How Many Days Until Xmas Australia?

Discount tickets to Sydney Australia

• I just found out that I need to make an emergency trip to Sydney Australia to take care of a business matter. I know that this is the peak season for traveling there and I am dreading how much this will cost me. I am hoping to leave LA sometime in the next 2-4 days, and I would love to be back in time for xmas day. Where is the best place I can find discount tickets? What is the lowest I will need to pay? Is it cheaper if I have someone there buy the tickets for me?

• Answer:

  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