What would you do?

[Our Aussie six]

We are travelling late nov for 2 weeks.There will be six of us 2 adults and 4 kids (ages 16,14,10, 1).
My question is that I was hoping to get a direct flight most likely with virgin Australia but right now I can get flights from Adelaide to LA for all six of us (1 yr old will be sharing a seat) for $5850 through Air NZ, which seems like a great price.
Would you get them at this price even though it means a longer trip and a stop over in Auckland? I would prefer a direct flight with a 1year old but the price is very tempting. Or there is a travel expo coming up next month am I taking a risk holding out for the expo where I hope I can get a similar price but on a direct price?? So confused if we didn't have a baby I wouldn't hesitate going through Air NZ.
Any advice would be appreciated

 

[BecBennett]

Do United do a direct flight between Adelaide and LA? They have similar prices to air new Zealand at the moment.

I'm in the same boat, do I fly direct with virgin for $1200 per person? Or stop at Auckland with ANZ for $999? Luckily United would work for me too,which is direct however I wasn't a fan of United last time we flew with them, so I'm checking to see if they've updated their planes in the past few years to see if that's the way I go.

I don't have much experience with expos to know what sort of discounts they get.

 

[PrincessInOz]

In 2014, I had an unexpected trip to San Diego because my cousin was getting married. We got about 7 weeks notice for the wedding date. At that time (September), no one was offering discounts and flights were $1800 return. Lucky for me, there was a Flight Centre USA Expo that was happening a few weeks after we got the notice. The discount flights at the Expo resulted in me being able to pick up a flight for $1200. I do not know if this will be similar for you or not and it may be one of those things that you might need to weigh up. You might be lucky enough to pick up flights for less or for about the same.

The stopover in Auckland will add 2 - 3 hours to your trip. For some young children, that's a lot of extra time. Only you will know whether your kids will be able to cope with the extra time or not.

 

[dabecs]

For us flying from Melbourne we can do 14.5 hours straight or with Air NZ we do 3.5 from Mel to Akl then 12 from AKL to LAX. So it only adds an extra 1 hour flying time.

Yes it adds 2 hour lay over in Akl but on the plus side we only have to get to the airport in Mel 90 mins before the flight rather than the usual 3 hours for an international flight.

We won't fly United again (bad experience) and we like flying Air NZ.

As to holding out or buying now - only you can answer that!

 

[viaggiamo]

What would the saving be if you booked them now versus VA?

 

[Our Aussie six]

What would the saving be if you booked them now versus VA?

If I book VA today I would be paying $1800 per person, ANZ is $1300 so a big saving when I have to pay for five people But I was hoping that the VA flights would be cheaper during the expo and we could fly direct.
After talking to DH I think we would rather stop over in NZ as it's too good a saving to pass up

 

[PrincessInOz]

ANZ is $1300

Hmmm. I haven't looked properly at US flights in about 18 months, so take the below with a grain of salt.

My general rule of thumb for costing out a decent flight when I was regularly heading to the US for direct flights on sale is at around $1300 - $1350. The most I've paid for a direct flight is $1400. Otherwise, via Sydney at around $1150 or $1200. And these are Qantas sale prices. Qantas generally used to do a sale at around Australia Day; which is around now....and it might be why ANZ have announced cheaper rates.
It might be interesting to see what countries/cities Qantas might put on sale this year. Chinese New Year is on the 28th Jan.....and there is usually cheaper flights to Asia announced around CNY as well.

And lately....I've been seeing sale prices to the US for $1000. I'm pretty sure I saw that rate around Christmas. I don't know what the travel dates are for these rates.


Perhaps someone else can also provide a guide as to what they would pay for flights.

 

[Aurora_Australis]

Flights *may* be cheaper during the expo but not by much. I passed up an $897 fare with ANZ to wait 2 weeks for the sale with flight centre expo/ direct flights. Got them for $1200 direct with virgin as i didnt want them to go up further. Yes theyre direct but theyre delta codeshare... and we did the AKL stopover with a 2.5yo and 6yo and the ANZ flight was so good. Great seats, great food. Stop for us was 45mins, straight through, stretch legs and onto the next flight. So not worth it for the extra $$$ i the end. Last time I book with flight centre too, my mate is an agent so I do fligh5s uaually but you can just find cheaper on your own...

 

[viaggiamo]

Generally late November is low season. We have travelled twice in that time (before 6 December), I would wait. But then if you wait and they go up x6 people is a lot of money.

Honestly, choose a price you are happy with and then don't check the prices after that. It's a risk, but we have never paid more than $1200pp to LAX.

Good luck.

 

[elphaba91]

FWIW I've been quite happy with United. We flew with them in November 2014 (a month after they introduced the Dreamliners) to LA then New York and then to LA (plus another 3 domestic flights) in September. In fact, my sister flew to Orlando with them just yesterday!

 

[Our Aussie six]

Thank you everyone for all your advice I'm so glad I've found this forum and I apologise for all the questions but we've never travelled overseas before so it's overwhelming especially with four kids
Anyway after sleeping on it I think we are going to hold off we have plenty of time to get flights. Just out of curiosity how far in advance would you normally get your flights? There is an America's expo in July, if I haven't got my flights by then I could get them in July but would that be cutting it too close as we will have all our accommodation booked and plan on flying out end of nov?

 

[BecBennett]

Generally for me flights are the first thing I book, and then everything else is based off those dates. So I wouldn't be able to wait that long. Others have probably been able to wait that long though as you can usually change hotel bookings around without penalty.

Having said all that though, in my experience flights tend to get more expensive the closer you are to your dates.

 

[Our Aussie six]

Generally for me flights are the first thing I book, and then everything else is based off those dates. So I wouldn't be able to wait that long. Others have probably been able to wait that long though as you can usually change hotel bookings around without penalty.

Having said all that though, in my experience flights tend to get more expensive the closer you are to your dates.

I'm a planner and doubt I can wait that long either, plus once your flights are booked then it becomes real and the countdown begins.

 

[viaggiamo]

Me too. Flights are always first unless I am going an event and can book cancellable accommodation over year out for it to get it cheaper. But by booking flights first you can alter dates between a few days to get cheaper rates if you can.
Honestly just check prices every day. Go direct with the airlines and search all of them for your dates.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

For what it's worth... we just flew (and returned) with Virgin from Perth to LA in late Nov/early Jan) for $1100 each inc all taxes and charges. We bought our tickets last February on Virgins Leap year sale at the end of Feb

 

[elphaba91]

Flights are usually the first thing I book too (except last trip when it was Hamilton tickets!). When I went to the US in late November 2014 I booked in mid March, 8 months in advance. United had a sale at the time, but I think that was for the launch of the new Dreamliners. Looking back at my emails from my aunt/travel agent said they usually get a Virgin special when they come out with their ski packages (her agency's speciality) so maybe keep an eye out for that too.

Remember though, you might be there over Thanksgiving which might make hotel bookings and any domestic travel a bit trickier if you leave it too late!

For our trip leaving mid September last year we booked in mid January, 8 months in advance again. However, just yesterday I booked another trip to the States for the end of April - less than 3 months in advance! This is a very last minute trip though and I feel quite uneasy doing it like this!

 

[AussieNSW]

We went to the states last year 9/11 till the 28/11. I usually book way ahead of time but for this trip I did it differently. I noticed some reasonable airfares and decided why not see Disneyland just before Christmas and for thanksgiving. I booked a very merry time 4 day cruise on the Disney wonder and then booked accomodation then plane tickets.
We stayed offsite over thanksgiving and found that the earlier you booked these dates the better the prices were. The joy with most American places is that you can cancel your booking or change them very close to your arrival date without any penalties. This is not true for Disney properties though you need to check the fine print carefully.
I actually purchased plane tickets in October virgin had a great sale around September last year from Sydney to lax return for under $1000 depending on your dates.

 

[ilanakan]

So, for best ticket prices, Mel-Orl, how far ahead of the trip should we book (family of 5)?

 

[Our Aussie six]

I think the earlier the better, I ended up booking our flights in feb ADL -LA but our trip isn't until Nov. I just kept an eye on prices each day and when I seen them drop I booked them.
When are you planning on going?