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Qantas BNE/SYD/MEL to LA from $999 p.p. Return Economy

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Qantas BNE/SYD/MEL to LA from $999 p.p. Return Economy
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kelea on 30/04/2010 - 23:31 qantas.com (1673 clicks)

It's been a long time since I've seen return Qantas flights to LA under $1000, especially when it appears to be valid for the Winter school holidays as well! Great time for a holiday to the US given the strong Aussie dollar against the greenback.

Found this by accident whilst browsing on the Qantas website:
Return Economy Flights from Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, to Los Angeles from $999 per person, includes taxes. You need to select your 'To LA' flight and 'From LA flights separately - the cheapest combination adds up to $999.

This low price appears to be applicable for MOST* combination of dates in May/June/July/August 2010. I got an indication of this by ticking the flexible dates box in the search and then flicking ahead for each 14 day period. I haven't checked past August so have a look if you're interested.

*MOST because there are random dates here and there which are at a higher price. Look for the orange box that indicates the 'Lowest Price' - example screendump at http://upload.ozbargain.com/2010/04/30/3698_qantas.jpg

I'm unaware of this price being advertised in any sale campaigns being run by Qantas so not sure how long these prices will last. Prices on the Qantas website, as are most flight booking websites, are known to fluctuate with demand/time.

If you go to the Qantas International Flight Specials page as follows, the price listed to LA is actually much higher (e.g. LA from $1413 return, Sydney):
http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/international-fligh…

Other Notes:
- Most flights I can see have direct (no stopover) options at the $999 return price but I imagine this would depend on dates/departure city.
- A hefty surcharge applies if you book on the Qantas website and pay by credit card. BPAY however, incurs no surcharge to my knowledge.
- For avid QFF collectors, the journey will earn you more than 13500 points which is redeemable for $100 shopping voucher.
- Yes, there are other airlines which may offer better international service, wider seats etc, and possibly at a lower price (e.g. $50 cheaper or something). But I fall into the 'avid QFF collector' category so I always consider the value of potential QFF points earned, in the price/decision. Qantas have worked out cheapest in most cases for me.

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  • kelea on 01/05/2010 - 00:00

    Thought I might add that the price I remember quoted in either their 'America Sale' or 'Global Sale' earlier this month was ~$150 to $200 more expensive.

  • jackofspade on 01/05/2010 - 00:34
    +1

    Great price especially on the A380 QF11/QF12

    • empengpro on 01/05/2010 - 21:23

      Agree, flying long haul in the A380 truly was a better experience….

      The only bad experience was when booking the flight in Nov08 QF11 was meant to be a A380 flight but suddenly in Jan09 till my departure in Aug09 the plane was 747-100…

      Nice deal… I wish I can just take time off and take off…

  • Lexsus on 01/05/2010 - 02:01

    wow nice

  • thewinchester on 01/05/2010 - 02:18
    +2

    Being a flying nut, I've just run the numbers on this and the OP is spot on. This is definitely the real deal.

    Out of SYD, this earns 14,982 QFF points for a Bronze member, which will cover most of you eastern states people for 2x upgrades to business from a discount economy deal - so it pays for itself even after you've flown. 15,846 points Ex-MEL, and 14,332 Ex-BNE.

    A good little earner for anyone who's looking to go.

  • moooooooo on 01/05/2010 - 03:39
    +3

    The flights around the end of November seem to be $1150-ish, not $999 but if you go right at the end of November, you get to pick up all the bargains in the Black Friday post-Thanksgiving sales. My wife and I did that last year and though we spent money buying clothes, we saved a LOT of money in the longer term. We each came home with an extra suitcase of clothes - Levis that here cost $60, I bought for $15. Heavy winter coats (which are admittedly bulky to get into a suitcase were ~30% of what they cost here. We needed clothes anyway so would have spent that cash within 6 months hence we "saved" several hundred dollars in the sales.

    I'm a big fan of a special shoe here which retails for $340. Picking up a pair in the USA for $210 was enough of a bargain that spending the extra $150 at the end of Nov 2010 would be worth it if you're ready to shop!

    And, might I add, it was a truckload of fun! Here, I shop reluctantly. There, wow!

    • moooooooo on 01/05/2010 - 03:44

      I should also add that if you look at what the prices are going to do, it's a scary picture for travel to the USA. The prices now are $999 but are intended to be $2400 a year from now. Not a good outlook for travel in 2011…sigh

      • [Deactivated] on 01/05/2010 - 04:15
        +1

        Dont worry too much for 2011 I have been waiting for this. A few weeks ago these flights were $1350, then a few days ago they went up to $1550. now the same flights on the same days are now $1125 (Oct), so Qantas wont discount that far out. And wife is flying out on Wed on tickets we got for $1200

        Also flights include sales to SFO, which Qantas flys direct, so much nicer than LAX (if you want to go to SFO), whereas most of the others fly SFO via LAX

        Would like to compare US shopping notes with you. Have a look at the travel Wiki, maybe you can post some tips there. I have added piece on National car rental.

        http://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/category:travel

        • kelea on 01/05/2010 - 10:20

          Thanks ozpete - I'm actually doing the car rental / accommodation research for a rough itinerary at the moment.

          I heard motel6 is a chain that's very good for budget accommodation…

          Any other hints/advice/experiennces on anything including shopping notes :) would be heaps appreciated from all!

          • moooooooo on 01/05/2010 - 11:44
            +2

            @kelea: Sorry - I accidentally omitted that we ended up in NYC, not LA, for the Black Friday sales so my US shopping knowledge is more Manhattan-specific. I'm not sure if it is relevant to post here (to clarify expectations of my LA shopping knowledge (which I have basically none of), or in the Travel wiki (my information seems too specific for there) or a forum, so ozpete - if you feel this needs to move, please do so.

            Century 21, for example, is a fantastic place to get 50% off designer labels (and the original price is generally less than the price here in Australia anyway!) but it's NY-only, not across the country. See http://www.c21stores.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_21_(department_store) - they do not participate in the Black Friday sales because everything is already deep discounted.

            Macy's shoe department (http://www.macys.com)- OMG. Seriously. Two floors of shoes in a massive store and in the Black Friday sales, it is packed packed packed with women jostling each other to find the bargains. I let my wife go playing in there for 45 minutes to do some initial scouting and then went into the fray myself to assist. Don't expect it to be a quick process. You need to find the shoe you like in the size you want and then ask an attendant to get you the matching shoe from the same pair out of the storeroom(unlike here where you find any size and then the attendant brings you both L+R shoes in a different size). We picked up a couple of pairs, one reduced from $120USD to $30USD.

            Macy's also has an international visitor discount card so if you're not from the USA, you can use the card and get a further 10% off throughout the store. All you need to do is collect the card from the information desk on the 3rd (or 4th???) floor - even with the sales swelling customer numbers, this only took 1-2 minutes to queue and obtain (just show your Aussie drivers licence) and saved more $$$ on each transaction. See http://www.macys.com/store/about/visitor/index.jsp for details.

            Old Navy (http://www.oldnavy.com/) are basically just a department store but I found these were the kings of the Black Friday sales in terms of discounts [eg: thick wool-lined jackets for $25-$45 each, down from $60-$130]. JC Penney (http://www.jcpenney.com) were where I found the better jeans to fit me (because they had a wider range of styles) and the two stores were very similar for denim prices. Base prices for denim jeans are, of course, lower in the US anyway but typically the lower AUD means they're about the same net price. With the dollar much higher than usual, even base prices are serious discounts.

            Hope that helps someone.

            • [Deactivated] on 01/05/2010 - 17:42

              @moooooooo: Just cut and pasted into the Wiki

              Booked my flights which is great as this deal meant i could go earlier than I was looking before, which was $600 per ticket more than these ones.

              Prfer Qanta to US as the bag weight is more than V and as I have lifetime QClub (bought when it was quite cheap) I get Lounge access and a further bag to take 3 instead of 2

              Also Qantas doesnt charge for extra alcoholic drinks in economy (v gives you 1 free) Qantas arrival time is better at 10 am which when renting a car makes it better as the Peak hour traffic has gone. so its easy to get out of the airport.

              But how much extra this is worth depends on your own priorities.

              On my previous checking V was around this price with $1126 being the rates they offered, so considering that this may be onlya 2 day sale, it probably a bit risky to wait for them to better this by much.

          • [Deactivated] on 02/05/2010 - 23:40

            @kelea: A tip if you want to save money. Book a car from the rental co of choice, most times you dont pay anything until you pick it up. Keep checking every now and again and you may find prices drop. My past experience tended to see it drop until about 3-4 weeks beforehand then it rose.

            If it drops book at the new rate and cancel the old booking.

            • kelea on 03/05/2010 - 08:08

              @[Deactivated]: OzPete, do you know what the deal is with insurance? In Australia, renting a car automatically comes with insurance (although with a very high excess and you have the option of paying extra to bring this excess down). This doesn't seem to be the case for US? Thanks!

              • [Deactivated] on 04/05/2010 - 16:29
                +1

                @kelea: US car rental insurance is complicated. There is "mandatory" insurance that must be provided sorta like our CTP, but it also covers damage. Called Primary Liability, But the mandatory level provided by the car rental companies is very low from memory its something like $10000/$25000/$5000

                As this base is often covered in the US by owning a vehicle there declining this isnt an issue for US residents as it transfers over from the private car, but as OS visitors dont have this base they are not always covered.

                If anyone with you is over 50, you might also consider a one-year foreign membership in AARP, which costs $US28. In addition to providing car-rental discounts, when one rents from a participating Avis/National/Hertz location in the U.S. and uses the AARP discount code, these companies includes
                * Enhanced Primary Liability Coverage - $25,000 / $50,000 / $10,000 (this covers you as the enhancement is over the minimum that you have which is zero)
                * Maximum Responsibility Cap – For damages to the rental car if you decline the collision / loss / damage waiver. This is capped at $5,000.

                So if you get travel insurance that covers you for the USD$5000 you should be right.

                BUT this is my assessment - its not tested. In 4 rentals over in the US never had an accident, but I also lived there for 7 years so I am no stranger to their driving.

                • moooooooo on 04/05/2010 - 23:42

                  @[Deactivated]: One thought to investigate if you're a student, or recently graduated - I'm not sure if it applies to rental car insurance but when my wife and I travelled through the US in a van for 6 months in 2001, we bought a van and also bought insurance through AllState who gave discounts for students with good grades. The theory is that good students are less likely to drive like maniacs - was an unexpected surprise.

                  As an aside, we were involved in an accident whilst there. There's a certain stereotype about US residents when it comes to knowing (or not knowing) much about geography. We didn't find it true in everyone but surprisingly it was true when it came to dealing with the insurance companies. Of course, it could also have been confusing for them because we two Australians driving a van with Louisiana licence plates were hit by a car with California licence plates, containing three French girls and a German girl, whilst in Utah… :)

                  • [Deactivated] on 05/05/2010 - 06:22

                    @moooooooo: Ah - what a pity the wife was there as well…..

    • kelea on 01/05/2010 - 10:21

      Great excuse to go again! Thanks for the info!

  • Snotty on 01/05/2010 - 07:06

    Good price, keep an eye out for VAustralia though, they will most likely compete.

  • Turd on 01/05/2010 - 07:48

    DAmmit This is VERY CHEAP!

    I booked the same tickets in Jan and the total was $1708. Now the total is $1129 for the same flight! :(

    I feel ripped off!

    • kimmik on 02/05/2010 - 10:27

      can you cancel and rebook? whats the loss from cancellation?

  • [Deactivated] on 01/05/2010 - 08:05

    damn, pity about the travel period, too close!

  • modsec802 on 01/05/2010 - 10:33
    -3

    I can't think of anything worse than 15+ hours in an economy airline seat…

    • salekhard on 01/05/2010 - 10:56

      Hope you're rich enough to afford Y+ or J then.

    • moooooooo on 01/05/2010 - 11:15
      +1

      16+ hours in an economy airline seat? ;)

  • urandack on 01/05/2010 - 11:31

    Impulse holiday time…

  • odysseus on 01/05/2010 - 11:38

    "I’m unaware of this price being advertised in any sale campaigns being run by Qantas so not sure how long these prices will last. Prices on the Qantas website, as are most flight booking websites, are known to fluctuate with demand/time"

    It's now advertised on their home page under their "Ready. Set. Go Global!" deal so is legitimate. 2 days left!

    See http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/international-fligh… for other offers out of Sydney e.g. NY $1199

  • life is a little cr… on 01/05/2010 - 12:19

    good deal… wish I could travel atm….

  • McLarenHonda on 01/05/2010 - 16:15
    -2

    With the issues Qantas has had recently, fly at your own risk I say

    • [Deactivated] on 01/05/2010 - 17:45
      +1

      You are joking aren't you?? Considering the number of flights they make each day, percentage wise they arent worse than Virgin or V (V having 4 planes in total in the international fleet) Qantas has more than 4 to the USA EACH day, and then there Japan, Singapore Europe New Zealand - so sure every now and again they will have problems. V has had them as well.

    • kelea on 01/05/2010 - 18:58
      +1

      My understanding is that all the issues Qantas have had recently, with the exception of the Perth flight plunging X m mid-flight last year, are maintenance issues in that they've decided to delay the flight as a safety precaution.

      Qantas is well known to, still, be one of the few airlines in the world that haven't lost a plane. This reputation, together with the unpopular cost savings decision to divert a portion of maintenance overseas, has caused the media to turn any Qantas 'incidents' into a frenzy.

      All airlines have maintenance issues, sometimes more frequently than Qantas has had - they're just not always highly publicised by the media.

      • Trance N Dance on 01/05/2010 - 19:18

        yeah neither has v australia
        look at it this way the more planes u fly, the more flights u fly, the higher the probability of something going wrong and hence the loss of a plane
        qantas is still a small airline hence a lower possibility of loss

        • zhenjie on 01/05/2010 - 21:06

          "qantas is still a small airline hence a lower possibility of loss"

          Qantas isn't exactly a small airlines. Easily top 15 in the world and only slightly less passengers then British Airways.

          • BigglezThePigglez on 01/05/2010 - 22:16

            @zhenjie: LOL qantas is NOT a small airline. REX is a small airline!

            • Trance N Dance on 02/05/2010 - 10:21

              @BigglezThePigglez: rex is a small australian airline
              qantas is a relatively small airline in the global competition

              • [Deactivated] on 02/05/2010 - 10:29

                @Trance N Dance: Then again if we are using statistics, an airline that has more takeoffs and landings would have more incidents, or would airlines that fly further?, Or Airlines that fly in more rural areas, or ones in colder climates (snow and icing of wings etc)

                We all have an example to argue our case.

                I do tend to agree with Kelea, there is a media frenzy here, you have to understand that our unions do employ media relations teams to get their message out very effectively, and our journos who are not given that much time to write a story run the media releases often word for word - See MediaWatch.

              • zhenjie on 02/05/2010 - 11:40

                @Trance N Dance: Why would you say Qantas is a small airline in terms of global competition? It is one of the worlds top 15 largest airlines (passengers per year) out of several hundred airlines. Top 11 in terms of destinations covered.

              • Turd on 02/05/2010 - 12:03

                @Trance N Dance: If you put it that way, it would mean rex is a much much much much muchhhhhhhhhh smaller airline in the global competition? lol

                • [Deactivated] on 03/05/2010 - 08:23

                  @Turd: i think even REX has more takeoffs/landings than Tiger!

  • BigglezThePigglez on 01/05/2010 - 18:06

    Does QF allow flight deck visits upon arrival on the A380?

  • sickllama on 02/05/2010 - 00:14

    Qantas have a strange pricing scheme. When you book a return trip you are not purchasing 2 single flights. For example I managed to get August 5th to Decemeber 22nd for only $1338, BNE to JFK (even with a few days stop over in LA on the way!). I am going as an exchange student, so this is a real cost saver, as I needed to book the flights anyways! But if I was to book the say December 15th to 22nd, the 22nd leg would be way more than I paid. You pay pricing based on your departure. Qantas in this respect, is often cheaper than V australia.

    • [Deactivated] on 02/05/2010 - 10:36

      Interesting, I cant see this working that way when you use the flexible with dates option, as you can mix and match from prices on the screen. Maybe with must fly dates they can do this?

      Will play around with it if I have a chance.

      • sickllama on 02/05/2010 - 16:45

        Definatly do. It works alot. Also you can have a stop over for free, as long as you choose a date that is just as cheap. For example (these numbers are made up) say Aug 1st is $500 (the cheapest) BNE-LAX-JFK. You can do a multi trip (i.e. stopping in LA for a few days) for the same cost as going direct to NY. Provided that you continue your flight on another day that is also $500 day for BNE-LAX-JFK. So say you are looking to do a trip to America for 20 days and you want a stop in LA and carry on to NY. The stop you want is 10 days. You need to search for the date of departure and find one that 10 days later also has a cheapest option (e.g. two $500 fares going both BNE-LAX-JFK). Only then is then is the stop over free. This is the way I managed to get a peak flight (flying anywhere in December is so exy) and a stop over for free.

        Remember that Australia to New York can get you $150 of Big W gift cards to, with frequent flyers (which when I went in July last year was free to join).

        Just hope this info can help others get the most from Qantas.

        • jayc on 02/05/2010 - 22:50

          I would like to do that as well (fly to NY from SYD but stop a couple of days in LA before flying back) but I'm not sure which fares your talking about to allow you to do this. The Qantas website only allows me to choose one date for departure and one date for return. More explanation would be appreciated.

          • kelea on 03/05/2010 - 08:10

            @jayc: Go to Qantas homepage > Under Book tab, click Flights > on the left, click Multi-stop flights > click international multicity

            You can then use either the form or map to pick where you want to fly to and at what date.

    • moooooooo on 02/05/2010 - 12:24

      I'd noticed the total cost to be very dependent on departure date also.

      Example: You want to fly to NYC sometime in late June/early July, but you must return to Australia on 30 Aug.

      • If you fly MEL-JFK on 17 Jun, and JFK-MEL on 30 Aug, the outbound flight = $625 and the inbound flight = $561.
      • If you fly MEL-JFK on 20 Jun, and JFK-MEL on 30 Aug, the outbound flight = $965 and the inbound flight = $901.
      • If you fly MEL-JFK on 07 Jul, and JFK-MEL on 30 Aug, the outbound flight = $735 and the inbound flight = $671.
      • If you fly MEL-JFK on 18 Jul, and JFK-MEL on 30 Aug, the outbound flight = $691 and the inbound flight = $626.

      You'd expect the flight from JFK-MEL to stay the same price because you've not changed that date but it is significantly different based on your departure date.

  • sickllama on 02/05/2010 - 17:00

    BNE to JFK 26/11/10 $699
    JFK to BNE <b>29/12/10 $640</b>
    Total: $1338

    BNE to JFK 10/12/10 $1324
    JFK to BNE <b>29/12/10 $1266</b>
    Total: $2589

    Note that 10/12/10 departure is the cheapest departure in the peak December period (10 Dec to 16 Jan). Also 29/12/10 is the cheapest return departure. I am trying to illustrate their pricing strategy, so, I have used the cheapest possible prices in each of Qantas pricing levels.

    • [Deactivated] on 02/05/2010 - 23:35

      Actually saw that any flights booked after Dec 1 then the return flight increased, since the bookings I had been looking at and made where before Dec 1 I never saw this impact.

      Reflecting on this I guess it makes sense as they often state that a fare relates to flights that commence before a date, not completed by. The sale relates to return flights.

      A one way flight Syd to LAX ($545 leg) costs $1949 which is more than the return of $1129. So in that case its cheaper to buy a return and dont return…

  • puckman on 05/05/2010 - 17:10

    I just searched Sydney to JFK (one way) on 31st July and the cheapest was about $2300 (+/- 7 days all the same)

    :(

    • [Deactivated] on 06/05/2010 - 08:13

      Look the best wy for people who want cheap oneway fares is by using Jetstar to Honolulu and picking up a domestic US carrier and flying to New York. Or maybe even LA then picking up another cheaper carrier. Depends on how much time vs money you have. As Jetstar price per leg vs V and Q who's deals are RT based

      Jetstar light (carryon only) is $470+ to HNL or $490+ with checked bags

  • peeweekathi on 11/05/2010 - 20:05

    For those interested, there's still cheap fares going.
    I already have a Qantas flight booked (MEL/LAX return) for August/September, 2010 and I was checking the times (for another reason) and they are still going cheap from most areas.
    Melbourne (single leg, direct) departures are around the $550 mark, same for return, so if you're still wanting to fly, check again.
    All the original information posted, regarding BPay vs Credit card payments, is still correct.

    Happy travels!

  • peeweekathi on 11/05/2010 - 20:42

    You wouldn't read about it!
    I just checked the exact same flights again (I keep forgetting the flight times..DOH) and it's gone up $80 for the MEL/LAX leg, since my last post!!! Are they reading this?????

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