Booking Tickets on Overseas web sites

[Jsharma]

I am planning a trip to Toronto in three months time. I am already a bit late doing my bookings. The trouble is, whilst I have firm out going and incoming dates, the rest of the schedule is a bit up in the air. Can I book MEL-LAX return now and LAX-YYZ and other sectors using expedia or webjet etc? Would there be any problems booking on such overseas sites from Australia? Thanks your help.

 

[ShaneN]

I am planning a trip to Toronto in three months time. I am already a bit late doing my bookings. The trouble is, whilst I have firm out going and incoming dates, the rest of the schedule is a bit up in the air. Can I book MEL-LAX return now and LAX-YYZ and other sectors using expedia or webjet etc? Would there be any problems booking on such overseas sites from Australia? Thanks your help.

You should not have any major problems booking using Expedia or similar sites. Webjet is an Australian company, so no problems.

I do this often - book the long distance flight before the rest of the itinerary is finalised.

However you may find it is much cheaper to book MEL-YYZ in one booking.

 

[Jsharma]

Thanks for the info mate. Is LAX the best hub to get to Toronto or would you suggest some other?

 

[ShaneN]

Thanks for the info mate. Is LAX the best hub to get to Toronto or would you suggest some other?

I am no expert on this. You can fly one stop from Melbourne to Toronto via LAX with Qantas/American (Qantas code share). Not sure of the other options - Delta, Virgin, United

 

[HKGNZL]

Always avoid LAX if you can. Especially so nowadays with the US immigration staffing saga and the long queues. See other threads which covered it well in the past two months. If you have the option then fly into Vancouver or at the least SFO. Obviously it depends on your preferred flight timing and costs. Air NZ fly AKL to Vancouver or SFO directly. UA does MEL-SYD-sfo. From Perth I prefer PER-HKG-YYZ so all international flights and no US ports involved.

 

[wingspan]

If the dates work out, use the current QF sale to book a trip to JFK. Then it's a short and cheap jump across to YYZ on a few different carriers that can be booked at a much later date if you like.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

hmmm... my only concern with booking to LAX and then adding Canada later is that USA-Canada and vv can be extremely expensive. I'd research the flights well in advance before buying the ticket to the usa... while you might find a good deal, you might be very surprised at how expensive it can be.

 

[Melburnian1]

One other option is Philippine Airlines (PR) (ex MEL, SYD, BNE, PER or DRW) via MNL, connecting onto its YVR and YYZ flights that thankfully do not go via LAX. It offers BNE - MNL - YYZ for A$1361 return on Philippine Airlines Deals Australia | PAL Flights but a specialist travel agent should be a bit cheaper. Print out the fare offer to keep 'em honest. Some days the Canadian flights will be one of PR's five Boeing 777-300ERs with individual TV screens. Other days it may be the dreaded Airbus A343 with the old style cinema screens.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

One other option is Philippine Airlines (PR) (ex MEL, SYD, BNE, PER or DRW) via MNL, connecting onto its YVR and YYZ flights that thankfully do not go via LAX. It offers BNE - MNL - YYZ for A$1361 return on Philippine Airlines Deals Australia | PAL Flights but a specialist travel agent should be a bit cheaper. Print out the fare offer to keep 'em honest. Some days the Canadian flights will be one of PR's five Boeing 777-300ERs with individual TV screens. Other days it may be the dreaded Airbus A343 with the old style cinema screens.

does the PR YVR flight still continue to LAS? if so it's a good easy way to get to Canada, stopover, then continue to the USA cheaply if required. their tag-ons YVR-LAS have traditionally been one of the cheapest ways to do USA-Canada.

 

[HKGNZL]

One other option is Philippine Airlines (PR) (ex MEL, SYD, BNE, PER or DRW) via MNL, connecting onto its YVR and YYZ flights that thankfully do not go via LAX. It offers BNE - MNL - YYZ for A$1361 return on Philippine Airlines Deals Australia | PAL Flights but a specialist travel agent should be a bit cheaper. Print out the fare offer to keep 'em honest. Some days the Canadian flights will be one of PR's five Boeing 777-300ERs with individual TV screens. Other days it may be the dreaded Airbus A343 with the old style cinema screens.

Is the J of PAL any good? Now it is flying to PER its J prices to a lot of destinations are similar to Y of CX or QF. Tempting to try despite the extra connection at Darwin.

 

[Melburnian1]

Between Perth (or Brisbane) and Manila the new PR (PAL) flights stop in Darwin for an hour each way as the airline is using Airbus A320s. These have a basic four across (J) business class if I recall: see Home - SeatPlans.com helps you find the best seat for your flight. View detailed seating maps, flight reviews and advice. Seatplans.com - SeatPlans.com Since PR is a full service airline, you will receive meals and drinks (unlike the dreaded Jetstar).

However the J class in the B777-300ERs is excellent. I have had a good sleep between MNL and MEL: the seats are slightly angled (not totally lie flat) but have a generous pitch and a large personal TV in the seat in front (unless one is in rows 1 or 5 when it's the armrest type if I recall. The evening meal was excellent: served on good crockery (as one might hope in J class). As San Miguel Corporation now owns this airline, it now stocks the eponymous beer (thankfully the days of the terrible Lucio Tan-owned Asia Breweries products being the only beers stocked on the PR flights are but a memory, and not a good one at that).

The B773s are at the most 3.5 years old with the fifth and most recent having entered service a month or two ago. So yes, based on my experience I'd give PR a go. By the way, while I cannot be specific as to any day, in general this airline's timekeeping is very good to excellent.

 

[lovethattravel]

If you can get a cheap flight to Chicago or New York, Porter Airlines has excellent cheap flights to Toronto.

 

[HKGNZL]

Which routes are the 777-300 serving?

 

[Melburnian1]

PR's B777-300ERs fly MEL and SYD to MNL as well as to NRT and I think YVR and Toronto, but nit every flight to the latter three.

 

[Baysider]

As others have said, USA into Canada can be very expensive. If you need a car at the other end, a very good alternative for Toronto is to get to New York, fly from there to Buffalo, and pick up a car at the airport for the 90 minute drive into Toronto. You can easily save $500 on the flight by keeping it as a US domestic flight. Some nice budget carriers like JetBlue do the New York to Buffalo leg. (I think Chicago works also).
Buffalo, NY, USA to Toronto, ON, Canada - Google Maps

Re websites, you can try:
Vayama | Cheap International Flights
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KAYAK - Cheap Flights - Deals on Airline Tickets - Airfare - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites
Cheap flights - Search and Compare Flights with Momondo
Cheap Tickets, Airline Tickets, Cheap Plane Tickets, Air Travel - CheapOair
Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, & Airfare - Cheapflights.com
Cheap flights | Free flight comparison at Skyscanner Australia
FareCompare - Cheapest Airline Tickets, Cheap Flights, Travel Deals, Cheap Tickets and Discount Airfares

 

[Leeann]

Hi
Can someone please advise me if I live in Melbourne Aust, can I book a flight from Singapore to London on Singapore Airlines Singapore website instead of the Australia website?

 

[wingspan]

Hi
Can someone please advise me if I live in Melbourne Aust, can I book a flight from Singapore to London on Singapore Airlines Singapore website instead of the Australia website?

That's not a problem at all Leeann. In fact, in some cases the only option is to book on the website of your departure city.

 

[Leeann]

Hi Wingspan
Thank you for responding so quickly. I was concerned as I am not a resident of Singapore and I will be paying with an Australian Credit card. Seems to be a cheaper option than using an Australian website .