advice needed....daughter to get from chicago to lax

[Travelqueen]

Hi everyone,

i have a daughter in USA who has a flight to australia booked with qantas.
She needs to get from chicago to lax to meet her departing flight.

I was going to book her a one way ticket with AA ( she has silver status ), but remembered reading information on here about award seats in USA that are good value in terms of status credits.

She has points available, but the dollar value of ticket seems to be about $160.

Advise greatly appreciated.

TQ

 

[grussellt]

I think it would be better to buy the ticket and save the miles. She could fly anywhere in Australia/NZ for 10,000 miles

 

[TomVexille]

$160 is a good deal ORD-LAX

 

[drewbles]

You don't earn any status credits when redeeming miles. AA Has some great first class routes for earning status credits, but out of Chicago (ORD) is not one of them.

Just book the cheapest. If she has luggage, use your QF silver and fly AA to get up to 2 free bags up to 50lbs.

$160 with luggage is a no-brainer IMHO for that flight (ORD-LAX is slightly longer than MEL-PER, and you rarely find any fare MEL-PER for that!).

 

[TomVexille]

Also if you book her on AA, they will protect her onto the QF segment.

 

[UP4014]

I'd buy the ticket, as per the reasons given by others.

Matt

 

[Travelqueen]

Thanks everyone for all your responses.

next question is.....can I book and pay for that ticket from here in Australia?

TQ

 

[Hvr]

Thanks everyone for all your responses.

next question is.....can I book and pay for that ticket from here in Australia?

TQ

Yes, I've booked lots of AA tickets from here in Australia.

Just remember to have a five digit post code, i.e. a zero as the first digit of your regular post code will usually suffice.

 

[UP4014]

Thanks everyone for all your responses.

next question is.....can I book and pay for that ticket from here in Australia?

TQ

Yep, easy to book an AA ticket form here.

Matt

 

[DC3]

I have made recent AA bookings using the aa.com website, based on this example:

I have successfully made bookings on AA.com using an address like this:

View attachment 9144

If you read the form carefully it says that the least two fields are only required for "U.S. and Canada", and "U.S., Canada, Mexico or UK" respectively.

In my experience if you populate the ZIP/Postal Code box your form will fail their validation checks as the website checks this field regardless of which country is selected, therefore I have started putting the state and postcode it in the city box in order to enter a 'correct' & 'complete' address.

No need to add an extra '0' to the post code any more.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Yes, I've booked lots of AA tickets from here in Australia.

Just remember to have a five digit post code, i.e. a zero as the first digit of your regular post code will usually suffice.

I have made recent AA bookings using the aa.com website, based on this example:

No need to add an extra '0' to the post code any more.

Use the AA US website to do the ORD/LAX booking as it will usually default to to AU site which is generally more expensive, however you do not need to put a zip code at all if your address is outside the US. You just select your country as Australia & enter your Australian billing address of your Aussie credit card.

I booked a LAX/LAS ticket recently on AA which was US61.00 on US AA site vs AUD132.00 on the AU site.

Make sure your daughter takes a copy of the QF itinerary LAX/SYD so the AA CSA at ORD can through check the bags ORD/xLAX/SYD. As this journey is departing the US she will not need to claim her bags in LAX.

 

[Simo]

I would pay the dollars.

 

[Travelqueen]

Use the AA US website to do the ORD/LAX booking as it will usually default to to AU site which is generally more expensive, however you do not need to put a zip code at all if your address is outside the US. You just select your country as Australia & enter your Australian billing address of your Aussie credit card.

I booked a LAX/LAS ticket recently on AA which was US61.00 on US AA site vs AUD132.00 on the AU site.

Make sure your daughter takes a copy of the QF itinerary LAX/SYD so the AA CSA at ORD can through check the bags ORD/xLAX/SYD. As this journey is departing the US she will not need to claim her bags in LAX.

Fantastic info, thanks everyone.

Next question as im just about to book the flight. QF 12 leaves lax at 2205 hrs. There is a flight that gets her to lax from chicago at 1805, or 1905.
If i book the latter, is 3 hours enough transit time, considering she shouldnt have to collect her bags?
However, considering this will be early January....should i factor in the weather ??

Thanks again
TQ

 

[Sprucegoose]

Good advice from all. Pay the money!

 

[serfty]

Fantastic info, thanks everyone.

Next question as im just about to book the flight. QF 12 leaves lax at 2205 hrs. There is a flight that gets her to lax from chicago at 1805, or 1905.
If i book the latter, is 3 hours enough transit time, considering she shouldnt have to collect her bags?
However, considering this will be early January....should i factor in the weather ??

Thanks again
TQ

I would suggest booking the 6pm'ish arrival - and AA will protect her with a connection to another oneworld carrier, even on separate tickets.

Without lounge access that is going to be a long time to wait however if flights are on time - I'd suggest investigating the purchase of an Admirals Club day pass for USD50 - that could be used on the one day at Chicago, LAX T4 (before heading to TBIT) and (I think) the TBIT Business lounge.

 

[Travelqueen]

I would suggest booking the 6pm'ish arrival - and AA will protect her with a connection to another oneworld carrier, even on separate tickets.

Without lounge access that is going to be a long time to wait however if flights are on time - I'd suggest investigating the purchase of an Admirals Club day pass for USD50 - that could be used on the one day at Chicago, LAX T4 (before heading to TBIT) and (I think) the TBIT Business lounge.

Thanks serfty,

as she is only 16, i dont think she can access the admirals club can she?

thats why i was hesitating on booking the flight that gets in at 6pm, as its a long time to wait on her own.

i was hoping to do the 7pm flight, but dont want her to be rushing either....

TQ

 

[erkpod]

+1 for the 6pm arrival into LAX. There's a lot of flights leaving around that time from TBIT so it's better to leave a little bit extra time.

 

[serfty]

...

as she is only 16, i dont think she can access the admirals club can she?
...
i was hoping to do the 7pm flight, but dont want her to be rushing either. ...

Sixteen certainly precludes access to American lounges buy about 5 years.

 

[OPERACAT]

Yes you can book from Aus, I recently flew United from Chicago to LAX but took the option of extra leg room for $us 90 at the Airport and r.estful and great trip

 

[TomVexille]

January has the potential for snow, ice and sleet, as well as a delayed inbound aircraft due to ATC/weather in the northeast. Therefore a 3 hour connection at LAX is almost a minimum, 4 would be better.