Flying to the US ex AKL

[Blackadder]

Looking at a trip to SFO next June , and looking at fares ex AKL it appears they are very tempting proposition even allowing for a positioning flight SYD-AKL. My question is for anyone who has done this , any pros/cons to the idea?

 

[elanshin]

Looking at a trip to SFO next June , and looking at fares ex AKL it appears they are very tempting proposition even allowing for a positioning flight SYD-AKL. My question is for anyone who has done this , any pros/cons to the idea?

It would only really make sense if it's significantly cheaper (or you want SC) adding on the positioning flight.

Otherwise you're adding significant more journey time to the trip. Not necessarily a bad idea, but ultimately depends on how much you value the time.

 

[CaptJCool]

Fly More Pay Less

 

[justinbrett]

Might not work for SFO, but booking AKL-JFK is a smart idea, as you can generally price AKL-JFK-SYD at NZ prices. Then you just need a one way SYD-AKL, and QF will connect QF to QF bookings, so your bags will be connected. But wouldn't be worth it for west coast.

It would only really make sense if it's significantly cheaper (or you want SC) adding on the positioning flight.

The J fares are significantly cheaper.

 

[Andy72]

Doing it twice. I have family in Auckland. Significantly cheaper in J. Even with premium
Economy cheaper than Econo fro Australia

Post automatically merged: Nov 15, 2023

And you can add a stopover in Sydney and delay the flight to Nz

 

[CaptJCool]

Significantly cheaper is an enormous difference
$18k ex Australia v $11.5k ex Auckland!

 

[CaptJCool]

Significantly cheaper is an enormous difference
$18k ex Australia v $11.5k ex Auckland!

To be fair…
Same QF flights same day


Which is $13,221 saver (No Sale fares on offer)
Vs $16,824 sale
Vs $21,655 saver (an extra $8,000 to fly Sydney to Auckland return!)

 

[offshore171]

Looking at a trip to SFO next June , and looking at fares ex AKL it appears they are very tempting proposition even allowing for a positioning flight SYD-AKL. My question is for anyone who has done this , any pros/cons to the idea?

Only really works for JFK at the moment, since it always involves a stop.

For SFO I would just go direct.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Only really works for JFK at the moment, since it always involves a stop.

The main reason I see here is that there is competition on the route with both NZ and QF operating AKL > JFK. Contrast that with SYD where they're the only one operating that route. What I will say is that $14K AUD is an insane price to pay for a J ticket and if you have any flexibility it might make sense to fly someone else (i.e. JL) where you could also earn status credits albeit at a lower cost.

-RooFlyer88

 

[CaptJCool]

QF J Saver fares EX Sydney via Auckland to New York fare are over $6,500 than departing Auckland
Who knew it cost $6,500 to fly J from Sydney to Auckland return

 

[Notyourbag]

Booked in March AKL-SYD-LAX with a DFW-AKL all in J for $6,500 vs SYD-LAX-SYD for $11,000. No brainer as SYD-AKL-SYD is 1K for J or classic rewards with 32 status credits each way with PC.

 

[CaptJCool]

Booked in March AKL-SYD-LAX with a DFW-AKL all in J for $6,500 vs SYD-LAX-SYD for $11,000. No brainer as SYD-AKL-SYD is 1K for J or classic rewards with 32 status credits each way with PC.

Presumably QF
Booked in ? 2023 for sometime in March 2024 ?
I DID SOME Google flight searches - currently around $8,500 for March 2024

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Presumably QF
Booked in ? 2023 for sometime in March 2024 ?
I DID SOME Google flight searches - currently around $8,500 for March 2024

I’m seeing it for around $4.7K if you fly Fiji via Nandi:


Pity it can’t be ticketed by QF at that price to earn valuable SCs.

As for the topic of flights out of NZ being cheaper than AU for long distance journeys, well it really comes down to markets. There’s more competition in the AKL market as it’s served by a number of carriers, and is a major hub for Star Alliance. Remember too that NZ just has one international airport, AKL. Contrast that with AU where it‘s spread out between MEL, SYD, BNE, PER. Certainly if you have flexibility in routings, it can be cheaper to get flights to the US from elsewhere (I.e. Japan with ZipAir comes to mind). Although for my money frequent flyer programs are the cheapest way to get these flights. Why spend $10K or more on a return to the US in J, when you can buy the points you need for half the cost and just those to redeem a similar (or better) itinerary? Last year I spent $2800 CAD to buy 160,000 Aeroplan points and transferred a further 60,000 points to my Aeroplan account from my Canadian AmEx and booked SYD > ZRH > YYZ (all in J on EY, VA, TP) then LAX > ICN > SYD (all in J on OZ). Ended up spending 2 weeks in Europe, 2 weeks in North America and another 4 days in Seoul.

-RooFlyer88

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Only really works for JFK at the moment, since it always involves a stop.

For SFO I would just go direct.

It really depends on your circumstance. I would consider such a routing as SYD > AKL > SFO especially if AKL > SFO is operated by United, since they allow you to use your frequent flyer points to upgrade to J even on the cheapest economy ticket, with the possibility of getting the upgrade confirmed at time of booking. To my knowledge, aside from British Airways, there is no other airline that offers this.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Notyourbag]

Presumably QF
Booked in ? 2023 for sometime in March 2024 ?
I DID SOME Google flight searches - currently around $8,500 for March 2024

Yep QF. Sorry I should have said booked FOR March 2024. Booked this around 3 months ago.