Four one way flights?

[sandysusie]

Hi all

I'm a long-time lurker but now I have question or two. Next year hubby and I are going on a holiday, and part of the plan involves taking four separate flights (spread over two months):

• Sydney to London
• London to Copenhagen
• Washington to Fort Lauderdale
• Los Angeles to Sydney

Anyway, it's getting towards the time when we can start booking these flights. I have asked a travel agent to give me an idea of prices, in case she can get any sort of better deal than I could.

I prefer to fly Qantas when possible because I'm a Qantas club member, but the benefits are only worth so much. For example based on current fares for the flight to London it looks like I'd be far better off with V Australia, Etihad or Emirates - the lower price is worth far more than the comfort of a couple of hours in the Qantas Club before the flight and a few FF points. Oh, and unless the right numbers come up in the Lotto, this is all economy class travel.

So, on to my questions:

• Is there any chance that my travel agent is going to be able to get a better deal for me with this odd assortment of flights than I could do for myself?
• If I end up booking them myself, any hints about the best way to approach this? My current plan is basically to do what I've done before - go to Expedia or Webjet or Kayak for US flights, check out the prices, and then go to the chosen airline's website and book the ticket - but those flights have been pretty much standard local / international return flights; seems to me there might be more traps for me to look out for with this sort of itinerary?

All hints gratefully accepted!


Sandy

 

[Boeta]

From my seat here your on the right track with regards to where to go to get the best prices, I would be doing the same and booking them through each airlines own website too. However I have one question, have you explored the option of a RTW ticket? I'm not sure how you were planning to get from Copenhagen to the USA however not withstanding that it may still work out to be an equally viable option.

RTW tickets can get a little tedious when the flights aren't 'linked' as such so thats where I see the travel agent being of value to you.
Just my 2c worth, but it might be worth the question or have a play on the one world website.

Sounds like an awesome holiday though!

 

[apophis21]

orbitz.com is generally pretty good for any flight arriving in or departing from the States check bestflights.com.au for the first and second legs (put London as a stopover on the way to Copenhagen) otherwise unless your taking a cruise from Europe to the States a RTW maybe the way to go as Boeta said

 

[richie9x]

A good travel agent should be able to find you a good deal. Especially with some of the types of fares that would help you with a journey like that.

That combination of flights would probably best be done using a round the world type fare. Oneworld has a tool for planning those sorts of journeys oneworld - Plan and Book your Itinerary

Bestflights.com.au has a good summary of round the world fares currently available. Round World Flights - Cheap Flights - Phone Flights Results

How are you getting from Copenhagen to Washington? and Fort Lauderdale to LA? You could also do those as part of a round the world ticket for no extra cost.

Your Qantas Club membership will get you access for British Airways flights if that is any help.

 

[medhead]

My guess is there will be some ships involved in the travel.

AFAIK one world RTW fares will require a flight from Europe to the US. That is they won't work for the listed combination of flights, as a surface segment is not allowed between continents.

If looking at emirates/etihad it might be possible to fly to somewhere closer to copenhagen if you don't want to go to London.

 

[sandysusie]

My guess is there will be some ships involved in the travel.

Yes, you'd be right, Copenhagen to New Jersey is a cruise, as is Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles.

AFAIK one world RTW fares will require a flight from Europe to the US. That is they won't work for the listed combination of flights, as a surface segment is not allowed between continents.

I did wonder about the RTW trip option but I'm not totally surprised to hear it's not going to work.

If looking at emirates/etihad it might be possible to fly to somewhere closer to copenhagen if you don't want to go to London.

Good thought, but we do want to go to London, we're spending some time in the UK as well.


Thanks for all the responses everyone - I guess I'll wait and see what the Travel Agent comes up with!

 

[docjames]

Your TA might be able to get a decent price by combining the Syd-lhr and Lax-syd part, adding one way fares for the rest which are more akin to "domestic" travel and thus don't have such a penalty for booking "one way".

Make sure you factor in potentially differing luggage allowances too and pack appropriately.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all

I'm a long-time lurker but now I have question or two. Next year hubby and I are going on a holiday, and part of the plan involves taking four separate flights (spread over two months):

• Sydney to London
• London to Copenhagen
• Washington to Fort Lauderdale
• Los Angeles to Sydney

ok.. my thoughts...

I know you are leaving from Sydney, but consider a cheap flight to MEL and take Air Asia X to london (it says on their website they are moving to London Gatwick from sometime next year).

They have fares at the moment for AUD667, or $835 after tax. (they only list a through fare from MEL to London... not from Gold Coast to London).

Premium lie flat seats are $2125 plus tax.

If you buy economy then consider an upgrade via Optiontown (quite cheap but not guaranteed), or consider buying three seats to share between the two of you... (making sure the aircraft is in fact 3+3+3 seating so you can have a middle free... I know they are ex Australia, but not sure about the KUL-Lon leg??)

Or just buy economy and extra leg room seats.

There is a pay lounge at the LCT in KUL - cheap entry.

London to Copenhagen... they have cheap one way fares via BA. You can use Qantas club for lounge access.

Same for the US flight... they have cheap one ways and with QF you have access to AAmerican AAirlines AAdmiral Clubs.

Finally, the flight LA to SYD... Air Pacific has some amazing 'Bulla' fares... I don't know when you're flying but for June/July they have some one way fares for as low as USD600!! The regular economy discounted is $1000... but they have some amazing one ways now.

you can upgrade those flights in a number of ways... either to biz class or to 'stretch out class' on the LA-Fiji leg (stretch out class is on the upper deck of the 747, you get three seats to yourself to sleep, the upgrade is USD400, but I think they sell them at the airport for USD250).

So all up for your roundrip it should be possible for well under $2000 per person

 

[sandysusie]

ok.. my thoughts...

Wow, I see what you mean about those Air Pacific prices - thanks for all these suggestions, I'll be checking them out!

 

[docjames]

Wow, I see what you mean about those Air Pacific prices - thanks for all these suggestions, I'll be checking them out!

Beware the sometimes long connection in NAN.

Alternatively, have a day or two in NAN to relax on the beach / by the pool!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Beware the sometimes long connection in NAN.

Alternatively, have a day or two in NAN to relax on the beach / by the pool!

the longest connection I can see (searching July next year) is. 3hr50 connection in nan. they only list through flights on 5 days a week...

 

[richie9x]

Another option would be to get an open jaw ticket from Qantas SYD-JFK and LAX-SYD. Given the current sale you can get tickets for $1633 on some dates. You can price and buy these fares with the multi-city tool on their website. The will get you a lot of the way to London and avoid the high costs of one way fares.

To get from New York to London there are lots of options. Cheapest would be to go via Ireland or Iceland can be had for as cheap as $400

Then from London to Copenhagen you could go with Easyjet for a cheap option. BA or SAS for a bit more.

Then choose a US domestic carrier that suits you for about $80-$100.

All up you could probably do this for a bit over $2200 per person if you choose the cheapest options.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Another option would be to get an open jaw ticket from Qantas SYD-JFK and LAX-SYD. Given the current sale you can get tickets for $1633 on some dates. You can price and buy these fares with the multi-city tool on their website. The will get you a lot of the way to London and avoid the high costs of one way fares.

To get from New York to London there are lots of options. Cheapest would be to go via Ireland or Iceland can be had for as cheap as $400

Then from London to Copenhagen you could go with Easyjet for a cheap option. BA or SAS for a bit more.

Then choose a US domestic carrier that suits you for about $80-$100.

All up you could probably do this for a bit over $2200 per person if you choose the cheapest options.

Sounds like a good option. I knew someone who did a cheapie on Icelandair (FI) JFK-KEF-LHR a few years ago. He stayed in a B&B in Reykjavik that grew bananas in a hot house which could be an interesting stopover.

Washington to Fort Lauderdale wouldn't be much money although it's usually cheaper going via a hub city rather than non-stop echoed by the FT manta "why fly direct when you can connect"? Checkout the website www.priceline.com which will do comparisons for you on all most airlines then go to airline website to book direct online.