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Deal> Australia or New Zealand: $949 round trip on Qantas

QANTAS LAX

Fares between the US and Australia tumble for 2018 trips- Qantas A380s sunbathing at LAX (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

When fares to Australia or New Zealand dip below $1,000, it’s time to sit up and take notice.

Today Qantas announced a very good deal for flights from the US to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane– with fares from San Francisco and Los Angeles starting at just $949 roundtrip. You can fly to Auckland, New Zealand from California for $999. From Dallas, fares are running at about $1,100 round trip. One stop flights from New York-JFK are just $1049 round trip. 

What’s best about this sale is the timing… you’ll travel during the dark cold days of winter in the US to the sunny shores of Oz between February 5 and June 23. To get the deal, you must book your trip by Monday, October 2.

Fare chart from Qantas for economy roundtrips

For business travelers, premium economy fares are also discounted for this sale to around $2,300 round trip. Business class remains a steep $7,000+ round trip.

So far, United and Air New Zealand have not matched this sale, but stay tuned… it could happen in the next 24 hours.

We checked and these fares are indeed available on the Qantas sale website, but keep in mind that you’ll pay more to choose your seat ahead of time.

Link to sale here: https://www.qantas.com/us/en/flight-deals.html/sfo/au/economy/all/lowest

What’s the lowest price you’ve seen or paid for a round trip ticket to Australia? Will you take on this deal? Please leave your comments below. 

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Trans-Pacific fare war in the wings?

Air New Zealand 777-300

Air New Zealand is facing new competition across the Pacific (Photo: Air New Zealand)

The non-stop market between the U.S. and new Zealand is getting more crowded following American Airlines’ announcement this week that it will begin Los Angeles-Auckland service in June 2016.

Last month, United Airlines — a Star Alliance partner of Air New Zealand — said it will start San Francisco-Auckland non-stops in July 2016. And Air New Zealand has plans to begin its own new service in the middle of next month between Auckland and United’s Houston hub.

Currently, Air New Zealand has a monopoly on non-stop service between New Zealand and the U.S. mainland, with flights from Auckland to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Qantas used to compete on the non-stop LAX-Auckland route, but dropped it in 2012.

American will operate the daily New Zealand service with a 787-8 as part of its joint venture with Qantas, subject to regulatory approvals. The LAX departure will be at 10:45 p.m, arriving in Auckland at 6:35 a.m. two days later. American’s passengers will be able to connect at Auckland to 11 New Zealand destinations and to points in Australia via Qantas and its Jetstar subsidiary.

Fare war announced in New Zealand

Fare war announced in New Zealand (click to read article)

Qantas and American have been ramping up their partnership in recent months, with plans to begin new non-stops next month between Los Angeles-Sydney (operated by American) and between San Francisco-Sydney (operated by Qantas). The LAX-Sydney market is already crowded, with service from Qantas, Delta, United and Virgin Australia.

Currently, the lowest nonstop roundtrip economy fares for June trips between California and New Zealand are in the $1,200 range. Business class is much higher at $5,100-$7,000 round trip on United and Air New Zealand nonstops, but only about $3,500 on one- stop Hawaiian Airlines flights via Honolulu.

With all the new services coming up between the U.S. and Australia/New Zealand, most observers expect to see lower air fares in the months ahead. Plus, with all that new capacity, it could get easier to redeem miles for those treasured trips to the Antipodes! 

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