Best time for airfare deals to Australia?
 

My husband and I are occasional, rather than frequent travelers, and hope to visit Australia for the first time in late March or April next year (we can only travel during certain months due to work constraints). We'll likely fly into Sydney, and then visit the Adelaide and Melbourne areas. We live in Alabama, and are flexible about where the trans-Pacific flight originates.

We periodically rack up enough miles for free travel, but that will not be the case for this trip, sadly. We would love to fly at least Premium Economy, but know that it's really expensive across the Pacific. (We flew Air New Zealand LAX-AKL in Economy and survived).

Can we expect any good deals/sales for travel to Sydney that time of year? What airlines do you experienced travelers like best? Who has the best economy seats? (I know where to find the specs, but I'd like to get your input).

Thanks in advance.

keep an eye out on the MR forum, there was a killer fare last week for $680 rt from the east coast... west coast in the low $600's dates didn't fit your criteria but i'm sure in the future they'll have you covered. Australia has just gotten more competition so the prices have dropped dramatically especially on sales.

US-Sydney is very competitive right now with four airlines fighting it out on the nonstop LAX-SYD route -- Delta, Qantas, United, and V Australia -- plus Air New Zealand via AKL. They can't all last given the current economic blues. That's why we're seeing great sales out of LAX or SFO. March / April mark the end of the Australian summer; if you see anything around $800 or less, all in, during your time frame in economy, you should grab it.

Premium Economy seats are in short supply and unlikely to go on sale.

I'd rank the airlines' comfort in Economy in this order: Air New Zealand, Qantas, Delta, V Australia, United.

Very helpful info! I knew this was the place to come.;

What do you experienced travelers to Australia think of V Australia? We adore Virgin America and have flown to London several times on it and love it. (Of course we've been fortunate in that we've upgraded very reasonably to Upper Class (once, and likely the only time we'll be that lucky!) and Premium Economy.

What is the V Australia experience like in Economy and Premium Economy?

Thanks!

I don't think there are any real best times for airfares anymore, at least not recently. You need to be ready to buy, because today it may be high, then for a day or two something may cause the fare to drop, then a few days later it will be back up again.

Many sites like bing, kayak, etc will send you daily fare alerts with the fares on that route so you have a better chance of seeing when it (if) drops. Sign up for those too.

Virgin America doesn't fly to London. Sounds like you were on Virgin Atlantic. From what I've heard, V Australia is pretty similar to the other Virgin group airlines, so since you've flown on a Virgin airline before, you probably have a rough idea of what to expect.

You are, of course, right. Flew Virgin America SFO-LAS recently and still had it on the brain!

Here is the Flash in-cabin animation sim for all three classes on V Australia:

http://www.vaustralia.com.au/apps/va...ugh/index.html

Economy is very similar in conception to Virgin Atlantic economy -- great IFE, little style points, but tight pitch and not especially comfortable. The Premium Economy product is better than that, of course, but weak compared to PE on Air New Zealand or Qantas.

V Australia seats are, indeed, pretty stiff, but having flown on Qantas on the same route, I'd prefer the Virgin product. Somehow it feels more spacious, even if it isn't. The service is the best on that route, of what I had experienced. And you can earn 50% Delta RDMs, in case the price discrepancy is high enough to take V over DL.