Hi all, my wife and I are planning to go to New York for Saint Patricks day in march next year, can anyone tell me the best route to take without a huge non stop flight?
If you're having trouble finding Business/First class availability across the Pacific, going through the UAE with Emirates or similar is an alternative with better availability, although longer travel times.
For the quickest journey, going through LAX/SFO are probably the easiest routes in terms of distance.
If you’d prefer to break the trip up as evenly as possible then I’d suggest via Japan (plenty of options too). As many have noted however, the fastest way is with QF - I personally am a fan of flying to DFW then swapping out into AA and landing in LGA.
Difficult to know what you mean by avoiding a “huge” “non-stop” flight, as all “direct” flights to NYC require a refuel, which gives you the opportunity to break up the journey with a stop over in places like LAX, DFW, SFO, or you could always do it via Hong Kong or Tokyo, which I have enjoyed in the past.
If you cross the Pacific, you will take a relatively long flight. Are you asking for the best stop over destination, or the quickest journey, or a way to avoid any “huge” flight? Stop over is a personal thing, but, for mine, LAX and SFO are better than DFW, and Hong Kong and Tokyo better than the others. Quickest is probably with QF via LAX.
If you are trying to avoid flights over 12 hours, the only way to do it is westbound in stints, something like Singapore-Dubai-London-New York.
How about SYD-HNL-PHX-JFK for comfortable timings and a chance to see some of Arizona? AZ is a great place for scenery and March is almost the best time to go. DFW is an option for the return if you'd like to drive out (4 hrs) for a few days in the Hill Country aka the "real" Texas. Then you could choose DFW-SYD or DFW-HNL-SYD.
Lots of options but it really depends on your airline alliance programme.
Personally, I would take QF to DFW, then AA to LGA - you miss the horrid Los Angeles Airport and their 'ever so welcoming Border Security Staff', you spend longer on Qantas metal, when you arrive in Dallas the airport is quiet and the Border Staff are very relaxed and friendly to boot! When flying into NY I always try and use La Guardia Airport as it is close to Manhattan and in winter, LGA seems to stay open longer if bad winter weather hits the region (whereas JFK being on the coast bears the brunt of any bad storms and will close or severely restrict flight movements).
I like the suggestion of Hawaiian Airlines: gives you a nice split of segment timing, the option of a great stop-over in Hawaii, and the bonus of entering the USA as a domestic traveller.
My other suggestion would be to think outside the square a little more and fly with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong. SYD-HKG-JFK is apparently a very popular route. Not as fast as the obvious path via LAX but then you get to avoid LAX, in fact you avoid all American airports, which is especially nice because you don't need to pick up and recheck your bags. You get a great business class on both legs, great lounges at HKG, and it's also a great place to break your journey. Plus the frequency of flights (four a day from SYD, and something like five a day to New York) means you can enjoy a longer stopover at HKG if you wish.
Hawaiian would be my pick too in theory (though I've never done it), entering New York from a domestic flight is relatively painless and geographically it's perfect.
Via Korea is how I used to do it, but the Seoul to JFK leg is excessively long. I usually overnighted in Seoul because...I like Seoul.
Hawaiian would be my pick too in theory (though I've never done it), entering New York from a domestic flight is relatively painless and geographically it's perfect.
I actually did this last December. The only drawback is that there are quite a few hours to layover in HNL. What my wife & I did was leave the airport and head off into Waikiki for lunch and made our way back to the airport about an hour before the HNL-JFK flight was due to leave.
Philippine Airlines starts a nonstop MNL - JFK flight at the end of October. It has modern aircraft from SYD, MEL or BNE: A333s ex MEL, soon a mix of these plus A321neos from SYD (although A333s daily at busier times) and from BNE, A321neos with lie flat beds in J.
It should have competitive fares and be cheaper than QF or SQ.
mead67
mead67
Member since 20 Jun 2018
Total posts 1
Hi all, my wife and I are planning to go to New York for Saint Patricks day in march next year, can anyone tell me the best route to take without a huge non stop flight?
bl5965
bl5965
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 13 Nov 2015
Total posts 83
If you're having trouble finding Business/First class availability across the Pacific, going through the UAE with Emirates or similar is an alternative with better availability, although longer travel times.
SimonFrost
SimonFrost
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 10 Jul 2013
Total posts 69
We’ve done ADL-SYD-LAX-JFK on QF in PE (with an upgrade to Biz on the way home) and it was all pretty painless...(plus St Pats parade was cool!)
sanj747
sanj747
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 01 Nov 2016
Total posts 146
I would recommend QF either via LAX (QF metal all the way) or QF via DFW (QF metal to DFW and AA to NYC).
whoppersandwich
whoppersandwich
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 11 Dec 2017
Total posts 125
If you’d prefer to break the trip up as evenly as possible then I’d suggest via Japan (plenty of options too). As many have noted however, the fastest way is with QF - I personally am a fan of flying to DFW then swapping out into AA and landing in LGA.
PK
PK
Member since 03 May 2012
Total posts 57
Difficult to know what you mean by avoiding a “huge” “non-stop” flight, as all “direct” flights to NYC require a refuel, which gives you the opportunity to break up the journey with a stop over in places like LAX, DFW, SFO, or you could always do it via Hong Kong or Tokyo, which I have enjoyed in the past.
tommygun
tommygun
Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
Member since 16 Oct 2017
Total posts 282
How about SYD-HNL-PHX-JFK for comfortable timings and a chance to see some of Arizona? AZ is a great place for scenery and March is almost the best time to go. DFW is an option for the return if you'd like to drive out (4 hrs) for a few days in the Hill Country aka the "real" Texas. Then you could choose DFW-SYD or DFW-HNL-SYD.
wdeguara
wdeguara
Etihad - Etihad Guest
Member since 06 Apr 2012
Total posts 93
Hawaiian Airlines may also be worth a look. Hawaii is almost exactly half way between Sydney and New York (SYD > HNL =10 hours, HNL > JFK 9h 30m).
MuzzH
MuzzH
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 22 Dec 2015
Total posts 27
Lots of options but it really depends on your airline alliance programme.
David
David
Member since 24 Oct 2010
Total posts 1,016
I like the suggestion of Hawaiian Airlines: gives you a nice split of segment timing, the option of a great stop-over in Hawaii, and the bonus of entering the USA as a domestic traveller.
Dredgy
Dredgy
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 02 Apr 2017
Total posts 180
Hawaiian would be my pick too in theory (though I've never done it), entering New York from a domestic flight is relatively painless and geographically it's perfect.
cssaus
cssaus
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
Member since 29 Jan 2011
Total posts 81
I actually did this last December. The only drawback is that there are quite a few hours to layover in HNL. What my wife & I did was leave the airport and head off into Waikiki for lunch and made our way back to the airport about an hour before the HNL-JFK flight was due to leave.
Traveller14
Traveller14
Member since 17 Sep 2015
Total posts 73
Philippine Airlines starts a nonstop MNL - JFK flight at the end of October. It has modern aircraft from SYD, MEL or BNE: A333s ex MEL, soon a mix of these plus A321neos from SYD (although A333s daily at busier times) and from BNE, A321neos with lie flat beds in J.
NQflyer
NQflyer
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 02 Jun 2015
Total posts 61
I have heard the Cathay flight via Hong Kong and into New York is a good one. Allows for no US security transfer between flights.
Rav
Rav
Member since 18 Aug 2017
Total posts 22
That would be preferable, avoid LAX as much as possible.