LAX to YVR by hook or by crook!

[mushypeas]

I think I'm going to do a bit of travel before going to Vancouver ... my plans so far look like:

BNE > LAX > NYC @ $1202/return then Air Canada JFK > YYZ for $180 one way - Then I'm going to get The Canadian which is the train that goes across the country East to West - Total price $2300

 

[Warks]

Well enjoy the train trip! I think it's about 3 days of looking at wheat and canola fields and then all the thrills of the Rockies in the last day!

I was wondering where YYZ was (Tronno) and then I discovered that all Canadian airport codes start with Y. Learn something new every day!

 

[Warks]

This airline (Allegiant Air) flies LAX-BLI (Bellingham) directly and apparently has some hot deals ($US70 one way). Can't book beyond September at present so I'm not sure of a price for then.
Discount Flights and Vacation Packages | Airfare & Hotel Packages from Allegiant Air
From there it's only a short drive over the border into British Columbia. May still go this way but I think there will be better car deals out of SEA with the added competition.

 

[AndyMac]

I had the same problem, LAX to YVR in Sept 09 was about $US400 each return. which equates to about $A600 each.

I just booked using FF point 28K points and $A49 each return through Qantas flying Alaskan. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.

There were plenty of seats available, I checked the Alaskan site first and did a dummy points booking so I could see what was available, you dont need to log in to do this.

 

[Warks]

I still haven't booked the LAX-YVR leg but am looking at it again as the Aussie dollar heads over 80c!
I've looked at Alaska Airlines website and tried the dummy booking as AndyMac says above. Seems to be plenty of availability but I notice the various combinations of times for flights in and out have different 'prices' in terms of points. Obviously early morning and late night flights are 'cheaper' in points - 25 000 miles then there's 32 500 miles for one good and one bad time and then 40 000 miles for two good times. As we don't arrive in LAX on the A380 until 0945 all the early flights are out. The best option is at 1240pm - 3 hours should be enough? The next flights after that seem to be at 6pm or other combos via SEA that don't arrive until nearly midnight.

The QFF website won't allow me to book ANY flight between LAX and YVR. However I was informed by another member that you can ring QFF and book it 'manually' using Alaska. I haven't checked yet. When I rang a while back to ask why I couldn't do any bookings for any dates between LAX and YVR I was told that there must not be any seats for those dates. This person was not trying to be helpful at all though, unlike the usual staff I talk to.

I'll give it a burl shortly. I won't have enough points if it's going to be 40 000 each though so may have to buy a fare. Any deals going yet?

 

[docjames]

Random dates in Sept showing $1550 for 4 pax return on any of Alaska, DL or UA. Cheaper earlier in AM of course, but c$350pp for 1230-ish departures.

Something to consider: if you use points, and the QF flight is significantly delayed, you will potentially end up losing the FF seats completely, although i suppose the same applies for a non-flex bought seat.

 

[Warks]

I just got an email about a Virgin America deal for $59 flights to and from SEA (and $109 to East Coast). Can get LAX-SEA for $US59 which works out at $US613 return for 4 of us including taxes. That's pretty hot. I've been pushing to get better than $US1350 to SEA and YVR has been around $US1800. Still means we've got to get to YVR by car but that's no problem. Also means I don't have to burn most of my points on this flight.

Here's the deal:
Flights from Virgin America | Virgin Flights

Where would I post this in the "Cheap Fares" forums? "Cheap International Domestic Airfares."

 

[docjames]

DEFINITELY BUY THOSE FARES!!!

That's a great price, plus Virgin USA's planes kill all the other US carriers for comfort/IFE etc etc.

Enjoy!

 

[SnowYeti]

I've done SYD-LAX-YVR a couple of times in the last few months and it was on AS703 (I think), I used points for the trips ...

I would def look at Air Canada (probably codeshare with UA), as their fares are very very cheap this time of year!

 

[Warks]

docjames you got me to jump right in! I think it will be hard to beat and it's good to be flying a better airline.
Also I found the discounted car rental rates with Avis and Budget are pretty good too. For a 3 week hire it saves over $US500. Of course that's compared to the "walk-up" rate - just looking at the Avis site.
Might book that soon but it's still Sept before we go.

Edit: hmmm on closer examination of the car rental there are fees/taxes of around $400 so maybe there isn't such a big difference.

 

[stryker]

docjames you got me to jump right in! I think it will be hard to beat and it's good to be flying a better airline.
Also I found the discounted car rental rates with Avis and Budget are pretty good too. For a 3 week hire it saves over $US500. Of course that's compared to the "walk-up" rate - just looking at the Avis site.
Might book that soon but it's still Sept before we go.

Edit: hmmm on closer examination of the car rental there are fees/taxes of around $400 so maybe there isn't such a big difference.

Hi Warks,

VX is a really nice airline and at those prices it can't be beat.

As for car rental, you might like to have a look at Car Hire worldwide : netflights.com. Good rates and a tankfull of petrol at cheap prices.

Or alternatively you might prefer AVIS. If so, pm me for some goodish rates.

All the best, Stryker.

 

[docjames]

Sorry about that.

Well, actually, not really sorry!

That's a great price that's less than half of what you were looking at having to pay. And on much better aircraft / IFE etc.

If another killer deal comes along (say $39ea), you wont have saved enough to make a big difference to the overall cost of the trip, so dont worry about it and enjoy your trip!

Re: cars, definitely shop around a lot as there's big potential savings there too.

I was looking at an EU hire, Avis = EU105 for three days, Hertz = EU450 for the same car.

Also, if you have Avis Wizard or Hertz #1 or similar, then call the call centre as often there's better deals than that available online (Hertz came down to AUD$270 ~=EU150 with one phone call).

 

[Warks]

Thanks for all that.

I have since discovered a $15 bag charge for checked luggage which pushes it up a bit. Will have to check a couple of bags - can't be like the Yanks and take massive carry-on bags and no checked luggage.