Help with flight deals from YVR to LAX...

[lwilkison]

Hey Everyone!

We have booked Hojo for Oct. 5 to Oct. 14!! We are coming back after almost 2 years

This time we are going to be a bit more people...as we are bringing our 11 turning 12 year old niece (she will turn 12 @ DLR and she doesn't even know about the trip yet).

There will be myself (DW) my DH our DD (4 yrs old) and then BIL and niece.

SO EXCITED!

Flights are redonculously expensive right now...last time we flew YVR to LX and return the flights were $350 return each. Right now they are $550 return. Owch!

Any advice from the board about ways to get the best deal on flights? I can usually find pretty good prices through travel agent with Westjet and flying with Westjet is how we flew last time with our then 2 1/2 yr old DD and they were totally on her team...after waiting for plane to deboard we got all of our stuff and ALL THE CREW were waiting to give our DD high-fives

Oh, so excited to finally be going back! (Did I mention that already?!)

Thanks for all your wonderful help DIS board members

 

[asc72]

A couple options to consider. If you were willing to do the drive to Seattle, the airfare prices are considerably lower. There are some great park-sleep-fly packages out of there. (when we went to Hawaii last year, the cost to stay and park in Seattle was less than YVR parking).

If you don't want the drive, we used the Alaska Air credit card. If you sign up, they give you 25000 airmiles which is enough for 1 ticket return to LA, you also get a $99 companion fare, which would cover the 2nd ticket.

Other than that, you have a bit of time, so you might want to watch for some seat sales. They seem to come up fairly regularly with West Jet and Air Canada.

 

[KittyKat1978]

Hello fellow BC'er

I have heard booking flights mid week (tues/wed) is the best time.

I am going Sept 30-Oct 6 and I have seen prices around $450pp.

You could try flying out of Seattle, but I have found the 3 hour drive and the early flight times to be more of a hassle. I would rather pay a little more and fly out of YVR.

Keep looking and hopefully they will drop in price.

When I went to WDW last year (Sept), the price was around $650pp, then expedia had a spring sale, and I got the flights for $480pp. I hadn't even booked the hotel/tickets yet!!

 

[kats6776]

Is LAX your only option? We're flying from SEA to LGB for $59/way.

 

[KittyKat1978]

I just checked Allegiant Air out of Bellingham and for my May dates it's $290US.

They are only booking to August right now, but that might be another option as Bellingham is way closer than Seattle.

 

[deesquared]

Flying out of Bellingham saved us a ton!
It's a tiny airport, so it's easy to navigate. Parking is pretty cheap too.
We flew into SNA, with a stop in Seattle to switch planes, so it is a bit more of a hassle than flying direct from Vancouver, but the savings was worth it to me. I think they might have some direct flights to SNA.
Also, SNA (AKA John Wayne Airport) is much closer to Disneyland, and easier to navigate than LAX.

 

[duckwife]

Hi Neighbor! We live in Burnaby. We are leaving tomorrow and have booked SEA to LGB (Long Beach) with Jet Blue for $179 return. Even with a hotel stay (Priceline) on the return end it is substantially cheaper than YVR.
We have previously flown from Bellingham and YVR and it varies each time which is the better deal. Last November it turned out that it was almost as cheap to fly out of YVR with Westjet but his time it was a lot more
If you have never flown out of SEA, it is very easy to get to if you are willing to drive 3 hours and IMHO, worth the savings for us anyways. I have found that the cheapest fares are usually about 3 months out so keep your eye on them. For me, the obsessive planning is half the fun of the trip so enjoy!

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

We are flying out of Bellingham today, park at the wiki wiki shuttle (google it) and then fly from there - we are paying $69 each way on alaska! Just gotta watch and be ready to buy fast - alaska air goes up and up - if you see it for 69-99 one way - snatch it up!

 

[Susie63]

Our last trip was $902 including taxes, for 3 of us from Edmonton to LAX.I don't expect to get that deal again but here was my trick.For some reason prices change daily. I would check everyday in the morning,afternoon and late at night.EVERYDAY.Seat sales were at around $139 and I paid $99 there and $89 back(+taxes).And I booked one way.I had my return flights first
Also WJ has sales every thurs afternoon( I wanna say blue tag sales?)
Good luck. I keep trying to get flight prices but I am too far away from my travel dates

 

[tanyaewa]

Check other airports to fly into. SNA, LGB and LAX. Also flying out of YVR, BEL and SEA. Try diff combinations.

Good airlines to try? Alaska, westjet, allegiant and JetBlue.

No reason it should be more than 350 max.

 

[Canadiantinkerfairy]

We flew with westjet last year, and it was about $300 round each. This year we booked allegiant and it flys to LAX and it was under $1200 for 5 of us.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you're interested in a "journey", the trip to Seattle via Amtrak is awfully nice. (just make sure you book the TRAIN, not their bus)

But then you get into downtown Seattle and have to get yourselves to Seatac, which is perhaps half an hour away. Depending on train schedule and flight time, it might rope you into one night's stay in the airport area, which then might erase any savings.

But it's worth thinking about! I love the train.

 

[lwilkison]

Hi Neighbor! We live in Burnaby. We are leaving tomorrow and have booked SEA to LGB (Long Beach) with Jet Blue for $179 return. Even with a hotel stay (Priceline) on the return end it is substantially cheaper than YVR.
We have previously flown from Bellingham and YVR and it varies each time which is the better deal. Last November it turned out that it was almost as cheap to fly out of YVR with Westjet but his time it was a lot more
If you have never flown out of SEA, it is very easy to get to if you are willing to drive 3 hours and IMHO, worth the savings for us anyways. I have found that the cheapest fares are usually about 3 months out so keep your eye on them. For me, the obsessive planning is half the fun of the trip so enjoy!

I hope you have a great and safe trip and thank you for the advice

I will keep it in mind

 

[lwilkison]

Thank you for the great advice, I have already gone online and started searching other airports. I especially like the LGB idea...only 20 minutes from HOjo! Wahoo

Fingers crossed though that we can still fly from YVR as it is only a short taxi ride from home, easy to get to, easy to fly and the day is already so busy with travel that I would hope not to have to add 3 hours each way for drive plus border crossing

 

[Susie63]

Thank you for the great advice, I have already gone online and started searching other airports. I especially like the LGB idea...only 20 minutes from HOjo! Wahoo

Fingers crossed though that we can still fly from YVR as it is only a short taxi ride from home, easy to get to, easy to fly and the day is already so busy with travel that I would hope not to have to add 3 hours each way for drive plus border crossing

I hear ya! I want to fly out of Grande Prairie this time.It will cost me at least $500 more,but by the time I pay for gas(9 hrs.there and back)parking,food and 2 nights in a hotel(early morning departure...late night arrival) I may as well spend the money and have a ten minute drive to the local airport
Here's to some pixie dust for both of us and some good flight deals.

 

[tanyaewa]

I looked at Hotwire they showed Alaska air flights for 430 Yvr to LGB on your dates.
Then I went to Alaska airlines website and checked their low fare calendar.
Apply for their MasterCard and get a 99$ companion flight to use within the year. And 25000 miles that you can use for a flight as well.
I wish I did that BEFORE I booked our last vacation.
Keep an eye on the alaska airlines website.

 

[camosun]

We just booked this week to fly from YVR to LAX in June and the cost was just under $350 per person which I thought was a very good price. We are flying on Alaska Air and flying Tuesday to Tuesday.

Check out Alaska vacations. We have used them 3 times for Disneyland and have gotten pretty good deals each time.

 

[sweethannah]

From Vancouver the smaller airports, SNA etc are too expensive and you have to change planes ( probably ).

Allegiant is currently only accepting reservations thru to the middle of August.

I too am planning to visit Disneyland ( woohoo! ) around the same time as you, the 13-20 October and I am currently pricing out Alaska Airlines vacations for the entire package. They are coming in at about 800$ less expensive than Westjet.

 

[CSAColl]

We are flying BLI-LAX for $107 each way on Sept 22 & 29th with ALASKA! Nonstop is also a bonus!

Now to get to BLI from the Island :/


EDIT: We checked out BLI-SAN and found it cheaper and we don't have to drive all the way to SEA. Sweet.

 

[sweethannah]

We are flying BLI-LAX for $107 each way on Sept 22 & 29th with ALASKA! Nonstop is also a bonus!

Now to get to BLI from the Island :/

Are you sure it's nonstop? I'm fairly sure all the flights from BLI to LAX with AS are via SEA at least.