Travel deal: Qantas to launch $200 Chicago-Australia airfares

Qantas Airways will offer $200 airfares from the U.S. to Australia on the last day of its deeply discounted seats in honor of its 100th birthday airfare sale. Now it’s Chicago‘s turn.

Seats for $100 each way go on sale at 2 p.m. Pacific for flights from Chicago to Brisbane. Travel dates are April 20, 22, 27 and 29, and May 4, 6, 11, 13, 18 and 20. The sale ends when seats sell out.

But you better be quick to get this deal. On Wednesday, the cheap seats from Dallas/Fort Worth sold out in just nine minutes.

If you miss out, Qantas offers $999 round-trip airfares from Chicago to Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne for travel from April 17 to June 27, and July 24 to Sept. 23.

On Monday when $100 seats from Los Angeles went on sale, the airline’s website was slow and took travelers to pages with an error message rather than the booking sight. On Tuesday, featuring fares from San Francisco, the problem hadn’t been solved.

“We know the unprecedented demand has led to a frustrating experience for some of our customers, and we’re continuing to work on a solution,” the statement said.

The third sale day for tickets from DFW went much smoother, according to the airline. Still, if the website seems slow, Qantas advises consumers to refresh the page often, and check for real-time updates the airline’s Twitter feed or Facebook page.

The airline began its 100th year on Saturday. What was called Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. (QANTAS) was created Nov. 16, 1920, by World War I veterans Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness. By 1922, the airline had flown its first scheduled mail and passenger flights, according to the carrier’s website. Soon, “flying doctor” service went into operation to help people in Australia’s far-flung areas.

Today Qantas operates more than 40 direct flights a week between Australia and the U.S.

Info: Qantas 100th Birthday Year Sale