Family of 4 booking with half the points

[offshore171]

It may work for JQ destinations eg HNL however a lot of the time a one way fare USA to Australia would be more that a return fare in AUD ex AU.

In our recent example which involved getting to and from Bermuda, this definitely was not the case. (trip report)

As mentioned, we recently went through this exact process in arranging our last trip, and found that buying the US to AU sector alone was very very cheap.

Situation was very similar to OP. ie: Family of 4, with half the points needed for the full itinerary. We analysed all the different permutations.

Ended up booking SYD to JFK on points one way, as the cash fares for the return leg were crazy cheap.

We went with AA for the return BOS to SYD sectors. Very good value and as a bonus got Main Cabin Extra seats for the 4 of us for no charge due to OWE status.

This was around $600 for the kids and $800 for adults for Boston through to Sydney. During AU School holidays! Full service carrier with luggage, meals, excellent IFE and on a 787.

I’d definitely recommend this approach and would do the same again in these circumstances.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Situation was very similar to OP. ie: Family of 4, with half the points needed for the full itinerary. We analysed all the different permutations.

Ended up booking SYD to JFK on points one way, as the cash fares for the return leg were crazy cheap.

We went with AA for the return BOS to SYD sectors. Very good value and as a bonus got Main Cabin Extra seats for the 4 of us for no charge due to OWE status.

This was around $600 for the kids and $800 for adults for Boston through to Sydney. During AU School holidays! Full service carrier with luggage, meals, excellent IFE and on a 787.

I’d definitely recommend this approach and would do the same again in these circumstances.

Sounds like a great deal. Was this booked on the AA Australian website in AUD?

The key factor is you did all the comparisons & came up with the best option that worked for your family.

MCE seating on AA is a great status perk & certainly makes travelling in whY a lot more comfortable.

My experience was comparing a Classic award BNE/xSYD/LAX/xSYD/BNE co-payment of AUD492.00 vs a one way Classic award SFO/xSYD/BNE co-payment of USD385.00.

Another time I wanted to request a J award seat released for SYD/HNL to be combined with a Sale fare AUD437.00 HNL/SYD. Was told by res it couldn't be done on same ticket & I'd have to purchase a one way ticket HNL/SYD.....for USD1,400.00 one way!

Scrapped that idea & just bought a non-upgradeable sale fare in whY for AUD799.00 return.

 

[offshore171]

Sounds like a great deal. Was this booked on the AA Australian website in AUD?

Indeed, in AUD via the Australian AA site. Qantas doesn't handle the reverse one-way as well as AA.

 

[ozfflyer]

qantas will restart flying their own metal to Fiji from 31 March 2019 on SYD/NAN only, 4 times a week I think it is.

With this increase in capacity, I think thwere will be heaps of Qantas frequent flyer seats on both Qantas, Jetstar & also FIji Airways + on Virgin using velocity or other ff points/miles.