USA, Canada & Alaska Travel Expo

[miss.potatohead]

So it's that time of the year and the USA travel expo is coming back to Melbourne this weekend. Just looked and saw it has already made it's way through Sydney/Brisbane/Gold Coast/Perth and was wondering, is it worth going to?

Are the deals that they have available accessible to people who don't go? Eg. can cheap flights be bought online during the period or do you need to do it via the agents at the expo? Or is it mostly information/freebies/useless paper that they hand out.

Hopefully someone here will know!

 

[BecBennett]

Generally I've always found booking online to be better, but if you work out exactly what you want to do, including which flights, hotels, tickets and everything and then take it with you to the expo they might be able to better the price for you?

 

[Marlea98]

So it's that time of the year and the USA travel expo is coming back to Melbourne this weekend. Just looked and saw it has already made it's way through Sydney/Brisbane/Gold Coast/Perth and was wondering, is it worth going to?

Are the deals that they have available accessible to people who don't go? Eg. can cheap flights be bought online during the period or do you need to do it via the agents at the expo? Or is it mostly information/freebies/useless paper that they hand out.

Hopefully someone here will know!

I went to one in Townsville through Flight Centre years ago and we were not in a position to book then but it was very crowded and it was almost impossible to get to chat with a rep there. Most of the stuff that was handed out was crappy brochures but we got a calico bag for free to put it all in. Most of the boards/brochures said special offers were for the travel expo only. Maybe call the TA and ask them what is worth your time doing?

 

[Andona]

If your local Flight centre is open on the Expo days then they can do any of the deals that are available at the Expo - or at least that's what they've told me a couple of times.

In fact, when the Expo was on in Sydney last year I was told that you could get the deals on the Friday afternoon if you were one of their "favoured" customers ( whatever that means? ) The TA was willing to do Expo prices for me on the Friday and I hadn't booked anything through Flight Centre for a few years.

However, I was still able to get a better deal by hunting around and taking advantage of a different sale online. I think the Expo specials were pretty limited for my travel dates as we needed to depart/return close to school holidays. If you're not restricted to School breaks then you may be able to swing a good deal at Expo time.

Good luck!
Andons

 

[JessNewbs]

I just booked at the expo two weekends ago in my local town. Went to the flight centre store a couple of weeks before and booked an appointment for the expo day. If I hadn't have made an appointment I don't think I would have ever been seen. I booked for the first available time they had, as soon as they opened at 10am, so that I would not be shuffled back in time like many other people with appointments were. We got our flights for just over $8000 and that's Syd-LAX-New Orlens-NYC-MCO-LAX-HAWAII-Syd for two adults and two kids. I have never flown before so I have no idea if that is good or not.

 

[shushh]

We've booked before at the Flight Centre expo. There are good deals but most are limited, and like Andona we've found that some don't fit our dates. And you have to know your prices as some aren't really that good a deal at all! I find that the packages tend to be the best deals.

We've made an appointment with our local flight centre deal this year. We got to see them on the Friday before the expo. However, they will also honour the deals during the weekend that the expo is on.

If you've got time, its worth visiting to see what's available. You just might find a deal but its not guaranteed!

 

[robynrainer]

We tried last expo and the flights didn't suit our dates no matter how we tried to be flexible around the free dining plan. If u go in with no expectations u have more flexibility. The trade off is that u need to get it lined up with free dining. We ended up booking thru Expedia.ie. 2adults 3 kids Mel-NYC-MCO-Mel for $6100 after the FX from euro to Aud. flight centre's closest match to that was $7800 and that was only Mel-MCO-Mel. They couldn't get anywhere near it.

 

[leelee87]

good to know, i was planning on going to the expo this weekend. glad ive done some research first although not enough i fear

 

[Toy Story]

We booked at through the flight centre on the Expo day last year. I had an idea on what prices I wanted to pay to get the travel dates I wanted. The price was the same to fly into NY and out of Orlando, so I only had to book one additional flight from NY to Orlando.

The shop was also open for bookings on the the Sunday. Good luck.