Is anyone heading to Australia between June and Oct '08?

[behappy]

We've booked our family (me, DW, DD(15), DS(11)) for the November 16-25 trip and are now at the point where we can investigate the flight options we'll have. Looking for anyone who might have already done some of the investigating. Any hints and tips would be most appreciated!

 

[rkdahl]

We're on the Nov 30th Australia ABD trip. I've been to AUS 2 times before. It is a loooonnggg flight!! 14hrs across the pond from LAX. We're from Minnesota so we have to connect through ORD then LAX then Brisbane then into CNS. I'm using AA award travel so seats are very limited and I've booked the outbound already. Can't get to the return flight for another 30 days when they open that up.

Your airline choices are very limited, hence fares are quite high. I'd suspect in the $2K/person range. We are going on AA (American) and QF (Qantas). I'd suggest looking early, and often and booking as soon as possible. If fares go down you can always request refund/credit. And get good seats, you'll be in them for a long time!

Good luck with your trip! Hope you guys have a blast and leave everything ready for us the next week!

 

[behappy]

Thanks for the info....I'm familiar with long flights, having taken many business trips to Asia, though, I've always flown business class which is out of the question for this trip. Not sure how the family will adapt. What are your thoughts on 'good' seats? Are we better to get 4 across the middle or better off outside the aisles? Unfortunately, my Frequent Flier miles are spread across many airlines, so that's not really an option, unless I break the trip in 2 and use FF miles for flights to/from the west coast.

 

[Nutsy]

Wish I'd looked over here before now. I'm an Aussie and maybe I could have answered some of your questions for you.

Hope you had a great time anyway.

 

[rkdahl]

Wish I'd looked over here before now. I'm an Aussie and maybe I could have answered some of your questions for you.

Hope you had a great time anyway.

Nutsy...these trips are for 2008 so we haven't left just yet!!

Are we better to get 4 across the middle or better off outside the aisles?

behappy...my preference for seats would be 2x2 on the asiles. The logic, you can get in and out easier, bit more room, window if you want it, and you can easily talk between the two rows. Assuming you can get two rows together.

Coach is a stretch for that long. Definitely need lots to read, games to play, snacks to eat and most importantly, Ambien!

 

[rkdahl]

Deleted ---Duplicate

 

[ImprovGal]

Bump. Any updates on what people (from the U.S.) are doing for their Australian flights? Has anyone had ABD take care of their flights, and if so, how are they routing you to get you to Cairns on the start date?

It's such a long flight I was thinking a stopover somewhere en route might to nice to break up the journey a bit and perhaps help de-jetlag. I'll be originating from Boston so I'm thinking I should probably route to LAX first, and then...?

Nobody seems to fly directly to Cairns from the U.S.

 

[Nutsy]

behappy...my preference for seats would be 2x2 on the asiles. The logic, you can get in and out easier, bit more room, window if you want it, and you can easily talk between the two rows. Assuming you can get two rows together.

Well, just to add my 2 cents worth.. When we travelled to the US we requested Window, Aisle, Window, Aisle...... and down towards the back near the toilets as there is a little bit more leg room down there where it narrows from 3 on the window to 2. Worth ringing the airline and asking for believe me. As for 2 rows together, if it's a family group travelling then I would think you woujld automatically be kept together, as we were. We had the same seats, just one row different coming home too and it was great having a bit of leg room. We've just returned from Hong Kong and requested the same seats, but what we didn't know was that to HOng Kong it's only an Airbus, not a Jiumbo, so it makes no darn difference where on the side you sit as it's all the same, the only place there is a difference is in the middle when it narrows from 4 to 3 for the last few rows.

 

[Nutsy]

Nobody seems to fly directly to Cairns from the U.S.

I looked into this for a friend some time ago and there are not flights from Cairns to the US. Flights from Cairns go to Asia, so you would need to come beack down to Brisbane to get a flight to the US.

When we went we flew Qantas and had a stopover in Auckland. However, there is now a direct flight from Brisbane to LA, costs a bit more, but it's also a couple of hours shorter. Brisbane to Auckland is 3 hrs with a stopover of at least an hour, can't remember exactly how long the stopover was. We did the same coming home and didn't mind at all stopping over in Auckland as it's so close to home, but going over we just wanted to get there.