Happy New Years everyone. I need advice on booking a two week trip to Melbourne from Toronto in February, returning from Sydney to Toronto.
I am not so concerned about the return portion (Sydney -> YYZ) because the booking is straightforward, but I have concerns about how to book the YYZ to Melbourne portion. A bunch of United flights come up for me: Toronto to Denver/LAX and then onto Melbourne, or LAX to Sydney, and then to Melbourne.
My concern is that I will miss the connection out of North America, which could delay me 24 hours, because United only seems to have one flight a day to Australia on Aeroplan. I called Aeroplan to ask about routings, and she said that they only really have access to what I see on the web, so there is nothing they could to do make the routings better for me. The agent said that she was confident the connections would meet minimum time requirements, because I would be pre-clearing out of Toronto.
My question is...is there a way I can use a multi-city booking thru an agent or online to do all this, or am I stuck with what I see on the web? What if I miss a flight due to weather out of Toronto or the US...am I stuck a whole day waiting for the next United flight out? Is there any way to route all this thru Vancouver instead?
So confused...please help. Hoping to book by end of week coz the options on the Aeroplan website have already started to disappear (one connection thru SFO on AC was there yesterday and is now gone).
Dates are Feb 20 (less preferably the 19th) return March 4. Cost is 80,000 points and only $250 in taxes...WOW!!! Normally a $2100 ticket. I want to snag ASAP. Thanks y'all!!
Programs: AC *E, Marriot Platinum, Fairmont Plat,National Exec Elite
Posts: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by marktwothousand
Happy New Years everyone. I need advice on booking a two week trip to Melbourne from Toronto in February, returning from Sydney to Toronto.
I am not so concerned about the return portion (Sydney -> YYZ) because the booking is straightforward, but I have concerns about how to book the YYZ to Melbourne portion. A bunch of United flights come up for me: Toronto to Denver/LAX and then onto Melbourne, or LAX to Sydney, and then to Melbourne.
My concern is that I will miss the connection out of North America, which could delay me 24 hours, because United only seems to have one flight a day to Australia on Aeroplan. I called Aeroplan to ask about routings, and she said that they only really have access to what I see on the web, so there is nothing they could to do make the routings better for me. The agent said that she was confident the connections would meet minimum time requirements, because I would be pre-clearing out of Toronto.
My question is...is there a way I can use a multi-city booking thru an agent or online to do all this, or am I stuck with what I see on the web? What if I miss a flight due to weather out of Toronto or the US...am I stuck a whole day waiting for the next United flight out? Is there any way to route all this thru Vancouver instead?
So confused...please help. Hoping to book by end of week coz the options on the Aeroplan website have already started to disappear (one connection thru SFO on AC was there yesterday and is now gone).
Dates are Feb 20 (less preferably the 19th) return March 4. Cost is 80,000 points and only $250 in taxes...WOW!!! Normally a $2100 ticket. I want to snag ASAP. Thanks y'all!!
There are other options avalable (16) on Feb 20 with longer connections both through Denver, Houston, New York and Cleveland to LAX. Use the United Website to view and then call aeroplan and ask to book with the specific flight numbers
good luck
If you want it to be cheap then go with Untied, simple as that. AC will cost you alot more, AIRNZ will involved and extra stop if avaible, though could be an option.
That's very little time in Australia, very little.
Why not fly to SFO on the day before and stay overnight? Then no issue for a miss connection.
Question is...how many touchdowns am I permitted to ask for on the way to Melbourne if they do a manual Aeroplan booking, in order for it to be a valid ticket, round trip back to YYZ out of Sydney?
Question is...how many touchdowns am I permitted to ask for on the way to Melbourne if they do a manual Aeroplan booking, in order for it to be a valid ticket, round trip back to YYZ out of Sydney?
On this forum is a list of valid reward routes, have a look into that it will have further options. Though with such little time just book via the website or use the multi option and go united via SFO the night before.
Sadly vacation time is not plentiful in my job, but I'd rather go to AUS just to check it out so I can see what life is like there and enjoy life on the other side of the world. I've never been outside of NA.
Question... On AC's site, I do see the following come up:
AC033 Toronto, Pearson Int'l (YYZ) To Sydney, Kingsford Smith (SYD)
Terminal change at Sydney (SYD).
QF4351 Sydney, Kingsford Smith (SYD) to Melbourne (MEL)
Would this be something that is bookable by the Aeroplan agent?
Sadly vacation time is not plentiful in my job, but I'd rather go to AUS just to check it out so I can see what life is like there and enjoy life on the other side of the world. I've never been outside of NA.
Question... On AC's site, I do see the following come up:
AC033 Toronto, Pearson Int'l (YYZ) To Sydney, Kingsford Smith (SYD)
Terminal change at Sydney (SYD).
QF4351 Sydney, Kingsford Smith (SYD) to Melbourne (MEL)
Would this be something that is bookable by the Aeroplan agent?
If aeroplan avaibliy is open which I doubt and if so then yes you can book this though with a return your e ticket will cost $1000+ in " Air Canada Fuel Surcharges". I don't think the dates you want have space anyway.
Programs: AC *E, Marriot Platinum, Fairmont Plat,National Exec Elite
Posts: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by getaround
If aeroplan avaibliy is open which I doubt and if so then yes you can book this though with a return your e ticket will cost $1000+ in " Air Canada Fuel Surcharges". I don't think the dates you want have space anyway.
book the United options. Aeroplans website doesnt show all the options but use United.com to plan, look for the Blue Saver inventory then call Aeroplan. It will save you $$$$ and there is availbility.
If aeroplan avaibliy is open which I doubt and if so then yes you can book this though with a return your e ticket will cost $1000+ in " Air Canada Fuel Surcharges". I don't think the dates you want have space anyway.
book the United options. Aeroplans website doesnt show all the options but use United.com to plan, look for the Blue Saver inventory then call Aeroplan. It will save you $$$$ and there is availbility.
Aeroplan is showing countless option for united on the right dates so search United website really doesn't even need to be used.
Programs: AC *E, Marriot Platinum, Fairmont Plat,National Exec Elite
Posts: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by getaround
Aeroplan is showing countless option for united on the right dates so search United website really doesn't even need to be used.
Good point, this was just now on aeroplan.. book United 80K.. roundtrip
With the money saved on fees you can buy Economy Plus for around 150 LAX-MEL and the leg room is well worth it on a flight of this duration
TRIP80,000 MILES
DEPARTUREToronto Pearson (YYZ) Melbourne (MEL)Wed Feb 20, 2013
Change flight
United Airlines UA3452 Operated by SHUTTLE AMERICA DBA UNITED EXPRESS
Departs : Wed. Feb 2015:18Toronto Pearson (YYZ)
Arrives : Wed. Feb 2017:12Denver (DEN)
EconomyEmbraer 170Meal Not availableFlight Duration : 3h 54 min
Change plane in DenverTime to connect : 1h 28 min
United Airlines UA1014
Departs : Wed. Feb 2018:40Denver (DEN)
Arrives : Wed. Feb 2020:05Los Angeles (LAX)
Economy
Boeing 757-300 Meal available for purchaseFlight Duration : 2h 25 min
Change plane in Los AngelesTime to connect : 2h 10 min
United Airlines UA839
Departs : Wed. Feb 2022:15Los Angeles (LAX)
Arrives : Fri. Feb 2211:20Melbourne (MEL)
Economy1 Stop(s)Boeing 747-400 Complimentary mealFlight Duration : 18h 05 min
Total travel time : 28h 02min
RETURNSydney Kingsford (SYD) Toronto Pearson (YYZ)Mon Mar 4, 2013
Change flight
United Airlines UA870
Departs : Mon. Mar 416:20Sydney Kingsford (SYD)
Arrives : Mon. Mar 410:50San Francisco (SFO)
Economy
Boeing 747-400 Complimentary mealFlight Duration : 13h 30 min
Change plane in San FranciscoTime to connect : 2h 10 min
United Airlines UA364
Departs : Mon. Mar 413:00San Francisco (SFO)
Arrives : Mon. Mar 420:51Toronto Pearson (YYZ)
Economy
Airbus A319Meal available for purchaseFlight Duration : 4h 51 min
Total travel time : 20h 31min
Programs: Aeroplan - E75, Delta Sky Miles - Silver, HHonors - Gold, Club Carlson Silver
Posts: 555
For reference, I fly YQR-DEN-SFO/LAX-SYD/MEL RT at least 1X per year on UA. Never had an issue with missed connections, knock on wood. The LAX-MEL is a continuation of the SYD flight from LAX. If you go with SFO then you change planes, but either way you get off if I recall correctly. There aren't many airlines that have more than 1 flight from the west coast to AU per day, so either way you gamble a little.
Thanks. This is amazing advice. United sure has a lot of inventory this far out...I wonder when the reward seats will start to fill up.
Maybe I will take an extra couple vacation days if I go, after all. An extra day or two in OZ and not having to worry about missing connections might be good peace of mind.
I just came back from Sydney and Melbourne. I flew roundtrip to Sydney and used JetStar (domestic) to fly to Melbourne. Jetstar was less than $75 SYD-MEL. They also match any other airline's discount fares. http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/home
Programs: Qantas FF Plat; AC SE; Virgin Aust Gold; Qatar Priv, Royal Air Maroc, SPG Gold
Posts: 608
Quote:
Originally Posted by canalskater
I just came back from Sydney and Melbourne. I flew roundtrip to Sydney and used JetStar (domestic) to fly to Melbourne. Jetstar was less than $75 SYD-MEL. They also match any other airline's discount fares. http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/home
I'd second that ... ie look at paying for Oz domestic travel, especially if it gets you more flexibility. Fares are cheap-ish (although late February is still Summer and people at that time are still returning from holidays). Virgin as well as Jetstar to be considered. Welcome to PM me if you need further tips for travel within Oz.
Programs: Aeroplan - E75, Delta Sky Miles - Silver, HHonors - Gold, Club Carlson Silver
Posts: 555
Quote:
Originally Posted by RooFlyer
I'd second that ... ie look at paying for Oz domestic travel, especially if it gets you more flexibility. Fares are cheap-ish (although late February is still Summer and people at that time are still returning from holidays). Virgin as well as Jetstar to be considered. Welcome to PM me if you need further tips for travel within Oz.
My only comment on the domestic side is that the addition of MEL tends not to add much, if any, cost to an itinerary like this In my experience. But the domestic travel is much less costly there! There is an AU hotel site called wotif, I believe, that usually has good pricing as well.
First timer...Help booking YYZ-MEL r/t SYD-YYZ
