STA travel has just released a crazy fare of $899 all inclusive for travel to Los Angeles from Sydney.
The fare has no restictions and is available to all customers. It's not available for on-line booking, so you must call STA on 134 782 to secure your seat. I've just called them, and can confirm there's plenty of seats available.
Valid for travel 20/04/15 to 11/06/15. Offer ends COB 09/02/15.
Good luck & happy travels :)
Pretty sure this is via Auckland, which adds 4 hours and a stopover to your flight…
Choice Bro'
Great price. Pity the exchange rate is crap right now.
Crap compared to the last 5 years, or crap compared to all the time before that when it was closer to 2 AUD = 1 USD?
way too much focus on exchange rates. Plenty of things till very cheap in USA.
eg. accommodation round Disneyland
skiing in Colorado
All to do with competition.
Plus free measles.
While NZD is high compared to AUD, AirNZ probably wants to capitalise by selling extra seats in AUD?
When it says Valid for travel 20/04/15 to 11/06/15, does that mean your return flight must also be before 11/06/15? I believe the answer will be yes but worth confirming.
Oui
They have to do something to fill up those planes with the awful exchange rate turning travellers off!
not turning travellers off at all.
Feb is quite month for all bookings. People still paying off Xmas.
They know historically, when they'll probably have empty seats + might only be a few seats on sale & not on every flight. Probably the worst connections in Auckland.
Look at Qld. No idea whole be running the state & by election is probably few weeks away at best.
Victorian has a premier whose 1st real job is as Victorian Premier.
& if you believe the media ( big question) there's infighting in Lib party in Canberra.
The exchange rate is turning me off nothing to do with the morons that's run the country. Please keep politics out of ozbargain we get drowned with it everywhere else.
Just saying there's plenty of uncertainly out there.
Why would exchange rate turn you off ?
Look at what you were thinking of doing in USA.
Most people, if on a tight budget, just downgrade a little. EG. Stay 4 star instead of 5 star.
Get a smaller 4wd or normal car instead.
Go for 14 nights instead of 18 nights.
@travelwiz: We were lucky enough to go in both 2010 and 2011 when it was parity or close to it. But at the moment I wouldn't go because of the current rate. Prices were great at Dollar for Dollar but I wouldn't like to be losing $250 out of every $1000. Even though I would prefer to go there over cheaper Asia countries.
@Regie69: so are you a skier or got kids & go spend some time around LA ?
Stop thinking just about the exchange rate + the compensation is loss leader airfares like $899 return to LAX.
I spent 6 months in the USA when it was at the very lowest point it's ever been ($0.48USD). This current exchange rate is unpleasant, but not prohibitive. Of course, I wish it was higher, but it is what it is.
Yeah I was planning on going to the US this year but cancelling that now since the exchange rate has tanked. I was surprised that things were more expensive there than I was expecting when I went there in 2013 (exchange rate was around 92 cents) - it wouldn't be nearly as fun an experience at 78c (and possibly lower by the middle of the year).
Try <0.36 GBP to the dollar (Oct2000)! It's great when you can choose when/where to travel… but sometimes life dictates :(
Even locally… 15 years of life got in the way for finishing my US muscle car. Rates were AMAZING, and I had $20,000 finally set-aside. My stars aligned. Which was more like $25,000 compared to years earlier. Then made redundant, used a heap of the money staying afloat. So shelve plans for another 15 years? (Rhetorical)
Exchange rates affect SO much. "Swings and roundabouts.
Now, exchange rate is poo & I'm redundant again. Woot!!
I feel your pain about the pound. I was in the UK in Sep 2001 and we had 1 AUD = 0.33 GBP. That was harsh.
One day, we caved in and couldn't face another sandwich for lunch so we had Burger King. A meal cost 5 GBP so two meals were 30 AUD…
When I was young I went on my first overseas trip to the UK, I handed over a $100 bill at an exchange counter and got given 31 pound back - I looked at the woman and said "I gave you $100" and she said "Yes love, and that's what you get for it in pounds". Hahaha…I was in shock, that's all I had until I got a job! (I was however staying with relatives so they fed and housed me, but a monthly bus pass was 40 pound so I had to walk the first month). Luckily back in the good old days there were plenty around and I had three offers within a day or two.
No-one would believe me when I would marvel that their crappy pizza hut pizzas for $28 were only $3 in Australia at the time. They just couldn't wrap their brains around it.
if you think it will be lower, buy some USD$ now & pay for your accom/hire cars etc.
Plenty of things still very cheap cf. costs in OZ.
domestic travel ftw!
You've said in 3 words, what took me a novel! ^^
can we get discounts on said novel via ozb :)
I don't think ftw is a word…. yet.
Australia is one of the most expensive countries on earth to visit.
We do have very high wages & conditions, but for yanks they do now get AUD$4 for USD$3 if go by above comments, that should make them want to come.
this seems to be the same as the iwantthatflight but $50 cheaper.
STA often try & be cheapest, but presume they have access to same seats as everyone else & might be cutting their commission down to nearly 0% just so they can say we're the cheapest.
And make their money off the accomodation/activites/insurance etc people may book with their loss leading flights.
Tried and true business model
A 25% currency reduction equals less holiday makers going to the US - these deals were no where to be seen when the currency was at parity. Add to this airlines adding capacity during the good times and now there are empty seats to fill.
The US is still cheap compared to AUS but once accommodation and airfares are factored in you may as well just shop at Westfield and eat out in the food court :)
with $899 airfares that compensates for weak dollar.
Not really, your losing 22 cents per dollar
do the maths, that's $220 less from every $1000 spent.
well there is no such thing as a normal airfare, but $1599 is a good average figure for low season specials.
A family of 4 (2 kids over 11) would then save something like $2800 on airfares.
$2800 divided by $220 = 12.73, so they'd have to be spending more than AUD$12,730 (USD$11,202) in USA to be worse off.
Of course this number varies with number of people & whatever "normal" low season are you're working off, BUT it does highlight the point that the low airfare does compensate to some or a large degree for loss of buying power.
You also aren't taking into account that in most places in USA there's a vast choice of hotels, with huge price ranges from 2 to 5 star. Many people if on a tight budget will simply stay at a slightly cheaper hotel &/or get a cheaper hire car &/or spend less on stuff they might bring home &/or ski at cheaper resorts.
pretty sure $12,730 Australian at 78cent US is closer to $9929 US, but that is still a lot of money to spend depending on how long you are staying and other points you mentioned.
so sick and tired of reading all the comments about the AUD/USD falling, we all know by now, no need to mention it every Australia to Merica post.
No wonder you call it Merica. With the current exchange rate we can't afford all the letters.
tightarse, you are on fire the last 24 hours with your posts
After the Gold star
just realised he got deal of the month for jan on the 31/1. sucks to be the person who was leading up until then.
thisss close
I wonder if the travel dates are the same as the concurrent AIRNZ SYD-LAX sale atm?
https://m.airnz.com.au/flights-to-los-angeles-special-deal
from
$ 995
Economy, per person, return ex Sydney to Los Angeles. Card payment fee may apply.Last day today!
Sale ends: 9 February 2015
Travel period: Outbound 20 Apr - 11 Jun 2015 and return 20 Apr - 6 Jul 2015
April to June is not high season but rather the shoulder of the high season.