Folks,

Need your input here.

What is the approx. fare to Sydney from Sfo in the first week of July? Is $1,000 to $1,200 for a direct flight too much? Should I wait until March-April to get a lower fare?

Last year when we bought our tickets to Vienna, the fare was high in Jan-Feb and then had gone down significantly in April. Any idea if that could be the case for australia as well?

Thanks in advance for the help.
Mita

I don't think you'll see much reduction. $1000 to $1200 is about the norm. It might dip slightly below $1000. I watched and waited a long time before our trip to Oz in late '02 and it never changed.

Hi, Mita!

We Aussies alsways look for deals in reverse, so this advice may not be of much relevance to you -- but Air New Zealand often offers particularly good deals between Sydney and LAX. Before committing yourself, look at their offers and see if it isn't worth making your own way to Los Angeles.

I just checked sidestep.com for a r/t direct flight departing SFO July 1 and found a price of $948 on United Airlines. I suggest you keep checking for the next couple of weeks, and if the price drops below $900 or so, I would grab it.

Also, I would check for air/hotel packages. Ironically, sometimes you can get air and hotel for about the same price as airfare alone. Try Air New Zealand as Alan suggested and qantas.com. Good luck!

Thanks Everyone for the feedback. It is very much appreciated.

-Mita

I just booked tickets for July on Air NewZealand from San Francisco for$732 US plus $50 in taxes. I think that is an awesome fare. It is only good until Feb. 18th as an introductory offer with new routes from SFO. They might have cheaper fares closer to July, but I wasn't risking it.