booking great flight deals...

[LivingforDisney]

I totally agree with direct flights with kids, have done indirect and direct myself.
On our last trip, we had 6 flights during our trip and my kids would fall asleep as soon as plane took off, even on some day flights .

 

[LivingforDisney]

Don't forget to book your insurance when you pay for your flights.

 

[viaggiamo]

I would agree with the direct flights from Brisbane. Especially on the way back. They fly from LA around 11pm-12 midnight and you sleep the entire way and arrive in the morning in to Australia.
We have done it twice, albeit only with 2 kids, but they were aged 2 and 5 the first time.
We fly direct on either Qantas or Virgin (both equally good IMHO, so whoever is cheaper) and then arrive at the hotel mid morning. I always prebook the night before and let them know we will not arrive until the following day so they don't think we are a no-show.
Then we arrive, check in, sleep for 2-3 hours and have a relaxing afternoon, go to bed early and then we feel great the next day. But the second day I also keep fairly low key. If we are at DL no reservations etc.
It suits us and I would not be on a plane one minute more than what I needed to be...

 

[zanzibar138]

I went to a TA today, just to get a quote and ask a few questions. If they can match the online sale prices we will probably book flights through them? but I think we will be best off booking everything ourselves, will see what they come back with. She said that the best time for us to book will be Dec/Jan and if not there will be expo specials in Feb. I cant wait to have the flights booked! It will make all this seem real instead of a dream!!

If we fly direct through the day the girls might nap for an hour or 2 at best
We are going to try to get a flight that will have us arriving into LA after lunch, I REALLY want them to sleep for as much as possible. As much as I am deliriously excited for this trip I am starting to fret a little about the flight. I dont love flying at the best of times- and to add 4 young kids to the mix- starting to think I might be in a little bit of denial

Unless you are able to get a fantastic deal through the TA, I'd recommend booking yourself. It makes it much easier when you can deal with the airline directly in the case of delays, changes to your bookings etc.

I stand by my recommendation of direct flights. Even if they don't sleep much, the direct flights will be much less exhausting for everyone, and landing early in the morning is conducive to napping when you get there if you need it. You might be surprised and find that your kids sleep more than you think. Then you would need to wake them up to change flights and have them tired and grumpy and bored waiting around for the next one. Plus, if you're on a flight that gets in later in the afternoon, it's really too late to nap when you get there without messing up your body clock. So you'll either have to keep them awake and deal with them being tired and grumpy, or accept that it may then take a few days to get out of the jetlag phase.

FWIW, the Fiji Airways flight gets in at about 2:30pm. I was excited about the flight because I went business class from Fiji, and managed to get a few hours sleep because my seat folded down into a bed. However, the travel through Fiji really took it out of me (and I had lounge access at the airport), and I was absolutely exhausted by the time I arrived at my hotel after 5pm (because by the time I'd cleared customs etc peak hour had started). DH and I both agreed that it was much harder getting into the new time zone when we arrived in the afternoon rather than first thing in the morning. It was even worse on the way back having that couple of hour stop in the trip when all I wanted to do was get home.

Try not to worry about your flights or think about it too much. They are what they are - a necessary way of getting to exciting places. Whichever way you book, you'll deal with it the best you can at the time, and will have the excitement of the trip to make you feel better when you arrive. Once you've done long haul with your kids and you know how they cope, what they struggled with etc, you'll be able to take that all into consideration for next time.

Don't forget to book your insurance when you pay for your flights.

Definitely do this. The flights are a big chunk of your travel budget and you definitely don't want to lose that money if anything happens.

 

[travelwith4kids]

Thanks for all your thoughts
Just too clarify (and because I hadnt thought about it yet!), the insurance your talking about is a separate one for the flights bought at time of booking flights? Or do we just purchase our travel insurance when we get our flights... and this covers our flights and also our holiday when we travel later in the year?? Sorry, I'm abit clueless. Been such along time since going OS!
Thanks for any help!

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks for all your thoughts
Just too clarify (and because I hadnt thought about it yet!), the insurance your talking about is a separate one for the flights bought at time of booking flights? Or do we just purchase our travel insurance when we get our flights... and this covers our flights and also our holiday when we travel later in the year?? Sorry, I'm abit clueless. Been such along time since going OS!
Thanks for any help!

I was referring to your travel insurance. That will cover your flights too, so no use doubling up. Generally you don't need too many details to get the insurance - just your dates really. So you could even purchase it before your flights if you were keen!

Personally because we go away such a lot, we get an annual multi-trip policy, but obviously that doesn't work for everyone.

Just a heads up though, the US is the most expensive place in the world for travel insurance (even more so than Africa) because of the ridiculously high costs of health care.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Our first time when we flew Air NZ, we got into L.A in the morning, and when we got to the hotel a few hours later, the kids had a swim, we had something to eat and we crashed out around 6pm.
LAX can be a nightmare, for immigration and customs!
Though they do move people with kids to shorter lines.


We were fine the next day, no jet lag.
But the first few days my 9 year old at the time, was waking up around midnight, he just watched tv and fell asleep again.
Our last visit I paid for tickets 8 months out, so yes I got the insurance for the whole trip at this time.
Don't get the travel agent to do it.
Do it yourself on line.

 

[dollarmite]

Our last visit I paid for tickets 8 months out, so yes I got the insurance for the whole trip at this time.
Don't get the travel agent to do it.
Do it yourself on line.

I totally agree. I've used Travel Insurance Direct for our last few trips. They were a fraction of the cost of other sites and travel agencies. I had to make my first ever travel claim after our Christmas trip to Singapore and Hong Kong and it was all hassle free. Travel agents are probably the most expensive, because the agent/agency gets a commission of the sale.

 

[dollarmite]

Unless you are able to get a fantastic deal through the TA, I'd recommend booking yourself. It makes it much easier when you can deal with the airline directly in the case of delays, changes to your bookings etc.

I agree 100%

We travelled to Singapore and Hong King over Christmas and the night before we left I had to make changes to DH's flight due to him being in an accident at work. I was able to get straight onto Singapore Airlines and straighten it all out. I'm not sure what would've happened had we booked via a TA as this all arose outside work hours and our flight left at 9am the next day.

We just got back from the US and this time I booked the flights through a TA (for the first time in about 15 years) as they were they were an Expo special that I just couldn't beat online.

Unfortunately we had a situation arise during the trip that could've necessitated my DH making an early return (he didn't in the end). I called Virgin Airlines in the US. They couldn't/wouldn't help as the booking was through at TA. Due to time differences and the TA being out of the office the next day there was a real delay in getting things sorted. Then, 2 days before we were due to leave LA, I checked my booking online to find DH had been removed from the booking! Que another round of emailing the TA and waiting through time zones etc. I phoned VA to discover later he'd been separated out after my initial enquiry regarding changing flights and I'm not still not sure who was responsible for that.

All that to say, if I'd booked the flights myself I'm sure all that could've been sorted out with one or two phone calls directly with the airline. Lesson learned. From now all, I'll make all bookings myself.

 

[travelwith4kids]

Thank you so much for all the advice!
So only book flights through TA if it is a significant price difference, otherwise do myself online and only book our insurance ourselves online.
With 4 kids we want the best insurance we can get!

 

[Zosha]

Hi Travelwith4kids,

I thought the insurance that TA's offer at time of booking was a massive rip-off personally! You can buy it separately. Have a look at Defence Health travel insurance and also Covermore. You can get quotes off their websites. HTH.

 

[bswift]

I'll be heading over in late October next year and flights for my dates aren't out yet. Do they often have sales/early bird fares when flights are first released? Never booked this far out before! I'm not willing to pay over $1300 return and I'm happy to fly any airline really. I'm even considering United on their direct Dreamliner service from Melbourne. Currently they have dates in August next year for around $1100 return. Just wondering if I should be constantly checking for when my flights go on sale or if I'm better off just waiting for a sale to be advertised.

 

[travelwith4kids]

Thanks for the suggestions, just having a look at those now.

Stupid questions sorry but... if we leave LA on say the 10th but with time difference dont land until the 12th, I'm assuming we cover until the 12th?

Also our cancellation cover amount would include flights, car hire?, accom? (or not as most gets paid when we get there?), park tickets? anything else?

Rental car insurance excess? How do we know what/if we need if we wont yet have car booked? Or is there a standard amount I am again clueless about

Does about $500 for the month sound right? That is with covermore. (not booking yet, just 'window shopping')

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks for the suggestions, just having a look at those now.

Stupid questions sorry but... if we leave LA on say the 10th but with time difference dont land until the 12th, I'm assuming we cover until the 12th?

Also our cancellation cover amount would include flights, car hire?, accom? (or not as most gets paid when we get there?), park tickets? anything else?

Rental car insurance excess? How do we know what/if we need if we wont yet have car booked? Or is there a standard amount I am again clueless about

Does about $500 for the month sound right? That is with covermore. (not booking yet, just 'window shopping')

Sorry I can't remember how the return date works, being used to the annual policy now.

You don't need to have booked anything before you buy your insurance. It will just cover whatever arises as you do it. Park tickets should be covered, but it might be worth reading the fine print to ensure that they cover expenses for entertainment. Most seem to have similar pretty standard coverage.

The general consensus on the forum seems to be to not rely on your travel insurance for your rental car excess. Most just don't offer enough coverage. Read through a few policies to get an idea. I think ours offered up to $5k excess, but if you write off the car, you'll be liable for the whole value of the car. When you book your rental car, read the fine print closely to see what it covers (sometimes the extra insurances will be added automatically for Aussies, it seemed to be depending on the state). If liability and excess aren't included, it's worth factoring those extra insurances into your cost. I also got roadside assistance for the solo parts of my trip.

Again, being used to annual policies now, not sure about the cost. Just shop around. Get quotes from at least 3 different websites, I'd do half a dozen. It will give you a good idea of whether the pricing is any good or not. We have used RACV for the last year as they were willing to cover my pre-existing medical condition. We've previously used QBE, Covermore and TID. We weren't happy with Covermore. TID did cover my laptop when it was stolen during transit, even though it was in my suitcase I was pretty happy with that since it clearly states in their fine print that it won't cover any valuables in checked luggage. We didn't need to use QBE or RACV so I can't comment on their service. RACV was pretty good to deal with over the phone though when I called to let them know I'd had my gall bladder out. We did lose money on a flight home from Sydney because of it, but what we lost was less than the cost of the excess, so it wasn't worth trying to claim.

 

[aussie shaz]

I just did a quick quote with Travel Insurance Direct (TID). One month in October (don't think the time of year matters) was $346. It does depend on your age.
You do need to include the day you leave and the day you arrive back into Australia.
Regarding car insurance, make sure you get CDW, LDW etc. this will usually bring your excess to about $3000 or so. Your travel insurance should then cover this excess. Read all the fine print properly.
I got a travel agent friend quote me on travel insurance for our trip last year. It was hundreds of $ extra. I sent her the details of the TID policy and asked if her policy included any more than the TID did. She said no.
I used to be a travel agent many years ago. We made 40% commission.

 

[Babysaurs]

We used southern cross travel insurance last year when we went to Phuket and Singapore. We ended up having to make a claim when dd jumped out of a van and hit her head on the concrete requiring a trip to Phuket hospital and 2 staples in her head! They were very easy to deal with and had no trouble claiming.
Will most likely use them for our trip next year too. Quite for 17 nights away with them for that trip is $254 ATM.
Make sure you are comparing the same thing though, for example check what exactly is included as maybe a cheaper policy won't have much in certain areas where others are unlimited amounts etc. Hope that makes sense.

 

[meagus]

We got home from our disneyland holiday just last week. We had covermore insurance.......thank god.

We spent three days and nights in the children's hospital with our 2 1/2 year old son in critical care on an iv drip. Add to that an ambulance transfer as well, and I can only imagine what the medical bill would have been. Covermore were fantastic. They kept in contact with us constantly and also kept in discussions with the hospitals administration, and made our stay at hospital as stress free as possible. They covered all of the medical bills and we were not out of pocket at all. Really couldn't fault them, and would definitely use them again!

 

[zanzibar138]

We got home from our disneyland holiday just last week. We had covermore insurance.......thank god.

We spent three days and nights in the children's hospital with our 2 1/2 year old son in critical care on an iv drip. Add to that an ambulance transfer as well, and I can only imagine what the medical bill would have been. Covermore were fantastic. They kept in contact with us constantly and also kept in discussions with the hospitals administration, and made our stay at hospital as stress free as possible. They covered all of the medical bills and we were not out of pocket at all. Really couldn't fault them, and would definitely use them again!

Hope your son is ok now

 

[meagus]

Hope your son is ok now

Thanks.
He is fine now. Our hospital stay was the first three days of our trip.....we hadn't even slept at the hotel and we were sleeping at the hospital!! Yuk.
The children's hospital were awesome, as was the Howard Johnson where we were staying.
So even though we had a terrible start to our trip.....once our little man was discharged from hospital, we had an amazing time at disneyland!!

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks.
He is fine now. Our hospital stay was the first three days of our trip.....we hadn't even slept at the hotel and we were sleeping at the hospital!! Yuk.
The children's hospital were awesome, as was the Howard Johnson where we were staying.
So even though we had a terrible start to our trip.....once our little man was discharged from hospital, we had an amazing time at disneyland!!

I'm so pleased to hear that