Which airline is best?

[pcur]

I agree with the Jetstar suggestion. I just priced Jetstar business class combined with Virgin domestic inside Australia for Fall 2009. I don't care who we take to/from LAX-HNL. I was very happy with the cost, since it's gone down several hundred dollars pp since I started watching the fares:

 

LAX-HNL roundtrip = $570 estimated

Perth-Syd on Virgin, then Syd-HNL on Jetstar business class = $1,135

 

So, I'd do it pieces if I were the OP: NZ to SYD, SYD to HNL, and then HNL to LAX or wherever is best, but LAX has the best prices, I believe.

[suzy5555]

Qantas does fly New York-Los Angeles-Sydney. (And this is undoubtedly the best way to fly from New York to Los Angeles, if you qualify to take the flight.)

 

The total scheduled time New York-Sydney on current timetables is 22:15. But if you fly on Singapore Airlines you are in for at least 27:20 (and 31:50 from JFK) with no significant time at the connection points. So you are taking quite a big travel time hit in order to take the Singapore Airlines flights.There is no financial penalty for flying on a valid open-jaw routing (USA)-Auckland/Sydney-(USA) (or vice versa). This is because the routing will still qualify for the discount fares. There is no need to go through the rigmarole of buying a return ticket to Sydney to avoid any financial penalty.

 

Just to take an example, the Qantas website is returning the following fares (for random dates in April 2009):-

LAX-AKL-LAX: $1481.05

LAX-SYD-LAX: $1425.90

LAX-SYD/AKL-LAX: $1439.77

LAX-AKL/SYD-LAX: $1467.18

 

The extra money you spend on getting a return to Sydney and buying a cheapie one-way ticket to Auckland is just so much wasted money.

How do I search Qantas for open-jaw flights?

[suzy5555]

I found it - thanks anyway :)