when is the low season for SFO to SYD flights
 

when is the low season for SFO to SYD flights and cheaper flights?
which airlines offer good and reasonable cost services?
we are seniors and thinking to go for a weekly cruise in SYD.
Does the lower cost of currency helps? Any recommendations?
Thank you.

Because of the alternating seasons, there is no clear 'low' season to Australia like Europe, for example. I think the best deals would be found in October/November and March/April but the price doesn't fluctuate much. The only time to avoid would be Dec 15-Jan 15 as this is peak travel time (Christmas, NYE + Australian summer holiday).

Without knowing your weather temperament I would recommend November as a good time to visit Sydney, it is springtime and generally not too hot, while still being comfortable and not too busy.

All airlines are fairly similar in cost and service. Are you flying business or economy?United and Qantas offer direct service to Sydney, or you could connect in LAX for Delta or Virgin Australia. You could also connect in AKL on Air New Zealand or in HNL on Hawaiian Airlines, both of which would reduce the longest flight time if that is a concern.

If business class is too expensive, Qantas offers a good premium economy product that would be a comfortable direct route option at a reasonable price.

Right now the USD is pretty strong compared to the AUD and makes a US visitor relatively comfortable, although Sydney is still not 'cheap'

There's much more $ variation in the cruise cost than in the airfare (perhaps for good reason, weather is seasonal and affects cruise enjoyment more). Most of the Sydney people I know who cruise a lot go to USA for cruises as it is "better and cheaper" but of course a different experience. I'd suggest researching the cruise aspect more than air fare, also often you can get discounted air fare as part of a cruise package which will be cheaper than otherwise (esp. for business class).

Australian school holiday/vacations can make a big difference to demand.
There are a lot more non stop flights from LAX than SFO.
SYD is not the only international airport in Australia.

Airlines that fly USA/Canada to/from Australia (most from LAX) are
- United (LAX SFO – SYD MEL) [Star Alliance]
- AA (LAX SYD) from Dec 2015 [OneWorld Alliance]
- Qantas (LAX JFK DFW HNL – SYD BNE MEL) SFO from Dec 2015 [OneWorld Alliance] (AS partner)
- Jetstar (HNL – SYD BNE)
- Delta (VA & AS partner) (LAX – SYD) [Skyteam Alliance]
- Virgin Australia (DL partner) (LAX – SYD BNE)
- Hawaiian, via Hawaii (AA & VA partner) (HNL – SYD BNE)
- Air NZ, via AKL [Star Alliance]
- Fiji Airways, via Fiji (AA & AS partner)
- Air Tahiti Nui (last segments on codeshares) (AA & DL partner)
- Air Canada [Star Alliance]
And others via Asia & Middle East

Yes, but the OP is in the SFO area. I mentioned the two non-stops from LAX as well.

Yes, but the OP wants to go to SYD.

It's always someone who wants to pick apart your post isn't it? The question is when to fly from SFO to SYD for goodness sake. They didn't ask for a comprehensive list of every which way to do it. I'd never recommend someone double-connect when they don't have to. I doubt a senior couple wants to fly SFO-DXB-SYD. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Sitting on a boat and stopping each day or every other day for a few hours at a Australian port location seems like a waste of effort. A cabin on a boat is the same the world over. IMO

Go to Australia and see Australia- landscape, cities, architecture, shops, restaurants, vistas....

for all your kind comments, we thank you,
we are seniors and never been south of the hemisphere,
our time and schedule are flexible, but budget isn't as much, so mostly on economy,
we near SFO, but stop over at LAX is OK,
we like 7 days cruise and seek maximum interesting ports,

compare over $2200 RT SFO > SYD, we found SFO > HKG > SYD RT for much less,
with few days off at HKG,
are we missing something?

We're do you want too from Sydney? If its the Pacific Islands you could be better at, looking at an cruise that leaves from either RAR or NAN (Dirrect flights from LAX).

Or if it's around the East Coast of Australasia, you could also look an boarding the cruise in AKL.

No.
Is this with Cathay? Non direct flights can be cheaper.
But look at SFO-LAX-SYD. Or SFO-LAX and a seperate LAX-SYD ticket, but has the risk of having seperate tickets.

What dates are you looking at?

A quick check next November I see direct flights around $1700, and the cheapest one-stop being on Air New Zealand stopping in AKL at around $1400.

A HKG stopover would be a nice option; travel time is a lot longer but if you want to see HKG, go for it. If you connect straight through in HKG, it will be quite a long journey.

$2200 is an awful lot for SFO-SYD return, you may be looking at some bad dates. I'd expect to pay $1500-2000.

The most I've ever paid was $2500 but that was at Christmas.

I find USD 1129 non-stop SFO-SYD-SFO on QF for a random date in Feb 2016, Is your $2200 for 2 people by any chance? Some web sites quote per person, others for total trip (so double if you search for 2 pax). Via HKG on CX is USD 1492 on the same dates. Try searching with http://www.momondo.com

Fares do vary a lot on certain dates, with flexibility you should get even lower prices than this.

Dear number_6, can you please tell how you find the RT fare?

I was looking at Kayak (only Dec to June) & Google flights, for SFO-SYD-SFO, NS RT economy, one person.

Where can I find a chart to see the average flight price for the entire year?

That's why I included the link to momondo.com in my prior post #12. I just tested that link and it works fine when I click it. Then entire your cities and date (I used SFO to SYD on Feb 26 returnning March 3 but similar or even lower prices on other dates). Good luck! If clicking doesn't work, just type www.momondo.com into your web browser. Searching there will show prices for adjacent dates (from Feb 18 to March 8 in my example), if you want to see an entire year then just try more dates a few weeks apart. But prices now are at their lowest due to a price war triggered by AA starting service LAX-SYD, so you won't find much lower and it can be double that price in other months.

thank you number_6,
this momondo is quite useful
learning something new every day, thank you

now search for best season and route for interesting cruise, (approx 7 days, max interesting ports)