Many lucky members snagged an extraordinary deal on flights to the USA last week! For a short time, Virgin Australia flights between Australia and Los Angeles were available for as low as USD254 ($355) return.
The amazing fare was discovered by one of our members, who kindly informed other AFF members of their discovery on the “Cheap International Airfares” forum. Within hours, dozens of members were the happy recipients of confirmed bookings to the United States!
Done! Booked my SYD friend via BNE so we can both travel together for a long weekend at In-N-Out Burger!
The fare was available for sale for less than half a day. Bookings could be made through Orbitz, a third party online travel agent. Sadly, like all good things, the deal soon came to an end. But for those that got in early, the timing couldn’t have been better as it happened to coincide with a Virgin Australia double points promotion on flights to the United States!
As discount economy tickets, they are unfortunately not eligible for an upgrade. On Virgin Australia international flights, only “Flexi” tickets can be upgraded using points. But some members have been able to bid for an upgrade to Premium Economy.
Best we can do is an upgrade bid to PE. I’m getting $500 (BNE-LAX) and $600 (LAX-SYD) as the minimum. Hoping it goes down closer to departure.
It remains to be seen whether these tickets will be honoured by Orbitz. On the whole it appears to be a case of so far, so good.
My booking is still showing up as valid through VA & Orbitz.
But at least one member has already had their booking cancelled without notice. Many travellers will be hoping that this was an isolated case.
Data point for you all. My flight was cancelled after it was ticketed and payment was accepted by Orbitz. No email saying it was cancelled, just a cancelled booking and a refund to my credit card.
Last year a Qantas mistake fare saw flights to the United States on sale for around $450 return. In this case, Qantas agreed to honour all bookings.
These kind of “limited time” airfares act as a reminder of the importance of checking AFF regularly. You can also subscribe to the AFF Cheap International Airfares forum to receive automatic updates. This is a great way to keep track of some of the best airfare deals available to Australian travellers.
Join the discussion HERE.
