15

Delta will fly you from BNE to JFK with one stop in LAX in Economy for 1562 AUD pp.

• that is really good price! Will look further into this.

16

I have flown United and in the past have had to go via Sydney but would never do that now

• why is that? Is it because of long flying time?

17

Ah yes, I answered my own question :-)

18

New York and Boston is definitely in the plan, Oregon maybe and Canada too. Really don’t know a lot of the places yet, but will read up. Perhaps we can look into flying into Canada thru to the Lakes and the States?

This seems a little at odds with your initial plan to fly BNE > LAX > NYC. Also - it would be good to know whether you are planning to rent a car for any of your three weeks.

We do not use a travel agent at all - we always fly Qantas (using points if we have them), and we pre-book all our accommodation - and a lot of US hotel/motel chains have very liberal cancellation policies if things change. We also pre-book a rental car, using carhire3000.com - but there are other companies as well.

19

Before you immediately consider heading to the west coast, consider this.
Also, understand that the flight between coasts will involve the better part of the day. Strongly consider limiting yourselves, geographically.

20

Save your money for the trip. The plane won't be that bad.:)

21

And if your state of health prevents your sleeping on planes, then you'll be knackered by the time you reach NYC anyway - whatever class you choose, so why not choose the cheapest one?

22

another Aussie who says - save your money for ground content. or if you need a bit more room book an extra economy seat - still cheaper than business.

23

The difference in cost between economy and business would be more than a month's pay for me if I was still working. However, if money is no object don't worry too much.

We (a retired couple from Melbourne) are flying to NYC next year (2nd trip) and my thoughts are that the flight to LA is not much worse than sitting up to watch a late show on TV - the flights from Oz get into LAX at the equivalent of about 1.30 am Melbourne time. (The seats in the A380 and 747 are quite comfy and roomy enough for this 5'10" person - the issue for me the last time was that the plane jiggled and bumped for the whole flight both ways - I would not have slept even in 1st class - unless it's smoother up the front!) This time I don't expect to sleep between Oz and LAX, but I'm hoping to snooze on the 6 hour flight from LAX to JFK, seeing that it will be the wee small hours as far as my internal clock is concerned.

Edited by a pedant.

24

Thank you all.
We have a lot of serious reading and research to do for the next few months now.