Flying to Fort Lauderdale???

[bazzaw]

Have seen a "package" put out by one of the TA's. Basically fly to Ft Lauderdale via Las Vegas , 7 day Oasis of the Seas cruise then transatlantic cruise to UK, fly home from there.

 

I am not sure about commonly used air routes to get to Fort Lauderdale -- but it seems that Qantas have a direct flight to Las Vegas, so possibly this is what the TA is planning. BUT -- this is for April next year and at this stage , I can't see that flights to Las Vegas have been published so far ahead. So cant see how TA could come out with a costing at this stage.

 

Anyway - question is -- for those who have been to Fort Lauderdale -- how did you get there and any hints please?? Thanks

 

Barry

[Kamloops50]

flights are posted about 330 days out from the date your looking at.

[Xcitdcruiser]

Sorry, unable to answer your question, but just wndering how much id this 'package' advertised for?

[Aus Traveller]

Sorry, unable to answer your question, but just wndering how much id this 'package' advertised for?

I looked at that one also.:) It was advertised in yesterday's paper (Sunday Mail travel supplement) for 'from $4949 pp twin inside'. The date of the trip is 9th April, 2014.

 

Barry - tour operators often have to put packages together before air bookings open. We have been involved in organising some with a tour operator doing the 'travel-agent' bit. There have been occasions when changed flight times meant reorganising the flight and maybe an overnight stay, and this was done at no extra cost to the client. This happened on a group motorhome trip around NZ a few years ago.

 

We have been looking at the river cruises advertised in the same paper. A 14 night cruise including airfares from Australia starts at $5,795 with one company and an extra $1,000 with another company. Other cruises on that route (Amsterdam to Budapest) usually cost $8,000 - $9,000 plus airfare.

[Bizziecruzer]

Hi - not much help with the stopover in LA, but we went Brisbane to Dallas to Miami on Qantas.

[bazzaw]

Hi - not much help with the stopover in LA, but we went Brisbane to Dallas to Miami on Qantas.

 

On the Brisbane - Dallas, it seems that you also stop at Los Angeles?? Where did you clear American immigration/customs??

 

Barry

 

 

EDIT -- maybe not?? Something strange going on with Qantas routes map here Place the cursor on Brisbane and it only shows Brisbane to Los Angeles. Place the cursor on Dallas and it shows a Qantas connection to Brisbane???

[Bob&Janet]

Have seen a "package" put out by one of the TA's. Basically fly to Ft Lauderdale via Las Vegas , 7 day Oasis of the Seas cruise then transatlantic cruise to UK, fly home from there.

 

I am not sure about commonly used air routes to get to Fort Lauderdale -- but it seems that Qantas have a direct flight to Las Vegas, so possibly this is what the TA is planning. BUT -- this is for April next year and at this stage , I can't see that flights to Las Vegas have been published so far ahead. So cant see how TA could come out with a costing at this stage.

 

Anyway - question is -- for those who have been to Fort Lauderdale -- how did you get there and any hints please?? Thanks

 

Barry

 

 

Most likely that booking will be through Qantas ... Sydney to Las Vegas via LAX, then Las Vegas to either Miami or Fort Lauderdale ... I presume package includes a stop over in Las Vegas. The LAX-LAS and LAS-FLL or MIA flights will be on American Airlines ... Qantas codeshares on its flights within the US.

 

The quickest way to Fort Lauderdale is to fly with Qantas to Dallas-Fort Worth, and then switch to American Airlines.

 

Cheers

Bob

[Bob&Janet]

On the Brisbane - Dallas, it seems that you also stop at Los Angeles?? Where did you clear American immigration/customs??

 

Barry

 

 

EDIT -- maybe not?? Something strange going on with Qantas routes map here Place the cursor on Brisbane and it only shows Brisbane to Los Angeles. Place the cursor on Dallas and it shows a Qantas connection to Brisbane???

 

Sydney to Dallas is direct, return flight is via Brisbane (and sometimes Noumea or Nadi or Auckland if headwinds means refuelling is required).

 

Brisbane to Dallas would be via LAX or Sydney.

 

You clear customs/immigration at whatever airport you first land in, not at your final destination.

 

Cheers

Bob

[Bizziecruzer]

The flight we took was via Sydney, cleared customs in Dallas (Fort Worth), then on way home flight was direct to Brisbane, no stopover.

[bazzaw]

The flight we took was via Sydney, cleared customs in Dallas (Fort Worth), then on way home flight was direct to Brisbane, no stopover.

 

yes -- this is what I have discovered - you can fly direct from Dallas to Brisbane -- BUT not from Brisbane to Dallas :( It appears that Los Angeles is the only possibility for direct flight from Brisbane )

 

Barry

[fishtaco]

Sister in law is just off a BtoB cruise florida, they flew to FL from Sydney with a first stop LA.

 

Immigration at LAX is a nightmare:eek: with many overseas passengers missing connecting flights!

 

Last June we were in a queue that was hours and hours long, pleas to staff about missing connections from non US travellers fell on deaf ears! We were lucky, we were pulled from the queue and ushered into the USA only queue, and get this, we were told we look American so can use the quicker queue lol

 

You will always have to do immigration at First point of entry. so if you land In LA you must do it there.

 

Qantas stop in LA or San Fran and then code share to Vegas? well they did last year!

 

A Qantas air steward friend told me the Dallas Brisbane route is the most grulling flight to do but pays the most in Overtime:D

[Aus Traveller]

We flew into LA in January and immigration took less time than we thought. We have spent longer getting through immigration in Brisbane. We got through so quickly we had to wait about 45 minutes for our car/driver.

[bazzaw]

Yes - when we returned from the "3 Queens" cruise, getting through Customs at Brisbane was one of the worst airport experiences we have ever had. Whereas, in the past, they have had the sniffer dogs simply randomly roaming around , this time they lined up EVERY passenger with EVERY bag in groups of about six people at a time and sniffed in detail EVERY person and EVERY bag. I didn't think that it was just a single exercise either - because they had painted "boxes" on the floor to line up the groups of six passengers.

 

The quickest and easiest Immigration/Customs control that we went through was in ------ RUSSIA (St Petersburg) :eek::eek::eek:

 

Barry

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

We have done this three times Barry. First two with V Australia to Bris to LAX then Southwest LAX to FLL - Return the same way but opposite direction. The third time we were doing a one way and the price was prohibitive with V Australia so used Jetstar to Honolulu, Hawaiian to LAX, Delta to FLL. Saved about $1000 each doing it this way.

 

There are lots of options and lots of airlines to choose from, not just Qantas and V Australia. Just be aware of the extras you have to pay for with the cheaper airlines and weigh them up when you work out the price, and take note of the flight time and layover times involved. Research is the key! :D