Best available deals to do a RTW from Melbourne via Houston and Europe return?

LOZChopps on 05/09/2016 - 16:27
Last edited 12/09/2016 - 17:58

Hi all,

Long time user, first time subscriber. Was hoping to use OzBargain users's collective ability to try to find the best way to go to the following two destinations, each for at least a period of 1 week, for the minimum amount of money, between this Friday (9th September 2016) and Thursday 20th October 2016.

Destinations:
Houston (Have to be there before 16th September or after 29th September due to people I want to visit not being there from 16-29).
Europe (Have to get to Cluj-Napoca in Romania somehow, so I've found "Wizz Air" does cheap flights from many major cities so not fussed.)

I wanted to try to keep the flights under $2k and saw specials to LA return for under $1000 and some odd flights to Europe for under $1000 but was hoping someone skilled could tell me if there's a way to go one way around the world to save me the hassle of flying back to Australia. I also have ~70,000 Qantas FF points to use towards the flight.

Any help is appreciated

Edit (12/09/2016)
Thank you all for your help. I've managed to find something acceptable because my dates have been pushed out by about a week. In the end, I went with:
* MEL to BKK (Thai) 24/9
* BKK to FRA (Lufthansa) 26/9
* FRA to OTP (Lufthansa) 27/9
* OTP to CLJ (Wizz)
* CLJ to NUE (Wizz)
* NUE to FRA (rail)
* FRA to IAH (Lufthansa) 11/10
* IAH to MEL via AKL (AirNZ) 28/10
All for under $2100!

Travel

Comments

  • Donaldhump on 05/09/2016 - 17:51
    +1

    fly to Dallas if you can for 1k, if not fly to LAX, or SFO whatever you can find, and use your QANTAS points to book American airlines flights to Houston.

    fly Nowegian air / Wow airlines between usa and europe, think they be the cheapest carriers

    fly wizzair to romania,

    just find a city both wizz air and nowegian/wow air fly to transit

    ie SYD-LAX/HOUSTON - ICELAND/NORWAY - LONDON - ROMANIA - return

  • Donaldhump on 05/09/2016 - 18:02
    +1

    malmo sweden looks like a perfect transit city between norwegian air and wizz air

    norwegian fly from florida, new york, las vegas and oakland…

    id probly do this

    syd - (lax / dallas) - houston - florida - malmo - cluj - malmo - florida - (lax / dallas)

    lax/dallas to houston on AA
    houston to florida on AA
    florida to malmo return on norwegian
    malmo to cluj on wizz airlines
    florida to (lax/dallas) on AA

    • OZChopps on 07/09/2016 - 00:37

      Thank you for this. Seems possible I'm just trying to find some cheap dates now that mesh up - definitely liking it because of your inclusion of AA.

  • tuvz on 05/09/2016 - 18:26
    +2

    If the AA flights are going to cost you less then $700 aussie you should sell your 70k Qantas on ozbargain classifieds for $700 and use that money towards purchasing your flights

    • lochlomond89 on 05/09/2016 - 19:49
      +2

      Great idea to sell the qantas points. You'll get better value selling them than redeeming them for flights. Feel free to send me a pm if this interests you.

    • OZChopps on 07/09/2016 - 00:38

      Thank you for this idea - I will definitely consider it as it can offset the cost of my flights. I'll have to read up on how it's possible to sell/transfer points (I didn't know this was a possibility). +1 from me!

  • Donaldhump on 05/09/2016 - 18:38
    +1

    im a wizz air member and just got a promo offer of 20% so cn forward to u. 20% any flight booked on september the 5th

  • djsweet on 05/09/2016 - 18:39
    +1

    I bought a round the world ticket for around 2k on SWISS. Lufthansa and SWISS seem to be the cheapest for RTW. I used Roundabout travel, but I believe most travel agents would be able to hook you up. See https://www.roundabouttravel.com.au/deals/ for an idea of prices.

    • OZChopps on 07/09/2016 - 00:38

      I've contacted the travel company - let's see what they come back with. Thank you for your recommendation!

  • inherentchoice on 06/09/2016 - 21:07
    +1

    Looks like return flights to just one of those destinations for your dates is going to be $2k so I think you're asking a lot…

    https://www.skyscanner.com.au/transport/flights/mela/houa/16…

    https://www.skyscanner.com.au/transport/flights/mela/clj/160…

    However I got bored and investigated a truly RTW journey on low cost airlines, like the following:

    MEL to BKK direct on Jetstar is $339 this Saturday or next Tuesday or $299 on 20th
    BKK to Budapest on Norwegian for $360 (233 EUR) on 24th
    Wizz to Cluj-Napoca?
    Budapest to Boston on Norwegian for $350 (222 EUR) on 4 October
    Boston to Houston (HOU airport) on Jetblue for $90 (69 USD) on 5 October
    Houston (IAH airport) to Vegas on Spirit for $78 (60 USD) on 15 October
    Vegas to Honolulu on Allegiant for $300 (225 USD) on 16 October
    Honolulu to Melbourne for $786 on Fiji airways via Travelgenio.com (pretty exxy I know but cheaper than Jetstar apparently)

    Total is about $2350 but you probably need an extra $150 for a 20kg bag etc = $2500

    It may be cheaper to do all the above in reverse order?

    • OZChopps on 07/09/2016 - 00:41

      Oh my - you are a champion. That is the best itinerary so far. I am loving it - will check it tonight and see if I can tweak it just a little as my availability dates have just been pushed back all the way until early November (so I can spend more time on the road!).

      Plus Honolulu to Melbourne JetStar pricematch here I come! Thank you so much :)

      • inherentchoice on 07/09/2016 - 07:17

        November should be cheaper than October, so I think you can get it under $2k if you try. Unfortunately you can't do a Jetstar price beat of Fiji airways because it's not a direct flight.

  • zappy32 on 07/09/2016 - 04:35
    +2

    For me I'd get most on one ticket.

    A multi-city on Emirates

    Mel-Dubai 21/9
    Dubai-Houston 5/10
    Houston-Mel 15/10

    is $1,928AUD and you can change most dates or have the break in Dubai on the way back.

    Dubai(DWC)-Cluj-Napoca 21/9-4/10 is $150AUD return for a direct flight plus bags with Wizzair. A taxi is about 40 minutes and $30 but I believe you can catch a bus as well.

    This is cheap and mostly on Emirates so can earn a lot of points or maybe even put your points towards it. The only bad bit is the Houston-Melbourne or vice versa flight is via Dubai and a painful 34 hours… But think of the points! ;) And it's Emirates.

    • Donaldhump on 08/09/2016 - 01:40

      we all love those 40+ hour flights:)

      • zappy32 on 08/09/2016 - 12:14

        Haha I've never been on one as usually break the up. 34 hours isn't too bad, I think it's easier than a lot of different check-ins, you can just take your sleeping tablet and don't need to use your brain and you could always break it up with a day or two in Dubai. Or do the trip in reverse and it's only 33h 20m from Mel to Houston!

        For the price point and ease, I think it's probably still the best.

        • Donaldhump on 08/09/2016 - 17:17

          i did 62 hours or so… kazakstahn to frankfurt -> train to paris -> to bangkok -> brisbane

          was depressed as by the end of it

          but single airline is good no risk for a cancelled flight or missed connection

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