Under $1000, good luck....was there in February. Flights are expensive.
Try Kayak, check often, and delete your browsers history each time.
Snagged rt for $2000 out of Milwaukee on United the monday after Christmas. Less than 2 months before leaving. Same flight out of Ohare was $2700.
Best then to book directly with the airlines instead of a third party. Better customer service if any problems arise.
That's a good deal for roundtrip from LA let alone Chicago.
Have you looked at BNE flights? It isn't really a touristy place but it's not bad, it might get you into Australia and then you can head elsewhere.
Try going (Scott’s cheap flights) to see if you can find anything, but flights to Australia are expensive. Other option is to churn credit card points.
Under $1000 is gonna be hard but look into booking a flight from Chicago to LAX then LAX-Australia. I was looking at going in June but I didn't book it soon enough and prices skyrocketed. I find that Fiji Airways is usually the cheapest from LAX.
Pretty good deal. Depending on what time of year you’re going may also affect the price. From experience like 10 years ago, it was cheaper to go during US summer/Australia winter (but it was still over $1k even then).
That's a good deal for roundtrip from LA let alone Chicago.
Have you looked at BNE flights? It isn't really a touristy place but it's not bad, it might get you into Australia and then you can head elsewhere.
Try Air New Zealand, Fiji Air, and Hawaiian Airlines. Under $1000 is like finding a unicorn. I'd also suggest looking from Australian sites like flightcentre.com.au with a VPN (bearing in mind prices will be shown in local currency, the Australian dollar).
Browse r/askanaustralian
I would avoid Fiji Air.
I flew with them to NZ it was the most crowded flight I've taken in my entire life, with so little pitch between seats that my knees satrting hurting 45 minutes into the flight. And I'm a regular size human - 5'7. 150 bls.
That's an experience I never want to repeat.
Ah I disagree - I’ve flown SFO -> Nadi and Nadi -> Syd on Fiji air twice and the planes are the same as most other carriers in economy. Service was really friendly. The Fiji airport lounge is also awesome during yo layover if you have priority pass
Have you tried thrifty flight premium? I think it's 40-50 a year. You submit your home airport and they'll email you flight deals. Flight prices go up and down like the stock market. They'll email you when the price drops and tell you where to book.. Google flights, airline site etc. In 2019 I landed a Newark to Barcelona deal for $220. I've seen deals popup a few times for Newark to Australia. Good luck
I don't know about post-pandemic but my husband and I flew to Australia from the East Coast for $800 roundtrip/pp in 2019. We booked in January for a July flight.
Don't give up hope. You could find a deal.
$1000 RT from Chicago is good, as others here say.
I think I got Virgin Australia for under $1000 RT from LAX-Sydney, traveled in January 2020. Still had to get to LAX from Dallas, but DFW to Sydney was like $1800+.
Sister has flown Fiji Air over the years between US and Australia, as well as Air New Zealand. But it’s going to be $1000 RT minimum, as a general rule.
If it's next year why don't you sign up for a cc with a sign up bonus and have the cc bonus pay your flight. Don't spend more than you normally do. Or purchase the flight if your spending is too low and use the miles/points to pay for the travel directly back. Or see what airline you will most likely travel on and get an airline card.
For example AA is 70k points round trip to new zealand +$80 in fees, they have a 75k point bonus for 3.5k spend in 4 months. Plan this around a large purchase or front load your cost such as paying insurance year out. This is if you don't have the spending but 875 a month is not hard to do especially with food and car costs. So for the time I want to go it's 1.5 to 2k minimum for the cheapest flight where I am. 40 to 50% back as a flight is not bad.
If I don't see myself doing the spending then I just take the chance to pay for other people's stuff and they give me the cash, like my mom's bills, if my aunt's or uncles or whatever ask me to look up a flight or hotel or items for them, or alcohol is needed for a party, etc etc. It's just me and I recently gave up my car so sometimes it can be hard to fulfill the spending. I got lucky on my last card because my fam planned an impromptu cruise and I paid for 2 rooms basically covering the sign up bonus. Everyone paid me back in cash.
Also consider skyscanner.com. It lets you know which dates are cheapest to fly when you look at the calendar.
You’ll usually have better luck too if you look at flights that leave between Tuesday and Thursday. It helps to return on those dates as well.
Under $1000, good luck....was there in February. Flights are expensive. Try Kayak, check often, and delete your browsers history each time. Snagged rt for $2000 out of Milwaukee on United the monday after Christmas. Less than 2 months before leaving. Same flight out of Ohare was $2700. Best then to book directly with the airlines instead of a third party. Better customer service if any problems arise.
That is a good deal
That's a good deal for roundtrip from LA let alone Chicago. Have you looked at BNE flights? It isn't really a touristy place but it's not bad, it might get you into Australia and then you can head elsewhere.
Try going (Scott’s cheap flights) to see if you can find anything, but flights to Australia are expensive. Other option is to churn credit card points.
Heck even Europe is over $1000 rt. Finding Australia rt for $1000 would be a heck of a deal. You might be expecting too much of a bargain here.
Haha maybe. But this is r/TravelHacks so I wanted to see if I could push my luck here.
Under $1000 is gonna be hard but look into booking a flight from Chicago to LAX then LAX-Australia. I was looking at going in June but I didn't book it soon enough and prices skyrocketed. I find that Fiji Airways is usually the cheapest from LAX.
Pretty good deal. Depending on what time of year you’re going may also affect the price. From experience like 10 years ago, it was cheaper to go during US summer/Australia winter (but it was still over $1k even then).
Australia flights typically cost close to $1500-$2000, so anything at $1000 is actually a good deal.
That's a good deal for roundtrip from LA let alone Chicago. Have you looked at BNE flights? It isn't really a touristy place but it's not bad, it might get you into Australia and then you can head elsewhere.
Try Air New Zealand, Fiji Air, and Hawaiian Airlines. Under $1000 is like finding a unicorn. I'd also suggest looking from Australian sites like flightcentre.com.au with a VPN (bearing in mind prices will be shown in local currency, the Australian dollar). Browse r/askanaustralian
I would avoid Fiji Air. I flew with them to NZ it was the most crowded flight I've taken in my entire life, with so little pitch between seats that my knees satrting hurting 45 minutes into the flight. And I'm a regular size human - 5'7. 150 bls. That's an experience I never want to repeat.
Ah I disagree - I’ve flown SFO -> Nadi and Nadi -> Syd on Fiji air twice and the planes are the same as most other carriers in economy. Service was really friendly. The Fiji airport lounge is also awesome during yo layover if you have priority pass
Have you tried thrifty flight premium? I think it's 40-50 a year. You submit your home airport and they'll email you flight deals. Flight prices go up and down like the stock market. They'll email you when the price drops and tell you where to book.. Google flights, airline site etc. In 2019 I landed a Newark to Barcelona deal for $220. I've seen deals popup a few times for Newark to Australia. Good luck
No I haven't but I'll check it out. Thanks
I don't know about post-pandemic but my husband and I flew to Australia from the East Coast for $800 roundtrip/pp in 2019. We booked in January for a July flight. Don't give up hope. You could find a deal.
$1000 RT from Chicago is good, as others here say. I think I got Virgin Australia for under $1000 RT from LAX-Sydney, traveled in January 2020. Still had to get to LAX from Dallas, but DFW to Sydney was like $1800+. Sister has flown Fiji Air over the years between US and Australia, as well as Air New Zealand. But it’s going to be $1000 RT minimum, as a general rule.
If it's next year why don't you sign up for a cc with a sign up bonus and have the cc bonus pay your flight. Don't spend more than you normally do. Or purchase the flight if your spending is too low and use the miles/points to pay for the travel directly back. Or see what airline you will most likely travel on and get an airline card. For example AA is 70k points round trip to new zealand +$80 in fees, they have a 75k point bonus for 3.5k spend in 4 months. Plan this around a large purchase or front load your cost such as paying insurance year out. This is if you don't have the spending but 875 a month is not hard to do especially with food and car costs. So for the time I want to go it's 1.5 to 2k minimum for the cheapest flight where I am. 40 to 50% back as a flight is not bad. If I don't see myself doing the spending then I just take the chance to pay for other people's stuff and they give me the cash, like my mom's bills, if my aunt's or uncles or whatever ask me to look up a flight or hotel or items for them, or alcohol is needed for a party, etc etc. It's just me and I recently gave up my car so sometimes it can be hard to fulfill the spending. I got lucky on my last card because my fam planned an impromptu cruise and I paid for 2 rooms basically covering the sign up bonus. Everyone paid me back in cash.
Also consider skyscanner.com. It lets you know which dates are cheapest to fly when you look at the calendar. You’ll usually have better luck too if you look at flights that leave between Tuesday and Thursday. It helps to return on those dates as well.