OZFLYER86

have decided need to get away & most of December & January are summer school holidays in Australia.

Late December is usually very expensive, so look at going early January for 2 weeks or a bit over.

Looked on various websites including skyscanner

looked at dates around 4 January to depart Sydney or Brisbane, as I commute between these ports weekly, so makes little difference which port fly to Canada from.

Found fares to Vancouver on nonstop flights on air canada back 19 January for around au$3770.

Then someone suggested I look at what wholesalers in Australia were offering.

I can get to LA direct SYD/LAX & back direct around same dates for au$999. Then I just need to get separate tickets to Canada, either paid or using frequent flyer tickets.

Would probably spend a night or 2 in LA so connecting not an issue.

Is this nuts or ?

keitherson

Qantas usually runs seasonal nonstops to Vancouver, I would wait for those. As well as wait for Air Canada to announce their schedules, as they usually run nonstop service to BNE MEL and SYD.

Mwenenzi

In these times for Jan 2022 would not start looking until Nov 2021.
At this time no one knows what travel restrictions will be for AU, USA & Canada. Or what airlines/routes will really be flying.
AU$1000 for AU-USA return is a good price.
Via HNL may be another option with separate tickets.

OZFLYER86

all the flights are there, just the nonstops seem very expensive, when only hours flying time from LA & 2 from San Francisco. Talking to a snow wholesaler, they said early January is always expensive on nonstops, but many people fly via LA, SFO & other places to save a fortune. Bit of stuffing around but when you multiply it by a few people, it's worth it, when dollars are limited.

OZFLYER86

Catch is probably the $1000 tickets will probably be gone soon. Spoke to wholesaler who said they bought a whole lot of tickets. Even for the 1 itinerary, they bought at 5 different prices.

Mwenenzi

For me would want any ticket for 2021-early 2022 to be fully refundable in cash.

OZFLYER86

the $1000 tickets are fully refundable in cash. The only caveats are that if paid by credit card, those refunds can take up to 8 weeks & some banks no longer refund the merchant fee which can be up to 2.6%. Presume that means American Express, who seem to have high fees like Diners Club.

Adam Smith

As this thread seems to have little to do with Air Canada, I'm moving it to the Canada forum.

Adam Smith
AC Forum Co-Moderator

tcook052

After a few post edits and deletions, a polite reminder that this isn't the Coronavirus forum but rather the Canada forum so please stick to questions about travelling to Canada and avoid general virus discussions.

tcook052
Canada forum moderator

Bogwoppit

By wholesaler do you mean a travel agent? If so I would not consider booking through them. I would only book refundable tickets through the airline itself, because when things go wrong you want to be dealing with the airline, not a travel agent.

OZFLYER86

wholesalers sell to travel agents. Airlines can't do without either. Booking through a wholesaler or travel agent is much better than dealing with an airline direct. If anything goes wrong, the wholesaler or travel agent works for you. For an airline, you're just a number.

Refundable ? What does that even mean ?

Often1

If by travel agent you mean a business with which you regularly deal and where you have specific contacts in your location, that may be fine. Anything else other than the air carrier itself is a problem in IRROPS or rescheduling difficulties. This is especially true during the pandemic because there are reduced schedules and there may be fewer options as well as travel restrictions for certain routings.

Separate tickets are also a significant risk, more so during pandemic scheduling and restrictions. If you are stuck in Hawaii for 2-3 days during high season, those costs may be much greater than your tickets.

Best to look for nonstop and single carrier routings on single tickets which are fully refundable. Nobody here can predict what travel will look like more than 30 days from now and thus anything you book for December is the distant future and thus, purely notional.

Finally, your booking strategy also needs to take into account your return strategy. As you are planning a roughly 60-day trip, if circumstances change while you are in Canada, you may need to change your trip to get back to Australia if the situation worsens or risk being stuck in Canada for a lengthy period of time.

OZFLYER86

Hundreds of cheap hotels in & around LA. Nothing wrong with separate tickets.

You can fly to NZ from Monday & almost anywhere from there.

Bogwoppit

Refundable? You do not know what that means? A ticket that I can cancel at any time, for any reason, and get my money back right away.

As to the wholesaler, or travel agent, during this pandemic nothing has become more obvious than flights can and will be changed/cancelled constantly. When you deal with a 3rd party seller, and not the airline, you will always have to deal with the 3rd party rules and clauses, not those of the airline. When you are mid trip and you have a problem, the airline will not deal with you, you will have to contact your agent back home. This has been proven to be a total nightmare for many people.

As to separate tickets, a terrible idea. One cancellation and you might be stuck arriving after your second flight departs. Cancellations and changes are leaving passengers with completely different schedules.

For me retaining as much flexibility as possible is key, and that is book refundable fares direct from a single airline. For you it maybe that you can afford to lose large amount of cash, or have it tied up with agents.

tcook052

Sorry but as a travel agent this advice is just flat out wrong; TA's do not impose their own ticket rules but are obligated to follow the ticketing airline regulations.

And an airline most definitely can help a passenger should there be IROPs, cancellations and/or flight changes as the reservation is under their control once travel has begun.



Indeed.