Aussie Disneyland Planners come on in and lets plan together :)

[becpee]

Hi everybody, the Dis helped me alot with the planning of our trip, especially this thread, just thought i'd give a bit back with a TR (which I should have done earlier )
Without further ado, here it is http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2420210

 

[Aust]

Hi all...I'm currently planning my 2nd trip to DL, I went with my husband and our 2 girls about 2 1/2 years ago, and I'm planning on going back in January with my sister and neice (while the girls are going to Phuket with their grandparents and DH will be staying home with our little boy!)

My question is - what are the best websites for purchasing airfares? My sister and I are getting disillusioned with travel agents, yesterday we both went to seperate travel agents (different chains) to get quotes - for the identical return flight, there was a difference if $700!!!! and neither of them were cheap, one was $2,500 and the other was $3,200 (per adult) for Sydney - Los Angeles and back. The price for HoJo was also ridiculous, it was more than double their website or any other price I've seen.

So we'd like to book our flights online. We know we want to go Qantas and we know what flights we want, so we just want a good price. What do you all suggest?

 

[aussietravellers]

Hi all...I'm currently planning my 2nd trip to DL, I went with my husband and our 2 girls about 2 1/2 years ago, and I'm planning on going back in January with my sister and neice (while the girls are going to Phuket with their grandparents and DH will be staying home with our little boy!)

My question is - what are the best websites for purchasing airfares? My sister and I are getting disillusioned with travel agents, yesterday we both went to seperate travel agents (different chains) to get quotes - for the identical return flight, there was a difference if $700!!!! and neither of them were cheap, one was $2,500 and the other was $3,200 (per adult) for Sydney - Los Angeles and back. The price for HoJo was also ridiculous, it was more than double their website or any other price I've seen.

So we'd like to book our flights online. We know we want to go Qantas and we know what flights we want, so we just want a good price. What do you all suggest?

Flights with VAustralia will be much cheaper than Qantas (and they are great!). But January is not a cheap time to fly, so you will not get a lot of discount flights for that time. We were looking at going last January but ended up going in December because the flights were more than half the price compared to January. So I would be prepared that you won't get the really cheap flights in Jan. If they are going to bring out specials for that time it will be later in the year.

Booking HoJo's I would say to book direct with them and keep an eye out for their entertainment rate too. You will need an entertainment book to get the card that you will need for checkin (you won't need the book to book the accommodation), you can use and Australian Entertainment book, it doesn't have to be a US one. Australian TA's can be very expensive for accommodation, so booking directly is good or through a TA in the US.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hi all...I'm currently planning my 2nd trip to DL, I went with my husband and our 2 girls about 2 1/2 years ago, and I'm planning on going back in January with my sister and neice (while the girls are going to Phuket with their grandparents and DH will be staying home with our little boy!)

My question is - what are the best websites for purchasing airfares? My sister and I are getting disillusioned with travel agents, yesterday we both went to seperate travel agents (different chains) to get quotes - for the identical return flight, there was a difference if $700!!!! and neither of them were cheap, one was $2,500 and the other was $3,200 (per adult) for Sydney - Los Angeles and back. The price for HoJo was also ridiculous, it was more than double their website or any other price I've seen.

So we'd like to book our flights online. We know we want to go Qantas and we know what flights we want, so we just want a good price. What do you all suggest?

I think you'll find that the majority of the aussies frequenting this forum have not used TAs for years!

If you want to go Qantas, then keep an eye out for Qantas deals and book directly via their website. As AussieTravellers has pointed out, January is an expensive time to go because of our school holidays. VAustralia will be cheaper; as will AirNZ.

 

[1rocky]

Disboards has been a great help in planning our trip for Jan. The cheapest flights we have come across so far is Hawaiian Airlines economy cost of $2199. this is because we are stopping of at Hawaii for the pride of America cruise(already booked). Then looking round thought lets go to Disneyland:
so a little two week trip has now expanded to 28 days. Am a frequent flyer club member with Qantas but flights were costing $3000 for the trip. Our travel agent is still on the lookout for us for cheaper flights. Hotels we are looking at the Sheraton Universal and Disneyland Hotel.

 

[Aust]

Unfortunately I'm stuck with the date in January, and we considered going V Australia but my sister and niece are stopping over in Hawaii on the way back and want to use American Airlines then Qantas, so to travel to LA with them I need to go Qantas. So just trying to find the best price for the particular Qantas flights we want, I find it difficult to understand how they could come up with a $700 difference on the same day!!

 

[heidispidi]

Hi all...I'm currently planning my 2nd trip to DL, I went with my husband and our 2 girls about 2 1/2 years ago, and I'm planning on going back in January with my sister and neice (while the girls are going to Phuket with their grandparents and DH will be staying home with our little boy!)

My question is - what are the best websites for purchasing airfares? My sister and I are getting disillusioned with travel agents, yesterday we both went to seperate travel agents (different chains) to get quotes - for the identical return flight, there was a difference if $700!!!! and neither of them were cheap, one was $2,500 and the other was $3,200 (per adult) for Sydney - Los Angeles and back. The price for HoJo was also ridiculous, it was more than double their website or any other price I've seen.

So we'd like to book our flights online. We know we want to go Qantas and we know what flights we want, so we just want a good price. What do you all suggest?

Hey Big Sis! Not too hard to pick this was you! I'm waiting anxiously for your DH to hear back from work so we can book!

 

[aussiemickeys]

AUST - I have a suggestion you might want to check out. Have you considered flying Jetstar (Qantas' discount airline) to Honolulu return & then buying a return flight from Honolulu to LA.
For your trip it sounds like this is the legs that you will be doing on the way back anyway, so nothing has to change there. It would mean though that instead of a direct approx 13 and a half hour from Sydney to LA you would have to do: 10 hours from Sydney to Honolulu (wait time between flights) & then approx 6 hours from Honolulu to LA.
The savings you get might be enough for this to be an attractive offer for you.
Be careful of a couple of things though - when you enter your dates on the website it will offer you a number of different priceranges. Check all details first as they have different luggage allowances (which by the way is smaller than Qantas) & the fare restrictions (for changes & cancellations) vary as well.
The other thing to consider is that Jetstar only flys certain days of the week between the two cities (but still plenty of options if you are slightly flexible on your dates).
If after all your research, you do end up deciding that Jetstar is a good choice for you this trip, a couple of other more minor things - in Economy class you do not automatically get a meal provided, an entertainment unit or an amenties (blanket, pillow) pack. You pay a small fee for any of these that you require. In Star Class you do get these automatically. Also economy class does not earn Qantas frequent flyer points, but Star Class does.
Hope this helps - please let me know which you decide in the end as I have just gone through pretty much the exact process as yourselves. We were so disallusioned by the Qantas (which is always our first choice) prices, we ended up getting a round trip special deal with V Australia that end up being cheaper than a ONE way on Qantas.

 

[lffam]

Hi

am planning out trip for Sept and came across getawaytoday.com

i read that some people from here have use them - take it that means no issues from being in OZ and using them in the US to book. What happens with the travel documents? do they come via email or to hotel?

cheers

 

[lffam]

We used our points up on our trip last year so only had around 110,00 to use for this trip. We are using our points for the US domestic only as it works out a better savings for us.

Total points for a return ticket to LAX was either 96,000 or 108,00 plus around 500.00 in taxes.

The total of all our flights within the US would have cost a few hundred more than one return ticket to LAX and most likely more if we waited and booked later in the year. (working on prices available at the moment)
We used 108,000 points total for three people for flights from LAX to Orlando and then Syracuse to LAX. The grand total of all taxes for all flights was $30.00 USD. I had to pay the assisted booking fee with my cc as I was short on points and this was $75.00 total AUD. (can't book Syracuse online)
We tend to accumulate enough points for either one international flight or all US domestic flights each year. Using them for US domestic has always worked out a better savings for us.
Now its fingers crossed that a good fare comes up for Nov. V Australia has some great fares available at the moment but only until end of Sept.

hi
are your saying you used QF FF points to book US domestic flights? ive just used points to book Bris to LAX but still need to buy LAX to LAV which is around $550USD if i can use QF points which i still have alot of then even better!

 

[CairnsGirl]

Hi Iffam,

I used getaway today to book my Disneyland tickets and Paradise Pier accommodation in 2007. They mailed out all the travel vouchers and we got a free lanyard with our purchase!
We had great service from them and no issues about being from Australia.

 

[kylieh]

Hi

am planning out trip for Sept and came across getawaytoday.com

i read that some people from here have use them - take it that means no issues from being in OZ and using them in the US to book. What happens with the travel documents? do they come via email or to hotel?

cheers

We have used GAT twice. We've found them to be really good with customer service etc, and you can use a payment plan if you want. They sent our documents to Australia. There is an international handling fee of roughly US$35? so take that into account. But for the vouchers for character lunches etc you pick them up. It's also worth noting they have a Change Your Mind fee, optional, I think was US$25, so you could change your mind on where you were staying as many times as you want.

We used them because we could get a better deal on our chosen accom etc than we could do ourselves, but for elsewhere in the US we have booked directly with the hotels.

 

[lffam]

thanks for the info about GAT. we've found that the price between booking on the Disneyland site compared to GAT almost the same for the overall price. individually there were some more and some less but overall much the same. Having the "change your mind" option might be a good thing so might swing us to book with GAT.

Anyone recommend somewhere for transfers?

we need:
LAX --> LA hotel ( we need a hotel too!)
LA Hotel --> Anaheim
Anaheim --> SanDiego Hotel ( we need a hotel too)
SanDiegi --> LAX
LAV --> LV Hotel ( yep same again!)
LV hotel --> LAV

phew..think thats it

 

[aussiegirls]

We used B & W Limos for all our transfers and they were awesome

Like you we had a few trips that we needed transport for, so I just pre-booked with them the dates and times and every single time they were there waiting for us.

The best thing was that I didn't have to pay after each individual trip. They gave me the cost before I even left Australia. After the first trip I signed a credit card slip for half the total cost and after the very last trip (at LAX) I signed another cc slip for the balance - easy peasy.

They also gave me a 10% discount off the total because I had booked multiple trips with them.

Would definately use them again in a heartbeat

xxx

 

[lffam]

We used B & W Limos for all our transfers and they were awesome

Like you we had a few trips that we needed transport for, so I just pre-booked with them the dates and times and every single time they were there waiting for us.

The best thing was that I didn't have to pay after each individual trip. They gave me the cost before I even left Australia. After the first trip I signed a credit card slip for half the total cost and after the very last trip (at LAX) I signed another cc slip for the balance - easy peasy.

They also gave me a 10% discount off the total because I had booked multiple trips with them.

Would definately use them again in a heartbeat

xxx

thanks aussiegirls I will look into that. If you dint mind me asking, how much was it for the transfers?

I know this q's isn't Disney related, but thought I's ask, Has anyone done the Universal Studios VIP ( not front of line) tour? were are considering doing it, but like to hear from anyone who might have done it. If this shouldn't be discussed here then I understand, but if you want to send me a message to tell me your opinions, I'd really appreciate it.

thanks

 

[Kalice]

Iffam,

We used Execucar (part of supershuttle) for our transfers from LAX to Anaheim. Price was really reasonable for a family. For the Anaheim to San Diego leg, we took Amtrak, it was a really pleasant journey with great views for lots of it. We paid about $5 extra each for business class, this included a drink (hot or cold), a bag of snack stuff and a newspaer each (we only took one). Highly recommend this. You can also take it return to LAX and use flyaway to transfer you from the train station to the airport. We stayed at the Omni in San Diego, it was in the gaslamp quarter which was great for meals etc. It also had a tram stop right at the back which goes to town or to the old town with a quick transfer.

We did go to Universal but didn't bother with the front of line pass, it was sooo quiet.

 

[lffam]

thanks Kalice, they do seem a little cheaper than the B&W Limos might have to send them an email with all the tranfers we need to get a quote

might look into the anaheim to Sd as you suggested

 

[aussiegirls]

lffam, yeah the limos will always be more expensive than the shuttles. I was willing to pay the extra though simply for the convenience. I knew that getting off a 15 hr flight with 2 kids the last thing any of us would want to do would be get on a shuttle for another loooooong trip whilst we dropped every man and his dog off at their hotels.

I just wanted a driver to take our bags, put us in a nice, air conditioned car and take us straight where we wanted to go.

Prices, I honestly can't remember. We had transfers from LAX to Anaheim, Anaheim to Hollywood, Hollywood to Santa Monica and back and Hollywood back to LAX. For those five transfers I paid $300 and something dollars. Well worth it in my opinion.

As for the Universal VIP tickets, we didn't get them but we saw plenty of people walking around with their VIP tickets around their neck and honestly, I felt sorry for them.

For the amount extra these people paid, they got nothing much different to what we did. I think they get VIP seating in the shows but that is not a special section, it's just seats close to the front which anyone can get if they get there in time. Also being able to get on rides quicker doesn't seem worth $$$$ to me as there are not a massive amount of rides there - not like Disney or anything.

Maybe it was that we went on a weekday or something but it was not packed at all and I just truly felt sorry for all the people that paid so much more than we did for not much extra.

xxx

 

[lffam]

more great advice, thanks alot, really appreciate it.

Re the transfers, totally agree that paying a bit more is worth it. The Execuca transfer company that was mentioned was a limo service also not shuttle, think they are just owned by same company

Think we might give the VIP one a miss, it certainly is alot more and by the sounds not really worth it

 

[hobbit]

What sort of dress is the norm in restaurants such as the Blue Bayou, and other such places in America? While australia is super casual almost everywhere, I heard that US is a bit more formal, which will be a fun change from monotony if I could dress our son in a shirt and tie. So would be interested in hearing from aussies who have already been there.