Hi all, I thought I'd take advantage of the strong (but weakening by the day) AUD and cheap flights to make a trip to the US in July for about a month, with a mate, for a holiday.
Would prefer to fly QF or VA - not really keen on US airlines! Open to suggestions though. I haven't been to the US before and haven't flown overseas in a few years (last few MEL-HKG-LHR-AMS-LHR-SIN-MEL on CX/QF/BA about 3 years ago).
At this stage, possible itinerary is (dates not fixed):
MEL - SFO - July 6
SFO - JFK - July 27 (I realise this would on a US airline!)
JFK - MEL - Aug 4 or 11 (I'd like to fly on the A380 if possible!)
All travel will be in discount Y and I will require an emergency row seat, as I'm 6'9". My mate won't and we'll be on separate bookings, although on the same flights. I realise this may result in us not sitting together.
A check of the QF website over the last few days reveals that the price fluctuates daily from a low of $1,412 to over $2,500! Not sure why it fluctuates so much! Flights also change from direct flights (e.g. MEL-LAX-SFO - QF 93) to flights via AKL (QF 25), operated by Jet Connect (A Google search reveals this is a wholly owned Qantas entity registered in NZ to reduce costs!) on the way out to 380 or 747 flights on the way back. Which flights the QF booking engine chooses appears totally random!
I have approx. 220,000 Westpac Altitude points which I had hoped to use to pay for most of the flight (at $16,700 per $100, worth approx. $1250), but on calling their international travel area (operated by Pinpoint Travel if I recall), the cheapest price for the same flights was $2,500. I asked why this was more than double what I found on the QF website a few minutes earlier, but he couldn't explain it - he mentioned that they have be paid, but that's ridiculous! I'm willing to pay $100-$200 extra, but not $1,000! Based on this, using Altitude points for international airfares is very poor value! He did say that the flights I found were likely to be O class and he checked and said the cheapest possible in O class was approx. $2,000. Still expensive.
Looking at hiring a car for 2-3 weeks from SFO - have already looked at using Net Flights as suggested here.
May also make an internal flight from SFO-SEA (to go to the Boeing factory) or SFO-Las Vegas, to reduce driving.
Questions:
1. If flying QF, is there advantage flying via AKL? E.g. extra QFF points or status credits?
2. Given I have no QF status, what is the likelihood of getting an emergency row seat either at no cost, or purchasing in advance? What about on the code shared AA flights?
3. What class are the QF website flights likely to be in? How can I find out? I'd llike to go back to Altitude and see if I can get their price down.
4. Is there a better airline to fly?
5. Is there a better way to use my points? E.g. Convert to Velocity - can I use to fly on VA?
6. Car hire - anyone know what exact cars they have? I need a car to fit my 6'9' body, but would prefer something that drives better than most of the US cars do! I would prefer larger, but mate wants smaller as cheaper and more fuel efficient. E.g. Thrifty show a Ford Fusion for a med size car, which gets good reviews, but what do you actually get? I've got it figured out in Aus, but no idea in the US!
7. Is there a better option than QFF for earning points? E.g. AA?
Any other suggestions?
Apologies for the long post!
Thanks in advance for your assistance. I've already learnt a lot from this forum!
Adam
Would prefer to fly QF or VA - not really keen on US airlines! Open to suggestions though. I haven't been to the US before and haven't flown overseas in a few years (last few MEL-HKG-LHR-AMS-LHR-SIN-MEL on CX/QF/BA about 3 years ago).
At this stage, possible itinerary is (dates not fixed):
MEL - SFO - July 6
SFO - JFK - July 27 (I realise this would on a US airline!)
JFK - MEL - Aug 4 or 11 (I'd like to fly on the A380 if possible!)
All travel will be in discount Y and I will require an emergency row seat, as I'm 6'9". My mate won't and we'll be on separate bookings, although on the same flights. I realise this may result in us not sitting together.
A check of the QF website over the last few days reveals that the price fluctuates daily from a low of $1,412 to over $2,500! Not sure why it fluctuates so much! Flights also change from direct flights (e.g. MEL-LAX-SFO - QF 93) to flights via AKL (QF 25), operated by Jet Connect (A Google search reveals this is a wholly owned Qantas entity registered in NZ to reduce costs!) on the way out to 380 or 747 flights on the way back. Which flights the QF booking engine chooses appears totally random!
I have approx. 220,000 Westpac Altitude points which I had hoped to use to pay for most of the flight (at $16,700 per $100, worth approx. $1250), but on calling their international travel area (operated by Pinpoint Travel if I recall), the cheapest price for the same flights was $2,500. I asked why this was more than double what I found on the QF website a few minutes earlier, but he couldn't explain it - he mentioned that they have be paid, but that's ridiculous! I'm willing to pay $100-$200 extra, but not $1,000! Based on this, using Altitude points for international airfares is very poor value! He did say that the flights I found were likely to be O class and he checked and said the cheapest possible in O class was approx. $2,000. Still expensive.
Looking at hiring a car for 2-3 weeks from SFO - have already looked at using Net Flights as suggested here.
May also make an internal flight from SFO-SEA (to go to the Boeing factory) or SFO-Las Vegas, to reduce driving.
Questions:
1. If flying QF, is there advantage flying via AKL? E.g. extra QFF points or status credits?
2. Given I have no QF status, what is the likelihood of getting an emergency row seat either at no cost, or purchasing in advance? What about on the code shared AA flights?
3. What class are the QF website flights likely to be in? How can I find out? I'd llike to go back to Altitude and see if I can get their price down.
4. Is there a better airline to fly?
5. Is there a better way to use my points? E.g. Convert to Velocity - can I use to fly on VA?
6. Car hire - anyone know what exact cars they have? I need a car to fit my 6'9' body, but would prefer something that drives better than most of the US cars do! I would prefer larger, but mate wants smaller as cheaper and more fuel efficient. E.g. Thrifty show a Ford Fusion for a med size car, which gets good reviews, but what do you actually get? I've got it figured out in Aus, but no idea in the US!
7. Is there a better option than QFF for earning points? E.g. AA?
Any other suggestions?
Apologies for the long post!
Thanks in advance for your assistance. I've already learnt a lot from this forum!
Adam
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