KathyM

Last year, my son (from the USA) married a very lovely Australian girl. They live in Australia-- we went for the wedding, have booked another trip for next February, and we anticipate trips in the future! The cheapest flights we have been been able to find (from NYS) have been in the US$2000 range from NYS round trip. Yet, the reverse trip from Australia round trip seems to be available for as little as AUS$1299. What's the deal? And how can we take advantage of lower rates? I thought of trying to put together a cheap one-way and then take future trips RT from Australia. Any advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation????

lizF

One way of getting a cheaper fare is to check on what some other airlines have going on the RTW fairs, I have often seen Lufthansa have RTW fairs for about $1400 AUS which is about $1000US
I also in the past have been able to buy our rellies a ticket in Australia and therefore pay our prices - have you thought of that?

KathyM

I'm sorry, is RTW mean "Round the World"? The sites I've looked at are even more expensive than the prices I've found RT from the US. Are you saying we should look into Australian travel agents???

lcuy

KathyM- you might try moving your trip back a month or two, then prices really drop. It seems the cheap fares start in March and run thru the Aus winter. for the last three years, they've been as low as $800.

We found late may/early June to be perfect weather up north, buy chilly in Sydney. Think I'd aim more for April/May to get the good weather and low prices.

And the airlines do the same thing with Hawaii...it is often much cheaper mainland-Hawaii-Mainland than the reverse!

Possum

KathyM- you quoted airfares from the US to Australia in American Dollars, but airfares back to the US in Australian dollars.You didn't allow for the conversion rate. At the moment, one Aussie dollar buys about 69 US cents.
You are not MISSING out on anything. You just didn't realise that the US dollar isn't WORTH a dollar everywhere else in the world. In some places you get less for your dollar. In Australia you are getting a little more.
You need to do a little research on conversion rates.

Kimbis

Sign up on the Qantas Airlines web site to be on their mailing list. It's NOT a lot of mail, but you will get notice of their sales. I went in March for around $800 from LA, and it was even CHEAPER than that over the US summer.

KathyM

Possum, actually I did think about conversion rates and you have it backward. The Australian dollar is worth less than the American dollar, which makes the difference even greater than it seems on the surface.

JohnInMiami

$1000 USD = $1400 AUD
$1000 AUD = $713 USD

Airfares vary wildly according to supply & demand as well as the whim of the airline.

Prices around the holidays are very expensive due to demand. Try altering the dates of your trip to off-peak days. Go onto the various travel websites (Travelocity, Orbitz, etc.) as well as Qantas and use their trip planner tool to shop different dates to see what the fares are.

We travel from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale and can get a round trip ticket to LAX for $160 or so. I'm sure you can get the same sort of price from NY. The LAX to Sydney or Brisbane segment can be found for $700 to $800 (plus about $120 in fees) if you search in advance and are flexible on your dates. So a good price originating from the US East Coast would be around $1100 or so.

That's my 2 cents.

KathyM

Thanks, JohnInMiami--New York to LAX is not the problem. We can get that for about $99. It's the rest of the trip! In this situation, we are kind of locked into the time. Our daughter-in-law is in Medical School, and off December-end of February.

JohnInMiami

KathyM - when you are searching and find a price you don't like, try adjusting your search by a few hours or a day. It can make a huge difference. We recently looked at NY to London and found we could save $500 USD per ticket by adjusting our travel date by one day on the departure.

Good luck!

lovinit

Kathy M,
Try using the site www.itasoftware.com to locate the best price for your flight. It is the best I've found so far for getting the cheapest airfare.