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Speak of Oz & Airlines

I am looking into prices for a trip to MN this (US) summer

it looks like if I fly before 16 June (when prices start to go up) I can have my choice of airlines - they are all within $100 of each other

I DESPISE Delta & United

What do you guys think is better? Virgin or Qantas??

Qantas flies to Dallas then up to MN

Virgin goes via LA (like Delta & United - with some connections run by Delta...)

thoughts??

Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

Re: Speak of Oz & Airlines

  • Did you check Air New Zealand?  We have found comparable or better fares in Air New Zealand, and they fly through SFO, which is great for me, because I can't stand LAX.

    Also, you may want to compare fares using one airline internationally and then switching to a domestic carrier when you get to the US.

    I don't mind being held to a higher standard; I mind being held to a lower one. (Sam Seaborn, The West Wing)
    Anniversary
  • Any flight where you don't have to fly United sounds great to me! We flew V Australia one time and it was great, fabulous service and good entertainment. I have flown qantas a few times (though not recently) and they are always good too. If I had to choose between the two in would probably go with Qantas With my deciding factor being that we have a ton more miles with Qantas. I hope we have some choices when we fly in Oct, I would love to avoid United.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • because I'm travelling with a toddler I just can't be bothered with switching airlines in LA, even if it saves me a couple hundred $ (especially since its likely I'll be doing this flight by myself with my toddler since dh won't have enough holiday saved up to come with.....)

    I just checked Air NZ and they don't go to Mpls

    So I guess its gotta by Qantas or Virgin

    I'm fine with the prices they are charging - its not that much more than I paid last year, granted I'm buying G a seat this time for my own sanity :)

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • imagebail229:
    Any flight where you don't have to fly United sounds great to me! We flew V Australia one time and it was great, fabulous service and good entertainment. I have flown qantas a few times (though not recently) and they are always good too. If I had to choose between the two in would probably go with Qantas With my deciding factor being that we have a ton more miles with Qantas. I hope we have some choices when we fly in Oct, I would love to avoid United.
     We flew Qantas this weekend and wow they sure are good !!! (granted it was short haul domestic:)

    I'm considering Virgin for just that reason..... I have point saved up with Delta, but I don't want to fly them overseas - but I get Delta points if I fly Virgin..... hmmm I may have to work out exactly how many & whether its worth it

    I WOULD like to fly all the way to Dallas then just up to MN with Qantas - that'd be nice!

    We flew Virgin Blue to Hamilton a few weeks ago, and even though it was their cheap airline branch and short haul I thought they were excellent too!

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • speaking with my SIL I think I'll go with Virgin

    she flew them to LA last year and said the service was AMAZING!

    plus then I get some Delta points

    what's the difference between V Australia & V Atlantic anyway? hmmm

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • I've used both Air NZ and Qantas, but I've only used Qantas with LO. I loved their service and I only have good things to say about them. I did the Dallas to Brisbane flight last year in June. I will say they couldn't fuel the plane all they way up because of the Dallas heat. That caused us to make an unexpected stop and fuel up in Nouma (?). Not a big deal but it did make me panic just a bit because it changed what time I got into Brisbane and DH was picking us up.
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  • Related question: What is the "high season"/most expensive time to fly to the US?

    My sister is getting married in October in ND (so I'll be flying into MSP, too) and the prices make me go o_O 

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  • imagewise_rita:

    Related question: What is the "high season"/most expensive time to fly to the US?

    My sister is getting married in October in ND (so I'll be flying into MSP, too) and the prices make me go o_O 

    i wish I could put a pdf on here (easily)

    I found a graph on the qantas website (under sales - click on LA and you can see it)

    (from Sydney)

    beg May to 16 June is around $1300 mark

    prices go WAY up from mid June to mid July

    then go down a bit from mid July to beg of Oct

    back up for the month of Oct

    and down from beg Nov to end of Dec

    all the airlines seem to follow these ups & downs in times/prices

     I'll see if I can put the link in here.....

    http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/international-flight-specials/from-sydney/economy/global/en?int_cam=undefined

     

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • I'm not seeing it, can you email it to me?  I PM'd you my address.

    Also: Is Delta that bad compared to Virgin or Qantas?  I've flown Amsterdam to MSP on Delta a million times and it's fine, not glorious, not horrendous but doable. 

    For some reason United is costing like $10,000, WTH! 

    image
  • imagewise_rita:

    I'm not seeing it, can you email it to me?  I PM'd you my address.

    Also: Is Delta that bad compared to Virgin or Qantas?  I've flown Amsterdam to MSP on Delta a million times and it's fine, not glorious, not horrendous but doable. 

    For some reason United is costing like $10,000, WTH! 

    yea no worries, will email you

    but basically if you go to the 'intl sales' on the qantas page you can scroll down destinations - click on LA and you can see a graph :)

    I don't know - I just had SUCH a terrible time with Delta on my last flight home. My biggest issue with them is that they sell off bulkheads and therefore put me & my baby in a normal row and that SUCKED. Most airlines don't do that. Yea its totally doable, but after my last flights, and all my complaint letters going nowhere, I'm just SO sick of them.,..... If I fly Virgin then it'll be Delta domestically, and I can live with that, but overseas from Oz to the US I'd rather not be on one of their planes...... Granted United is even worse. They still use the planes with 1 big tv screen at the front for that route - awful and SO dated!!!

    OMG yea $10000 isn't correct unless you want to fly business!

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Wise Rita- it's expensive to fly any time there are school holidays. School holidays fall in April, July, sept/oct and Dec/Jan (dates vary depending on state). Christmas is quite expensive and the first time I flew home for Christmas our tickets were about $3000 each (Sydney to New York).
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • I would LOVE to try Qantas once.  I've heard great things about them.  Prices are usually so much higher w/ them.There's a chance we'll always go V Australia now though.

    We did V Australia this time (Delta connections in the US), and it was excellent!  I really enjoyed them, and all the staff was so kid friendly. 

    There were TONS of kids on our flight this time. My mom asked the attendants and they said there usually aren't so many. We were so lucky, right in row 20, right behind the premium economy class, it was a great spot to be for having a baby and having to pump milk every few hours.  It looked like most of the kids were btwn rows 20-30.

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  • Virgin domestic are wonderful, really really nice hosties, but I've never flown them internationally. Where do they hire their staff for the international ariline? Qantas are great, too, but Air NZ are the nicest, IMO, and their baby support is best. Plus they fly all new 777s from Auckland to the US, instead of 747-400s. Although, 777s only have one bassinette space in the middle row instead of two, and there's some difference in how the bassinnettes fasten. Maybe Air NZ fastens securely so they can stay in during turbulence? Of course anything beats United's bag on the floor excuse for a bassinnette.
  • I don't know where Vigin hire their stewards from for Int'l flights -but my SIL has VERY high standards and she said it was AMAZING. She flew just a few months ago and loved it - said that in her opinion Qantas service is shockingly bad compared to Virgin (and this is all in economy.....)

    I agree with her though that flying in economy isn't wonderful - no matter who you fly with. But after my last virgin internal flight I SO would like to try them internationally. For the first time EVER I was offered a seatbelt that slipped a loop around mine, and then had a seperate belt for dd. We didn't use it cause we had the CARES but I thought that was awesome that they finally have something like that offer!!!

    My big thing is I want to minimise connections - especially when travelling with dd by myself! Thus why I don't fly United (they don't go direct from LA to Mpls).

    I will look more into Air NZ after all the glowing reviews on here though :)

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • it's been 11 or 12 yrs since i've flown Air NZ, but it was lovely then. Not sure what they're like now.
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  • We haven't flown to Oz, but I will say that dh and I are always willing to pay more (if we can afford it) to fly with Virgin.  We have never had a bad experience with them.  The flights are always very comfy, especially when you're stuck in economy, the staff have always been superb when it came to anything we needed, flying with kids especially, and I love all the different TV/Movie/Games/etc options you get when flying. The food has never been bad either.
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