The best route for Perth to New York flight

[Thom]

Hi all, I am in the process of organising a trip to New York and west coast USA for April May. Being in WA, my previous trips are always Perth - Sydney - LA and so on. Because of a regional leg before Perth, I usually have a layover in Sydney and sometimes a layover in Perth is required which amounts to valuable days lost and more expense.

It got me wondering if there is a more economical or at least time productive route to the USA and return from Perth without heading east first. Any clues to alternatives ?

What should I be using to search for Virgin Multi city flights (international) or do I really have to phone Virgin?

Cheers

 

[Captain Halliday]

Where on the west coast? Do you want New York to be your first stop, or last? And your reference to Virgin, does that mean you only want to travel VA? Sorry to come back at you with questions, but a little more detail will help pinning down some options.

 

[Captain Halliday]

In terms of duration the best you'll do from PER is around 20 hours to the west coast. All options are via the Australian East coast. There is an AA flight that's 19 hours but it also has a short SYD layover.

If you want to do something other than the east cost of Australia, try SQ via SIN/NRT to LAX @ 27hrs or NZ via AKL to SFO @ 32hrs

 

[Thom]

Thanks, the plan is fly Perth to New York, New York to San Francisco and leave from LAX. The only reason I mention Virgin is that so far the Virgin/Delta flights via Sydney have been the most economical using Expedia.

 

[Glider_]

Also consider Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong (PER - HKG - LAX etc). I'm doing it this way in September.

 

[DIANNENICOLOFF]

Another way is Emirates Perth-Dubai-New York = 26 hours 40 minutes.

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks, the plan is fly Perth to New York, New York to San Francisco and leave from LAX. The only reason I mention Virgin is that so far the Virgin/Delta flights via Sydney have been the most economical using Expedia.

In that case I'd think a possible best routing would be on one of the gulf carriers (EK, EY) ie PER-DXB/AUH-JFK then continue west across the USA to SFO etc. Perhaps cobble together a round the world on Etihad/Delta/Virgin combination?

 

[Captain Halliday]

The shortest possible duration for PER to JFK is 25hrs with Cathay via HKG as far as I can tell. Taking April 5 for example this will set you back $3,358

As RooFlyer points out via the Middle East also works. Emirates via Dubai is $1,960 (26hrs), Qatar via DOH is $1,386 (28hrs), Etihad via AUH is $1,506 (28 hrs)

 

[RooFlyer]

The shortest possible duration for PER to JFK is 25hrs with Cathay via HKG as far as I can tell. Taking April 5 for example this will set you back $3,358

As RooFlyer points out via the Middle East also works. Emirates via Dubai is $1,960 (26hrs), Qatar via DOH is $1,386 (28hrs), Etihad via AUH is $1,506 (28 hrs)

... to which the OP can add the time/cost benefit of not having to back-track across the USA (compared to usual route across via LAX)

 

[Captain Halliday]

... to which the OP can add the time/cost benefit of not having to back-track across the USA (compared to usual route across via LAX)

Sounds suspiciously like you're itching to whip up a spreadsheet RooFlyer.

 

[RooFlyer]

Sounds suspiciously like you're itching to whip up a spreadsheet RooFlyer.

Sure ... its called my Travel Agent .. but she's away ...

Seriously Thom, just get a reputable TA onto it; ask for pricing on (say) 3 alternatives (ie via LAX-JKF return, via HKG and RTW via the gulf), under the same conditions (ie ticket (pay) 3 weeks out). They should ONLY get their commission from the ticketing airline (ie you shouldn't pay any extra). But make sure they don't search and quote just the cheapest fares, which are usually ticketable (payable) within a few fays of booking (unless you are already firm on your dates). Once you see the relative prices / timings, you can ask them to refine things. Maybe a stop-over in HEL?

One valuable thing my TA does for me is to book things early, then when the payment deadline comes, they cancel and re-books and keeps that rolling forward until they see availability getting tight, then tells me that they have to ticket and I have to pay. That way, I get the good early prices and pay as late as possible; if its still too early for me to commit and pay, I can decide to keep rolling forward, at a higher price bucket. I think you'd need a good relationship with a TA before they would do that, though.

Also, airlines such as LH and AY often have great fares to the USA if you fly them via FRA or HEL respectively. Usually the first leg is on QF to their Asian pick-up point (ie not Alliance dependent). May be a bit longer in the air, but the price, coupled with not having to back-track across the USA might make it an attractive option. Something else a TA can check on.

Searching and booking on line is all very well, but in cases like this the permutations and considerations would be too complicated for me - get a professional onto it, and some-one else pays!

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Could always fly economically PER-New York, LAX-PER where time/cost beneficial and organise some cheapo First Class Flights on AA/UA/DL etc internally. A quick look on AA shows flights for approx $450USD between LGA and SFO via either ORD or DFW during April.

 

[Thom]

Thanks for all the replies, there is plenty to digest and options I hadn't considered. I need to decide on what I am trying to achieve, initially it was about breaking the monotony of what I had done previously and the possibility that I could chop out a layover day.

If its only a saving of 6 hours or so backtracking across the USA then flying via Sydney will be more practical for me. My last trip flight from New York was NY-LAX-SYD-PER-GET consecutively which wasn't a lot fun to do in one hit, hence the lay over (Here I am justifying what I initially asked for help to remove )

 

[cove]

We go either of two ways.
PER-SIN-NRT-LAX-NYC or PER-SIN-LHR-NYC.
It is half way around the world and these two ways work.

 

[clazman]

As a fellow Sandgroper.... my preference is Perth - HK - JFK with CX.

I normally take the 11:55pm flight to HK getting in about 7:30am, there is a connecting flight to JFK about a hour or so later but i tend to catch the 4pm flight to NYC.

This years trip we are exiting the US from LAX - HK to Perth.

HK to JFK is a 16 hour flight, have a look at going to Vancouver for a few days and then going domestic to New York

 

[Sprucegoose]

Also consider Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong (PER - HKG - LAX etc). I'm doing it this way in September.

I sometimes base my myself out of Taipei. There are good value fares there and extra SC's!!

 

[Thom]

And thanks for all the input, in the end for my requirements it was more convenient to book a flight via Sydney.

Cheers ☼