Best flight options for East Coast OZ to Sth America, and Canada late Jan 2015

[FBS1960]

In the early stages of planning a trip for partner and I from either BNE or SYD to LIM and then up to YVR. I am open to options including circle pacific fares or flying into LAX or DFW or other US destination and down to LIM for a week before heading to YVR for a further 2 weeks. Planning approx 4 weeks travel. Happy to come back through HKG or SIN if required however this is not critical.

I am WP with QF and Platinum with VA. Currently approx 140K points with QF and 80K with VA. Partner is Bronze with both QF and VA.

Would like to do the long hauls from OZ in PE, D, J or F using points plus pay.

Would appreciate people ideas on options.

Regards
FBS

 

[browski]

The problem with booking so far ahead is that often both listed paid fares and FF redemptions are not bookable.
My understanding of your flight requirements are:

Late Jan 2015
BNE-LIM
Stay1week in Lima
LIM-YVR
Stay 2 weeks in Vancouver
YVR-BNE

So maybe this try this again in a few months.

Ultimatel, unless you want to go the full whack), you would probably need to do something like ......
BNE-SYD-SCL (Santiago) on Qantas PE (2 x tickets SYD-SCL in PE = 144000 points + tax) Might need an overnight in SCL
SCL-LIM purchase in Business Class on Avianca.(AUD $996pp)
LIM-ATL - use Delta with 2 x 350000 Velocity points in Economy (Note that it is 70,000 Delta points Return, not sure if you can get the 35k oneway redemptions through Velocity)
ATL-YVR - purchase in First Class on Delta (AUD$605pp). NB. This Delta flight route is seasonal so depends when you book.
YVR - HNL (Honolulu) purchase in Business on Air Canada (CAD $1124pp) or Economy on WestJet - overnight or few nights stay in Honolulu
HNL-SYD - Jetstar Business Class US$979pp

So.....maybe price in total for 2 people would be about AUD $7600 + 144000 Qff points + 70000 VA points + taxes

 

[FBS1960]

Browski. Thanks for the reply. At this stage I am investigating all options so will not book immediately unless something special pops up.
Would it be worth considering flying to LAX or other US port from BNE, SYD or MEL and then doing a return from this port to LIM before heading to YVR?
Have heard some pretty poor things re cabin service on Air Canada. As a grumpy old man paying J class fares I expect a reasonable level of service
I will also consider RTW or Circle Pacific fares if they are the better option however I would like to utilise the points I have in the most effective way.
I doubt I will remain QF WP by the time flights come around and am not to concerned about chasing SC's to maintain however if that is a side benefit then thats an extra.

 

[craven morehead]

Can you do the companion fare special to LAX and then use points + pay ? Or don't the dates suit ? :mrgreen:

 

[browski]

Browski. Thanks for the reply. At this stage I am investigating all options so will not book immediately unless something special pops up.
Would it be worth considering flying to LAX or other US port from BNE, SYD or MEL and then doing a return from this port to LIM before heading to YVR?
Have heard some pretty poor things re cabin service on Air Canada. As a grumpy old man paying J class fares I expect a reasonable level of service
I will also consider RTW or Circle Pacific fares if they are the better option however I would like to utilise the points I have in the most effective way.
I doubt I will remain QF WP by the time flights come around and am not to concerned about chasing SC's to maintain however if that is a side benefit then thats an extra.

Hi FBS, the itinerary I listed was based upon securing a very low cost fare where all sectores should be better than economy. However if you have the resources for a higher spend then there are some really nice options - however your points may not be used - if it were for one person only then your points are valuable; but when trying to have 2 people on the same flights it becomes easier to just ignore the points.

As for LAX, yes this is entirely doable, but most frequent flyers would avoid LAX at all costs if they don't need to actually visit the city.

So maybe consider this:

BNE-SYD-Dallas Qantas
LAX-SYD-BNE Qantas
1 x PE FF Reward =84000 + 72000=156000pts + taxes
1 x PE return paid ticket =AUD $6379

DFW-Lima return in Business Class $1550 pp return
DFW-YVR one way American Airlines Business Class $1067 pp (Or consider using your Velocity points to purchase 2x Delta DFW-MSP-YVR Business tix)

YVR-LAX One-way Business $578 American Airlines

Total : AUD$10635 + 156000 QFF points + 72000VA points + taxes

NB. Connections between SYD-DFW and DFW-LIM flights are excellent
Connections between LIM-DFW and DFW-YVR (AA) are excellent

 

[ozbeachbabe]

In the early stages of planning a trip for partner and I from either BNE or SYD to LIM and then up to YVR. I am open to options including circle pacific fares or flying into LAX or DFW or other US destination and down to LIM for a week before heading to YVR for a further 2 weeks. Planning approx 4 weeks travel. Happy to come back through HKG or SIN if required however this is not critical.

I am WP with QF and Platinum with VA. Currently approx 140K points with QF and 80K with VA. Partner is Bronze with both QF and VA.

Would like to do the long hauls from OZ in PE, D, J or F using points plus pay.

Would appreciate people ideas on options.

Regards
FBS

Ex Brisbane to Santiago in Y
Tue 30 Dec QF501 Y BNE/SYD 0500/0745 & QF321 Y SYD/SCL 0930/1135
48,000 points plus AUD399.35

Ex Brisbane to Santiago in PE
Wed 24 Dec QF511 Y BNE/SYD 0755/1030 & QF27 PE SYD/SCL 1250/1125
72,000 points plus AUD399.35

Ex Brisbane to Santiago in J
Mon 29 Dec QF501 J BNE/SYD 0500/0745 & QF321 J SYD/SCL 0930/113596,000 points plus AUD449.35

Ex Auckland to Santiago in Y
Tue 30 Dec Y QF321 (LAN metal) AKL/SCL 1615/1135
Y points 42,000 QF ff points plus taxes NZD171.44

Ex Auckland to Santiago in J
Thu 01 Jan J QF321 (LAN metal) AKL/SCL 1610/1130
J points 84,000 QF ff points plus taxes NZD171.44

I tried entering AKL/LIM as a one way itinerary but it doesn't return any flights via SCL to LIM. Same thing even if trying the multi city search entering AKL/SCL & SCL/LIM separately do I would call up QF to check the points required for LIM & ask if it's common rated with SCL to avoid having to pay a sector fare.

Ex Lima to Honolulu (allows stopover in MIA or DFW)

AA J Mile SAAver Award 30,000 points per person plus taxes USD53.24 pp.

AA have an offer until 31 Jan where you can purchase points & receive some bonus points ie. purchase 45,000 points & receive 15,000 bonus points totalling 60,000. The cost to buy 45K is USD1,237.50 plus tax total USD1,365.31. This 60K points is enough for two tickets LIM/HNL.

LIM/DFW AA in J (booked into U class)

DFW/xLAX/HNL AA in F (booked in Z class)

Side trip DFW/YVR/DFW on AA in Y

QF ff points 36,000 return plus USD50.12 taxes per person economy class. Compare that with a paid fare DFW/YVR/DFW which is approx. USD880.00 - ridiculously expensive & actually more expensive than the LIM/HNL in J/F classes. If purchasing an airfare you'd be better off buying DFW/SEA USD334.00 return or Bellingham (BLI) & getting a train or driving.

Honolulu/Brisbane on HA Velocity Rewards redemption

HA economy award ticket HNL/BNE or HNL/SYD booked in "T" class. Must be VA to book as cannot be done online. 32,500 points plus USD37.74 taxes per person.

 

[FBS1960]

Ex Brisbane to Santiago in Y
Tue 30 Dec QF501 Y BNE/SYD 0500/0745 & QF321 Y SYD/SCL 0930/1135
48,000 points plus AUD399.35

Ex Brisbane to Santiago in PE
Wed 24 Dec QF511 Y BNE/SYD 0755/1030 & QF27 PE SYD/SCL 1250/1125
72,000 points plus AUD399.35

Ex Brisbane to Santiago in J
Mon 29 Dec QF501 J BNE/SYD 0500/0745 & QF321 J SYD/SCL 0930/113596,000 points plus AUD449.35

Ex Auckland to Santiago in Y
Tue 30 Dec Y QF321 (LAN metal) AKL/SCL 1615/1135
Y points 42,000 QF ff points plus taxes NZD171.44

Ex Auckland to Santiago in J
Thu 01 Jan J QF321 (LAN metal) AKL/SCL 1610/1130
J points 84,000 QF ff points plus taxes NZD171.44

I tried entering AKL/LIM as a one way itinerary but it doesn't return any flights via SCL to LIM. Same thing even if trying the multi city search entering AKL/SCL & SCL/LIM separately do I would call up QF to check the points required for LIM & ask if it's common rated with SCL to avoid having to pay a sector fare.

Ex Lima to Honolulu (allows stopover in MIA or DFW)

AA J Mile SAAver Award 30,000 points per person plus taxes USD53.24 pp.

AA have an offer until 31 Jan where you can purchase points & receive some bonus points ie. purchase 45,000 points & receive 15,000 bonus points totalling 60,000. The cost to buy 45K is USD1,237.50 plus tax total USD1,365.31. This 60K points is enough for two tickets LIM/HNL.

LIM/DFW AA in J (booked into U class)

DFW/xLAX/HNL AA in F (booked in Z class)

Side trip DFW/YVR/DFW on AA in Y

QF ff points 36,000 return plus USD50.12 taxes per person economy class. Compare that with a paid fare DFW/YVR/DFW which is approx. USD880.00 - ridiculously expensive & actually more expensive than the LIM/HNL in J/F classes. If purchasing an airfare you'd be better off buying DFW/SEA USD334.00 return or Bellingham (BLI) & getting a train or driving.

Honolulu/Brisbane on HA Velocity Rewards redemption

HA economy award ticket HNL/BNE or HNL/SYD booked in "T" class. Must be VA to book as cannot be done online. 32,500 points plus USD37.74 taxes per person.

Thanks Oz. Very comprehensive list.
The BNE SCL in PE and the AKL to SCL in J both look good. Case of keeping a lookout for cheap Y class fares from BNE/AKL.
I am not an AA mile saver member. Is that a separate membership or is it linked to QF as part of the OW alliance?
Flights up to around 3 hours I am happy to do in Y. Its the longer legs and those with O/nite flights that I prefer PE or J.
How would the above compare to circle pacific type fares?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Thanks Oz. Very comprehensive list.
The BNE SCL in PE and the AKL to SCL in J both look good. Case of keeping a lookout for cheap Y class fares from BNE/AKL.
I am not an AA mile saver member. Is that a separate membership or is it linked to QF as part of the OW alliance?
Flights up to around 3 hours I am happy to do in Y. Its the longer legs and those with O/nite flights that I prefer PE or J.
How would the above compare to circle pacific type fares?

You'd probably be better off going ex AKL on LAN as a QF Partner/Classic award as it's 84,000 points plus NZD171.44 vs ex sYD for 96,000 points plus AUD417.18 taxes so the difference in cash for the taxes saved by flying ex AKL would almost pay for the BNE/AKL airfare.

I'd say if you purchased some kind of circle pacific fare you'd be looking at minimum $6K pp vs doing it as outlined above where you'd easily come in under $6k for both of you even if HNL/BNE was in whY.

The freq flyer program for AA is called AAdvantage which is free to join however totally separate from the QF freq flyer program however you can redeem AA points for travel on QF the bonus being the taxes are much lower than a QF award ticket. MilesAAver is a name AA use for their cheapest award tickets in Y/J/F cabins.

The good thing about the AA program is that you can simply just join up & buy miles so book award travel in premium cabins that is far cheaper than buying rtw & circle pacific fares.

Forget about the old methods of booking all your flights on the same ticket. It's much easier to get several one way tickets through different award programs. It's all about thinking outside the circle.

I would book your QF award ticket for January 2015 asap as award seats are bookable 355 days in advance ie up to 16 Jan 2015 as of today.

 

[quokka77]

Thanks to all posters above especially Oz. I couldn't see any Classic partner award availability in J for the outbound transpac akl scl leg via qff mobile site or with aadvantage. Pretty hard to get? OP is platinum so would this help? I'm also interested in this route. I have cathay status (SG) until May. Will be looking for J return seat for sometime in 2015. I guess if I'm travelling solo I can slum in Y...

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Thanks to all posters above especially Oz. I couldn't see any Classic partner award availability in J for the outbound transpac akl scl leg via qff mobile site or with aadvantage. Pretty hard to get? OP is platinum so would this help? I'm also interested in this route. I have cathay status (SG) until May. Will be looking for J return seat for sometime in 2015. I guess if I'm travelling solo I can slum in Y...

For trans-Pacific flights it's hard (not impossible though) to get "U" class 355 days out on QF but very difficult to secure "U" class through AA at 331 days out. AA is good on just about all other routes though so it's definitely worth signing up then having a play around the award travel. The good thing is that you don't have to have any points in your account to practice booking a ticket so you can see what your options are first then purchase points if it suits.

I would book something asap even if it's the LAN operated QF321 SYD/SCL as you can always set a flight alert in Expert Flyer for "U" class seats on QF27 so if some are released down the track you can switch over. Alternatively if the cancellation penalties aren't too steep for the Classic award you could cancel the QF321 flight then book the J award via AA AAdvantage points on the QF27.

I can only see Classic J award seats on QF321 SYD/SCL (via AKL) on Mon 29 Dec/Wed 31 Dec/Thu 01 Jan. QF321 AKL/SCL is only showing on Wed 31 Dec or Thu 01 Jan.

 

[support]

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