Flight Options to North America

[Jsharma]

My Family and I (4 PAX) are going MEL to Toronto around 8th/9th Sept and leaving LAX to MEL latest Oct 3rd. I have gold status with QF and would prefer using them however the fare differential between QF and UA is almost $600 per ticket (UA around $1700 and QF around $2300). I guess you get what you pay for.
1. Is UA a poor product?
2. Any options using QF (even if it means 2+ stops) to bring down the price?
3. have given up thinking of an upgrade using points since cheap tickets do not really qualify

BTW I have close to a million FF points but would rather save them for a better planned trip.

Would appreciate any inputs. Thanks guys.

 

[mannej]

You'd be a glutton for punishment going for UA's product trans-pacific!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

What would the cost be if you changed the quote to Buffalo (BUF) then drove to YYZ which I think is about 90 mins drive. ISTR someone else here on AFF had done the same which saved them a few bucks.

Otherwise look at QF fares MEL/LAX then check fares LAX/BUF or LAX/YYZ on a site such as www.priceline.com but if buying separate tickets I would stay overnight at LAX to avoid potential dramas of misconnections.

 

[madrooster]

Have a look at Southwest Airlines (subscribe to their newsletter for the specials) out of LAX to BUF (instead of YYZ) it's a 2 hour drive at most from BUF to YYZ. Southwest includes 2 x 23kg bags for free which would save you the baggage fees.

Otherwise try LAX-BUF or LAX-YYZ separately on AA (2 x 23kg bags per pax if all on the same PNR as yourself).

 

[RooFlyer]

How about a compromise and do a QF Y Any Seat Award?

Had a quick look for September and you'd get economy on QF and AA to Toronto (QF code share) MEL-LAX-YYZ; return via DFW for about $1,700 and 96,000 points per pax. I know you said you wanted to save your points, but you will get points back on ASAs (?family pooling as well?) and quite a few SCs!

??? 260 SCs return per QFF member and I THINK abt 30,000 pts return for a gold member.

 

[Jsharma]

Thanks so much guys. Will look into these options tonight.

 

[NM]

Some other options:

• Take JQ or HA to HNL and then one of many options from there, either direct to Toronto or via the USA. Sometimes buying two tickets can be cheaper, but be aware of the risks of missed connections and allow plenty or time - perhaps enjoying a night or two in Hawaii along the way.
• AA often has specials that use QF to NRT and then AA to the USA and likely Toronto