Hi Sherpaj,
For low-cost international flights, the best source for tickets are
usually airline ticket consolidators. These are companies who have
negotiated discounted fares with the airlines. To read more about
buying from consolidators, read the FAQ at Edward Hasbrouck’s site:
http://hasbrouck.org/faq/#Section_6. He’s the author of The Practical
Nomad series of travel books.
Anyway, I researched consolidator sites to get a cross-section of
representative fares. Since I don’t know your exact dates of travel
and which flights will be booked when you go online, I cannot
guarantee these fares will be available. However, the best online
quote I could find was from Travel Team
(http://www.travelteam.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.detail&id=265),
an agency based in Seattle that books travel for Rick Steves, author
and editor of Europe Through The Back Door series. As a
representative fare, I entered a departure date of December 14th and a
return date if December 21st. Below are the fares they e-mailed to
me.
Departure City-----------------: LAX
Destination City---------------: SYD
Round Trip Per Adult ----------: $1360 + tax
LAX to SYD Airline Name--------: China Southern Airlines
Ticket Class-------------------: Economy
Frequent Flyer Miles----------: No
Stopover Allowed---------------: YES
Departure must be between 12/10/2002 and 12/16/2002
Departure City-----------------: LAX
Destination City---------------: SYD
Round Trip Per Adult ----------: $1379 + tax
LAX to SYD Airline Name--------: Air Canada
Ticket Class-------------------: Economy
Frequent Flyer Miles----------: YES
Stopover Allowed---------------: YES
Departure must be between 12/07/2002 and 02/24/2003
These fares are $400-$1000 LESS than what I could find on Travelocity,
Expedia, Orbitz, etc.
Another consolidators you may want to check for online quotes is
Airline Consolidator.com
(http://www.airlineconsolidator.com/index2.htm). You may also do a
Google search for “airline consolidators.” Be aware that since you
need a booking within four days, you may have to call many of these
agencies. Many only offer quotes for flights booked at least five
days from now.
Bon voyage,
Helpful1 |
