Vegas - Orlando?

[teddykins]

Hey guys, in the middle of planning a 2015 trip with my brother and his partner woohoo: ) and the only place my brother is 'really' interested in visiting is Vegas so have had to try and squeeze that into the trip but I'm having a hard time finding flights via Qantas.

The plan I had worked out was we'd visit DL for 7-8 days then jet off to Vegas for 4 nights (just my brother and I as his partner will be going to Chicago at that point) then off to Orlando for 15 nights but Qantas keeps telling me they can't find flights that match the itinerary how ever if I do it via the AA website they have quite a lot of flight options so why can't Qantas find anything and what do we do to book flights? I guess we could go via the AA site but not sure if that will give us the FFP, don't really want to go via a TA but not really sure what to do.. anybody able to point me in the right direction? They've tasked me with handling all this and I have no clue where to look now!

Also while I have your attention has anyone done both Halloween parties at DL and WDW? Are they similar /same / one better than the other??

 

[cola]

In the big scope of things, the FFP for Vegas/Orlando isn't really that much - I don't think it counts towards your QF status. AA doesn't seem to do any direct flights to Orlando, which makes for one day totally lost once you add in the time difference and you'd have to pay for your bag.

Southwest include your bag in the fare (at the moment, things can always change) and they do have a couple of direct flights - either leave before 9am and arrive before 4pm, OR leave 4 pm and arrive close to midnight, so you could cloose where you want to spend the most time, and actual travel time is 2 - 3hr less than a stop over flight using AA.

I've never done a DL Halloween party, so no comment on the difference.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hey guys, in the middle of planning a 2015 trip with my brother and his partner woohoo: ) and the only place my brother is 'really' interested in visiting is Vegas so have had to try and squeeze that into the trip but I'm having a hard time finding flights via Qantas.

The plan I had worked out was we'd visit DL for 7-8 days then jet off to Vegas for 4 nights (just my brother and I as his partner will be going to Chicago at that point) then off to Orlando for 15 nights but Qantas keeps telling me they can't find flights that match the itinerary how ever if I do it via the AA website they have quite a lot of flight options so why can't Qantas find anything and what do we do to book flights? I guess we could go via the AA site but not sure if that will give us the FFP, don't really want to go via a TA but not really sure what to do.. anybody able to point me in the right direction? They've tasked me with handling all this and I have no clue where to look now!

Also while I have your attention has anyone done both Halloween parties at DL and WDW? Are they similar /same / one better than the other??

Sounds like a great holiday!

I haven't done DLR Halloween party; only WDW. So I'll leave that for someone else to answer.

Firstly - If you do book your internal flights separate to your long haul tix; and you do use AA, they will accept your Qantas FF card number when you book through them online (or over the phone). So, if you decide to book your internal flights separately, it isn't an issue.

Secondly - Have you considered booking your long haul Australia - LAX - MCO return on the one ticket and breaking your stay in LA? You could then look for a return LAX/LVS on any carrier you like. You can then carry on your journey from LAX with your long haul ticket.
SouthWest Airlines do offer deals between the two cities and if you price watch, you could get a good deal. The cheap fares on SouthWest were $59 one way this year. SWA will allow you one check-in luggage per person with no charge.

Your alternative might be to ring Qantas directly rather than looking on their website to see if they can book the LVS to MCO route over the phone. I don't know if they can...but if you really wanted it all on the one ticket, it might be worth a try.

Good luck with your flight hunting!

 

[alicia1506]

as a southwest airlines fan here, just to clarify, you get 2 x checked bags free.

they have some amazing deals for lax-las so i would highly recommend them, and they fly pretty frequently throughout the day, so hopefully they should be able to give you the best bang for your buck so to speak in terms of budget.

i can't really speak for the halloween parties (yet) but we are going to both the halloween parties in dlr and wdw in october this year, so i will definitely be able to compare & contrast for you once i am back (or maybe during my trip depending on down time/wifi signal )

i do know there are a few differences... the dlr one is a bit smaller (obviously) but also with much smaller crowds comparatively, more decorations, and the fireworks are hosted by jack skellington. the wdw is obviously bigger, and they have the headless horseman at the start of the boo to you parade (dlr has the same parade but no horseman i've been told) but the fireworks at wdw have no jack skellington host...

i believe this year will be different as there may be 'limited time magic' elements included, so i will definitely report back....when are you planning on going to dlr & wdw?

eta: just saw you mentioned 2015, so hopefully i can shed some light on the 2 halloween parties for you before you go

 

[teddykins]

It wasn't so much for the points between vegas and orlando was more all up from melb - la - vegas - orlando - la - melb, I'm not too concerned with the points as I don't fly that much it was more my brother he saw they were offering 20,000 points think it was and doesn't think if you book through aa they'll give the same amount of points.. I have no experience with all that so am totally clueless which is why I turned to you guys.

I hope it turns out to be a great holiday, main issue is everyone wants to do different things, I'm already doing the Halloween party this year at wdw so would like to see the Christmas stuff next trip but brothers partner wants to do Halloween..in both parks which is why I was trying to find out if they're similar or if one is better than the other, I could cut some time off the trip. I look forward to reading your comparison, Alicia!

Shall have a play on the SW site and see what we come up with, at least we have a fair while before we need to book anything. Thanks for your input everyone

 

[wrestlingchick26]

When in 2015 are you heading over? I'm in Vegas and Disneyworld in June 2015. Can't wait. Already counting down the days

 

[Sugarglider]

I've done a similar flight schedule on Qantas: SYD - LAX - MCO - Vegas - LAX - SYD. And they did sell it to me as 1 ticket all the way through - with the AA flights. I found it really useful cause some of my AA flights didn't align with others and AA, without asking, just whacked me automatically on the next flight - and had all my luggage and everything handled through. I was happy to do and it only cost me $200 more than if I had purchased everything separately.

I did do it online - but I, like you, am now having problems with Qantas multi-city flights with the AA ones. just keeps saying NOT AVAILABLE - yet the city is included in the list of choices.

I'm surprised you can even see flights for 2015. Normally they are only 12 months ahead. Maybe it is too far out for AA to be prepared to display.

You could phone - and incur the fee. Or do what PIO suggests - book through AA and give them your QFF number and then you can go into your QFF Booking page, enter your codes and you can import them into one itinerary online.
I suspect you will have to talk to a Qantas person to have the tickets all linked up into one.

 

[ssour]

A QF/AA combo including a flight between Vegas and Orlando just doesn't work, Qantas obviously doesn't code share on the flights you can find on the AA site. You can get a QF ticket which includes Virgin America flights, but it isn't a code share, so no FF points and you can't get boarding passes for your QF flight through VX and vice versa.

I would probably do what PrincessinOz suggested with the Southwest LAX-LAS return flights, so you still get the LAX-MCO flight earning you FF points. The LAX-LAS return will probably be cheaper with Southwest than an LAX-LAS-MCO flight (although southwest do let you book 'return' flights with a different start and end point). We like Southwest because they include the two bags and have great service for a low-cost carrier.

 

[CJ2001]

I've done a similar flight schedule on Qantas: SYD - LAX - MCO - Vegas - LAX - SYD. And they did sell it to me as 1 ticket all the way through - with the AA flights. I found it really useful cause some of my AA flights didn't align with others and AA, without asking, just whacked me automatically on the next flight - and had all my luggage and everything handled through. I was happy to do and it only cost me $200 more than if I had purchased everything separately.

I did do it online - but I, like you, am now having problems with Qantas multi-city flights with the AA ones. just keeps saying NOT AVAILABLE - yet the city is included in the list of choices.

I'm surprised you can even see flights for 2015. Normally they are only 12 months ahead. Maybe it is too far out for AA to be prepared to display.

You could phone - and incur the fee. Or do what PIO suggests - book through AA and give them your QFF number and then you can go into your QFF Booking page, enter your codes and you can import them into one itinerary online.
I suspect you will have to talk to a Qantas person to have the tickets all linked up into one.

Sorry to ask a stupid question - how do you get all of these on one ticket? Ive never been able to figure it out. Does that mean u dont get charged baggage fees?

We went to a travel agent for our flights last year & even she stuffed it up & cause she didn't link the flights to our tickets we ended up paying baggage fees for all internal flights even though I asked her if we would be charged fees & she told us no!

 

[StephOz]

I did MEL - LAX - VEGAS - MCO last year however it was all with Virgin Australia/Delta (domestic flights Delta) which meant it was all on one ticket with our baggage paid for in the international fare. Not much help if you're after the FF points I know, but I found them to be a good alternative.

 

[teddykins]

When in 2015 are you heading over? I'm in Vegas and Disneyworld in June 2015. Can't wait. Already counting down the days

October & November for Halloween/Christmas stuff. I am excited for Vegas, I don't gamble but Human Nature are stationed there.. hopefully they stay put!

I've done a similar flight schedule on Qantas: SYD - LAX - MCO - Vegas - LAX - SYD. And they did sell it to me as 1 ticket all the way through - with the AA flights. I found it really useful cause some of my AA flights didn't align with others and AA, without asking, just whacked me automatically on the next flight - and had all my luggage and everything handled through. I was happy to do and it only cost me $200 more than if I had purchased everything separately.

I did do it online - but I, like you, am now having problems with Qantas multi-city flights with the AA ones. just keeps saying NOT AVAILABLE - yet the city is included in the list of choices.

I'm surprised you can even see flights for 2015. Normally they are only 12 months ahead. Maybe it is too far out for AA to be prepared to display.

You could phone - and incur the fee. Or do what PIO suggests - book through AA and give them your QFF number and then you can go into your QFF Booking page, enter your codes and you can import them into one itinerary online.
I suspect you will have to talk to a Qantas person to have the tickets all linked up into one.

Yes that is the issue I did check on the route map/where we fly thing and they say they don't fly Vegas - Orlando..could be the issue. Wasn't looking for 2015 was doing it based on 2013 for now just to get a general price range for it all then will go back once 2015 is available and check it out again but at the moment we're just pricing everything, getting dates sorted, trying to figure out where the heck everybody wants to go (I swear it keeps changing every day) and how long we want to spend in each part. I am glad my 2013 trip was easier to plan than this.

We had a look at SW last night and think we're just going to do what Pio suggested, mel - la - orlando via qantas than separate flights to the vegas/chicago legs with SW. My brother has to go via a visa as he has a crim record so we've decided to spend the night at lax in a hotel as not sure how long immigration will take or if he'll even be allowed in (have heard they are VERY strict) so just easier on all fronts to spend the night in l.a before heading off the Vegas instead of running the risk of missing our flights altogether. I think we're up to 32 days in the US at the moment

 

[Sugarglider]

Sorry to ask a stupid question - how do you get all of these on one ticket? Ive never been able to figure it out. Does that mean u dont get charged baggage fees?

We went to a travel agent for our flights last year & even she stuffed it up & cause she didn't link the flights to our tickets we ended up paying baggage fees for all internal flights even though I asked her if we would be charged fees & she told us no!

Nothing in your question seems stupid I have learnt so much from others here.

yep - 3 trips now I have simply bought 1 trip from Qantas with AA internal USA flights - from their online booking machine.
And that's right - I have not paid charged baggage fees. And I checked it all in and then stood there alone at the baggage carousel - the only person waiting for a bag!
And I have been ushered through on several occasions when planes were late; or found myself automatically rebooked.

it is possible that I had to transfer in DFW from MCO to Las Vegas - don't remember - but I pretty much flew straight there same day - all on AA.

I am lazy old person and would rather the simplicity of one complete booking

Shame that agent got her booking mixed up - that is very annoying. Esp. when you clarified!

 

[CJ2001]

Nothing in your question seems stupid I have learnt so much from others here.

yep - 3 trips now I have simply bought 1 trip from Qantas with AA internal USA flights - from their online booking machine.
And that's right - I have not paid charged baggage fees. And I checked it all in and then stood there alone at the baggage carousel - the only person waiting for a bag!
And I have been ushered through on several occasions when planes were late; or found myself automatically rebooked.

it is possible that I had to transfer in DFW from MCO to Las Vegas - don't remember - but I pretty much flew straight there same day - all on AA.

I am lazy old person and would rather the simplicity of one complete booking

Shame that agent got her booking mixed up - that is very annoying. Esp. when you clarified!

Thanks Sugarglider

So do you book that all from qantas website or do you have to book the international leg & then go AA website and book internal flight?

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

For what its worth. The wife, DD6 and myself are booked Vegas to Orlando with Southwest (is there anyone else!!!) on the 29th of Sep and its costing us $270 each one way. Includes 2 bags each free.

But cop this. Same price for return, but we're spending a week in SW Canada after Dis World so we are flying from Orlando to Seattle for only $190 each and then a week later flying from Seattle back to Vegas for only $90 each. So for the grand sum of $10 each more than flying direct from Orlando to Vegas we are able to deviate via Seattle.

So lesson is, play around with your flights. You never know what you can come up with.

Enjoy your planning. 2015 will be here before you know it

 

[cola]

We got our LA - Vegas transfer on Greyhound - staying Downtown LA after Disney then bus to Vegas. They had a special on and it's come out at the grand total of $20.50us for 2 tickets - just over $10 per person (usually it's $18)
We decided with the transfer to the airport and arriving 90min beforehand then transfer in Vegas (staying Downtown Vegas very close to Greyhound terminal so no transfer there) the difference timewise wasn't really that much.
There is meant to be an LA-Vegas train being built, but I think that's 'meant' to be built about every 10years.