G'day mates!

Just pricing flights to Oz (depart end of Nov and return Jan 2). Toronto to LA to Sydney to Adelaide with Quantas $2855 CAD!!!
I admit I'm having a bit of sticker shock. For those of you unsure of the current exchange rates that's about $2023 US or $3028 AUD.

I'm a bit of a novice here so I'd appreciate any comments from you veterans out there ...Are those prices realistic or am I being gouged?
Capt

It may be because your date coincide with Thanksgiving and New Year...try moving the dates alittle and see if it goes down...I'd also check out Air New Zealand they sometimes have internet deals.
Hope that helps.

I've also started to look into prices from Toronto, but will probably go late February - it's apparently a little less at that time, but I imagine it's still really high. We'd probably fly into Sydney (to see family) and fly out of Brisbane. I spoke with a travel agent who gave me some estimated prices - Air New Zealand was the most expensive, but we could get Aeroplan points with them. Air Japan or Cathay Pacific (I think) were quite a bit less, but no Aeroplan points. As I said, she just had some estimated prices, but I'm dreading the sticker shock. Check into some of the other airlines - you might save a little.

Dear Capt (love your screen name, btw)

Qantas is going to be coming out with some new specials (although if you can, you should try to move that Jan 2 date, because that's going to jack up your price -- that's PEAK season).

You might want to approach this a different way....see what roundtrip airfare is from YYZ to LAX. Then you can pick up the Qantas special for the LAX - SYD portion.

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

Melodie:
Quantas is running some decent specials right now that expire today. Are you saying that there will be specials as good or better than are available today?

I ask because I was going to buy tickets for an OZ/NZ trip in OCT/NOV TODAY before the special ends. But if you think I?m better off waiting, I can nail down my itinerary a little better.

THANKS A TON!

I am paying 2590 Swiss francs, slightly more in Canadian Dollars to fly from Zurich to Adelaide leaving 26 December returning 13 January. So I am travelling a similar distance at about the same time as you using Cathay Pacific for a very similar price. In my experience that time of year is a killer and you are paying a reasonable amount. Planes are filling up in economy already for Christmas/January to Australia from Europe, I would think it would be around the same from Canada. Best fares are available more mid year to September/October, I have not seen very many specials the time of year we are flying.

G'day mates

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

Melanie : The Qantas specials from LAX require travel to be completed by mid Dec so that's no good for me.

BTW, those of you who advised moving Jan 2 return date ..... Jan 3&4 were even higher priced!!

Guess I'm going to have to mortgage the ranch!!

Capt

Check Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines, both fly into ADL and they both have arrangements for inclusive fares from Canada.

The world cup rugby tournament is being held in Sydney the middle to end of November - this, in addition to the fact that it is peak holiday, is probably why the prices are so high. We booked a trip for Nov. 1-22 in April on our frequent flier miles - we wanted to go in Decembr but there were no seats available after nov 22 that we could return to the US on until mid-January. You just picked a tough time to be travelling out there. If you have not booked your hotel for that time frame and are planning to stay in Sydney - you should start looking before you buy the tickets. We will be back in Sydney for one night before we leave (Nov 21) and virtually the only hotel room I could get was at the airport for about $300 US a night.