Newcastle to San Francisco or San Jose or Oakland (California)

[the devil made me do it]

Can anyone help..

I'm looking to fly hopefully from Newcastle UK to one of the above airports in California USA either Nov 06 or April 07 for approx 1 week.

I've checked out a few travel webbies, but can't seem to get a decent deal for 2 adults.

I gotta admit, I ain't used to checking flights ect.. usually to bogged down in student debt to even consider a trip away. Any help would be really appreciated :o


I'm willing to consider leaving from a different airport, if I can get cheap travel to that airport.

Thanks

[Bob63]

You can get a non stop flight with Virgin Atlantic to San Francisco for less than £300 each if you are booking for travel in November - just book on http://www.virgin-atlantic.com

Their price guarantee means you won't get a lower web price anywhere else and they are a great airline to fly with. I use them all the time.

Alternatively, if you don't mind a roundabout way of getting there then look at flying into an East Coast city and taking an internal flight to Oakland or San Jose - but to be honest you won't save that much money and the hassle is unbelievable. I always fly non stop to the west coast.

Mike

[the devil made me do it]

Thanks for advice.

I've checked out virgin webby, and it seems I'd have to get to London first, which wouldn't really save me cash to be honest.

[Bob63]

Thanks for advice.

I've checked out virgin webby, and it seems I'd have to get to London first, which wouldn't really save me cash to be honest.
To be honest I can't see any easy way to get from Newcastle to San Francisco without going through London or Manchester or Birmingham. For example, you might want to consider flying BMI from Manchester to Chicago then get an internal flight from Chicago to one of the Bay Area airports. However I doubt that this will work out much cheaper than booking the BA shuttle from Newcastle to get the Virgin flight out of Heathrow.

The big hassle with changing flights in the US is that you have to clear customs & immigration at your first port of entry. In the Manchester/Chicago example you would have to collect your bags off the carousel at Chicago, go through customs then check your bags back in at the transfer desk before getting on your next flight. IMHO there is a very real price to be put on inconvenience. It is a lot less hassle to change at London then fly direct to your final destination - plus BA will check your bags right through from Newcastle even if your onward flight is with Virgin.

Mike