USA to Sydney/Melbourne Return Fr $535 USD (~$700 AUD) United/American Airlines MANY Cities

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USA to Sydney/Melbourne Return Fr $535 USD (~$700 AUD) United/American Airlines MANY Cities

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Lvanderjam on 06/02/2017 - 05:10 files.ozbargain.com.au (2534 clicks)
Last edited 06/02/2017 - 23:00 by 1 other user

Long time lurker first time poster as I stumbled upon some pretty rare prices/routes.

Firstly, as title says, this is a return fare starting in the States.

So won't suit many but really awesome if it does e.g. in LDR and just booked NYC Sydney return for less than $900 AUD and that's NY being further and generally more expensive on the East coast.

I've been following these prices for a while and regularly and its been a real long time since its gone this low. Especially with a decent date range and so many cities. Weirdly enough, flights beginning from USA to Aus cities are nearly always more expensive than vise versa. Think this is United/AA's way of telling everyone to leave the country and not use their return ticket. Fine by me. These are major US airlines so none of these 56 hr trips, 1.5hr @LAX yiew!

Played around with a few sites via Scott's mainly:

1. E.g. FlightMojo US$669 JFK-Syd-JFK www.flightsmojo.com/ Over the last 2.5 years, we've bought 8 flights this exact route and this is the cheapest we've had it.
2. Momondo.com:www.momondo.com/
3. Google Flights is good for general view of calendar then book Direct from AA/United (not cheapest for many both flights we booked but from this is how we eventually for those prices at FlightMojo.

Travel Periods

Beg immediately in Feb and found flights until the end of June e.g. we're flight Syd-JFK Jun 20

Aus Cities:

Melbourne
Sydney

US Cities

Albuquerque (ABQ)
Austin (AUS)
Baltimore (BWI)
Birmingham (BHM)
Boston (BOS)
Burbank (BUR)
Charleston (CHS)
Charlotte (CLT)
Chicago (ORD)
Cincinnati (CVG)
Cleveland (CLE)
Columbus (CMH)
Dallas (DFW)
Dayton (DAY)
Des Moines (DSM)
Detroit (DTW)
El Paso (ELP)
Fayetteville (XNA)
Fresno (FAT)
Greensboro (GSO)
Hartford (BDL)
Honolulu (HNL)
Houston (IAH)
Huntsville (HSV)
Indianapolis (IND)
Kansas City (MCI)
Las Vegas (LAS)
Little Rock (LIT)
Los Angeles (LAX)
Memphis (MEM)
Miami (MIA)
Minneapolis (MSP)
Nashville (BNA)
New Orleans (MSY)
New York City (EWR)
New York City (JFK)
Oakland (OAK)
Oklahoma City (OKC)
Omaha (OMA)
Ontario (ONT)
Orlando (MCO)
Pensacola (PNS)
Philadelphia (PHL)
Phoenix (PHX)
Pittsburgh (PIT)
Portland (PDX)
Raleigh (RDU)
Reno (RNO)
Richmond (RIC)
Sacramento (SMF)
Salt Lake City (SLC)
San Antonio (SAT)
San Diego (SAN)
San Jose (SJC)
Santa Ana (SNA)
Seattle (SEA)
Shreveport (SHV)
St. Louis (STL)
Tallahassee (TLH)
Tampa (TPA)
Tucson (TUS)
Tulsa (TUL)
Washington DC (BWI)
Wichita (ICT)

Side note re currency: Flights are in USD originally but as a real Ozbargainer, cmon what does it matter - $0 intl fees + near live rates with the amazing 28* CC. For example NC to Sydney found for $540ish USD checked my CC got charged less than AU $700 no additional. I just logged into work portal to check and that's extremely close to the live rate that major institutional banks are buying it. It's basically the live rate + 50 basis points for wholesale transacting cost - ie they're not making money off your currency trade :) you needn't to do any worse than this for international retail trade so don't settle. We're not in the 70s anymore :)

Travel Airfare

6 Feb 2017 11:00pm

Related Stores

flightmojo.com

closed Comments

slipperypete on 06/02/2017 - 05:20

+1

great find..thanks
- nzthunderboy on 06/02/2017 - 10:32
  
  +2
  
  Credit to Scott's cheap flights. Most content in here is copy past from their email.
  - geoffs87 on 06/02/2017 - 10:42
    
    +1
    
    +1 for scotty
  - vanderjam on 06/02/2017 - 14:35
    
    Yep Scotty's a legend. Sorry thought the source was clear enough being in front of the booking links, added the DL. Went over my head that people don't know about his site already woops.
    
    I would add though that I always try not to get lazy and run a thorough system with a number of searches and search engines as there's usually a miss no matter how comprehensive the a set up is. Doesn't pay every time but it definitely did here (which was the main reason I decided to post frankly) - Scott's finds were already incredibly cheap for the given routes but out of coincidence, been tracking certain frequent routes, which lead to the ultimate bottom prices - $100 each cheaper (at time of posting) even though Momo runs through FMojo in their searches, if I recall correctly, but this time it slipped through the net.
    
    Pretty close to missing them myself so hoped that the posting may have saved at least someone a coupla bucks.
    
    Completely off tangent (so procrastinate further on your own accord) but- for anyone who's interested in coding and the economics/business side of it all, look into the algorithms behind apps like Hopper, SS, etc. its quite interesting how they were designed and written and also why they suck 'randomly' and are completely accurate other times. Don't quote me on this but pretty sure that's how Scott's always got his claw on amazing deals - and if so, that guy's worked out a pretty mean system to fetch, process and dissect a crap-ton of data. Deserves every bit of revenue his set up is generating, no doubt. Pretty cool - maybe. Maybe not.
JuggaloG on 06/02/2017 - 07:39

+1

should post in title and boy that it is in USD
Izefyre on 06/02/2017 - 07:44

-1

How much is the tourist visa for Oz citizens?
- chrisoz on 06/02/2017 - 08:19
  
  -5
  
  Free if less than 90 days
- Gavman on 06/02/2017 - 08:20
  
  +6
  
  Ain't free. It's $14usd for visa waiver
- McFly on 06/02/2017 - 08:25
  
  +1
  
  No visa needed for <90 days, so just US$14 for ESTA.
  
  Edit: Beaten :(
- piggyfund on 06/02/2017 - 08:26
  
  two fees adding up to $US14 via ESTA. You'll need a newer e chip passport to apply online
  - donotuse on 06/02/2017 - 12:24
    
    +1
    
    I don't think valid non-electronic AUS passports still exist. The last ones were issued in 2005.
- vanderjam on 06/02/2017 - 08:37
  
  +4
  
  If you hold an Aussie passport (other nationalities too but haven't looked into which) and your records are clear (again, haven't looked into what this means as I never had an issue- maybe Trump will flag my next application as a Muslim immigration attempt for fun jk let's not joke about these stuff) and just generally you're some ordinary joe then you should be eligible to get the ESTA which is pretty sweet. It's like $15 for a year pretty sure it's unlimited travel as I've used it over 5 times since I got it renewed a couple of months ago.
  
  Been on business visa to the states my work gets mine processed fairly quickly like a couple of days but I don't know what witchcraft they perform in that department. I assume you're there for personal travel then should be more than sufficient.
  
  It's not a visa but basically a pass for personal use. They can still refuse you (just like they can refuse anyone with an actual visa) but never had any issue except this one time I sat a few seats away from this crazy guy who kept going in and out of the toilets and started going off about western society and doing some pretty weird-for-a-cabin religious ritual. I was on a business visa but they flagged me at customs asking why I've been in and out of the states so many times and if I knew that crazy guy, etc.
  
  Edit: just checked and you only lose $4 if you don't get approved so go for it should be instantaneous and if you get randomly audited, I believe it is done by AI because second tier screening was done in less than 20 mins in my case. Id say apply for it before you buy a ticket if it's a couple of minutes and $4.
  
  http://www.esta.us/australia.html
  - slipperypete on 06/02/2017 - 10:10
    
    +1
    
    definitely apply first. My etsa got rejected because I have been to Iran…I got NO refund.
    
    Visa ended up costing heaps as had to go to US embassy for interview and also submit an emergency fast track. Yep…left my visa till last moment due thinking etsa would be straight forward
    - donotuse on 06/02/2017 - 12:27
      
      -3
      
      Lesson learned- don't travel to countries Trump hates unless absolutely necessary.
      
      The former Prime Minister of Norway was briefly detained in the US when they learned he traveled to Iran.
    - callum9999 on 06/02/2017 - 12:58
      
      +1
      
      @unloadmymind: Or just don't go to America…
      
      I'm under no illusion that anyone will care, not least because I'm an ultrabudget traveller, but I've already cancelled my trip for this year. Not that it was a hardship given I've been many times, am going to Canada and can hopefully return in 4 years.
    - slipperypete on 06/02/2017 - 13:59
      
      @unloadmymind:
      
      This was pre-Trump….also they said that it fluctuates. If I applied 2 months earlier it wouldn't have been a problem. A year earlier I would have been banned due to travel to Iraq. The lesson is, make sure you don't be a fool like me and take it for granted that esta will be a sure thing.
      
      That said, I explained the situation to the staff and they sorted a visa within the day rather than the minimum week which they initially quoted. Great bunch of people, really helpful.
    - slipperypete on 06/02/2017 - 14:03
      
      +1
      
      @unloadmymind:
      
      This is typical media manipulation. It is standard, you have certain stamps then you get an interview on arrival. Happened before Trump got in. It's only about 5 minutes…pretty sure that he had the same treatment I had.
      
      Actually dunno if he had the anal probe or was that just cos I'm good looking!!
  - Ranagade on 06/02/2017 - 12:54
    
    +1
    
    ESTA is valid for 2 years from issue.
    - vanderjam on 06/02/2017 - 13:38
      
      +1
      
      Thanks for correcting me, 2 years it is indeed!
      
      As someone exampled, don't leave this stuff til the last minute especially when its so easy to know if you're approved or not.
Bellpop on 06/02/2017 - 08:14

Thanks!
n7eet on 06/02/2017 - 08:40

-3

I guess travel to the US has been curbed by the recent bans…. Buddum tish…
Meconium on 06/02/2017 - 09:12

How does this help people in Lodar, Yemen? (LDR)

Good deal for people in America though
JimmyF on 06/02/2017 - 09:24

-3

Doesn't really meet the 'oz' part of ozbargain….. More of a USAbargain!
- 4KGrubby on 06/02/2017 - 10:17
  
  +1
  
  I agree… Title says "USA to Sydney/Melbourne"… I mean, where the heck is Sydney/Melbourne anyway!?
  - UNM on 06/02/2017 - 11:10
    
    +1
    
    Melbourne is IN USA, airport code MLB. Sydney is in Canada (Nova Scotia), airport code YQY.
    Hope that helps
  - JimmyF on 06/02/2017 - 14:19
    
    +1
    
    So… to get this 'cheap' deal, I first need to fly to the USA to fly back again cheaply!? then fly home again from the USA. hahahaha
    
    Its not really a 'deal' for Australians now is it….. But hey, neg away silly people!
anna10 on 06/02/2017 - 10:58

If you buy 2 of these, can you use part of say the first one, and the return of the 2nd one so that you can make 2 trips? Hope that makes sense.
- isdnman on 06/02/2017 - 11:07
  
  You can't. The flights must be used in sequence. If you no show for any flight, the remainder of the tickets are voided.
  - anna10 on 06/02/2017 - 11:10
    
    I mean that you do take all the sector flights, but not in sequence. Eg, take the return part of the first tkt to go say SYD-LAX. Keep the 2nd part of the tkt for later.
    
    Then, take the 2nd tkt flight LAX-SYD. Then reverse it for the next trip.
    - Wootwootwoot on 06/02/2017 - 11:26
      
      +1
      
      You must take flights in sequence, you cant take SYD-LAX without the entire ticket voiding because you never took LAX-SYD beforehand. The only way to use it is to position yourself to LAX first.
- JimmyF on 06/02/2017 - 14:23
  
  Missing your 'first' flight on the ticket, results in all remaining flights on the ticket being cancelled.
  
  Plus cough cough deal is @ $700, you can get a pretty good 'return' flight leaving AUSTRALIA for that $1400 you wanted to spend.
anna10 on 06/02/2017 - 12:03

Yep OK, … go points one way SYD-LAX. Take the paid flights LAX-SYD SYD-LAX. Then take another points redemption or one way fare back to Aus. That would mean could do something like arrive into one port and out another. Useful if you want 2 flights to the US.
- donotuse on 06/02/2017 - 12:29
  
  At what cost? Wouldn't it be cheaper to book an actual Aus-US-Aus flight?
- JimmyF on 06/02/2017 - 14:21
  
  hahaha thats just stupid…. How about NOT taking the 'cheap' flight and use the $700 you saved, on having a better time in the USA.
  - anna10 on 06/02/2017 - 16:31
    
    It is only for advanced use of reward points for people who want / need to go to the US twice in 364 days.
    - JimmyF on 06/02/2017 - 16:38
      
      oh 'advanced' users hey?…. So those who spend money to keep 'reward status', so they feel better about themselves, and spend massive amounts of money on flights they wouldn't take, just to get free lounge access….
      
      Ahhh so them users. Cool!
    - anna10 on 06/02/2017 - 16:40
      
      +1
      
      OK, so you do not need to go to the US twice. I get it. You seem to be a bit upset.
try2bhelpful on 06/02/2017 - 13:34

+1

New Orleans is well worth the visit; then across to Kennedy Space Centre and Disney world. My personal choice at the moment is not to go to the states, but that is where I would be heading if I was choosing this deal.
- Zinger on 06/02/2017 - 14:10
  
  if you were choosing this deal, you would be going down under!!
anna10 on 06/02/2017 - 16:29

You can always use a rewards seat for positioning.

Alternatively get a return Aus-US (with a very long stop in the US), and then get a SFO-SYD-SFO nested in there
yoyo6 on 06/02/2017 - 21:30

I did not know about scott's but I had a look. Can someone tell me more about it? Is it good for Australia. Should we pay for premium?

This was posted 7 years 2 months 12 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.