G'day Mate... We're Going to Sydney
Mar 15, 2009, 3:01 pm
#31
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Gila, NM, USA
Posts: 1,044
I got the email Friday about DL going to Australia and immediately started trying to book tix from TUS or PHX to SYD in J for my family of 3. The best deal I could get was 150,000 points and about $80 in taxes and fees per person from PHX to SYD. Strangely, all those flights were PHX-ATL-LAX-SYD. It would not let me book ANYTHING from TUS or PHX to SYD without going through ATL. And if I wanted to get ourselves to LAX separately, then it was a minimum of 240,000 miles each. I wasn't going to spend an extra 270,000 miles to avoid the RT to ATL, but it doesn't really make sense to me why DL wants me to go to ATL so bad? To charge us 90,000 LESS miles (each, 270,000 for 3) to fly 2 legs MORE in J and F seems pretty dumb.
I have a trade show I have to attend in ATL in September, so once I figured out that I couldn't avoid going through ATL on this, I timed the flights such that on the return I will end up in ATL for my trade show. However, I already had DL tickets to attend that show. So now I have an RT from TUS-ATL and back for 9/9--9/14 for my trade show, AND I have a return from OZ that puts me in ATL on 9/9. I am wondering how best to manage this? I already changed the date of the return from ATL on the TUS-ATL RT once and incurred a $100 change fee. Now I really don't know what to do? Any chance that DL would do anything sensible like allowing me a layover on the return in ATL to attend my trade show? I tried booking it but it drove OZ RT ticket up by 90,000 points, as opposed to a RT from TUS to ATL at 45,000 points, so that didn't make any sense to me at all. I'd appreciate any advice or tips on how to approach DL about rationalizing this itinerary, maybe even cutting PHX--ATL--LAX out of it on the outbound portion! Is there someone we could talk to a DL who would maybe take all this and make sense out of it?
Also, we've never flown the new 777-200LR. I am excited to fly it, but my 8 year old son who likes to play board games a lot when we're on long flights I concerned that the seats are not "together" in the way he's used to. Last time we flew to OZ we were in J on a QF 744 and we took a row of 3 seats together in the middle and that was good for gaming, though Isaac wished for a window at times. Is there any particular grouping that people would recommend? I was thinking to go for either 2-3-4A or 2-3-4D. My wife and I would take 2 and 4 put our son in the middle. Is that the best we can do with this type of seating? Is there seat that becomes the foot of the bed in each suite, so that 2 people can sit up facing each other to play a game?
I have a trade show I have to attend in ATL in September, so once I figured out that I couldn't avoid going through ATL on this, I timed the flights such that on the return I will end up in ATL for my trade show. However, I already had DL tickets to attend that show. So now I have an RT from TUS-ATL and back for 9/9--9/14 for my trade show, AND I have a return from OZ that puts me in ATL on 9/9. I am wondering how best to manage this? I already changed the date of the return from ATL on the TUS-ATL RT once and incurred a $100 change fee. Now I really don't know what to do? Any chance that DL would do anything sensible like allowing me a layover on the return in ATL to attend my trade show? I tried booking it but it drove OZ RT ticket up by 90,000 points, as opposed to a RT from TUS to ATL at 45,000 points, so that didn't make any sense to me at all. I'd appreciate any advice or tips on how to approach DL about rationalizing this itinerary, maybe even cutting PHX--ATL--LAX out of it on the outbound portion! Is there someone we could talk to a DL who would maybe take all this and make sense out of it?
Also, we've never flown the new 777-200LR. I am excited to fly it, but my 8 year old son who likes to play board games a lot when we're on long flights I concerned that the seats are not "together" in the way he's used to. Last time we flew to OZ we were in J on a QF 744 and we took a row of 3 seats together in the middle and that was good for gaming, though Isaac wished for a window at times. Is there any particular grouping that people would recommend? I was thinking to go for either 2-3-4A or 2-3-4D. My wife and I would take 2 and 4 put our son in the middle. Is that the best we can do with this type of seating? Is there seat that becomes the foot of the bed in each suite, so that 2 people can sit up facing each other to play a game?
Mar 15, 2009, 3:15 pm
#32
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 478
It's roundtrip business class --
Delta Air Lines DL LAXSYD IXLEIS fare rules and restrictions
General notes:
MIDWEEK BUSINESS CLASS ADVANCE PURCHASE I
FARES
When origin is THE UNITED STATES to AREA 3 FOR ROUND TRIP FARES
Day/time restrictions:
PERMITTED MON THROUGH THU ON EACH TRANSPACIFIC SECTOR.
Flight restrictions:
THE FARE COMPONENT MUST INCLUDE TRAVEL VIA EACH
TRANSPACIFIC SECTOR ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
DL FLIGHT 17
DL FLIGHT 16.
Advanced reservations and ticketing restrictions:
RESERVATIONS FOR ALL SECTORS ARE REQUIRED AT LEAST 90 DAYS
BEFORE DEPARTURE.
WAITLIST NOT PERMITTED.
TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER
RESERVATIONS ARE MADE OR AT LEAST 50 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE
WHICHEVER IS EARLIER.
Delta Air Lines DL LAXSYD IXLEIS fare rules and restrictions
General notes:
MIDWEEK BUSINESS CLASS ADVANCE PURCHASE I
FARES
When origin is THE UNITED STATES to AREA 3 FOR ROUND TRIP FARES
Day/time restrictions:
PERMITTED MON THROUGH THU ON EACH TRANSPACIFIC SECTOR.
Flight restrictions:
THE FARE COMPONENT MUST INCLUDE TRAVEL VIA EACH
TRANSPACIFIC SECTOR ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
DL FLIGHT 17
DL FLIGHT 16.
Advanced reservations and ticketing restrictions:
RESERVATIONS FOR ALL SECTORS ARE REQUIRED AT LEAST 90 DAYS
BEFORE DEPARTURE.
WAITLIST NOT PERMITTED.
TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER
RESERVATIONS ARE MADE OR AT LEAST 50 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE
WHICHEVER IS EARLIER.
Mar 15, 2009, 5:44 pm
#33
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: New York City
Posts: 3,506
Wow! Delta has just launched some very keenly priced fares ex-Sydney. Approx. $1,100 Aussie dollars total round-trip SYD-JFK which is as about as low as I've ever seen it!
Mar 15, 2009, 10:55 pm
#34
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Up the front by hook or crook
Programs: NZ*G
Posts: 54
Mar 16, 2009, 1:52 am
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Sydney - Australia
Programs: BD, QF, QR/EY/GF & HH Gold/SPG, Hertz#1G
Posts: 11,079
I've just posted a fresh story from the Sydney Morning Herald, with ex-Sydney intro pricing. AUD$777 (USD$511) + taxes, approx $1077 (USD$710) presumably to the west coast.
(I confess I'd more likely go V Australia in a new widebody B777 on their current sale, before July, given the choice, or the QF/AA deal if I wanted miles / status credits.
)
Sydney - DL fare challenge to Qantas, from ~$700ai (yup, I converted to USD with xe.com for that $70x price approximation.
)
Thanks for posting the exact AUD prices above.
(I confess I'd more likely go V Australia in a new widebody B777 on their current sale, before July, given the choice, or the QF/AA deal if I wanted miles / status credits.
)Sydney - DL fare challenge to Qantas, from ~$700ai (yup, I converted to USD with xe.com for that $70x price approximation.
)Thanks for posting the exact AUD prices above.
Jun 6, 2009, 5:49 pm
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: United, American, Delta, Hyatt, Hilton, Hertz, Marriott
Posts: 14,807
Actually at 16,000 miles roundtrip... if those are roundtrip fares it would only be .05 cents a mile in coach and .50 cents a mile in F to LAX and C to SYD. Those are some of the cheapest fares for a route of that stage length. Haven't looked up DL's CPASM but its got to be close to .12 cents. They are definitly entering this market and trying to dramatically undercut QF and UA. Last time I looked which was a few weeks ago UA's published tarrif for C to SYD is in the $15K range while F is nearly $21K (with QF being similar).
Jun 6, 2009, 9:17 pm
#37
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ/New York, NY/ATL
Programs: DL DM MM, BIS 2.4MM, EK Gold, SQ Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold,
Posts: 5,225
Jun 9, 2009, 11:35 am
#38
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Escondido, CA
Programs: US Chairman no more. AA EXP
Posts: 682
This fare is too good to pass up; wifey and I booked a quickie vacation LAX-SYD out on Jul 5 and back on Jul 13 $591 ai. With the new route bonus (10k) and Amex bonus (15k) you get about 40k Skymiles or a $400 rebate using pay with miles. Last time I checked the fare was good until mid-December.
Jun 9, 2009, 11:46 am
#39
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ/New York, NY/ATL
Programs: DL DM MM, BIS 2.4MM, EK Gold, SQ Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold,
Posts: 5,225
This fare is too good to pass up; wifey and I booked a quickie vacation LAX-SYD out on Jul 5 and back on Jul 13 $591 ai. With the new route bonus (10k) and Amex bonus (15k) you get about 40k Skymiles or a $400 rebate using pay with miles. Last time I checked the fare was good until mid-December.
Jun 9, 2009, 3:50 pm
#41
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Escondido, CA
Programs: US Chairman no more. AA EXP
Posts: 682
The link is buried somewhere in the mileage run forum. Try delta.com/international - you get 10 k for the trip bonus in economy, 15 k bonus for using Amex, and about 15 k for the RT flight miles.
Jun 9, 2009, 6:09 pm
#42
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: 45° North
Programs: DL DM MM, HH Diamond
Posts: 10,196
This fare is too good to pass up; wifey and I booked a quickie vacation LAX-SYD out on Jul 5 and back on Jul 13 $591 ai. With the new route bonus (10k) and Amex bonus (15k) you get about 40k Skymiles or a $400 rebate using pay with miles. Last time I checked the fare was good until mid-December.
Jun 9, 2009, 6:22 pm
#43
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ/New York, NY/ATL
Programs: DL DM MM, BIS 2.4MM, EK Gold, SQ Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold,
Posts: 5,225
Jun 9, 2009, 6:47 pm
#44
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: 45° North
Programs: DL DM MM, HH Diamond
Posts: 10,196
)
Jun 9, 2009, 7:48 pm
#45
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: PDX
Programs: AS, DL, QF, QX, AA, CO, WN
Posts: 152
Steffo--
Unfortunately the BE product on the 77L is not conducive to anyone other than singles. The way the seats are angled makes it nearly impossible to converse with someone next to you (or in front or behind) and if you are in the middle section there is a "wall" between the two seats very much isolating one side of the a/c from the other when seated. Also I saw a picture of a warning label on the footrest in each "suite" saying they are not to be used as seats, so that would make it kind of difficult for you traveling as a family unfortunately.
Unfortunately the BE product on the 77L is not conducive to anyone other than singles. The way the seats are angled makes it nearly impossible to converse with someone next to you (or in front or behind) and if you are in the middle section there is a "wall" between the two seats very much isolating one side of the a/c from the other when seated. Also I saw a picture of a warning label on the footrest in each "suite" saying they are not to be used as seats, so that would make it kind of difficult for you traveling as a family unfortunately.