Dallas to Sydney. United through SFO or Delta through LAX?

[PR-Texas]

We are going on a cruisetour to Australia/NewZealand in November.  Trying to decide the best route and airline to take from DFW. Currently booking through Princess EZAir.    Quantas direct from DFW would be great but don't want to spend the extra $$$$.  Suggestions/opinions???

[Globaliser]

12 minutes ago, PR-Texas said:

Quantas

 

Qantas

 

You should also be able to get Qantas flights via LAX, although the domestic sector would be operated by American Airlines.

 

However, "best" is something that nobody can advise you on, because it depends on how what your personal priorities are and what value you place on them. We can usually have a go at "cheapest", but that's a very different adjective from "best".

[FlyerTalker]

Dates would always help in researching.

 

As Globaliser says, what is your definition of "best"?  Are we talking coach, premium economy, business or other?  How significant is cabin layout?  Inflight service? Connections?  FF alliance?

 

And how wedded are you to using Princess as your supplier?

 

 

 

 

[PR-Texas]

We'll be flying Economy.  We've never flown internationally and don't have any rewards programs or airline credit cards.  Cost, comfort, ease of getting through customs are important.   We're not locked into Princess but it's what we have now subject to change and the rates seem reasonable.  When planning the trip in January booking through Princess was easiest.

Currently scheduled to fly out of DFW Nov 7, 2024 arriving in Sydney Nov 9 - Cruisetour starts Nov 10.  Return on Nov 30.  Considering changing to leaving Nov 6 to give us a day in Sydney to go to the Blue Mountains.

 

My main thought for the question was which airport and airline you would choose if Delta/LAX or United/SFO were the choices for similar prices.

Edited April 26 by PR-Texas

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, PR-Texas said:

We'll be flying Economy.  We've never flown internationally and don't have any rewards programs or airline credit cards.  Cost, comfort, ease of getting through customs are important.   We're not locked into Princess but it's what we have now subject to change and the rates seem reasonable.  When planning the trip in January booking through Princess was easiest.

Currently scheduled to fly out of DFW Nov 7, 2024 arriving in Sydney Nov 9 - Cruisetour starts Nov 10.  Return on Nov 30.  Considering changing to leaving Nov 6 to give us a day in Sydney to go to the Blue Mountains.

 

My main thought for the question was which airport and airline you would choose if Delta/LAX or United/SFO were the choices for similar prices.

Coach is pretty much the same for all airlines. Getting through Immigration ( the more important and complicated issue, compared to Customs...get your ETA in advance) isn't impacted by what airline you fly, unless you are coming from a suspect country. 

 

As far as using Princess or booking on your own, it's a matter of price, but kn I w that Princess is probably selling you consolidator tickets, which are very low on the priority list if things go sideways. 

 

I would definitely fly in a day earlier if possible. I would do the non-stop from DFW, simply because it's a non-stop. 

[Zach1213]

I would say DL via LAX or UA via SFO are pretty much "six in one, half dozen the other". If literally everything is the same, including layover times and cost, I would probably go Delta but I am not sure there will be much difference. I would rank Qantas economy slightly above Delta and United, plus the nonstop, but if that's really completely out for you then...yeah...either UA or DL will work fine. 

[PR-Texas]

I was really thinking about Customs and Immigration coming back to US.  Depending on which airline we'd be doing that at LAX, SFO, or DFW.  Anyone know if one is more of a pain than the others?

[SelectSys]

3 hours ago, PR-Texas said:

Currently scheduled to fly out of DFW Nov 7, 2024 arriving in Sydney Nov 9 - Cruisetour starts Nov 10.  Return on Nov 30.  Considering changing to leaving Nov 6 to give us a day in Sydney to go to the Blue Mountains.

If you can at all manage the extra time, I would suggest flying in as early as you can to Sydney.  Sydney, at least to me, is really a great city to visit and warrants more than a day to visit the primary sites. 

 

BTW - To me,  the Blue Mountains would not be at the top of my list if I only had one extra day in the city.  The good news is that this site has lots of people from Sydney and Australia generally to give you ideas of what to see and do.

 

1 hour ago, Zach1213 said:

I would rank Qantas economy slightly above Delta and United, plus the nonstop, but if that's really completely out for you then...yeah...either UA or DL will work fine. 

The one edge I would give to UA and/or DL over QF would be the availability of extended legroom seats for purchase in economy.  I think the seat pitch in QF economy is still 32", but if you are tall this is still no fun as compared to getting something more like 34" of seat pitch.  

[CruiserBruce]

Just now, PR-Texas said:

I was really thinking about Customs and Immigration coming back to US.  Depending on which airline we'd be doing that at LAX, SFO, or DFW.  Anyone know if one is more of a pain than the others?

Flights from down under will arrive in SFO or LAX around 6 or 7am...very busy times in Immigration and Customs. Many flights from the Asia and Australia area arrive then. I haven't cleared Immigration in DFW in a very long tome...but that was noon-ish, and crazy busy.

 

Global Entry fixes all that. We can get through Immigration  and Customs in SFO in less than 15 minutes now.

[CruiserBruce]

1 minute ago, SelectSys said:

BTW - To me,  the Blue Mountains would not be at the top of my list if I only had one extra day in the city.  The good news is that this site has lots of people from Sydney and Australia generally to give you ideas of what to see and do.

Totally agree.

[SelectSys]

7 minutes ago, PR-Texas said:

I was really thinking about Customs and Immigration coming back to US.

DFW would be my vote as you then as you get to bypass all the baggage claim/recheck and TSA issues that you would have at either SFO or LA - assuming DFW is your final destination.

Edited April 26 by SelectSys

[FlyerTalker]

16 minutes ago, PR-Texas said:

I was really thinking about Customs and Immigration coming back to US.  Depending on which airline we'd be doing that at LAX, SFO, or DFW.  Anyone know if one is more of a pain than the others?

 

Perhaps this has changed, but one thing that bothered me is that at SFO, they charge for the baggage carts in the customs area.  Complimentary at LAX and DFW.  Perhaps Bruce can confirm/deny the SFO situation, since I've tended to avoid returning through SFO - perhaps because it just bothers me to go through that hassle when returning.

 

As for the luggage/security issue at LAX, I've had no problems.  Bags usually arrive without delay, there are many carousels to handle the flights, and the bag drop for all airlines is right outside the customs exit.  And easy to go through security at any terminal for your onward flight.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

7 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Perhaps this has changed, but one thing that bothered me is that at SFO, they charge for the baggage carts in the customs area.  Complimentary at LAX and DFW.  Perhaps Bruce can confirm/deny the SFO situation, since I've tended to avoid returning through SFO - perhaps because it just bothers me to go through that hassle when returning.

 

As for the luggage/security issue at LAX, I've had no problems.  Bags usually arrive without delay, there are many carousels to handle the flights, and the bag drop for all airlines is right outside the customs exit.  And easy to go through security at any terminal for your onward flight.

 

 

I have never rented a luggage cart. Sorry.

[PR-Texas]

Thanks for the info.  The more we thought about it having a hassle free once in a lifetime trip was worth the extra cost so we booked Quantas.    Also the timing of the flights with Delta or United with a layover in either LAX or SFO wasn't as good as the Quantas nonstop from DFW. 

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, SelectSys said:

DFW would be my vote as you then as you get to bypass all the baggage claim/recheck and TSA issues that you would have at either SFO or LA - assuming DFW is your final destination.

 

This can't be stressed enough. If you wouldn't have to fly on further from DFW, then doing immigration and customs at your final destination is so much better than having to do an international-to-domestic connection at LAX or SFO.

 

1 hour ago, PR-Texas said:

... we booked Quantas.

 

Qantas

 

It truly is Qantas.

[PR-Texas]

11 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

This can't be stressed enough. If you wouldn't have to fly on further from DFW, then doing immigration and customs at your final destination is so much better than having to do an international-to-domestic connection at LAX or SFO.

 

 

Qantas

 

It truly is Qantas.

DFW is our final destination other than an hour drive home so I think we'll be happy with our choice.  

The spelling shows how ingrained a U after Q is in my mind. I never noticed it wasn't there.  Oh well.  I learned something new.

[SelectSys]

3 hours ago, PR-Texas said:

I think we'll be happy with our choice

I think so as well.  You'll have a non-stop flight to your "home" airport.  What could be better than that?

 

Also, having a connection only ups your probability of an having an issue on your journey which would delay your arrival.  Finally, your overall overall travel time home is likely to be at least 4 hours shorter and the flight to DFW from SYD isn't all that much longer (as a percentage of flying time) than the flight to either LAX or SFO. 

[oakridger]

4 hours ago, PR-Texas said:

The spelling shows how ingrained a U after Q is in my mind.

 

Yep, the missing U threw me for a loop until I found out how the name came about!

 

From Mr. Google:

 

"Its initial name was Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited..."

 

I loved flying on them for my first time back from Sydney to LAX!

 

Have a wonderful trip!

 

~Nancy

 

[PR-Texas]

14 hours ago, SelectSys said:

I think so as well.  You'll have a non-stop flight to your "home" airport.  What could be better than that?

 

Also, having a connection only ups your probability of an having an issue on your journey which would delay your arrival.  Finally, your overall overall travel time home is likely to be at least 4 hours shorter and the flight to DFW from SYD isn't all that much longer (as a percentage of flying time) than the flight to either LAX or SFO. 

Absolutely.  Overall travel time is about 6 hours shorter each way without the hassle of changing planes, etc.  We won't get home as sooner as the Qantas flight leaves SYD later but we won't have to rush to get off the ship to get to the airport.

Thanks for everyone's help.

[NMTraveller]

Is Qantas through LAX an option?  I would go with Qantas myself ...

 

Oops just read above.

 

Qantas is better than Delta or United.  Enjoy.

Edited April 28 by NMTraveller