I need to book a return flight from Sydney to Toronto, and am not sure whether I should take Delta or Virgin. I'm velocity gold, so with both I will have lounge access at Sydney and at LAX on the way home.
Virgin uses AirCanada for its connecting flight to Toronto, but I will get no status points for this segment, while with Delta I will get these points for the entire journey, plus the chance to be upgarded to Deltacomfort. Has anyone had any experience with this journey and have any recommendations? thanks
I appreciate you are no doubt trying to earn points or status, but you may wish to consider using the Air Canada service direct to YVR and connecting from there. This has two key advantages over what you propose, being:
You can avoid transiting through a US airport along with the delays and other pain associated with clearing US immigration and customs. These delays, from my own experience and that of speaking to others, can be extremely lengthy.
You can take advantage of a greater array of connections onto YYZ. Whilst it must accepted that there are plenty of flights to YYZ ex LAX, I think you will find that YVR offers superior connectivity.
I should, however, say that I was most unimpressed with the last time I used AC many years ago. They are, however, now flying the 789 to YVR direct out of BNE and SYD. A colleague of mine used them recently in J and was satisfied, although not blown away, with the quality of the hard product/service.
I do this route semi regularly and am in the same boat as you - Velocity Gold and enjoy the lounge benefits along the way. I've done most of the different combinations of cities and airlines over the years and would have the following thoughts:
Booking a ticket on Delta all the way means you have to do an extra stop as they don't fly from LAX to YYZ. They may try and book you on a direct LAX - YYZ flight operated by Westjet but that won't get you any points or credits, nor lounge access. If you do the extra stop, avoid JFK, MSP or DTW as they all suffer from terrible weather and traffic delays. My best advice would be route via ATL as Delta serves it very well and the lounges are good. The downside is that you're adding an extra stop, and as such more travel time on what is already a long trip.
Booking on Virgin website gets you a more direct service on AC from LAX to YYZ. AC are a pretty decent airline, at least on North American standards and you will get there quicker. As you correctly state though, no perks on the internal flights which if important to you, is a bit of a bummer. VA keep saying that we will get points from the AC flights, but I'm not sure that's ever been confirmed.
Finally, as Covvers correctly states, if you're flying in J class (or potentially Y+) then I would take AC the whole way, which would be SYD - YVR - YYZ. Their new J class seat is one of the better that cross the Pacific and this routing is the quickest way to get to Toronto as you avoid LAX/US customs. Plus YVR is quite a nice (underrated) transit airport and when you arrive in YYZ it's treated as domestic which makes everything quicker. AC in Y class the whole way is another story....
For what it's worth my next trip was booked on Delta website and flying as follows:
SYD - LAX - ATL - YYZ (all on Delta metal)
YYZ - MSP - LAX - SYD (the final leg on Virgin metal).
Thanks Covvers and justcallmeryan for these very useful replies.
I'm flying economy this time, and this trip will enable me to maintain Gold in 2019 too, so I am reluctant to book AC. Initially, I thought of CX in order to avoid transit in LAX, but I think that I will opt for Delta booking, and will try to see if I can get a Virgin metal to one of the legs.
either status match or get a free SINGAPORE AIRLINES SILVERKRIS membership.
Fly AC and get the points and credits sent to SQ (as they are Star A friends).
then transfer those points and SC to velocity (possible to do,VA<-->SQ program has been running for about 3 years)
And i would recommend AC, flew with them last month. Nice seats (if not a little hard), decent service and necessary food. (not fantastic but better than many other US options), YVR airport is a godsend.
Have flown AC a handful of times, not within the last 18 months in both business and economy domestically but only within Canada. I've never had so many lost bags and delayed flights (excluding delays due to weather in winter because I can't blame the airline for that) in a short space of time. I will add that I did enjoy the lounges and business class particularly the service and meals.
My only advice is if your travelling during winter avoid stopovers within Canada or airports in the US that can also be affected by snow storms.
either status match or get a free SINGAPORE AIRLINES SILVERKRIS membership.
Fly AC and get the points and credits sent to SQ (as they are Star A friends).
then transfer those points and SC to velocity (possible to do,VA<-->SQ program has been running for about 3 years)
And i would recommend AC, flew with them last month. Nice seats (if not a little hard), decent service and necessary food. (not fantastic but better than many other US options), YVR airport is a godsend.
While this allows you to transfer points, SCs are not part of the deal. In any case, I suspect the transfer from AC->SQ->VA on an economy fare would mean that you would earn a fraction of the points of DL->VA.
You can't beat VA across the Pacific IMO. If the SC are important then I would definitely do VA to LAX, DL to DTW and DL to YYZ if the connections all work OK. DTW has to be one of the best airports to connect through in the USA (and my recent connection through their 2 weeks ago enroute to ORD was in the middle of some serious snow storms and they didn't miss a beat). It's a big long airport but good signage and an internal  tram that will take you from one end to the other quickly and easily. Avoid the DL SkyClub at the south end of the terminal - terrible! The one in the middle of the terminal is better.
I don't enjoy DL all that much and the service is very hit and miss but I've found them to be reliable and able to handle any situation quickly and efficiently. Another tip - book DeltaComfort rather than hoping for an upgrade. The small cost differential will give you double the amount of SC which is a minimum of 30 SC on the shortest of sectors
I've flown this route perhaps 20 times. I think you're asking the wrong question. For the first 8 or 9 times I transited through LAX. Then I discovered the Air Canada through flight (same flight but refueling stop in Vancouver). I've done that almost a dozen times, half in business and half in economy. The question you should be asking is how many frequent flyer points would you pay to avoid standing in the immigration line in LAX, picking up your bags, redepositing them, and hitting a second immigration line in YYZ, not to mention spending time in an LAX terminal. The answer, almost certainly, would be two or three times the number of points you'd collect. The flight through Vancouver is truly seamless. Immigration is friendly, polite and fast (the contrast with LAX is night and day) and you only do it once. If you're in business, the lounge is nice. If you're not, the airport is very easy to spend time in. At the Toronto end, you'll enjoy a coffee and bagel or doughnut at Tim Horton's more than the lounge anyway. Join Air Canada's plan and you'll have a Star Alliance connection for the future. If you're in economy, pay a little extra for the emergency seat and you'll have a nice sleep across the Pacific, with nice meals. Because you're an international traveller, you'll get better service on the domestic sector as well (free meals, for example).
Hi, I'd skip LAX if u can and fly with AC thru YVR. No need to pick up your luggage anymore at YVR if youre on the one ticket all the way thru with AC. I couldn't believe it when the agent told me as I checked in, so I asked the flight attendants twice then someone again as I was lining up. Low and behold there it was at my destination. Not sure how or why but it's a breeze. U should receive a meal on your domestic trip coming from an Intl flight. Join Aeroplan and start banking those points.
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Sydney to Toronto
Noam
Noam
Member since 24 Jun 2016
Total posts 9
Hi,
Covvers
Covvers
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 19 Jan 2018
Total posts 64
I appreciate you are no doubt trying to earn points or status, but you may wish to consider using the Air Canada service direct to YVR and connecting from there. This has two key advantages over what you propose, being:
I should, however, say that I was most unimpressed with the last time I used AC many years ago. They are, however, now flying the 789 to YVR direct out of BNE and SYD. A colleague of mine used them recently in J and was satisfied, although not blown away, with the quality of the hard product/service.
justcallmeryan
justcallmeryan
VA Platinum
Member since 21 Nov 2013
Total posts 7
I do this route semi regularly and am in the same boat as you - Velocity Gold and enjoy the lounge benefits along the way. I've done most of the different combinations of cities and airlines over the years and would have the following thoughts:
Noam
Noam
Member since 24 Jun 2016
Total posts 9
Thanks Covvers and justcallmeryan for these very useful replies.
daschok
daschok
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 27 Feb 2015
Total posts 27
You can still fly AC and get VA points and SC....
either status match or get a free SINGAPORE AIRLINES SILVERKRIS membership.
Fly AC and get the points and credits sent to SQ (as they are Star A friends).
then transfer those points and SC to velocity (possible to do,VA<-->SQ program has been running for about 3 years)
And i would recommend AC, flew with them last month. Nice seats (if not a little hard), decent service and necessary food. (not fantastic but better than many other US options), YVR airport is a godsend.
deegee93
deegee93
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 27 Jan 2017
Total posts 37
Have flown AC a handful of times, not within the last 18 months in both business and economy domestically but only within Canada. I've never had so many lost bags and delayed flights (excluding delays due to weather in winter because I can't blame the airline for that) in a short space of time. I will add that I did enjoy the lounges and business class particularly the service and meals.
chanvw
chanvw
Member since 19 Aug 2011
Total posts 10
either status match or get a free SINGAPORE AIRLINES SILVERKRIS membership.
Fly AC and get the points and credits sent to SQ (as they are Star A friends).
then transfer those points and SC to velocity (possible to do,VA<-->SQ program has been running for about 3 years)
And i would recommend AC, flew with them last month. Nice seats (if not a little hard), decent service and necessary food. (not fantastic but better than many other US options), YVR airport is a godsend.
While this allows you to transfer points, SCs are not part of the deal. In any case, I suspect the transfer from AC->SQ->VA on an economy fare would mean that you would earn a fraction of the points of DL->VA.
stmaus
stmaus
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 20 Nov 2017
Total posts 45
Why do Canadian airports have non-intuitive codes?
ErinB
ErinB
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 30 May 2016
Total posts 18
BJ01
BJ01
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 07 Dec 2015
Total posts 57
You can't beat VA across the Pacific IMO. If the SC are important then I would definitely do VA to LAX, DL to DTW and DL to YYZ if the connections all work OK. DTW has to be one of the best airports to connect through in the USA (and my recent connection through their 2 weeks ago enroute to ORD was in the middle of some serious snow storms and they didn't miss a beat). It's a big long airport but good signage and an internal  tram that will take you from one end to the other quickly and easily. Avoid the DL SkyClub at the south end of the terminal - terrible! The one in the middle of the terminal is better.
Rick Krever
Rick Krever
Member since 28 Feb 2018
Total posts 1
I've flown this route perhaps 20 times. I think you're asking the wrong question. For the first 8 or 9 times I transited through LAX. Then I discovered the Air Canada through flight (same flight but refueling stop in Vancouver). I've done that almost a dozen times, half in business and half in economy. The question you should be asking is how many frequent flyer points would you pay to avoid standing in the immigration line in LAX, picking up your bags, redepositing them, and hitting a second immigration line in YYZ, not to mention spending time in an LAX terminal. The answer, almost certainly, would be two or three times the number of points you'd collect. The flight through Vancouver is truly seamless. Immigration is friendly, polite and fast (the contrast with LAX is night and day) and you only do it once. If you're in business, the lounge is nice. If you're not, the airport is very easy to spend time in. At the Toronto end, you'll enjoy a coffee and bagel or doughnut at Tim Horton's more than the lounge anyway. Join Air Canada's plan and you'll have a Star Alliance connection for the future. If you're in economy, pay a little extra for the emergency seat and you'll have a nice sleep across the Pacific, with nice meals. Because you're an international traveller, you'll get better service on the domestic sector as well (free meals, for example).
kamere
kamere
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 20 Feb 2016
Total posts 12
Hi, I'd skip LAX if u can and fly with AC thru YVR. No need to pick up your luggage anymore at YVR if youre on the one ticket all the way thru with AC. I couldn't believe it when the agent told me as I checked in, so I asked the flight attendants twice then someone again as I was lining up. Low and behold there it was at my destination. Not sure how or why but it's a breeze. U should receive a meal on your domestic trip coming from an Intl flight. Join Aeroplan and start banking those points.