what's the least you've paid...
 

I was wondering what people have paid for airfare from the East coast of the US to Australia. And, if you got a bargain, where did you find it? We're looking to travel to Sydney in August from NYC and are finding the airfare to be a bit exhorbitant. We are hoping to find tickets for $1000 or less USD per person, but perhaps this is unrealistic?<BR><BR>Thank you.

I paid $809 from LA to Sydney last August - from checking the main internet sites and then booking direct with Qantas through their 800 phone number.<BR>Martha<BR>

Hi, x!<BR><BR>This may not work out cheaper than what you have already found, but it would certainly make an interesting trip! On the Fodor's Asia Forum one of the recent posters mentioned how he/she has just bought a ticket with Malaysian Airlines from Newark for under $800. This was an "Access Asia" fare and took the buyer to (among other places) Bali and Kuala Lumpur, both of which are within spitting distance of Australia. With an extended stopover at either of these places, you could probably get into Australia for very little extra expense; a boat across to Darwin, for instance, or a cheap return flight from Bali to Sydney or Melbourne, since this is a top destination for Australian tourists and the flights and choices are numerous. And you may see some pretty wonderful places en route. Worth investigating?

Hi again!<BR><BR>After posting the above I decided to look at the deal myself at the Malaysian Airlines site. Sure enough, it is $747 from Newark (more in Summer) and gives you up to 23 cities in 30 days. Malaysian is offering an add-on to Sydney for $US700 return, but my advice to you would be NOT to take this bit... I am pretty sure you could do that leg for MUCH less if you were actually over there.... one can go from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur for $AUD699, which is half that cost, and very possibly with the same airline!

Try bidding on priceline.com Put in a very low amount and it will come up with the next best available fare. It worked for me flying from Florida to UK, i got a roundtrip flight for $570 when the cheapest i could find was $850

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions. I think that we'll try the priceline.com option once our dates are firm.<BR><BR>Thanks again!

I live in Malaysia and the lowest fare I've heard of lately from KL to Sydney was about US$320. That was a very special rate, though, from a recent travel fair in the city.<BR><BR>We are travelling KL to Sydney in June and got an airfare/hotel for 4 nights deal for US$525. And that is with Malaysian Airlines, so that US$700 add-on is a total rip-off!<BR><BR>Hope that helps!<BR><BR>Jen

Thanks again for all the replies. We decided to try priceline.com yesterday and ended up getting 2 tickets at $900 each, plus tax. So, we're ending up paying $2000, but that's $600 less than the other fares, so we're pretty happy. The flights are on United. I'm sure I'll be writing again soon for advice on what to see and do. We'll be in Australia for 3 weeks in August. <BR>Can't wait!<BR><BR>Thanks again,<BR>Rachel