Flights to Australia?

[mathgeek]

Looking at prices for flights for Australia, and they're not good. I didn't expect them to be inexpensive though. Any advice to get the best price? I think part of the issue is that the start of the tour is in Cairns and it ends in Hobart. If you've done this trip, what were you able to get your flights down to and how far in advance did you book?

 

[Cousin Orville]

We're flying from Houston to Dallas (United) to Sydney (Qantas) where we will spend a few days before flying to Cairns (Qantas).

Then we fly from Hobart to Sydney (Qantas) back to LA (Qantas) and on to Houston (Qantas).

I booked it all through Qantas' website, which was the best price for me. I booked pretty much when they flights were first available to book.

I wouldn't change the way the trip is organized, but it is challenging starting in Cairns and finishing in Hobart.

 

[OKW Lover]

We flew to Sydney for a non-ABD trip and went on JetStar (a Qantas affiliate) from HNL to SYD. First class was very comfortable and less expensive than the competitors.

 

[mathgeek]

We're flying from Houston to Dallas (United) to Sydney (Qantas) where we will spend a few days before flying to Cairns (Qantas).

Then we fly from Hobart to Sydney (Qantas) back to LA (Qantas) and on to Houston (Qantas).

I booked it all through Qantas' website, which was the best price for me. I booked pretty much when they flights were first available to book.

I wouldn't change the way the trip is organized, but it is challenging starting in Cairns and finishing in Hobart.

I think I've got something booked that I like. Used Orbitz so I have til tomorrow at 10 pm to change my mind. But I think my biggest issues are that there are no direct flights from Chicago to Australia, I have to go through LAX, SFO, or DFW it looks like, and I'm flying home at the end of a holiday weekend, July 5th, so I'm also being careful about giving myself enough time at LAX to clear immigration/customs and get through domestic security before departing for Chicago.

Cousin Orville, you're lucky to have DFW right there!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

.....so I'm also being careful about giving myself enough time at LAX to clear immigration/customs and get through domestic security before departing for Chicago.

.....

Two words - GLOBAL ENTRY.

 

[pixiepirate]

I think I've got something booked that I like. Used Orbitz so I have til tomorrow at 10 pm to change my mind. But I think my biggest issues are that there are no direct flights from Chicago to Australia, I have to go through LAX, SFO, or DFW it looks like, and I'm flying home at the end of a holiday weekend, July 5th, so I'm also being careful about giving myself enough time at LAX to clear immigration/customs and get through domestic security before departing for Chicago.

Mathgeek, I will also be making the flight from Chicago next October. I would be interested to hear how things work out for you.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

We booked our flights in September.

We fly from Toronto to LAX where we have a 7 hour layover (I think we may go to Manhattan Beach for a few hours to stretch out our legs). We then fly direct to Sydney.

Coming back we fly direct from Sydney to Toronto with 1 stop (I have to call and find out where we are stopping to see if we want to maybe stay a few nights before resuming our travels).

I just booked the flight from Sydney to Cairns on Virgin Australia and am trying to book the trip from Hobart to Sydney with Quantas (JetStar), but keep getting error messages. Looks like the cost for both flights for dd and I will be around US$700.00.

 

[WeLoveABD]

We're flying from Houston to Dallas (United) to Sydney (Qantas) where we will spend a few days before flying to Cairns (Qantas).

Then we fly from Hobart to Sydney (Qantas) back to LA (Qantas) and on to Houston (Qantas).

I booked it all through Qantas' website, which was the best price for me. I booked pretty much when they flights were first available to book.

I wouldn't change the way the trip is organized, but it is challenging starting in Cairns and finishing in Hobart.

Hey Cousin Orville! We are planning to book the Australia ABD for 2016 (June), so are very interested in hearing about your trip! We are exploring activities for a few pre-days, including a day trip to the Blue Mountains. Are you looking at that--and if so, are you going on your own via train, taking a group tour or...? Thanks!

 

[NashSmartGuy]

If you've not used it, http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ is a good site for researching airfares (although I have found that it occasionally omits certain airlines). I found a new iPhone app called "Hopper" yesterday that will supposedly tell you the optimal time to buy a ticket based upon historical trends. I couldn't find a way to do multi-city pairs, though, and I don't have any experience with it to provide a firm recommendation.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Hey Cousin Orville! We are planning to book the Australia ABD for 2016 (June), so are very interested in hearing about your trip! We are exploring activities for a few pre-days, including a day trip to the Blue Mountains. Are you looking at that--and if so, are you going on your own via train, taking a group tour or...? Thanks!

I haven't researched anything in detail yet. I've looked into the Blue Mountains, but I'm not totally sold on the idea. I know it would make for a long day trip, and we might want to relax a bit prior to the ABD starting. We will most likely stay around Sydney for a few days.

 

[mathgeek]

We booked our flights in September.

We fly from Toronto to LAX where we have a 7 hour layover (I think we may go to Manhattan Beach for a few hours to stretch out our legs). We then fly direct to Sydney.

Coming back we fly direct from Sydney to Toronto with 1 stop (I have to call and find out where we are stopping to see if we want to maybe stay a few nights before resuming our travels).

I just booked the flight from Sydney to Cairns on Virgin Australia and am trying to book the trip from Hobart to Sydney with Quantas (JetStar), but keep getting error messages. Looks like the cost for both flights for dd and I will be around US$700.00.

Your cost for flights total is $700 per person? That's way less than what I've been seeing. But I'm also flying over the 4th of July holiday weekend back into the states, which is no doubt increasing fares.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Sorry if my post wasn't clear. We are flying business class from Toronto (via LAX) to Sydney and Sydney (via Vancouver) to Toronto. Since I am almost 6' tall with long legs there is no way I can sit in economy class for 15 straight hours (the length of the flight from LAX to Sydney).

The $700.00 cost is for the internal flights in Australia only (Sydney to Cairns and Hobart to Sydney). That is for both my daughter and myself including taxes.

 

[mathgeek]

Sorry if my post wasn't clear. We are flying business class from Toronto (via LAX) to Sydney and Sydney (via Vancouver) to Toronto. Since I am almost 6' tall with long legs there is no way I can sit in economy class for 15 straight hours (the length of the flight from LAX to Sydney).

The $700.00 cost is for the internal flights in Australia only (Sydney to Cairns and Hobart to Sydney). That is for both my daughter and myself including taxes.

Oh! Thank you for the clarification! That makes me feel better.

I bit the bullet and booked. I booked American/Qantas for the whole trip. I'm short, so I'm hoping I can make it in economy without too much trouble. And I compared the prices if I had booked each leg separate, and it would've ended up about $1000 more.

Mathgeek, I will also be making the flight from Chicago next October. I would be interested to hear how things work out for you.

Pixiepirate, I will let you know how it goes! I'm going from Chicago to LAX (4 hour layover, tried for 2 hours but the flight I wanted was no longer available when I actually tried to book), LAX to Brisbane (3 hour layover), then Brisbane to Cairns. On the return I'm going from Hobart to Melbourne (2 hour layover), Melbourne to LAX (4 hour layover), then LAX to Chicago. And don't think that I didn't consider just taking the Disneyland Express to the Grand Cali for a night or two at Disneyland before that last leg!

 

[Cousin Orville]

And don't think that I didn't consider just taking the Disneyland Express to the Grand Cali for a night or two at Disneyland before that last leg!

Oh, I think we all considered that.

 

[Reppstir]

Just my two cents: I've flown to Sydney six times. My only experience is on Korean Air, in business class. It was phenomenal. I am not sure how they could have took care of you any better. A few of the times it was on a 747 (upstairs) and the rest of the trips were on 777.
Very comfortable. Went kind of a round about way, ATL - Seoul and Seoul - Sydney. The Seoul airport has a great Sky Lounge, too. Not the most direct flight, but time wasn't my concern.
This was about two years ago, though, not sure of the pricing right now. I remember the flights being in the $7500 range round trip.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

For anyone staying pre or post adventure in Sydney, I got a Deluxe City View room at the Four Seasons for under US$300 per night. Given the outrageous prices at other Four Seasons properties I've stayed at, this is a downright steal!

We are staying at the Park Hyatt pre and the Four Seasons post (Park Hyatt is MUCH more but I had points lol!).

 

[Cousin Orville]

For anyone staying pre or post adventure in Sydney, I got a Deluxe City View room at the Four Seasons for under US$300 per night. Given the outrageous prices at other Four Seasons properties I've stayed at, this is a downright steal!

We are staying at the Park Hyatt pre and the Four Seasons post (Park Hyatt is MUCH more but I had points lol!).

Sounds like an amazing price. Right now we are booked at the Park Hyatt for our prestay as well. Both I'm sure are great hotels.

 

[mathgeek]

Two words - GLOBAL ENTRY.

Working on this now. Didn't realize that TSA pre comes as part of the package. That makes the $100 application fee a little more worth it.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Working on this now. Didn't realize that TSA pre comes as part of the package. That makes the $100 application fee a little more worth it.

Knock on wood, but with my Global Entry, I've had very good luck getting pre check on most of my tickets. There's no guarantee you get it though.

 

[tufbuf]

Knock on wood, but with my Global Entry, I've had very good luck getting pre check on most of my tickets. There's no guarantee you get it though.

We get it all the time flying within the States. Coming from abroad might be a different story.

I was checking airfare cost and from Seattle to Sydney/Melbourne, it's 1300 pp. I thought that was pretty reasonable.