Hi All,
I'm currently planning a trip to the US and taking a leap to try and organise it on my own. Looking to leave in June and come back in July (returning school holiday period but leaving outside holidays).
The question is, do I take a gamble and wait for potential deals or bite the cherry and go for it now?
SYD-LAX on special during low season would be $799. As Jaybo has mentioned, anything up to $1,200 is reasonable whilst anything around this price during school holidays is cheap. My recommendation would be to visit iwantthatflight.com.au daily and put in your dates. You will be amazed at how the prices change everyday. Do this for a week or 2 and you will get a feel for the going rate and what days to book and then bite the bullet. I did something similar for SYD-LAX a couple of months ago for travel January 2017 school holidays and booked at $1,080.
Yea saw some stuff around $1200 I think is as good as it gets…
IWTF or skyscanner? do they paint with the same brush?
Flights? Accomodation? Or other costs.
Accommodation is definitely cheapest to book when you are actually in the country as you can negotiate deals for cash etc. But you need to be comfortable with that form of traveling.
Flights only at this stage, not even going to book domestic in US until a little later…more worried about the international.
do you know that you can use Qantas or other frequent flyer points or miles for domestic U.S. flights ? If at port of entry for less than 24 hours, no baggage charges as international rules apply, if you fly eg. American.
or another great option is Southwest, who are one of the biggest & the best U.S. domestic airline, with something like 700 or more 737's. Don't think you can find their fares anywhere except their own website & all their fares include 2 checked bags.
I know now thanks to you Reggae! Thanks a Mil!
Fiji air occasionally has sales for ~$850-900.
yes but they are travelling in school holidays, when no airline has to dump fares that cheap. Also Fiji airlines airfares to USA, are affected by demand for flights to Fiji.
I gather that sometimes, the OZ/Fiji flights are heavily booked, but the Fiji/USA flights aren't, but it's the OZ/Fiji flight availability that determines the fare.
case in point ………….
Some friends of ours were going to Fiji around Xmas day, but but departing a few days later December 29, the fares they bought to USA west coast return were cheaper, than return to Fiji. They are flying via Fiji in both directions & having a stopover in Fiji on way home. Crazy but true, because the original Fiji only dates were already heavily booked.
i dont recall seeing too much in the way of deals around june/july, definitely stuff for around feb/march and september/october but the school holidays might be the bit that put a dent in things.
depends how much the "now" price is and where you're headed, i guess.
where you headed from/to? SYD-LAX? realistically anything sub-$1200 is a reasonable price, especially if you like the certainty of just having it booked… if you're a bit more flexible on times then definitely hold out for a deal, but if you're travelling for a wedding or something date-specific then you may not have any options!