ranles

Is Fiji a good airline to fly with to SYD in business out of LAX? Seating/service etc is compared to who? I tried to find info on FT, but have not found the key post.

There seems to be lots of discount bus ticket .coms. Anybody have a good experience with any of these?

We tried to get ff tickets with my 240,000 point with Alaska, but could not. That brought up Fiji, a low cost alternative to the others that Alaska partners with (those are all I checked so far). I did not want to pay for my tickets, but appears that is the only alternative. I will also check with the cruise line to see what they have to offer. While we live near SAN, we have done our searches out of LAX, and will "towncar" there and back.

Wife and I want to go to SYD in March for our 40th. Thinking cruise of 14 days (March 8-22) to Fiji and some of the islands (Holland American). We also want some time to visit some friends in and around SYD.

I don't think we have enough with UA to do this trip (107,000 and 169,000) even if they offer any ff seats for the time we are interested in.

JClasstraveller

FJ A330-200's have a J class that are essentially the same seats as SQ Regional J (not the recliners) i.e. a slanted flat bed.

ranles

Booked paid tickets, 1/3 the cost of the majors today

bensyd

Really? 1/3? They're usually a couple of thousand cheaper than AC/QF/UA/NZ but I've never seen them that cheap.

og

The cheapest fares are worth chasing, but after they have gone, the hassle of going via NAN may not be worth it. Notwithstanding, the FJ cheap fares in J work nicely for QF SCs. The NZ or AA codeshares on FJ may work for some.

bensyd

Yeah. If they were 1/3rd the price then I'd consider but otherwise, I really can't be bothered with the extra stop in NAN. The other thing, in my case, is most of my US flying is en route to Central America. The FJ flights land about 13:30 which basically means I miss the day flights to MIA, and would have layover at LAX or an overnight flight down to CA -- which I avoid like the plague. Much better to get the 777 midday flight on AA to MIA and then sleep in a real bed with a short hop down in the morning.

ranles

bus tickets, for 2, RT LAX-SYD with stop in NAN $7000 TOTAL

Do they have a club at lax (Bradley)? In NAN? IN Sys?

Should I expect them to do my Visa, or am I on my own (UA always has done ours). Do I call them? So far they do not have our Passport data

Flights are in March 2015

Annalisa12

I do Sydney to Nadi in Business on Fiji Airways (codeshare with Qantas). Fiji Airways use the Qantas business lounge in Sydney. Whilst there are better options for luxury, with a good price for a LAX to Sydney I'd do it. The service is always friendly and prompt. Yes the chairs could have more recline but the legroom is great. If it's a lot cheaper than Qantas or another airline and I needed a cheaper flight I'd go with them.

JDiver

As this is an airlines-related question, not a destination issue, it has relocated to the proper forum.

JDiver
senior moderator

MSPeconomist

If you have a USA passport, IIRC it's an ETA (electronic travel authorization, not a real visa) that you get instantly on line. I wouldn't trust FJ to do it, not would I pay a service fee for someone else to do it.

BTW, if you want to do a Fiji cruise, don't you automatically need to do a stopover there in one direction, which would greatly limit your choice of airlines to SYD? It wouldn't make much sense to fly nonstop to SYD and then take flights between there and SYD for your cruise, would it? I know there's a once per week AF operated flight that stops somewhere around there (Tahiti?) between LAX and SYD as well as Air Tahiti Nui daily service on a bad aircraft, both of which are DL partners. For Fiji, FJ might be almost the only choice.

JDiver

Air Fiji has a newly refurbished Tabua Club lounge at Nadi (pronounce NAHN-dee). If you have a long wait, go downtown - crafts at Jack's, a great dinner at Chef's The Restaurant (not the Café or The Edge).

TBIT / LAX lounge is the LA International Airport lounge, shared with Korean, Philippines and others, on the 4th floor, iirc.

In Sydney, you should be able to use Qantas Business lounge.

Visa? For Australia you will need an ETA / electronic visa, AUD 20 per person. For Fiji you will not require a visa.

Check this version of Timatic Web for your specific circumstances; it's what the airlines will use to determine if you can fly or not.

Expect a little bit of "seqa la leqa" (SEHn-gah la LEN-gah" - Fiji time, hang loose - things are not always spot on time and personnel may dodge accepting responsibility for decisions. Also expect any turbulence hint will be immediately followed by the seat belt signs and if you are asleep, probably a cabin PA announcement to wake you.

bzcat

I'm not sure if the Shared Lounge is still open. If I recall, it is located at where the new mega OneWorld lounge is now.

MSPeconomist

I assume the person means the joint SkyTeam lounge which IIRC was operated by KE. Also IIRC they had been allowing some nonSkyTeam partners to use it on a contract basis.

ranles

Thank you

MSPeconomist...cruise is SYD-SYD, goes 2 weeks New Caledonia, Vant., and Fiji.

JDiver...sorry about the mispost

Anyone know how far in advance I should do the electronic visa?

Rental car company (s) at the international dock? Any problem pick up there and drop off a week later at the AP?

Drive to Brisbane, about 10-12 hours?

Bottle (wine) shoppe near docks?

Only can use club at SYD on departure, not arrival...is that correct?

bzcat

AUS ETA can be obtained any time before you arrive. If you show up without one at LAX, the airline has two options: they can get it for you while you check in, or they can reject you for boarding.

It takes like 30 seconds to get one so just do it now. Why wait?

https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETA/etas...=&submit=apply