BA To LAX in the sale

[Vertigo]

Our dates - with car - is £1800 for 3 adults and one teen. 24th October - 4th Nov.

this has come as a pleasant shock as i am used to Orlando flight prices.

I have seen chepaer on the comparison sites, but it gets very messy when adding bags on those sites and is very miss leading.

i was only testing the water with pricing as we dont plan to book until June as my bonus gets paid in May.

Then i saw as it is a flydrive, it becomes a package and i only need to put down £300 deposit.

I am not quite ready to commit, but ths seems too good to miss?

Am i missing something or should i just do it?

[kirkdalewdw]

that is good, we paid £1900 for PE fly drive Sept 24th to 10th 10th Oct, flying early so we arrive in LA at 1pm

[Vertigo]

well i booked it! Bizarrely, the price went down when adding the car.

so by not using the BA website directly, we are on the BA codeshare with American on the 24th and the BA Double decker on the way home for a shade under £1800.

The only thing not included was seats. We usually pay for them as there are certain seats in economy we really like, but I have to say it was a little bit pricey at £60 per seat outward and £80 on the way back. So that's £560!

I know this is optional, but its a bit of a sting when you think you have a bargain for a flight

always a catch eh?

[thefourDs]

That is good! You go on the same date as us, we return on the 31st. Our flight is the 11.25am going out on the 24th.

I’ve paid £3300 including flights, hotel and car hire. Family of 4 (kids are teens)

[Vertigo]

We are on the 10:05.

£3300 including hotels is good. If you assume £200 a night then it’s about the same as we have paid.

I was surprised with the cost. The car reducing the costs was weird, almost dare I say a glitch?

Ours are 4 adults too as they will be 17 and 14 when they go.

[cornishfrogboy]

I think that you have a decent deal. In the Easter Hols, we are flying LHR to SFO before doing some touring stuff and departing Vancouver to LHR. Both flights are direct with BA and are £395pp, hand baggage and without car. That price has not moved more than a few pounds since booking in September 2019).

The West Coast (albeit we have only visited California in the past) seems very different to the Orlando route as I believe that there is greater competition, a greater number of business trips and also not such a huge jump in demand (and price) for kids School Holidays. To me, a direct flight from London to Orlando or nearby has not been an option that I have been willing to pay for in many years. I invariably multi centre and have spent time in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Pensacola and Miami , thus dramatically lowering those ticket prices and then booking an independent internal into Florida after several days (never been more than £90pp). In this way I have seemingly got off the tourist routes and into the general aviation routes, thus saving an awful lot of money.

The counter issue with California is the cost of accommodation where demand is better in relation to supply . ( I believe that Orlando is one of the cheapest places to book general as opposed to theme park accommodation in the whole US, due to oversupply)

Carparking at Hotels can hurt (hence many don’t take their car hire until leaving San Francisco).

Food seems to cost a little more outside of the chains.

Fuel costs more.

That car hire bit is a great (and strange) bonus.


Either way, happy (and careful) planning. That bit really is great fun.