Jump to content

Airfare to Sydney


Recommended Posts

Will be flying from St. Louis to Sydney in late January for a cruise. Looking at airfares and have no clue what is considered a good deal or what is too much. Any help as what to look for and price range would be appreciated!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From St Louis you will have to change planes a few times. You should look at the option of booking the legs separately as sometimes that can give you major discounts, of course if you do that you will have into account for time it takes to check-in again but sometimes the savings are worthwhile. Along with alerts on airline websites do an alert on Google Flights as you will have other airline options.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a look on an aggregator site called Skyscanner. For a return flight you can expect to pay $1900 - $2200 for economy. They seem to have two stops.

 

One little tip. You may not be aware, but QANTAS runs an a380 flight direct from Dallas to Sydney. The a380 is reputed to be more comfortable, even in economy. If you haven’t heard of QANTAS, it is the Australian airline. They have an outstanding reputation for safety, having never lost a passenger since the start of the jet age. QANTAS is an acronym, standing for Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service, hence there is no ‘u’ in QANTAS.. this flight may give you only one stop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are also sites like Kayak, Hipmunk and Skyscanner that you can put in your plans and it will also alert you to the fares and best dates to travel. They also have apps that you can download to your phone.

 

I did a sample on Kayak from your area StL to SYD for January and you would fly to IAH to SYD and the round trip estimate for coach is $1,553 on United right now as the cheapest. Air Canada has one that is cheaper, but I am sure you wouldn't want to go there to save $100 and have spend 9 hours more to get there.

Edited by Plum Happy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a look on an aggregator site called Skyscanner. For a return flight you can expect to pay $1900 - $2200 for economy. They seem to have two stops.

 

One little tip. You may not be aware, but QANTAS runs an a380 flight direct from Dallas to Sydney. The a380 is reputed to be more comfortable, even in economy. If you haven’t heard of QANTAS, it is the Australian airline. They have an outstanding reputation for safety, having never lost a passenger since the start of the jet age. QANTAS is an acronym, standing for Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service, hence there is no ‘u’ in QANTAS.. this flight may give you only one stop.

 

 

We took this flight from DFW to Sydney in February. The A380 direct flight was fantastic. True, it was long (about 17+ hours); well worth the extra for a non-stop. Great crew, great service, and excellent seats in economy and economy plus (comparatively speaking, IMHO).

 

The next best thing we did for that trip: we had spa appointments for a great massage the morning of our arrival at the hotel!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We took this flight from DFW to Sydney in February. The A380 direct flight was fantastic. True, it was long (about 17+ hours); well worth the extra for a non-stop. Great crew, great service, and excellent seats in economy and economy plus (comparatively speaking, IMHO).

 

The next best thing we did for that trip: we had spa appointments for a great massage the morning of our arrival at the hotel!

 

Yes the Syd DFW service is great. I always go business class and sleep for 8 hours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure if the above posters are quoting AU$ or US$, if it's AU$ then just note it will be a lower figure in US$ with conversion.

 

January is generally more expensive, but the prices Skyscanner is showing me are a bit ridiculous, at over AU$2k, compared to around AU$1200 for May.

 

I would sign up for airlines newsletters and wait for a sale or enlist the help of a trusted travel agent who can notify you of a good deal.

 

Airlines to keep your eye on:

 

Qantas

Virgin Australia

Air New Zealand

American Airlines

Delta

United

Air Canada

 

I would think for January, anything under AU$1500 would be a good deal, so that's around US$1150.

 

I use sites like Skyscanner to watch prices and see available routes, but I never book through them, some of those online agents they're connected with have terrible reputations. It's best to book directly with the airline.

 

There is a danger in booking tickets separately, i.e. STL - LAX then LAX-SYD. If your first flight is delayed causing you to miss your second flight, they have no obligation to get you to SYD. If your ticket is all the way through to SYD from STL, and the same thing happens, they will get you to SYD on the next available flight that they can. Always allow plenty of time. I'm on two cruises out of the US next year and plan to arrive at least 2-3 days early.

 

Remember also to allow for time zone differences. Generally, leaving from the US to AU, you will arrive two days later. If you depart LAX on Jan 20, you will arrive in SYD on Jan 22. Going the other way, from AU to US, you will arrive in the US before you even left Sydney. Ie you leave SYD at 9.30am on Feb 15 and arrive in LAX at 6.30am Feb 15.

Edited by Tigerlily75
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I subscribe to alltheflightdeals.com. Today they sent an alert for flights to Australia, from Charlotte, NC.

Prices are in the low 900's to around 1200 and are on United. You can check your home airport for prices on United (they must have a sale on now).

You can also subscribe to alltheflightdeals.com and use your home airport to get alerts for the deals, or periodically check that website for deals. I have no affiliation with the website other than my subscription.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live in St. Louis, too, Nan, and I have watched airfares to Sydney and to Auckland, New Zealand for a couple of years on and off. We had an Aus/NZ cruise booked for February 2016 however a medical emergency got in the way. One thing to keep in mind is if you stay with one airline from St. Louis all the way to Australia, your bags should be free on most airlines as that is an international trip. If you were to find a deal out of Los Angeles or Dallas, and chose a different carrier from STL to get you to one of those cities because of a cheap flight to connect there, you would have to pay bag fees ( unless you are using SWA ) for your flight from St. Louis to your connection city, if you stick with the same airline all the way in one direction, your bags will automatically be transferred to the next plane. Having said that, we once flew to China out of San Francisco. Did not want to take a chance missing a flight that was part of our tour so flew

to San Francisco a day ahead of time and stayed near the airport in a moderately priced hotel. We got a cheap price for a rental car and enjoyed the area until the afternoon of the following day. It broke up the long time in the air a bit as well.

 

Air NZ, Air Tahiti Nui, and Fiji airlines ( at least I think that is the name of it ) sometimes offer stopover deals in New Zealand, Tahiti, or Fiji for a couple of nights if that is of any interest to you. ( of those three airlines I think Fiji has more delay problems, etc, but we flew Air Tahiti Nui to Tahiti once and it was excellent!)

 

Like others have said, sign up for alerts and it might help to consult a good travel agent who is very familiar with getting to that part of the world.

 

Have a wonderful time on your trip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

We are sailing out of Sydney in January and used Choiceair through RCCL. They had the best airfare for business class. Leaving out of NewYork, round trip $2,000 PP. Going that far wanted the cruise line involved to make sure we get there on time.

 

Using Etihad airlines which is part of Emmeris airlines.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are sailing out of Sydney in January and used Choiceair through RCCL. They had the best airfare for business class. Leaving out of NewYork, round trip $2,000 PP. Going that far wanted the cruise line involved to make sure we get there on time.

 

Using Etihad airlines which is part of Emmeris airlines.

 

Etihad airlines is not part of Emirates airlines. They are separate (though come from the same region - comparable to how Delta is related to United...).

 

That said, business class on Etihad is very nice. Even better, you'll have the A380 to Sydney.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Etihad airlines is not part of Emirates airlines. They are separate (though come from the same region - comparable to how Delta is related to United...).

 

That said, business class on Etihad is very nice. Even better, you'll have the A380 to Sydney.

 

Sorry for the misinformation, I had thought I read they were. Must of been the region I was thinking of, thanks. 👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a little more information about these airlines in case you need to know in Australia.

 

Emirates partners with QANTAS. Etihad partners with Virgin Australia. There is another middle eastern airline that operates through Australia as well. That is QAtar Airlines. I am not aware of who they partner with. All are considered top class for both safety and service.

 

Just a little aside though. A few years ago, we were on a Princess cruise from Sydney to Hong Kong. On one of the shore excursions, we were discussing the business class services of various airlines. We mentioned flying with Etihad. The response was like “you... flew ... with ... Etihad.”

 

Thereafter the conversation went very quiet. They did make a few references in their conversation that suggested they were Jewish. But ... it was an astounding response.

 

is this likely to be a common response from cruisers in the US?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is an article on line at Travel and Leisure today that addresses airlines for long distances. Eithad was rated in the top 5 at $.10 per Kilometer. There were no US airlines in the top five since the average for US airlines was $.14 per kilometer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Emirates partners with QANTAS. Etihad partners with Virgin Australia. There is another middle eastern airline that operates through Australia as well. That is QAtar Airlines. I am not aware of who they partner with. All are considered top class for both safety and service.

 

FYI they're part of oneworld, so also partner with QANTAS.

 

Just a little aside though. A few years ago, we were on a Princess cruise from Sydney to Hong Kong. On one of the shore excursions, we were discussing the business class services of various airlines. We mentioned flying with Etihad. The response was like “you... flew ... with ... Etihad.”

 

Thereafter the conversation went very quiet. They did make a few references in their conversation that suggested they were Jewish. But ... it was an astounding response.

 

is this likely to be a common response from cruisers in the US?

 

The US carriers have run a massive scare campaign against the middle eastern carriers (claiming they take American jobs and aren't fair in business). Many Americans appreciate their service advantages, but to some sectors of the community, that argument plays well. May also have been that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...