Flight Question

[Snickals]

We have booked and paid for our international flights I just need to book domestic flights within America. I found some good deals and sent them to my travel agent to price match but she is saying I need at least four hours before/after international flights.

We arrive at LAX at 6.30am...the flight I found left at 9.15am....the flight she is offering leaves at 10.45am, not such a big different there.

However on the way back we depart LAX at 11.05pm...the flight I found had us arrive there at 8.20pm...the flight she is offering gets there at 1pm...that's a 10hr wait at the airport! It's just me and a 5 year old...I will be driven mad waiting that long lol

And the flights she is offering is a little over $400 more than the flights I found (in aussie dollars, on an aussie website)

What are your thoughts?

 

[AussieNSW]

Ten hours is a long time to wait but arriving at 8:20 for an 11:05 flight is cutting it fine. So basically you have 2 hours and 40 min. A few things we have learnt flying domestically in the states, transferring from domestic to international and dealing with security checks. Domestic planes often run late as they usually have come from somewhere else before you get on your flight so a time problem for example in Orlando can effect your plane leaving from Atlanta going to LAX. Planes can be slow loading or stuck on the Tarmac there is so many things that can delay a plane. Apart from that you may have to change terminals when you arrive, that really adds time. Security can be your biggest time problem, some times it can just be long other times it can take forever. Check and see if there are any other domestic airlines you could use that might reduce that 10hours but still give you plenty of time. Depending on where you are flying from 2 airlines that we don't hear much about in Australia are JetBlue and southwest and they tend to be reasonable priced. So far we have not missed a flight but have been in the difficult situation of running through an airport carrying a child because they were to slow and it is not fun and that has happened with having a long time period between flights.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Tricky one.
As its not on one ticket, will you have to check in your luggage again?
We were on Delta all flights and as it was only had 90 mins between arriving in LA and our flight to Sydney.
The flight leaving MCO was late, so by the time we arrived in LA had about 40mins. Our luggage had been checked to Sydney from MCO, but we did have to change terminals, it took us about 15 mins, walking very very fast, going up stairs, downstairs, in a lift, it was a big maze.We stopped to go to the loo and when we found the gate they had just started boarding. I was just hoping our checked bags made it, they did.
The flight attendant said there were quite a few people on our plane heading for the Sydney one, as I asked her if she knew what gate we had to get too. She looked it up on her phone for me.
But they didn't make a announcement to ask people to wait for us all to get off first. Glad we were near the front and not at the back of the plane.

Leaving from Sydney, our flight was delayed due to storm, but we made up time and were the first plane to land at 6am, no one in immigration, customs, so straight thru. We stayed in Anaheim first .
Another time flying VAust we sat on the Tarmac at Sydney airport for 3 hours, till they fixed a problem, so we were late getting in.
What I am saying, anything could happen, I know it's boring sitting at the airport, but I would go with the later times, or yes maybe try to find something closer for the 10 hr gap one.
Good Luck

 

[aussie shaz]

Can you fly back to LAX the day before your international flight, stay in an airport hotel, and do some LA sightseeing the day of your international flight?

 

[Snickals]

We have the hotel booked and paid up to the last day.

I spoke with a different agent today, they couldn't find any direct flights that get in before 8.20 other than the one at 1pm. She suggested we could fly to Denver and then lax and arrive at lax at 5pm...but that is another $200 more than my original travel agent has quoted me for with the direct flights.

I just need a flight to magically appear that is less than 10hrs before my departure lol

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Unusual somewhat but I appreciate flight schedules change all the time. We have a couple of times got SouthWest flights that got us in around 5pm for a 9 or 10pm flight. They may not have been direct (one at least wasn't) but they haven't involved us physically changing planes in the intermediary destination, just sit in the plane for 20 mins while some get off and others board. I agree your 8pm arrival fight is cutting it fine as internal flights often are delayed by an hour or so in the US and it takes forever to get through everything, espy at LAX. That being said I wouldn't fancy being stuck in LAX with a 5 yr old from 1pm either given its dearth of distractions. Have you tried using various search engines yourself like Skyscanner, Southwest direct, Jetblue direct etc (as SW and Jet Blue aren't on the webjet style sites) to see what flights there are coming in later in the pm then ask your agent but don't just look at solely non-stop direct.

 

[ssour]

Direct flights from Orlando tend to leave early in the morning or during the afternoon. I wouldn't arrive at 8:20pm. You'll need to collect your luggage and switch terminals with enough time to check in for the flight home. If you miss that check in you'll be out of pocket to change to the flight the next night. The US domestic carriers also regularly change their flight times, so there's always a possibility that 8:20pm arrival will be pushed back later. I'd opt for the connecting flight with the 5pm arrival if it were me.

I also would go with the later flight out of LA. Again, you'll be changing terminals with your luggage and have to check in before that closes off. I've done the sprint from one end of LAX to the other for a connecting flight (same ticket but not a codeshare airline so I had to check in at LAX) and it isn't fun. We allowed ourselves 3.5 hours but a slightly delayed departure from Sydney threw that all out.

You may find it cheaper to book direct with the airlines through their sites. Most US carriers don't pay agents a commission for domestic bookings, so there's a chance fees will be built into their prices.

 

[Snickals]

So after a lot of research and preparing myself to do a connecting flight...my travel agent has now said the 8.20pm flight will be okay as it is with Delta and then we are flying Virgin (they are in partnership) home. So have booked it in. I asked her if she was certain it would be okay and she assured me it would...so I am having faith all will be okay.

 

[ssour]

Delta should be able to check the luggage the whole way home, so that will save you time. I just like to err on the side of caution in case of delays leaving Orlando since you'll still need to check in for the flight at LAX at least 90 minutes before departure. I'm sure everything will be fine but maybe just confirm what fees you'd be looking at if you did have to change your VA ticket home just in case??? Of course, if you've already booked and paid for the flights maybe don't worry about that