Study abroad in Australia - AKL to CBR flight question

[slym]

If the operating carrier is AirNZ then AirNZ limits apply.

FWIW, as long as the 113cm bag weights around the 7kg or less then, in practice, there should be no problem, even on VA flights.

They look at weight more than dimensions? That is do-able!

 

[slym]

Tickets have been purchased. We ended up with the AKL-MEL-CBR route.

You all have been so helpful and informative - thank you!

 

[Mwenenzi]

Ok. So what are all her flights numbers USA-Aust-NZ-Aust?

Above you mentioned a Visa. Has she already got the required Asustralian Visa?

Make sure she have travel insurance to cover medical, flight disruptions, lost baggage, etc.
Your USA health insurance will not be valid for Aust & NZ

At times people from AFF meet up in CBR for a meal - drinks. But you may not want your duaghter to meet these people

 

[slym]

Ok. So what are all her flights numbers USA-Aust-NZ-Aust?

Above you mentioned a Visa. Has she already got the required Asustralian Visa?

Make sure she have travel insurance to cover medical, flight disruptions, lost baggage, etc.
Your USA health insurance will not be valid for Aust & NZ

At times people from AFF meet up in CBR for a meal - drinks. But you may not want your duaghter to meet these people

The University study abroad program has required us to buy health insurance for her stay there, so that's taken care of (I hope). I didn't purchase the additional travel insurance though. Probably should have, but this is just one small leg of her journey. Her college's study abroad office took care of the tickets from here to NZ, then from Canberra to back home at the end of the term. They just left out this one segment. She's flying DSM - DEN - LAX - AKL on the way out, then this segment to get her to Canberra. The way home will be CBR - SYD - LAX - DEN - DSM.

They also told her that she needed to have her flight into the country before she could apply for her visa. I don't know if that's accurate, but it's done now, so she'll get her application in now.

I'll let her know about the AFF meets, but you're right, I don't know if she'll want to participate in that. But you never know.

I do know that she is looking forward to this experience tremendously!

 

[Mak404matt]

The University study abroad program has required us to buy health insurance for her stay there, so that's taken care of (I hope). I didn't purchase the additional travel insurance though. Probably should have, but this is just one small leg of her journey. Her college's study abroad office took care of the tickets from here to NZ, then from Canberra to back home at the end of the term. They just left out this one segment. She's flying DSM - DEN - LAX - AKL on the way out, then this segment to get her to Canberra. The way home will be CBR - SYD - LAX - DEN - DSM.

They also told her that she needed to have her flight into the country before she could apply for her visa. I don't know if that's accurate, but it's done now, so she'll get her application in now.

I'll let her know about the AFF meets, but you're right, I don't know if she'll want to participate in that. But you never know.

I do know that she is looking forward to this experience tremendously!

That's interesting. She'll be on Air New Zealand from LAX - AKL in any case, as they are the only carrier that fly that route direct. You may find it is a codeshare on United, so her bags should be checked straight through from DSM.

 

[Mwenenzi]

That's interesting. She'll be on Air New Zealand from LAX - AKL in any case, as they are the only carrier that fly that route direct. You may find it is a codeshare on United, so her bags should be checked straight through from DSM.

From quote below look to be United LAX-SYD(orMEL) than QF SYD-AKL. Is a little strange considering Air NZ are in Star Alliance & UA partner. To be determined in UA will interline her bags. Others here have more knowledge than me. Unknow if booked as single PNR or different tickets/PNR by the college's study abroad office. With United's terrible on time performance I would want travel insuance for flight delays.

Just hope she joins AA ffp, and does not use QF ffp (which she had joined) Great Circle Mapper

She joined Quantas and United's freq flyer programs. But United's was called Mileage Plus, and I don't think she joined OneWorld, just a Quantas FF program. United and Quantas are the airlines she's flying on to get to NZ.

Would be good if we get a report back from slym on how it turns out

 

[slym]

From quote below look to be United LAX-SYD(orMEL) than QF SYD-AKL. Is a little strange considering Air NZ are in Star Alliance & UA partner. To be determined in UA will interline her bags. Others here have more knowledge than me. Unknow if booked as single PNR or different tickets/PNR by the college's study abroad office. With United's terrible on time performance I would want travel insuance for flight delays.

Just hope she joins AA ffp, and does not use QF ffp (which she had joined) Great Circle Mapper


Would be good if we get a report back from slym on how it turns out

Actually she's on Qantas (without the "u" - got that down now) from LAX - AKL. Here's the list:

DSM-DEN - UA 3459
DEN-LAX - UA 1059
LAX-AKL - QF 3818
AKL-MEL - VA 8033 (operated by Air NZ)
MEL-CBR - VA 271
CBR-SYD - QF 1462
SYD-LAX - QF 107
LAX-DEN - UA 814
DEN-DSM UA 226

Although she joined the QF and UA programs, I don't believe that any of these flights have been hooked onto them. I logged into the QF FF program, and it had no flights listed. So... she should join the Star Alliance and OneWorld programs? AA has on their site AAdvantage - is that the same as OneWorld, or does she need to join both?

And what a great site - that link to the Great Circle Mapper!

 

[mannej]

QF3818 isn't actually a Qantas flight, it is a codeshare between Air Tahiti Nui.

I guess that makes things much more fun!

 

[slym]

Unknow if booked as single PNR or different tickets/PNR by the college's study abroad office. With United's terrible on time performance I would want travel insuance for flight delays.

The college did purchase all the flights, except the AKL-MEL-CBR legs, on one ticket. They are planning on staying in Auckland for a few days before heading to Canberra, so they'll collect their bags there.

For United - I hope she doesn't have any problems with delays. There is only an hour layover in DEN. But if that goes smoothly, her layover in LAX is 11 hours until she boards the QF flight to AKL.

 

[slym]

QF3818 isn't actually a Qantas flight, it is a codeshare between Air Tahiti Nui.

I guess that makes things much more fun!

I saw that the flight stops in Tahiti - you can imagine that she's pretty thrilled about that, even if she only sees the airport!

 

[Mwenenzi]

Actually she's on Qantas (without the "u" - got that down now) from LAX - AKL. Here's the list:
< snip >
Although she joined the QF and UA programs, I don't believe that any of these flights have been hooked onto them. I logged into the QF FF program, and it had no flights listed. So... she should join the Star Alliance and OneWorld programs? AA has on their site AAdvantage - is that the same as OneWorld, or does she need to join both?

There are no such thing as Star Alliance and OneWorld freq flyer programs(FFP). Airlines are a members of these marketing alliances.

As my post before join the AA AAdvantage ffp. DO NOT uses the QF ffp:- poor long term value for a USA resident

Use the UA & AA ffp. You may be able to add the UA & AA freq flyer number to the reservation on line. "Manage my booking" or similar with UA & QF. Otherwise phone UA & QF or ask the travel agent

She will not get points/miles for the VA flights: so be it. She may have got some UA miles if they had been booked as the Air NZ flights, but many cheap ANZ flights are non earning.


Congratulations on the spelling.

 

[slym]

Thanks - I'll make sure to get her to join the AAdvantage. She already did the UA program, so we'll try to add the frequent flyer number to those flights.

 

[TomVexille]

Thanks - I'll make sure to get her to join the AAdvantage. She already did the UA program, so we'll try to add the frequent flyer number to those flights.

The Air Tahiti Nui flights will not earn miles with AAdvantage

Accruing AAdvantage Miles – It is no longer possible to accrue AAdvantage Miles when traveling with Air Tahiti Nui. This was effective for any flights that departed on or after October 31, 2009.

 

[Mwenenzi]

The Air Tahiti Nui flights will not earn miles with AAdvantage

Accruing AAdvantage Miles – It is no longer possible to accrue AAdvantage Miles when traveling with Air Tahiti Nui. This was effective for any flights that departed on or after October 31, 2009.

But she is not flying Air Tahiti Nui. She if flying QF, as a codeshare. A big difference.
You get AA miles on QF flights on EK metal. Expect this will be the same.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/travel/airlines/qantas.jsp

Earn miles when flying on Qantas Airways marketed and operated flights for travel on an eligible published fare ticket. Miles are also earned on Qantas Airways codeshare flights. Exception: Qantas codeshare flights operated by Jetstar are ineligible for any AAdvantage mile accrual/elite credit

 

[slym]

I just wanted to update everyone - my daughter has made it to Canberra. Everything went smoothly. She packed her bags following the most restrictive allowances, which were the VA/AirNZ flights from AKL to CBR. Customs went okay from what she tells me, just time consuming.

I'm so amazed at the amount of information and help from the people on this forum. It made things a lot easier, and helped a worried Mom relax a bit in the process. Thank you to all of you!

 

[Mwenenzi]

Good to see she made it to Aussie

But as this is a frequent flyer site, has she got all the AA & UA miles into her freq flyer accounts? (Keep all physical boarding passes)

 

[slym]

She has miles for the trip on the UA and QF accounts. I know you guys said not to use the QF freq flyer program, but she had already set that up before I started this thread. I checked the AA account, and there is nothing there. So we must have messed that one up.