Melbourne to Canada and USA

[Traveltragic]

Hi

I have just joined the Australian Frequent Flyer Online Community and hope that you can assist me. I am planning to take my family to Canada and the USA (Vancouver, Toronto, New York and Orlando Florida) during the September school holidays next year. I am trying to work out what the best flight options are and which airline is likely to provide the best value for money.

1. Is it possible to combine all destinations with the one airline (and codeshare partners)?
2. Should I book a return flight to Toronto (with a stopover in Vancouver) or New York and add on a separate flight to Orlando Florida?
3. Would it be easier (and cheaper) to book one way flights to each destination (eg. Melbourne via Sydney or LAX to Vancouver, Vancouver to Toronto, Toronto to New York, New York to Orlando, Orlando via LAX to Melbourne) in order to avoid having to return via Toronto or New York?

I would prefer not to have to transit via Sydney if I can avoid it, particularly on the way home.

I would welcome any suggestions!

Thanks,

Traveltragic

 

[robd]

Hi

1. Is it possible to combine all destinations with the one airline (and codeshare partners)?
2. Should I book a return flight to Toronto (with a stopover in Vancouver) or New York and add on a separate flight to Orlando Florida?
3. Would it be easier (and cheaper) to book one way flights to each destination (eg. Melbourne via Sydney or LAX to Vancouver, Vancouver to Toronto, Toronto to New York, New York to Orlando, Orlando via LAX to Melbourne) in order to avoid having to return via Toronto or New York?

I would prefer not to have to transit via Sydney if I can avoid it, particularly on the way home.

I would welcome any suggestions!

Thanks,

Traveltragic

I am sure the experienced folk here will help you out with this and they will probably need to know if you have status with any of the airlines ie. QF or VA. Value for money is very much a subjective thing.

Personally, I am doing MEL-LAS-NYC-MCO-MIA-LAX-MEL in September this year. I found it difficult to co-ordinate all my flights with one codeshare partner. Value for money for me meant reasonable flight times x cheap price x preferred airlines. My bookings are therefore VA MEL-LAX, SWA LAX-LAS, SWA LAS-STL-LGA, B6 JFK-MCO, AA MCO-MIA & MIA-LAX, VA LAX-MEL. The AA bookings were QF points redemptions. All of the internal US flights cost less than $500.

Another factor that I considered were the baggage limits in the US with some airlines only allowing 1 bag per PAX. These costs add up.

 

[Traveltragic]

Thanks robd - appreciate your quick response. All four members of my family (including myself) are Bronze level Qantas frequent flyers. I only have 130 status credits and need another 170 points before I reach Silver Frequent Flyer status.

 

[robd]

Thanks robd - appreciate your quick response. All four members of my family (including myself) are Bronze level Qantas frequent flyers. I only have 130 status credits and need another 170 points before I reach Silver Frequent Flyer status.

Well, if you want to get up the status ladder, then stick with codeshare partners as much as you can. I am also NB with QF, but will hit Silver with VA after flight to LA. I looked at booking with Delta & Virgin in US, but the flights just weren't convenient or were more expensive than other airlines, hence the bookings with Southwest, Jetblue and AA.

I searched on skyscanner and checked each airlines website for my routes and bookings and am pretty happy with the result.

 

[drron]

You could book all the flights on the one ticket through QF but probably not the cheapest.You could get a LCIR26-a one world Circle Pacific fare to do all that you wanted.A routing could be MEL-NRT-YVR-DFW-LGA-YYZ-DFW-MCO-LAX-MEL which comes in just under 26000 miles.but you would have more than the allowed free stopovers in North america so would have to buy the extra.Also required is a stopover in Asia but a day in a hotel in Narita town or a couple of days in tokyo are quite enjoyable.Here is the Great Circle Mapper mileage for that trip so yopu can work out how many SCs you would get-

From		To		Initial Heading		Distance
9 segment path:			25556 mi
	MEL (37°40'24"S 144°50'36"E)	NRT (35°45'55"N 140°23'08"E)	356°	(N)	5060 mi
	NRT (35°45'55"N 140°23'08"E)	YVR (49°11'38"N 123°11'04"W)	44°	(NE)	4674 mi
	YVR (49°11'38"N 123°11'04"W)	DFW (32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W)	120°	(SE)	1754 mi
	DFW (32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W)	LGA (40°46'38"N 73°52'21"W)	60°	(NE)	1389 mi
	LGA (40°46'38"N 73°52'21"W)	YYZ (43°40'38"N 79°37'50"W)	306°	(NW)	357 mi
	YYZ (43°40'38"N 79°37'50"W)	DFW (32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W)	237°	(SW)	1199 mi
	DFW (32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W)	MCO (28°25'46"N 81°18'32"W)	104°	(E)	985 mi
	MCO (28°25'46"N 81°18'32"W)	LAX (33°56'33"N 118°24'29"W)	289°	(W)	2218 mi
	LAX (33°56'33"N 118°24'29"W)	MEL (37°40'24"S 144°50'36"E)	240°	(SW)	7921 mi

My rough calculation if it was discount economy is 210 SCs but I am no expert when it comes to economy fares!

It may be a lot cheaper to do a point to point fare and have add ons.Dont forget CX has a flight HKG-YVR-JFK and this might suit.Of course Air canada could go via YVR to YYZ but they will route you through SYD.