UK to Western USA - looking for flights help

DavieGlasgow

Good afternoon all. I am planning a fly-drive trip to Western USA encompassing Las Vegas, LA and San Franscico - (2-3 weeks duration)
I am struggling getting prices for flights for late June / July next year, can get some on company websites but not comparison sites.

Best price i have so far is £575 per person with BA, can anyone do any better?

Any help would be much appreciated, along with any tips on travelling, hotels sights to see along the way etc.

Cheers, Davie

Dave_Z

Some airlines won't let you book more than 11 months in advance. That could be why you're having some trouble. If you leave it another month there should be plenty more to choose from.

Vikki_74

Agree with the above, you need to wait a few weeks yet for flights. A few things to think about whilst you wait...

Where you thinking of flying into one destination and out of another (e.g. UK - San Francisco, then Las Vegas - UK) or into and out of the same US airport? For the first option you need to search for an open-jaw ticket...use the multi-city function on the airlines' websites or somewhere like Kayak. It's a good option as it saves you doubling back on yourself but it depends what route you were planning.

If you want direct flights to the West coast i.e. without a stop/plane chance, you'll be limited to which airline you can use (I think it's only BA or Virgin), mostly from Heathrow or Gatwick although I think Virgin launch their Manchester - Las Vegas direct route next year - not sure where in the country you are. Indirect flights e.g. Manchester - Chicago - Las Vegas are often cheaper but take longer due to the stop. Some people prefer it as you get the chance to stretch your legs, clear customs etc at the first US airport you land at, down to personal preference I guess.

How are you planning to get between your various destinations in the US - driving or flying? If flying, then with one of the American carriers you might be able to get the whole thing under one round-trip multi city ticket e.g. UK - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Las Vegas - UK, or you could book a more straightforward return flight then use one of the low cost US airlines (Southwest, Virgin America, JetBlue) for the internal legs. Part of this decision depends on what you want to see - just the three cities you mention or places of interest along the way?

There have been quite a few threads on similar trips recently, try searching the forum for California, San Francisco etc etc. For Las Vegas there's a gigantic extremely helpful thread at the top of the Overseas Holidays forum which should answer any questions you may have, including those which you haven't even thought of yet!

Hope that helps We're doing a similar trip in September/October for our honeymoon and most of the planning (which I LOVE doing!) is already done so I'm happy to help anyone else thinking of doing the same kind of thing!

jeanna_2

We booked ours with BA sale a couple of days after xmas for early june this year.We paid £472 each from gla-lhr-sfo and back from lax-lhr-gla via expedia.My sister in law paid £420 from lhr via expedia but hers would have been the same price on [EMAIL="BA@S"]BA'S[/EMAIL] own site aswell.

hostage_2

Just booked to fly from LGW to LAX to do Arizona, cost £414 each return flights via travelpack with flights from US Airways.

There were slightly cheaper on different days but well under other sites.

Hope this helps

Red_dog_Sam

Did similar trip end of May / early June this year. Flew with BA from Heathrow to Las Vegas then back to Heathrow from San Francisco.
BA was the only airline to fly direct to LV from HTR and direct from SF to HTR. Virgin flew to LV from HTR but only back to Gatwick from SF.
If you get web tickets, check-in online early for more choice of seats - especially on the return leg as two seats together become tricky to get if you wait til you get to the airport. Used Purple Parking (via quidco) at Heathrow,
CareHire3000 (popular MSE choice) for one way hire car LV to SF.
Bought US maps for my TomTom - definitely worthwhile.
Used Maverick for helicopter tour with online promo for free DVD.
Booked hotels on internet (via quidco for hotels.com / expedia etc) some in advance and others a day or two ahead whilst travelling.
If you can, book your first night hotel (check no cancellation fee just in case) and get your ESTA applications in soon to avoid fees.
Plan to buy an annual Inter-Agency pass if you're visiting National Parks (Grand Canyon, Zion, Yosemite, Sequoia, Lake Powell and San Francisco Historic Maritime yard).
I'm still full of it and been back a month! Enjoy!

janine22

Apologies for bringing back an old thread, I just wondered if the OP had found any flights? I'm looking to do the same thing in the last 2 weeks of June 2011 so would appreciate any advice.

Have had a quote for an open jaw ticket (LHR-SFO then LAX-LHR) of £610 from STA and am not really sure if it is expensive, or if the prices will come down (or indeed go up) over the next few months.

blindman

janine22 wrote: »

Apologies for bringing back an old thread, I just wondered if the OP had found any flights? I'm looking to do the same thing in the last 2 weeks of June 2011 so would appreciate any advice.

Have had a quote for an open jaw ticket (LHR-SFO then LAX-LHR) of £610 from STA and am not really sure if it is expensive, or if the prices will come down (or indeed go up) over the next few months.

Did you get the flights?

I'm looking for next June and the cheapest is £519-I think that's a bit expensive so trying to find last yeasr prices.

Doshwaster

blindman wrote: »

Did you get the flights?

I'm looking for next June and the cheapest is £519-I think that's a bit expensive so trying to find last yeasr prices.

Good luck finding last year's prices. You'll need it. Unfortunately, airline prices are up everywhere due to increasing fuel costs and higher taxation.

blindman

Doshwaster wrote: »

Good luck finding last year's prices. You'll need it. Unfortunately, airline prices are up everywhere due to increasing fuel costs and higher taxation.

My thoughts exactly, just need to find what the "average" was for last year so I can gauge a decent price for next June

Doshwaster

blindman wrote: »

My thoughts exactly, just need to find what the "average" was for last year so I can gauge a decent price for next June

Ahh.. I see what you mean. I'm not sure there is a way of finding historic prices for a route as there would be so much variation but it seems that prices rises of over 10% aren't that unusual.