Ongoing travel once in the USA

[ozbeachbabe]

It can sometimes be more economical to book separate pnrs - one for BNE/LAX/BNE & the other for LAX/MSP/LAX. If travelling on QF they will still interline your bags to AA flights on a separate pnr as it's a OneWorld carrier. You would just need to tell checkin at BNE what your final destination is & give them the AA flight details so they can through check the bags all the way.

If you had one pnr for BNE QF LAX DL MSP & return your bags could be through checked BNE/MSP even though DL is not OneWorld as all flights are in one pnr. You'd probably need to book through a travel agent for such a fare as QF website will be biased towards AA flights LAX/MSP via ORD or DFW as AA is OneWorld.

I would consider flying straight through to MSP if there was only one transit on the West Coast however going via ORD or DFW as well as LAX makes for a long day.

Note that if you were to break the journey in LAX, QF15 arrives 0700 currently - may be slightly different when you go so unless you got really lucky & were able to checkin immediately on arrival, mostly you cannot checkin to your hotel until at least 1400 onwards.

You may be able to use a hospitality suite in the hotel or have them mind your bags while you do something else however I'm not sure how much your 3y-o likes going to a mall for a few hours. A short sightseeing tour might be okay.

Option to have your child on his/her best behaviour
Get QF15 BNE/LAX & pre book the LAX Airport Shuttle to collect you outside TBIT after clearing customs & immigration then take you directly to Anaheim checkin to hotel then proceed directly to Disneyland!

Book separate ticket on www.delta.com from SNA (Santa Ana) close to Anaheim to MSP as DL fly non-stop. Use the multicity tool as you'd be looking for SNA/MSP & MSP/LAX. Return fare for the following flights was USD476.40 pp:

DL 704 dep: SNA 1250 / arr: MSP 1817 (Airbus A319) Mon 09 May 3hrs 27mins
DL 658 dep: MSP 1725 / arr: LAX 1921 (Boeing 737-800) Tue 17 May 3hrs 56mins

Pro's are:

* No stressing re missing connecting flights outbound as you are overnighting enroute in Anaheim.
* Most kids would be on their best behaviour if they knew a trip to Disneyland was riding on it.

Con's are:

* Flying MSP/LAX & having to collect bags & recheck with QF for LAX/BNE flight - unless DL will through check to QF which would be on a separate pnr.
* Nil ff points earned on QF fflyer. You could enrol with DL or another Skyteam ff program with reciprocal earning capabilities on DL.

 

[SYD]

Darwin is a oil/buiness town??? (sorry couldn't resist )

LAX can be a Zoo at times but waht do expect for a major gateway.
DFW has had a mixed report as far as a customs/immigration entry point from what I have seen posted on FT, lack of size/facilities tends to be the major issue.

The issue with DFW is not size (it's huge), the problem can be lack of staff. As mentioned earlier. In the international Terminal D (?), they have 20+ immigration counters each for US and Non-US citizens, but the day I had the misfortune of passing through, there was lucky to be 3 or 4 guys processing about 4 or 5 flights and an ever increasing line behind us.

Someone should start a seperate thread on how well DFW works as a QF port when they start flying.

As far as LAX goes, leaving from Oz, you don't have a hell of a lot of options now! If you're on QF 107 and arrive at opening time, it's usually not too bad. Being up the pointy end helps to be first in line. But arriving at TBIT during the day can be a horror if you arrive just after a pile flights in from various pacific rim countries and processing bogs down. Changing terminals to AA can sometimes be a pain having to go back through security. Transferring AA domestic back to QF international isn't so bad with the airside shuttle.

The other airlines operate out of their own terminals at LAX (eg UA and I assume Delta), plus NZ and Virgin also avoid TBIT, so they tend to be processed pretty quickly also. Especially if it's the first flight in for the day and can make the transfer process a lot simplier. Certainly from UA experiences - LAX and SFO are much the much, except SFO has a nice little arrivals lounge to freshen up in. But that is also getting way of topic!

 

[Timtammi]

I fly MEL-MSP RTN once a year, usually in July. I've pretty much done it every which way and I really can't say which way is the best, because there are so many variables in the mix which can make the experience good or bad just depending on how things pan out on the day.

Last year did it on VA, not doing that again. HATE T3 at LAX. Have flown both sun country and delta to MSP, have good memories of sun country (excellent for the price) but timing of flights tends not to be very good. Delta suck but its not that long a flight so if the timing and price is right...

This year I'm booked on the new DFW flight and looking forward to a change from LAX.

cheers