help please get me to NY

[Clive005]

Hi all my wife and our nine year old have done a lot of interstate travel and been to Asia several time, now we are ready for a biggie,
we are looking at going to Canada/USA and Germany within the next few Years as separate trips, We have the bug and our son is old enough now to appreciate the experience
Next year we are thinking of going to America defiantly want to spend some time in NY and Florida and if easy enough pop over to Vancouver,
Dates we are looking at are 10-7-17 to the 7-8-18
I Have about 400 K Velocity point but not to fussed about reward seating as this looks almost impossible to find
But don't mind the Idea of racking up more Velocity points or SC on the flights
We live in Adelaide so that will be our starting point
want to keep cost to a min but not slum it

Any advice on best way to find flights, accommodation and sight seeing to do would be appreciated as we are newbies but want to organise as much as possible ourselves rather than see a travel agent
(may be a foolish plan)

Thanks all I really enjoy the site and post's by its members

 

[Quickstatus]

Hi Clive005

For the US divide up your itinerary into 2 sections - getting to USA and then within USA

Assuming you want to fly VA


(a) Getting to the USA
VA has flights BNE-LAX, SYD-LAX, MEL-LAX. I would suggest doing ADL-MEL-LAX. MEL is great as a transit point for DOM-INT itineraries. SYD is worst.
See what prices you can come up with for ADL-MEL-LAX
Alternatively You could try to get reward flights MEL-LAX about 300 days ahead and then LAX-MEL about 300 days from when you want to come back. Velocity rewards tend to be available midweek.
Of course DL flights between SYD-LAX will also give you Velocity SC and FF.

(b) within USA
If you want to get velocity points and SC use DL which is a good airline. You can use family pooling to fast-track to platinum with intra USA flights. It is wasy to get very cheap first class flights for not much more than economy.
DL will get you to all the places you suggest.
Just bear in mind that travelling between USA and Canada is always going to be expensive.

Suggest dont use velocity points for intra USA flights

Maybe as a starting point, work out a tentative itinerary first and let us know.

 

[bsb]

Hi Clive005

For the US divide up your itinerary into 2 sections - getting to USA and then within USA

Assuming you want to fly VA


(a) Getting to the USA
VA has flights BNE-LAX, SYD-LAX, MEL-LAX. I would suggest doing ADL-MEL-LAX. MEL is great as a transit point for DOM-INT itineraries. SYD is worst.
See what prices you can come up with for ADL-MEL-LAX
Alternatively You could try to get reward flights MEL-LAX about 300 days ahead and then LAX-MEL about 300 days from when you want to come back. Velocity rewards tend to be available midweek.
Of course DL flights between SYD-LAX will also give you Velocity SC and FF.

(b) within USA
If you want to get velocity points and SC use DL which is a good airline. You can use family pooling to fast-track to platinum with intra USA flights. It is wasy to get very cheap first class flights for not much more than economy.
DL will get you to all the places you suggest.
Just bear in mind that travelling between USA and Canada is always going to be expensive.

Suggest dont use velocity points for intra USA flights

Maybe as a starting point, work out a tentative itinerary first and let us know.

good points but also look at going Air NZ via AKL. theyll have a sale post Xmas (along with all the others) and are usually competitive. They fly into YVR and you can come out of LAX SFO HOU on they also have options to NY as well.

You'll find lots of cheap hotels in the US, it's not like here. In NY stay out of Manhatten on a subway line and you'll get much better pricing. Manhatten can be expensive but there are always deals (use TripAdvisor or Priceline)

good luck

 

[Limewood]

Maybe Circle Pacific ADL/HKG/JFK/LAX/MEL/ADL, in HKG can go to disneyland, also think SQ has direct flight from SIN to USA now, use a combination of points and cash, 400K points might get 3 in PE? (premium economy). Award seats can be hard to find OZ/USA for 2 pax or more so we go via HKG both ways sometimes, cheap ticket or Y points return, long haul from HKG to many USA cities direct in J no layover in LAX.

 

[Clive005]

Thanks for the advice gang
checked out Delta seems to only cost around $250.00 to get to any of these locations we are interested in ,Great advice and looks like the way to go. Think it was only around $300.00 to go to Vancouver

I have had a look on the Virgin site looks like I can get reward seats to LAX for 44800 +$137.98 there on the 9-7-17 and 44800 + 70.00 return 6-8-17
sounds ok? Normal discount price is around $600.00 each way sounds good price for cash,
Do I collect points and SC if I pay Cash on discount flights?
I may use the points return and pay to get there to collect SC if this is possible?
Should I lock the reward seats in asap so not to miss out?
And is it ok to organise all flights and worry about accommodation latter? is accommodation easy enough to find? I'm a Accor Plus member so may wait to some deals come up or look for other options on wot if etc
myself and family starting to get very exited about the trip
Many thanks for your help

 

[Quickstatus]

Thanks for the advice gang
checked out Delta seems to only cost around $250.00 to get to any of these locations we are interested in ,Great advice and looks like the way to go. Think it was only around $300.00 to go to Vancouver

I have had a look on the Virgin site looks like I can get reward seats to LAX for 44800 +$137.98 there on the 9-7-17 and 44800 + 70.00 return 6-8-17
sounds ok? Normal discount price is around $600.00 each way sounds good price for cash,
Do I collect points and SC if I pay Cash on discount flights?
I may use the points return and pay to get there to collect SC if this is possible?
Should I lock the reward seats in asap so not to miss out?
And is it ok to organise all flights and worry about accommodation latter? is accommodation easy enough to find? I'm a Accor Plus member so may wait to some deals come up or look for other options on wot if etc
myself and family starting to get very exited about the trip
Many thanks for your help

If you have found velocity reward transpacific flight, I would lock it in. Easy and cheap enough to cancel if you change your mind.
The Intra US flights can be booked now later. There are quirks re DL booking system. A good price for DL first class is in the order of $3 per status credit earned. If the price is >$10 per status credit then wait a bit for the price to come down.

Accomodation is never a problem in the US. I use VRBO.com
A few years back 2010 when we visited Disney World in Orlando we booked a 2 bedroom condo 1 mile away in Kissimmee for $100 per night over the Christmas period.

Reward flight do not earn FFpoints or SC, only revenue flights - flights costed in $$.
Suggest have a good read on how many points/SC in the velocity website

You can get reward flights one way in either direction but paying for a flight in $$ one way in either direction is not worth it.
You should get reward both ways or a return paid ticket. A one way paid ticket is generally close to the price of a return ticket.

 

[Clive005]

Another question do we need to apply and pay for a Visa before entering the USA?

 

[Quickstatus]

Depends on your circumstances and your passport...

If travelling in Aust passport just need to go online closer to flight and apply for an ESTA.

If you have an issue which may preclude your entry (criminal record) then apply for visa

 

[Bazzi]

Depends on your circumstances and your passport...

If travelling in Aust passport just need to go online closer to flight and apply for an ESTA.

If you have an issue which may preclude your entry (criminal record) then apply for visa

Ensure you use the official government website to do this - there are other websites that mirror the DHS site but charge exhorbitant fees for the ESTA . Current fee is US$14 per person. ESTA is valid 2 years from application approval, so as Quickstatus suggested, do it closer to your departure to get full value but at least 48 hours prior to departure. Website link is here
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

 

[Clive005]

Thanks again for the help, I seemed to have hit a bit of a wall, when looking at the ESTA questions I realised I may have a problem I was fined 20 years ago for a smoking Cannabis in public, so looks like I have to apply for the Visa, so I will have to put all the booking of flights on hold until I sort that out, went from very exited to deflated in about half a second

 

[Quickstatus]

Yep keep it uncomplicated and stress free and do the visa. You should be ok though as you are planning your trip far enough ahead that you will still be in the hunt for good deals.

 

[Clive005]

Thanks Quickstatus all ready stressed lol, but want to go about it the correct way and prevent any more stress

 

[Quickstatus]

The thing about the US visa is that it has to be done exactly to the letter. Otherwise its to the back of the queue and start again. But I suppose its like that with all government applications.

Here is the relevant thread regarding your situation and US visa;
http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../criminal-record-obtaining-us-visa-15468.html

 

[jenib]

when you've sorted out the visa, research how to use the subway in NYC and look for hotels near the line for jfk. Staten Island Ferry is free to sail past the Statue of Liberty and the New York Pass is good value if you use the subway to get between the attractions.

Qantas has a 'secret flight' which goes from LAX to NYC as part of an international ticket. As it isn't bookable for domestic sectors, it often has spare seats. You can stop over in LA is you want (we did this last year). We've booked it again at a cheaper price than Aus to Dallas.