How far in advance should flights to Sydney be booked?

[R & R Carroll]

Normally, I would do a search, but that tool is currently disabled, so I apologize if this question has been asked and answered in prior threads.

 

We have booked a cruise for February 2015 from Sydney to Auckland and I am wondering how early we need to book our flights? Can we wait until six months out and still have an expectation of numerous flights and seats being available, or should we book one year out? Any input and experience would be greatly appreciated.

[loerie]

Wwe normally do 10 months ahead odd ocassion 7 months.

[AKAMum]

Where are you flying from? Domestic? New Zealand? Europe? North America? The answers may vary.

[R & R Carroll]

Boston to LA to Sydney; Auckland to LA to Boston

[Very Frequent Flyer]

Should be ok a few months in advance. Plenty of flights between LA and Sydney, LA and Auckland.

[J-D]

From our experience in booking several trans-Pacific trips, I concur that a few months in advance should be fine. However, if you hope to get seats with frequent-flyer points, or (better) to use points to upgrade, you should try to book on the first day that the outbound space is made available by your airline--typically about 11 mo in advance.

 

John

[rodan]

We also are flying from Boston to Auckland and return from Sydney in Jan. of 2015. We have already booked our flight to New Zealand and will book our return from Sydney at the end of this month. Booking in advance has the following important advantages: If you want a one stop flight (i.e LA to Sydney after Bos to LA) those will fill up first. Second even with seats available the better seats will be gone. And last but not least prices will go up as time goes by.

 

I would check out the flights you want and watch them to see how they are doing as time goes by just to be on the safe side.

 

Good luck,

Rodan

[R & R Carroll]

Thank you all for your recommendations.

[absolutboy20]

Seasonally, there's a price drop come September/October for Australia for a February outbound. Obviously it's how much you're willing to bet that the drop will happen. Using mileage is particularly difficult to Australia with limited flights, so those should be booked when they are first available, but from the looks of it you're looking at purchasing flights.

[Alaskanb]

We also need flights for next February and will probably wait until the late summer before I start being super diligent about watching flights. We are pretty flexible on our LAX to AKL flight --not so much on the SYD-LAX return. We are looking at Premium Economy on Air New Zealand.

[absolutboy20]

Premium economy is the category that typically sells out first so keep an eye out on the number of seats still available while waiting for a price drop.

[Alaskanb]

Premium economy is the category that typically sells out first so keep an eye out on the number of seats still available while waiting for a price drop.

Thanks for the info --will do. I usually book as soon as tickets become available but cannot do so this year

[Alaskanb]

Premium economy is the category that typically sells out first so keep an eye out on the number of seats still available while waiting for a price drop.

What type of price drop are we talking about? I'm thinking about shuffling resources around and maybe purchasing as soon as flights are available for our dates next February.

[cpcruzer]

I have a similar question but our cruise leaves Dec. 21. and arrives in Auckland on Jan 4. Since this is over the holidays I am worried about flights but the prices are really high right now. Does anyone know if airlines ever discount around the holidays?

[absolutboy20]

The price drop on VA was about $200 per person for premium economy.

 

CPcruiser, you are unfortunately traveling during holiday periods so the likelihood of a price drop in that timeframe is unlikely.

 

The cheapest flights tend to not be on the national carriers of New Zealand or Australia, but through carriers such as Fiji Air or Air Tahiti with connections. To Sydney routing through China can offer deals. It just depends on how much price is a factor to convenience. I searched your travel dates a few days prior and after your cruise and the lowest prices I've found was about $2,000 round trip from LAX.

[cpcruzer]

Thanks - I was worried because of the holiday period like you said so I went ahead and booked the flights. More than the cruise but we gotta get there.