Cheap J to to from US?

[MEL vis SYD]

I'm looking for a cheap J or F one way to or from the West coast US. Pref LAX, SFO or HNL (at a stretch). Toward the end of '09 (Oct Nov).

The most enticing i've found is JQ StarClass at $1378 incl tax, which gets me just over half way to HNL.

Ex Asia is fine as can use points to get to other hubs.

 

[SFSC]

.. Ex Asia is fine as can use points to get to other hubs.

Circle Pacific might be an option. Check prices from Asian locations using oneworld - Circle Pacific with your favourite currency converter open in another window.

Edited to add: Of course if you only want to go to or from there would be some abandoned segments which may make it uneconomical compared to a F or J one way fare.

 

[cove]

The cheapest way with Qantas is by coming up with 96,000 points and then being flexible on departure of MEL,SYD or BRI and LAX and SFO at the other end to get you 6 chances.
Pay the additional taxes and charges by cash as the points burn is too high.
The cancel fee is 5,000 maximum and you get the other charges back.
Points can come from family transfers,credit card use and selective use of vendors that Qantas lists.
You could afford to do a deal with a family member to get the points if you are short of a few.
Qantas J works great.

 

[Maca44]

kagitower, I think you will find that J award seats for OCT/NOV 09 might have all gone as, from experience, J seats tend to get snapped up with a couple of weeks.

You might get some help from this recent thread http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/sydney-to-las-vegas-15983.html

 

[simongr]

kagitower, I think you will find that J award seats for OCT/NOV 09 might have all gone as, from experience, J seats tend to get snapped up with a couple of weeks.

You might get some help from this recent thread http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/sydney-to-las-vegas-15983.html

Searching for a singe J/F seat SYD-LAX I found plenty of availability via MEL/BNE

 

[garyjohn951]

kagitower, I think you will find that J award seats for OCT/NOV 09 might have all gone as, from experience, J seats tend to get snapped up with a couple of weeks.

You might get some help from this recent thread http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/sydney-to-las-vegas-15983.html

Yes, that might have been the case 6-9 months ago - pre-recession, but now it is a different scenario as Simongr has quoted. The only problem will be if the airlines cut services back even more than they have now.

 

[Maca44]

Yes, that might have been the case 6-9 months ago - pre-recession, but now it is a different scenario as Simongr has quoted. The only problem will be if the airlines cut services back even more than they have now.

I only checked J flights SYD to SFO in September and October, which is what I wanted and there is no availability. WP's might be offered more seats, I don't know, but only made the comment on my experience from seats to SFO.

 

[drron]

Checkout www.bestflights.com.au
They have a page of J specials to the USA.I generally use either AA-~$7100 flying QF to NRT then AA on to the states.Or JL again ~$7000 via NRT.I use these for the OW miles.
However both these specials expire in March each year and the next years offering usually doesnt appear until March/April.Given the crisis I am sure there will be a continuation of these offers.The AA special is usually pretty available.We were able to get 6 J specials for travel in Dec 07/Jan08 about 3 months out with all on the same flights.

 

[cove]

Due to the recession there are way more business seats ex Melb on points.I looked in November and saw 9 choices so when I value a QFF point at say sub 2 cents to allow for levies the cost of 96000 points is sub $2,000 for the one way journey.
Thanks for the site on fares at a discount.
In the US I like taking the package deal of flight and hotel with Expedia especially for New York and Vegas.

 

[Ikara]

In November/December last year I did SYD/HNL/LAX using JQ Starclass and AA First (YUP). I just did a quick check and a one way SYD/HNL/LAX would cost approx A$2.7k. See my Trip Report http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...-report-adelaide-honolulu-richmond-15718.html for more details.

JB

 

[Therma]

if you are prepared to take a hike to MNL you can buy at a local travel agent OZ or NW for as little as 2.5K US. I booked pretty late on OZ and it cost me 3.6K US MNL-ICN-LAX

Same flights booked from Singapore websites are 4.8K US so you must make sure you get treated as MNL resident

You can also book TG ex Singapore for about 6K SGD, unfortunately SGD is now higher than AUD (not unfortunate for me since I get paid in SGD)

 

[cove]

I looked and found 96000 point (business)or 144000 point (first) travel on Qantas LAX to Melb around Nov9 thru 15.
Even if you paid 2 cents a point including taxes the cost will be pretty good.

 

[file51]

FYI, United now have an offer ex Sydney to Los Angeles or San Francisco in Business class (new lie flat seats) for bookings +90 days

$6395 inc taxes, fees & surcharges

United Airlines - North America Business Class Special

New, special business class fares are now available for travel to the states. If you plan your trip more than 90 days in advance, you can take advantage of these low business class prices. Book today on unitedairlines.com.au.

Experience our new luxurious 180º Lie-Flat Bed business class seats! The seats are also offer personal 15" widescreen video monitors, on-demand programming and, on select flights, Apple iPod® connectivity​

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