The fares are so high now - in the past have paid between $799 and $899 from LA to Sydney. Cannot find anything under $1400 from April on into the Australian winter.

Hi, Sue!<BR>This is probably not much help... but keep a close watch on Air New Zealand. At present they are trying to drum up business in Australia for the US route by flying kids free with their parents. Maybe they will come up with some scheme to fill more seats starting from LA!

Thanks Alan, I will check their website regularly but so far nothing.

It's probably so expensive because the Aussie Tourism Bureau has launched a major campaign in the US. I see tons of commercials on tv for deals to Oz. Due to the pending world situation...many people are opting to spend their US summer vacation Down Under rather than Europe. Thus ticket prices could run high! Plus wait until March...they will probably drop then..if not then get out the Amex!

I booked my flight from new york the beginning of December. I paid originally 1560 round trip from New York. then two weeks ago it dropped to 1300 round trip from New York and they gave me two vouchers each for 260 dollars for future flights on American. Check the american web site daily and they will go down. they told me to expect them to go as low as 1100 round trip from New york by the middle to end of march. SO keep looking.

Bruce, did you book directly with American who co share with Qantas? I called American but the fare they quoted is much higher than your fare. Will keep looking.

Sue,<BR><BR>I feel your pain. I just booked some flights for my parents travelling from NY to Sydney, and the cost is over twice what it is if you go Sydney-NY (same planes, different direction!) What city are you travelling from?<BR><BR>One thing you can do is put yourself on the mailing list at Travelocity (I think). You tell them which city pairs you're interested in, and when new fares become available they'll email you with the details.

Keep an eye on http://www.airnzdeals.com/usa/<BR><BR>They had a sale in January for LAX to SYD for $880. Unfortunately, I hadn't decided on the dates yet, so now I'm waiting for the next sale.

Hi Sue!<BR>I booked a $900USD RT (incl. taxes) LA-SYD last March or April for a trip in July on AirNZ...the way I found the deal was through clarkhoward.com's travel email (it comes out on Tues and Thursdays)By the way, Clark Howard is a syndicated travel/consumer reporter based out of Atlanta (where I live) but he still includes deals for other cities. <BR><BR>You might want to faretrack LA-SYD on expedia and travelocity. Another place to find out about deals is smarterliving.com--you can specify originating cities on that site as well.<BR><BR>Since it sounds like you still have some time, you might want to wait this out a little longer. Good luck!!<BR><BR>Debbie

Hey sue, Yes I booked it directly through american. I know the fares got higher but just keep looking and they will get lower again. Keep in touch. Marshall

I've got Singapore from LAX for $588, about same fistance, crazy that Australia is double the price! Check with Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines, ok, the flight is longer, but you could save a great deal.

Qantas is running a special right now and it's from 2/28 through May but you must buy your tickets by 2/14.<BR><BR>Price LA to Sydney is either $955 or $1092. Can't truly understand their ad and I just received it.

OZ eSCAPES eNewsletter, January 2003. <BR><BR><BR>G'day LN,<BR><BR>The Australian Tourist Commission apologizes for any inconvenience <BR>caused by our previous email. The Qantas webfares are from $1093 <BR>not $955 as indicated. <BR><BR>We can’t wait to say G’day!<BR><BR>From The OZ eSCAPES Team<BR>

I checked airmalaysia and the fare is over $6000!!!!! Quantas is also over $1400 for the dates I am selecting. Will keep looking and thanks to all for the help.