state or territory consumer protection agency, listed by the ACCC, for help with a dispute.
- Smartraveller, the travel advice service of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
- The Australian Passport Office, which sits within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
- Moneysmart, the Federal Government website brought to you by ASIC, on travel insurance.
- Scamwatch, which the ACCC operates.
Every guide here was read against these sources on 8 October 2026, and each page names its own sources at the foot.