I’ve made a lot of suggestions below, but they and I would very much appreciate yours in the comments. Planning bus or rail trips can be great fun!

What the couple tentatively plans

With 60 days, but not very much money, our Hungarians have been looking at the 60-day Greyhound Discovery Pass (valid for both the U.S. and Canada) and at hostels. They plan to rent cars at several stops to access places such as Yellowstone National Park.

Their interests are typical—the “usual commonplace sights, while trying to experience the American atmosphere.” Other than their arrival point New York City, there are no must stops, such as family visits in the States.

They very much want to see as much as possible and if that means some nights traveling on the bus, so be it. Because they are well aware of the comfort limitations of Greyhound seating, the tentative itinerary has scattered these bus nights throughout their trip.

Provisional stops

The couple has tentatively chosen the following 52 nights in hostels, with the remaining nights on the bus. They arrive in New York City on May 19th and return home on July 18th.

New York City (5 nights hostel)
Niagara Falls (2)
Chicago (4)
Bozeman/Livingston (Yellowstone access) (3)
San Francisco (6)
Los Angeles (8)
Las Vegas (5)
Denver (3)
New Orleans (3)
Miami (7)
Washington, DC (3)
New York City (3)

Their concerns

Although not overly concerned about the long bus rides, the couple seems quite worried about making connections, especially during the night.

They have wisely added “padding” to their trip, extra time in some cities in case they are delayed a day here or there.

My suggestions

When giving advice, try to keep in mind that people vary. What’s best for you may not best for others. This couple has more energy and enthusiasm than money and we’ll run with that.

On the other hand, that doesn’t imply that we should not push them to budget a little extra when it will produce big results!

1. The Chicago and Miami stops are too long.

I love Chicago, but for a first trip to the U.S., a day and a half of sightseeing should do it, unless you have special interests. Plan two or three nights depending on your arrival and departure times.

Miami’s great too, even during the summer, but a week there in July, the off-season, when the ocean temperature seems to be the same as the hot humid air, seems terribly wrong, especially considering all the other choices you have to relax by a beach in North America.

In fact, consider skipping Florida altogether and visiting it instead during a future trip not in summer.

Also, if you plan to remain in the city, the Las Vegas stop is too long. Please see below.

2. If your trans-Atlantic tickets have not been booked,

I encourage you to arrive in one city and leave from another, for example, fly into New York City or Orlando and depart from Los Angeles. This often does not increase the airfare very much.

When booked in this way, you’ll save time by not backtracking through similar scenery in the middle of the U.S., which in turn gives more time to experience the best sights in depth, as well as to see more of them.

The exception is if you were to travel one-way through Canada and the other within the States.

3. If the international airline tickets are already set,

still consider flying in the States for a portion of your trip.

With a 60-day Greyhound pass costing $499 and a 30-day one $399, consider plunking that $100 difference per person toward buying one-way air tickets from NYC to Las Vegas, which may cost under $150 with tax in late May using airlines like JetBlue from New York/JFK or Southwest from New York/LGA.

In Vegas, a very cheap place to do this, you could rent a car, and then camp in the following national parks:

Zion (1 night)
Bryce Canyon (2)
North rim, Grand Canyon (1)
South rim (Grand Canyon Village), Grand Canyon (2)

Camping reservations are essential, as soon as possible, if you want to stay in popular national parks. Also, I encourage you to rent a national brand rental car, as these have service outside of Las Vegas if anything goes wrong.

Early summer brings nearly no rain to these national parks, which helps make camping such a wonderful way to experience the spirit of the Southwest.

Renting a car for a week seldom costs more than renting one for 5 days if booked in advance. Moreover, at a “big box” store like Target, you can buy a two-person tent, foam sleeping pad, light blanket, pillows, and a small plastic “ice chest” to store food surprisingly cheaply. You won’t need a camping stove on this short trip.

If you booked the car longer than a week, you could add many other wonderful places, such as an in-depth exploration of the Navajo and Hopi reservations, instead of the brief glimpse you’ll get on the above itinerary.

As for Las Vegas itself, I would plan two nights prior to your camping trip and one or perhaps two at the end. You do not need a car while in Vegas.

Also during this time that you are not using a Greyhound pass, you could buy a very cheap bus ticket (currently $33.00 on Greyhound) from Las Vegas to Hollywood (Los Angeles).

And then for the DC to NYC portion of the trip, you could also buy a separate cheap ticket (easily under $20 per person on a bus line like Megabus.com).

In this way, you would only need a one-month Greyhound pass, with just some $100 in other transportation expenses not counting the Las Vegas car rental and fuel, which you may have planned to rent for five days anyway.

4. If not wanting to rent a car in Vegas,

I would add Flagstaff to the bus itinerary—Los Angeles/Hollywood-Flagstaff-Las Vegas-Denver.

You’ll find convenient to Greyhound hostels in Flagstaff that offer discount tours to the best views of the Grand Canyon and other sights. See Open Road Tours for typical sightseeing opportunities at regular prices.

5. I would arrive in Hollywood,

instead of Greyhound’s downtown Los Angeles terminal, which is in a terrible skid road area.

Stay a few nights in the western portion of a Hollywood (not to be confused with the city of West Hollywood) for easy access to Universal Studios, etc. and then several more at the the Santa Monica Hostel above a nice beach.

6. Between Los Angeles and San Francisco,

I’d add two nights (as well as one more if you cut your Miami time) in Santa Barbara, perhaps America’s most uplifting and beautiful larger urban environment. It’s simply a joy to visit.

There’s a hostel near the beach and main shopping area for cheap accommodation. (Although the hostel sits adjacent to railway tracks, trains seldom run late at night.)

7. If you will visit Florida,

save Disney for Florida. Cut a couple of nights in LA or elsewhere and add an Orlando stop on the way to or from Miami.

8. Seriously consider visiting Banff National Park

in the Canadian Rockies, instead of Yellowstone. It’s much easier to access and offers inexpensive hostels.

In my opinion, the Greyhound route from Niagara Falls and Toronto to Banff through Canada offers much more beauty than the Niagara Falls to Yellowstone via Chicago one.

This route also gives you the chance to visit fine cities like Portland, Oregon, perhaps the most progressive very large city in the U.S., and Vancouver, Canada. (The Jericho Beach hostel makes a fine stop there.)

Nevertheless, both Banff and Yellowstone offer something precious not generally available in Europe, vast natural areas with no human imprint. You won’t be disappointed with either choice.

9. Be sure to consider scenery

when deciding on what buses and routes to use.

For example for one day I checked, you could leave Las Vegas for Denver at 1:40 a.m., 5:35 a.m., or 3:30 p.m.

However, just the 1:40 a.m. departure permits you to see the heart of the Colorado Rockies during the day.

By the way, consider adding a one-night stop in Glenwood Springs, CO on the way to Denver.

Within an easy walk of Greyhound, you’ll find a hostel I really enjoyed and most importantly perhaps the most awesome hot spring spa in North America, the Glenwood Springs Spa, whose huge swimming pool and warm soaking pools won’t cost you a fortune, as long as you don’t book individual treatments.

10a. Oh, you asked about safe and convenient connections,

didn’t you? Three points then. These apply to bus, rail, and airline travel.

My advice: Think outside of the box. Don’t settle for the choices that Greyhound gives you. With your passes, you do not have to be concerned with the most direct routes.

For example, the connections Greyhound suggests from Livingstone to San Francisco are grim. On the other hand, it’s easy to travel from Livingston to Seattle without connecting on two departures per day.

From Seattle, you can easily connect to San Francisco at decent times.

If you do this, I suggest connecting in Seattle to Portland, with a stay of two nights.

Perhaps the most progressive city in America with an outstanding quality of life, Portland offers sights like its famous rose garden in Washington Park and hiking in Forest Park easily accessible from the city center.

10b. Safe connections are either long ones

OR ONES with convenient alternatives if you miss the first bus.

For instance, if miss the first connecting bus to Portland in Seattle, there are alternatives. You won’t have to wait 12 to 24 hours for the next connection.

On the other hand, there’s just one bus per day from Toronto heading toward Banff National Park.

In that case, if you were connecting from Niagara Falls, you would want to allow extra connecting time by not taking the last available bus to Toronto to connect.

In Toronto, the Greyhound terminal is in a fantastic location, within a few minutes walk of Chinatown, where you could relax over dinner while waiting for your connecting bus.

10c. At some stations, Greyhound offers reservations for a $5.00 fee.

Use this to assure a seat on the departure you want.

I hope that these suggestions and the ones readers may give are helpful to you and that you enjoy every moment of your time in North America. I had fun thinking about this trip!

Allegiant’s robust finances

At least in the short term, one thing you probably do not have to worry about is Allegiant going out of business before your trip.

Allegiant Airlines, actually Allegiant Travel Company, attracts considerable attention by making big bucks in this down economy, while providing low fares on nonstop routes nearly never served by other airlines.

Allegiant profits in spite of its rock bottom fares (as low as $9 each way LAX to Monterey last summer) by aggressively pushing hotel and car rental packages on its website and by charging fees above its fares that must make other airlines salivate.

How Allegiant operates

Allegiant considers itself a package vacation company, not an airline in the way we usually think of them.

This is a company that thinks deeply about what it does. From selecting viable routes and airports ignored by other airlines to flying only on days of high customer demand, Allegiant maximizes its revenue. In fact, the airline virtually shuts down on Tuesdays, as it sees so little demand for flights that day.

Frankly, Allegiant serves communities that should have been served by Southwest Airlines long ago, but Southwest stubbornly sticks to a rigid formula of adding only new airports that have potential for flights all day, all week long.

On the other hand, Allegiant seems perfectly willing to hire part-time people, in order to serve an airport for as little as once a day several times a week. Based on the money it makes, this has proven to be viable business model.

LAX service

Allegiant looks for opportunities, even when they don’t fit its usual operating patterns.

When told that a lot of its customers in Las Vegas were racking up rental car mileages way beyond normal, Allegiant found that many of these people were using its cheap airfares to Vegas to access Southern California. Research showed what airports these people were coming from and what airport in California would best serve them.

Not known for flying into incredibly busy airports like LAX, Allegiant does now!

The pros – reasons to use Allegiant

The fares!

Remarkably low priced tickets come especially easily if you are flexible about dates and can avoid the high fees for checking bags ($35 each if pay at the airport) and for advance seat selection and priority boarding.

However, even with its fees, Allegiant’s total cost can be a remarkable value.

Allegiant’s policy says fill every plane. To do this, it lowers fares as necessary to often astonishing levels knowing it will make money via its aggressive fees and car rental and hotel sales. Besides, after a certain point, Allegiant has already broken even on a trip and these additional sales are nearly pure profit.

One-way tickets. Like JetBlue and Southwest, you are not penalized for buying one-way tickets on Allegiant. This gives the added flexibility that many people wish.

The service. In my experience so far, Allegiant employees have been unfailingly excellent, cheerful, and professional. I’ve flown with Allegiant into and out of six airports with no problems.

I’ve also talked with many Allegiant Air customers, who’ve reported no unusual concerns other than the online booking fee described below.

The comfortable leather seats. These do not recline, which gives extra legroom and makes using a laptop easier. Because Allegiant offers no “redeye” flights, lack of recline should present no problem.

Nonstop flights. You don’t connect through “hubs” on Allegiant Air. See its route map. Allegiant serves cities that haven’t seen nonstop service to Arizona, California, and Florida for years, if ever, and customers love this.

Note: If you book a connection, you’re on your own. You must reserve and pay for each sector separately. Allegiant will not be responsible if you miss your connection. It’s best to overnight in Las Vegas or another connecting city if you want to connect.

Cons – things you should know

Think of Allegiant as a charter airline. Its flights are scheduled, but it acts as a charter.

That means, for example, that you have to allow extra check in time if you have not printed a boarding pass online or have bags to check. Check in takes time, as Allegiant seems to allot fewer counter agents than some other airlines and fewer passengers show up with boarding passes already printed elsewhere.

Flight delays

As with most charter flights and airlines like Southwest, if there is a mechanical problem, you will NOT be put on another airline. You will wait for the problem to be fixed or for Allegiant to send another plane—even if you are in Grand Rapids and that plane is in Las Vegas.

As a result, Allegiant may not be the airline to take when you have tightly scheduled vital business meetings or a cruise ship to catch.

The fees.

These are really in your face. Allegiant builds its profitability on high fees.

Free water? Ha! Free coffee? You must be joking. Instead, you’ll be offered bottled water for $2.00 or a coffee-like drink for around $4.00 (I believe).

On some flights, Allegiant even has a fun fee that passengers enjoy. You can pay an optional $5 (or more) fee to enter a raffle.

The winner gets half the proceeds ($135 on my last flight), a few runners up receive prizes like beach towels and bags, and—guess whom?—Allegiant gets the rest. As those bags don’t come from Gucci, that residual money adds up.

Checked bag fee

Checked bags set you back $35 each (less if purchased online).

Advanced seat selection fee

Choosing a specific seat usually costs $11.00 to 14.00.

Note: Only passengers who have paid the pre-selected seat fee may use online check-in and print a boarding pass before arriving at the airport.

Already having a boarding pass cuts the check-in time needed, if you have no luggage to check, as you can go directly to security and the gate. (You’ll need to ask someone what gate, though, before proceeding through security.)

Because Allegiant seats are configured two by three, with no more than a one in five chance that you’ll get a middle seat, you may wish to take your chances by not paying for advance seat selection.

Priority boarding fee

Although you can pay the optional priority-boarding fee only if you’ve paid for seat selection, priority boarding may be well worth it.

Priority boarding gives you first crack at the overhead bins.

This cuts the chance that there’ll be no room for a somewhat larger than normal carry on, resulting in a $35 checked bag fee.

Online booking fee

Paying extra to reserve online is Allegiant’s most controversial fee. After all, you are paying to use a procedure that saves the airline money!

Frankly, I believe that the online booking fee is an ill-advised policy—in contrast to so much at Allegiant that is so well thought out. Why have something that attracts so much negative attention and so many unfavorable customer comments?

How many customers will Allegiant lose if it nixes the fee and adds $7.00 to 10.00 to its usually already low fares?

At a conference, I listened to Ponder Harrison, Allegiant’s good-humored Managing Director – Sales and Marketing at the time, defending the fee by saying that you can always make your reservations at an airport to avoid it, but that dog doesn’t hunt.

Allegiant car rentals

Note that several of Allegiant’s busiest airports like Mesa Gateway near Phoenix lack the car rental competition you’ll find at the main airports used by other airlines in these cities. That can make prices higher. Also, the hours some companies are open may be limited.

If you book through Allegiant, normally cancellable car rental reservations become non refundable.

Allegiant hotels

Again, hotels booked through Allegiant become nonrefundable. Make sure the savings are worth it when compared to Hotels.com and to other sites that usually have more liberal cancellation policies.

Customer service

Allegiant does not provide a toll-free number for either reservations or customer service. You can call 1-702-505-8888.

Or, you can present customer service issues to Allegiant’s Twitter account at @allegiantair. Recently, an answer came within moments.

@allegiantair is a good place to keep up-to-date on new routes and specials. Loyal customers are always suggesting new routes.

In conclusion

Overall, passengers love Allegiant Air. Other than its online booking fee, I certainly like this airline. Of course, I don’t travel with several checked bags that can add up to as much as $140.00 extra in fees each trip.

Just be aware that you are not dealing with a traditional airline and keep in mind the cautions and tips above.

Frequent traveler Joel Chusid, who travels more extensively than I do, disagrees.

Putting your laptop on the x-ray belt first, Joel believes, makes it less likely you’ll walk away from security without it, especially if it’s still making its way through the x-ray process.

This is his rather harrowing experience. I thank him very much for his input. You can decide what style works best for you, first or last.

Joel’s experience

“I used to put my laptop in last so I could keep an eye on it.

“On this Sunday evening, I went through security at DFW, removed the laptop and went through my usual routine. Went to the gate, which was nearby, and got immersed into something, newspaper or phone call, and then boarded the plane.

“I remember my backpack went under the seat in front of me rather easily, but didn’t think anything of it. After takeoff, I reached down, and my laptop was gone. I immediately realized I had to have left it at security.

My heart sank since I did not use a password to “lock” the laptop (I do now!), but I also remembered I had my name and phone number(s) on the bottom.

“The next 4 hours turned into the longest flight I had ever taken. When I arrived in Seattle, I checked my voicemail and lo and behold, I had a message on my cell phone and also my home phone from a TSA officer.

“I immediately called him back, and he acknowledged he had my laptop. I thanked him, and he said he would give it to lost and found and to call them the next day. I had a time getting through to them, but a friend who is a flight attendant happened to be at the airport and I called her and she went there.

“She confirmed the phones ring off the hook and to keep trying. I finally got through, and they went through some things to confirm the computer was mine (I had to give her specific things on there to look for since there was no password), and then she asked how fast I wanted it back. I said overnight. I had to give her my credit card info and I got it back the next day.

“Cost me $80 and a hard lesson learned. I put the laptop in first now, and keep an eye on it. I also use a password. I suppose if the checkpoint was really crowded, I would REALLY keep an eye on it, and might put it through last.”

You have to wonder how many people place no identification on their laptops.

Joel Chusid

Joel Chusid serves as General Manager, North America, for Hainan Airlines. Hainan operates an extensive network within China and from other countries to China, including nonstop service to Beijing from Seattle. Joel also chairs The Association of Travel Marketing Executives.

You may follow Joel on Twitter at @joelChusid and @HainanAirlines. You may follow me at @donnadeau.

Again, I thank Joel very much for his valuable input.

• People delayed by being pulled aside due to items left on them,
• Delays due to hand inspections and additional x-rays of bags,
• Piles of confiscated items that weren’t allowed through,
• Loudspeaker announcements asking people to come back for missing laptops, cell phones, or even in one case I heard shoes!

This doesn’t have to be. You can protect yourself by following several simple procedures.

Routine, routine, routine

Always follow exactly the same routine. That means if your mind is on missing your flight, on an upcoming meeting or whatever, you do not have to think very much about security.

First, prepare for security. Do as much as you can before reaching the crowded security area.

If you have these, take off your watch and take out your cell phone, coins, and wallet. Remove any necklaces. Take off your belt. Put these in your laptop case if you have one, as this will be the second to last item you put on the x-ray belt. Try to put valuables in your case while others are not watching you.

Make sure that you have your boarding pass and personal identification readily available before reaching security. Don’t fumble for these there, where you might more easily drop something without noticing.

I use my passport for all flights these days, as this helps security more easily verify who I am.

Follow same order at x-ray every time

Second, always place items on the x-ray belt in the same order.

My small carry on bag goes through first. I keep nothing very valuable in it.

Next comes a TSA tray with shoes, hat (if any), sealed quart plastic bag of toothpaste and other 3.4 oz or less items. (Note: a 5 oz bottle with “just 2 oz left in it” does not count as a 3.4 oz item in the eyes of TSA security.)

In this tray, if I have any, also goes a sealed quart plastic bag of prescription medicines with saved copies of prescription information on the boxes they came in (if bottles have been removed). I place this information face up.

If you’re not sure exactly what TSA allows for carry on or how to pack it–these rules change frequently in this security environment–check the easy to understand and extensive information on TSA’s website.

Some TSA teams do not require shoes off, but others do. I automatically take them off. Remember this is a routine. You may wish to wear slip on shoes for ease of removal at security, although I stick with my most comfortable shoes with laces and others prefer to wear their heaviest shoes.

Then comes my laptop backpack with laptop removed. (I like my padded laptop backpack because it leaves my hands free and doesn’t tell the world that I am carrying a laptop.)

Finally, the laptop goes in a TSA tray.

Protect your valuables

I wait until person ahead of me has successfully stepped through x-ray before pushing the laptop case and then laptop tray through. That way, I can more easily keep an eye on these.

At security, beware of a team set on stealing. A person in front of you stages a delay at x-ray by deliberately leaving some coins or whatever in her pocket while her partner grabs a laptop or two or other valuables owned by people delayed by the person with the coins.

Our routine works to prevent one of these victims being you.

Have you any suggestions to improve this process? Please comment!

Effective immediately, we all will have to be more careful about the names we use. TSR airport security now requires us to use the full name on our government id for airline reservations. That means the exact first name (Judith not Judy) and FULL middle name, as well as the same last name.

Then effective August 15, 2009, we will also need to give our date of birth and gender when making air reservations. These changes stem from recommendations by the 9/11 Commission.

For more information, see TSA’s Secure Flight Enters First Public Phase

Austrian has been a feisty little airline that served places other airlines did not wish to go–in some cases perhaps feared to go–such as the Kurd area of northern Iraq.

We’re sorry to see airlines like Austrian lose their independence, but its competitive position was too very difficult.

An airline like KLM can thrive in a small country like the Netherlands by booking connections, but Austrian’s Vienna hub involved too much backtracking to countries in the western portion of Europe for this strategy to be successful.

Not only have prices gone down, but also you can now stay up to nearly a year on the lowest fare (considerably longer by the way than the maximum stay per visit allowed Americans and Canadians on a regular Australian tourist visa).

Nevertheless, you found that you cannot stopover in New Zealand when traveling to Australia at the least expensive price. As of today, that is on Delta (as of tomorrow who knows), and you really want that New Zealand stop.

Happily, fares to New Zealand have also been going down. They are not yet as cheap as ones to Australia, but they’re in the same budget range.

If you’ve willing to pay a New Zealand low fare price–or perhaps even less–you can include both countries.

There are two ways to do this.

New Zealand on a separate ticket

Currently, it costs nearly nothing to add New Zealand to an Australian itinerary. The Sydney to Auckland route is extraordinarily competitive, one of the most competitive in the world. Not only do Air New Zealand and Qantas have frequent flights, but Aerolineas Argentinas, Emirates, LAN Chile, and Pacific Blue (Virgin) also serve this route.

Here’s how you’ll set up your trip in the least expensive way.

First, buy the cheapest USA to Australia fare once you’ve verified that you can buy a cheap New Zealand ticket for the dates you need. Then buy the roundtrip from Australia to New Zealand.

If you’re having problems finding low fares, adjust your travel dates.

A quick check of roundtrip fares for June showed a U.S. $88 roundtrip fare, including tax, on Pacific Blue from Sydney. Pacific Blue also serves Auckland from numerous other Australian cities.

Besides Pacific Blue, I found a $174 fare (all these are in U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate and include tax) on Aerolineas. LAN Chile, which has a dreadful 5:30 a.m. departure from Auckland, came in at $210. Last year, I used Emirates, which also does Brisbane and Melbourne to Auckland. Believe me, these airlines won’t let their planes fly empty.

Again, a far from comprehensive check of fares showed $234 roundtrip from Sydney to Christchurch on Air New Zealand and Qantas. In addition, both Emirates and Pacific Blue serve this route. Pacific Blue had a $89 roundtrip fare from Sydney to Wellington, a wonderful place to arrive in New Zealand.

You can also “open jaw” your trip by flying into Auckland and out of Christchurch or Wellington or vice versa.

NOTE: Do not schedule same day connections between your two tickets. This is very important. If fact, on your way to New Zealand, you should spend at least two nights in Australia. The reason for this is that if you miss your outbound connection to your trans-Pacific flight in Los Angeles or wherever, you’ll almost certainly arrive in Australia at least nearly 24 hours late or longer. In that case, because you didn’t show up for your New Zealand flight, you may lose the value of this second ticket.

New Zealand as a stopover on same ticket

Second, as an alternative, you don’t have to backtrack to Australia before heading home, unless you want to.

For example, as of today, the cheapest fare from LAX to Sydney on Qantas is around $90 more than Delta.

Qantas allows a stop in Auckland for an additional $150, which makes the total extra cost around $240, still within the range of buying a fare to New Zealand only.

Although its Sydney fare is somewhat higher, Air New Zealand allows free stops in Auckland and places like Rarotonga. Because stops are free, the grand total is not much different than using Qantas.

Using Travelocity.com provides great way to compare fares and airfare rules from the U.S. Instead of imputing dates, select its “Flexible dates” feature. When the price page comes up, click on “Rules” on the right.

You don’t have to read every fare rule detail. Focus on validity dates, minimum and maximum stays, and stopovers. You can usually assume the cheapest fares are nonrefundable, but fees to change your ticket vary.

Note that some airlines like Delta may allow stopovers in their rules, but neither they nor their partners fly between Australia and New Zealand.

Also consider

Although we expect this airfare war to continue with some intensity this year, fares and rules can and do change instantly.

And, although you may not be planning to go to Australia until next North American winter, note that “low season” fares may continue well into December. Try to plan a departure before these expire. If you wait to long to book those last dates before low season fares expire though, you may have to pay more, as they may sell out.

With cheap airfares and excellent U.S. dollar exchange rates, this year has turned into a wonderful time to visit Australia and New Zealand.

The techniques found on this post help get you the cheapest fare. Although we use Sydney examples here, these tips work for both Australia and New Zealand.

Check local & regional airports

First, do as you normally do. Check fares from your most convenient airport. Then research several other airports in your general area. Just because airports are in the same part of the country doesn’t mean they offer the same fares.

Use websites with huge buying power like Expedia and Priceline.com (which doesn’t charge booking fees on regular airfares). These often work especially well when you’ve missed ticketing deadlines on airline sites or when airlines want to fill empty seats at prices below what they offer on their websites.

Also check a site like Kayak.com, but make sure all service charges and delivery fees are included in the comparison prices you’ll see.

Check most competitive portion of route

Next, you’ll want to check the most competitive portion of the route. That is Los Angeles to Sydney (or LAX to Auckland or Brisbane or Melbourne if these are where you’re heading).

For this portion, include Qantas in your search, as it tells you which days have the fewest people booked and thus the lowest fares, information that may be applicable to other airlines.

On the Qantas site, type in the dates you most want to travel to and from Sydney. When the price page comes up, look for “View lowest prices around this date” and click on it. This shows you how much, if anything, you’ll save by changing your dates. The fare differences can be astonishing.

Because most people enjoy flying it, Qantas may not be your least expensive choice. By July, Delta, Qantas, United, and V Australia (Virgin) all will be flying nonstop to Sydney. Moreover, both Air New Zealand and Air Pacific (the Fijian airline) offer convenient connections.

Besides these, American and Northwest “code share” (put their flight numbers on other airlines’ flights) and may have different fares.

Especially, if you’ve missed ticketing deadlines, use sites like Priceline to check prices on the LAX to Sydney route. Airlines use third party sites to fill empty seats with prices lower than on their own websites.

I also check Travelocity. On popular routes like this, it like Qantas allows you to see when lowest fares are offered over a range of dates. Just use its “Flexible Dates” function, instead of typing in specific dates.

Consider using two tickets, but know the dangers

Now you know the difference in price between buying a ticket from your closest airports and buying one starting your trip in Los Angeles.

If this difference is substantial, you may wish to consider buying a separate ticket on an airline like Southwest to Los Angeles.

However—this is very important—using separate tickets creates risk when you want to connect on the same day.

Southwest or JetBlue or whatever airline you use won’t be responsible if you miss your connection at LAX. And your trans-Pacific airline may show no pity if you do not check in on time. On trans-Pacific routes, the financial risk becomes so great that we do not recommend same day connections when traveling on two tickets.

Instead, consider staying at least overnight in Los Angeles if the price differential makes this worthwhile.

Even if you’re using one ticket for your entire trip, play it safe. As mentioned in a previous post, although some airlines permit a 90-minute connection to a flight going to Australia or New Zealand, this is quite risky. Miss your connection in Los Angeles or San Francisco, and you’ll find that the next flights leave late next evening, nearly a 24-hour wait and usually at your own expense.

Pad your connections on a major trip like this. Choose a connection that’s three hours or even more.

And, if you want to spend some time in California (LAX sits near Santa Monica Beach, San Francisco International has a convenient rail connection to downtown), many airlines allow you to stopover on an international trip up to just less than 24 hours, without having to pay extra. You may appreciate not flying on such a long trip all at once.

Next post: Including both Australia and New Zealand on your trip at a low price. The cheapest fares to Australia do not normally allow stopovers in New Zealand, but that won’t stop us! 

With fewer flights, USA to New Zealand airfares have normally been higher than those to Australia.

That’s still true, but look for some real bargains now.

Air New Zealand—with on-demand entertainment at your seat and more room between you and the seat in front of you—and Qantas—also with at seat entertainment and often-lower fares than Air NZ—fly Los Angeles to Auckland nonstop. V Australia (a Virgin airline) connects with its partner Pacific Blue in Sydney to reach New Zealand.

Air New Zealand also does San Francisco to Auckland nonstop. United code shares with Air New Zealand and may have different fares on the same plane.

If your itinerary takes you to both islands or just to the South Island, check out “open jaw” fares, e.g., into Auckland and out of Christchurch, or a roundtrip fare to Christchurch.

A fine way to do the South Island is to fly into Wellington, take a 3-hour Interislander ferry across to Picton, and then to fly out of Christchurch when done exploring. You can also fly into and out of Queenstown, but its airport tends to be closed somewhat more than the others due to poor visibility.

If an open jaw fare works out as too expensive for you, you can take budget Pacific Blue in New Zealand if you simply must travel by air in this beautiful country. Please do not set up same day connections between Pacific Blue to or from your international flights.

Next post: Setting up your budget Australia or New Zealand itinerary for the cheapest fare.

This is all going to seem so very commonsense and simple–and perhaps more than a bit boring–but so many people allow too little connecting time between flights and do not handle short connections well when they have no choice.

When you arrive at Chicago/O’Hare late at 9:30 a.m. and miss your connecting flight to New York/LaGuardia, you usually face few worries. With so many later departures to NYC-area airports, you’re nearly certain to get on something, and may not even have to wait very long.

Arrive late at that same airport at 9:30 p.m., and you probably have a problem. In most cases, expect to stay overnight at your own expense. There are also extra connection risks when traveling to less busy airports, which have fewer flights and a last one that perhaps leaves quite early in the day.

Missed connections to most international destinations can wipe out an entire day of your trip or more, as all nonstop flights tend to depart solely within a few hours of each other. In the case of Europe from the east coast, this means in the very late afternoon or evening. In the case of Australia or New Zealand from the west coast, this means solely in the late evening.

In these cases, you may have to wait a night plus nearly a full day for your next ongoing flight if you miss the one you booked. Again, these days, don’t expect the airline to pay for this involuntary stopover.

Of course, I am asking you to allow ample connecting time when a missed connecting flight has such consequences. The so-called minimum connecting times allowed by airlines are based on ideal conditions and less stressful times.

However, what if you have no choice? What if the cheapest fare does not seem to allow ample time?

If the cheapest fare involves separate tickets on two different airlines, simply do not buy this itinerary. Airline #1 won’t be responsible if you miss airline #2. You may be forced to pay airline #2 for a new ticket—at a last-minute price—and lose at least some of the value of your original ticket, if not all, on airline #2.

If your cheapest fare requires one ticket, even though it may include different airlines, buy it, but consider standing by for an earlier flight from your point of origin.

For example, if you’re booked on American from Chicago to Los Angeles with a 90-minute connection to Qantas because that had the cheapest fare, seriously consider standing by for an American flight that would give you a three-hour or more connection.

Most airlines allow you to standby for earlier flights. See Standby Flight Tips.