QF93 A380 MEL-LAX - J or Y

[MartinMemo]

Hi all,

I am looking at booking a trip to LAX to use up my QF points, and want some advice on the flight itself.

At this stage I have figured out it would cost me about $3000 + 45k points to fly in J (if upgrade is available, if not PE). I have also noticed I could just fly in Y for 48k points.

I have only flown PE to LHR on the A830, so don't know what to expect in Y or J. Basically I want to know if Y is that horrible, or J is that amazing on the A380 to warrant $3k for a 14hr overnight flight to LAX?

Any advise or personal experience would be very helpful.

 

[harvyk]

Y points redemption tend to be very bad value. Provided that you are not paying a premium for the chance to upgrade (as you may be disappointed and thus have just wasted money), I'd go the upgrade route.

 

[MartinMemo]

Y points redemption tend to be very bad value. Provided that you are not paying a premium for the chance to upgrade (as you may be disappointed and thus have just wasted money), I'd go the upgrade route.

Well I was going to buy fully-flexi at $2835 one way, and hope for the upgrade. But I discovered that I can fly out of Auckland instead of Melbourne in J to Sydney, then fly PE to LAX for $2632 ($200 cheaper) then buy a $200 flight to Auckland - so it works out the same but worst case scenario I'll still be in PE.

Im not too concerned about the value, because I have no use for the points with Qantas - I was just really wondering if Y is that bad on the A380?

 

[harvyk]

If I had the choice between Y or J ( or Y+), the higher classes would win out every time. That said Y on the A380 is actually pretty good.
The reason why I suggest not using points for a simply Y redemption is the "taxes" can end up been over half the price of the ticket, as such your only really saving a few hundred dollars, where as if you put the points towards a higher fare those "taxes" do not actually change.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Well I was going to buy fully-flexi at $2835 one way, and hope for the upgrade. But I discovered that I can fly out of Auckland instead of Melbourne in J to Sydney, then fly PE to LAX for $2632 ($200 cheaper) then buy a $200 flight to Auckland - so it works out the same but worst case scenario I'll still be in PE.

Im not too concerned about the value, because I have no use for the points with Qantas - I was just really wondering if Y is that bad on the A380?

of course it's not that bad hundreds do it every day.

around 30 minutes before landing the long hours of aching sleeplessness (where you'd sell your own mother just to have 10 minutes of glorious respite in being able to lie full flat, or be able to raise your legs to ease the bursting blood vessels in your swollen legs) will all be forgotten.

and you'll thank yourself for saving $3000

 

[MartinMemo]

You both raise good points - if the taxes are that bad, it will be worth it. But if not I was thinking just a few Valium to knock me out and hopefully skip the whole flight.

Can just call up to find the taxes?

 

[harvyk]

Just try a dummy booking, you'll soon know how much tax you'll need to pay...

 

[MartinMemo]

Just try a dummy booking, you'll soon know how much tax you'll need to pay...

Thing wont let me - am waiting for a few more points to land. All good, I will give them a call this arvo.

 

[Princess Fiona]

A little convoluted but do you need to go QF to LAX? Could you use the points to get in J to HKG/NRT ( ~ 60 K plus $700 tax as per drron) and use LifeMiles or USDM to get to LAX? Even at non-promo prices it costs $1,3780 USD plus taxes with AA miles and likely cheaper with the * options to fly one way in J from NRT to LAX.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thing wont let me - am waiting for a few more points to land. All good, I will give them a call this arvo.

or just go to bestflights.com.au and do a dummy booking there. they still provide the tax breakdown.

 

[knasty]

Or you can get J on Fiji Airways return from Fiji to Lax for <2200 AUD depending on dates. You could use points to get there or just get a cheap Y ticket there and save yourself some cash. Of course that involves earning rather than using miles...(possibly)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Or you can get J on Fiji Airways return from Fiji to Lax for <2200 AUD depending on dates. You could use points to get there or just get a cheap Y ticket there and save yourself some cash. Of course that involves earning rather than using miles...(possibly)

good point. in fact booking as three separate tickets (Australia to nadi, nadi-lax rtn, then nadi-Australia) used to be possible for around $3000 all up. with business class points and SCs.

 

[MartinMemo]

taxes one way MEL-LAX are $454, still not bad for a one way international flight if only burning 48,000 points. But now im going to check out these other options...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

taxes one way MEL-LAX are $454, still not bad for a one way international flight if only burning 48,000 points. But now im going to check out these other options...

its atrociously bad given they have a sale for $1499 or something. imagine your return taxes if you were also coming back... you'd be bringing 96k points to save a few hundred dollars.