We are planning a trip to Australia in January. I was shocked at the airfare prices from NYC. Anyone know some sources to get cheaper fares for that time of year?
Thanks!

It is always insane that time of year. Can you go now?? United has $599 fares next weekend! I not, just keep trying. Those fares often come down for just hours at a time.

You can register with a service, like the one that Orbitz provides, that e-mails you when the airfare on your desired route drops to a certain threshhold that you have specified. You can find out about other providers of this kind of service by doing a Google search for AIRFARE + NOTIFICATION. You need to be ready to respond to an airfare alert immediately because, as Lcuy said, the low fare may be offered for only a few hours.

Another thing that would be helpful, if you have never been to Australia before, is to post your proposed itinerary now, before you've reserved your flights. So often people come here with their trans Pacific flights already in place, and then ask for advice about what to do in Australia. Often it turns out that they have not booked optimal arrivals and departures, and then their fellow Fodorites help them to make the best of the situation. But a better itinerary could have been mapped out if the prospective travellers had asked first. That at least has been my observation.

I had that same reaction 6 months ago when I tried to book a trip for September... I just checked every single day until the fares went below $900.00 pp for when I wanted to travel, the moment they did, I booked.
As advised, try to get on the email lists, and I don't know if packages are up your alley but Quantas often runs special packages with airfare and hotels included. Good Luck!

It may be cheaper to get separate tickets NYC to LAX (or other). That would allow you to do a west coast stopover if you chose.

Gail

As has been noted the time you want to travel is peak therefore a premium certainly attaches to the fare.

If your were to travel before the end of September this year you could travel from New York for around $1,000 USD or from LAX for around $800 USD on Qantas, a significant saving on the January fares.

Also there are always short term specials to soak up extra capacity with crazy fares below 600. However you usually have to be able to travel on short notice.

Monitor the websites of the various carriers as well as Orbitz.

Remember how LONG a flight it is. NYC to Sydney is a LOT longer than merely going to Europe.

You can find good prices, but it's not like flying to Boston.

We travel from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale and have consistently done better when booking our FLL to LAX ticket seperate from the LAX to SYD portion.

If you use this approach and your schedule allows, it might be worth checking out flights from the different airports in the NYC area to a Los Angeles airport other than LAX. Sometimes the fares are a lot cheaper into Long Beach or Ontario. But then you have to pay for a cab ride to LAX so you'll have to figure that in.

My 2 cents...

John in Miami

Maybe expensive, but you do have time to watch 4 or 5 movies for free.

A/D