New Airfare Topic

[thesmoothdome]

Ok, I didn't want to hijack the other airfare thread, but I need some expert advice. Airfare never seems as inexpensive as others tell me it can be.Someone told me that airfare can befound to Papa New Guinea for around $800.00 bucks. I think he's insane. I looked at airfare from LAX to Sydney, Australia and the lowest RT I found was $1650.00. Ok, maybe he meant $800.00 each way, but there's still 2 more legs to the flight. You have to fly into Port Moesby and then on to Rabaul. I can't see getting there for less than $2300-$2500, and I'm worried that it'll end up around $3000.00 when it's all said and done.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Oh, and what's up with business class and first class? $11,500 and 16,228 for LAX to Syd? That's friggin nuts!!</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>What do you guys do for cheap airfare? I'm not too hip on being crammed into economy seats for 19 hours, but if I'm complaining about $2500, you can bet that I'm not spending 11K for a seat. </DIV>
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[Vercingetorix]

When do you want to go and return? Dates have a large impact on price. Be advised, airfare is capacity controlled. That is, when one seat is sold on a flight, the computer program adjusts prices on all remaining seats on that flight. I know, I used to work for American Airlines and I wrote the computer application that did that.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>I now run a travel agency. PM with your info, including telephone number. I'll be out this next week until Friday.</DIV>

[Cichlid]

My wife just told me that her friend is going to Australia next year
and we could tag along. We just have to pay for airfare. Sweet!
Vercingetorix, you might be getting my info soon as well.

[picxie]

Originally Posted by thesmoothdome

Ok, I didn't want to hijack the other airfare thread, but I need some expert advice. Airfare never seems as inexpensive as others tell me it can be.Someone told me that airfare can befound to Papa New Guinea for around $800.00 bucks. I think he's insane. I looked at airfare from LAX to Sydney, Australia and the lowest RT I found was $1650.00. Ok, maybe he meant $800.00 each way, but there's still 2 more legs to the flight. You have to fly into Port Moesby and then on to Rabaul. I can't see getting there for less than $2300-$2500, and I'm worried that it'll end up around $3000.00 when it's all said and done.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Oh, and what's up with business class and first class? $11,500 and 16,228 for LAX to Syd? That's friggin nuts!!</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>What do you guys do for cheap airfare? I'm not too hip on being crammed into economy seats for 19 hours, but if I'm complaining about $2500, you can bet that I'm not spending 11K for a seat. </DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>

<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>A friend and I are looking at doing a trip to PnG next year and we are in a similar situation. I haven't done too much research but I think one airline pretty much has a monopoly on the flights, which means they're not cheap. Same with Truk too, but even worse. </DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>I guess I'm lucky as I don't need to worry too much about getting to Aussie - could get there for about US$400 return at the moment, and 3-4 hrs is nothing. My friend already lives over there so we'll probably do some diving along the GBR before heading over. </DIV>

[picxie]

When looking into our trip, I've been checking out prices at
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>http://www.divefishsnow.co.nz/dive/price_guide.asp</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>to get an idea of prices. I've done a trip with them before and they were great, so I'll be keeping an eye out for their packages next year.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>You can see from that link that PnG return from Brisbane, including taxes, is $1600. With the exchange rate at the moment, that's about US$1280. And that's reasonably cheap as I have looked into the flights and to plan independant was more ... although their prices are subject to change of course.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Oh - that doesn't include the internal flight to Rabaul either. So really, you are getting back up to your US$1650 figure.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>I've done Auckland to LA before, with a stopover in Tahiti. It's really not that bad. Just think - $$ on a more comfy seat, or more $$ for diving??I know which one I would pick!</DIV>

[thesmoothdome]

Thanks for the link Picxie. You're right about the monopoly. Air Nuguini has a monopoly on flights to and within PNG.

Vercingetorix, I'll pm you details as soon as I know them. It's still a little early to firm things up in terms of airfare. All I know for sure is that my wife and I will be on the Star Dancer, which is leaving from Rabaul, from July 5 - July 14. The rest of the trip is really wide open at the moment. I think I'd like to spend a few days kicking it around Australia before heading to PNG. I'd like to arrive in PNG on the July 4th and then spend an extra night or two after the boat docks at the end of the trip.

[JugglingMonkeys]

Originally Posted by thesmoothdome

What do you guys do for cheap airfare? I'm not too hip on being crammed into economy seats for 19 hours, but if I'm complaining about $2500, you can bet that I'm not spending 11K for a seat.

I fly to Oz frequently.

1. The best airfares to Oz can be obtained through a consolidator. You can get them as low as the low to mid $1ks - depending entirely on time of year.

2. the best way to get business class is to use miles for a business class upgrade. BUT, in advance be sure to check that

a. the class of ticket is upgradeable using miles. You may have to pay more to get an upgradeable class of ticket.
b. there are seats available for this kind of upgrade. make sure you get a "confirmed upgrade" at the time of ticketing. Don't let them put you on a waiting list - your chances are slim there.

3. the really best way to get business class is to fly a lot. For example, with United, if you fly over 100k actual miles a year (a 1K frequent flyer) they give you 6 (one-way) "systemwide upgrades" per year. These do a one-class upgrade anywhere in the world. These are very cool. BTW, the airlines also really take care of you then too. Truly - they really do. But only for their MOST frequent flyers.

[georoc01]

Definitely the case with United. I'll never forget being in line with a guy where we both had tickets to a concert cross country and our flight was delayed due to mechanical troubles.

Not being premier at the time, there was nothing they could do for me. For the guy behind him, they not only got him a ticket, plus changed his city to be mine, rather than one 55 miles away. Of course the agent says that miraculously a seat had opened up and now it was full again.

The fact that he was premier exec made a huge difference. 1k flyers get even more perks.

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by thesmoothdome

Thanks for the link Picxie. You're right about the monopoly. Air Nuguini has a monopoly on flights to and within PNG.

Vercingetorix, I'll pm you details as soon as I know them. It's still a little early to firm things up in terms of airfare. All I know for sure is that my wife and I will be on the Star Dancer, which is leaving from Rabaul, from July 5 - July 14. The rest of the trip is really wide open at the moment. I think I'd like to spend a few days kicking it around Australia before heading to PNG. I'd like to arrive in PNG on the July 4th and then spend an extra night or two after the boat docks at the end of the trip.

Air rates should be published in September for July 2008 dates (it's always about 10 to 11 months). We can take a look at options.

My boss is an Aussie. He can provide all the inside info on where you should stay and play. How about the Outback? (And, I don't mean the restaurant)

[thesmoothdome]

Originally Posted by Vercingetorix

My boss is an Aussie. He can provide all the inside info on where you should stay and play. How about the Outback? (And, I don't mean the restaurant)

Damn, I was hoping for a bloomin onion .