Direct flights to DSM from Los Angeles or San Francisco?

I am contemplating returning to Des Moines from Australia in August for a quick catch up with old friends.

Last time I travelled (3 years ago) I had to fly via Denver. Are there any airlines that fly direct from LA or San Francisco to Des Moines? I%26#39;d rather not waste the time changing planes.

Thanks

Direct flights to DSM from Los Angeles or San Francisco?

Unfortunately, there aren%26#39;t any commercial airlines that fly to Des Moines directly from the West Coast at this point. Depending on which airline you fly, you will have a layover in Denver, Dallas, Houston, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis or Phoenix.

Happy travels!

Direct flights to DSM from Los Angeles or San Francisco?

I%26#39;ve just been searching and think Allegiant Air (I may have spelled this incorrectly) is saying they fly non-stop. Is this incorrect?

Of the other airlines that fly from the West Coast to Des Moines, which is best and which one is likely to have some good sales between now %26amp; August? Some local knowledge would be good here.

The fares from Sydney Australia to Des Moines (and the length of the flights) are hefty so I%26#39;m trying to save where ever possible.

Thanks again.

Allegiant Air starts nonstop service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Des Moines on May 24, 2009. Flights depart LAX on Sundays and Thursdays only. http://www.allegiantair.com/

I know nothing about Allegiant Air. I would check their luggage allowance and whether they transfer luggage between airlines.

Some of the one stop flights may be direct from the west coast and not require a change of planes. I did not search for them. If it really is a short visit, I would travel with a carry on bag only and choose the cheapest option within reason.

The other airlines, American, Delta, Continental, United, Northwest, and US are very much alike in my book.

I travel a fair amount and agree with hoogo that there isn%26#39;t a lot of difference in the quality of service among the major US airlines (American, United, Northwest, Delta, etc.).

And thanks, hoogo, for the tip about Allegiant%26#39;s new service to LA. I know several people who have flown Allegiant from Iowa to Florida and really liked it. It%26#39;s main drawback seems to be its limited schedule and, in some of its locations, that it flies in and out of remote airports. However, if you can catch it from LAX it may be a good option.

fromaus, some of the major US airlines are having some good sales right now. I haven%26#39;t looked specifically at flights between Des Moines and LA or San Francisco, but just last night I found a weekday fare of $217 US for a roundtrip flight to Phoenix, AZ that sometimes costs $500 or more. You may want to check fares on multiple airlines on orbitz.com or a similar web site.

Try kayak.com They do a price comparison between airlines and you can even put an alert for specific dates. They email you daily (or weekly) to let you know when the price drops.

If you aren%26#39;t stopping over at either SF or LA, I would suggest booking your complete trip together. I am wary of booking segments separately because if you lose luggage or miss your flight neither airline claims responsibility.

Thank you to everyone for your advice. I knew I could count on the good people of Iowa.

Yes I am wary of missing connecting flights through LAX so would prefer to book flights in one large segment, however I would also prefer to fly QANTAS across the Pacific and from this end they offer no connections to Des Moines. United do offer connections via Denver so they are shaping up as my (second) choice.

By short stay I mean 2 weeks so the luggage is not that much of an issue. I just have lots of catching up to do so want to limit the number of days I spend travelling. I will have a child in tow, but he is used to long haul flights - you have to be when you live in Australia.

I have always booked my flights - both domestic and international - direct with individual airlines as I thought this was the cheapest option. Would using Kayak or Orbitz get me an even better deal? Your opinions here are appreciated!

Hoping this all comes together. Haven%26#39;t seen an Iowa summer for 30 years!

You will see that you can not book airfare with Kayak, it is a search engine only that might turn up the lowest fare. I have booked successfully with Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity as well as with individual airlines. The individual airline websites do not always come up with the best price, especially when more than one airline is involved.

Another great search engine is

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch This is the only website I know of in the US that allows month long international airfare searches. It may help you find the cheapest dates to travel. (Click the month-long search box and give your sales city as SYD unless you are able to book from a different country.) With this website I find fares of AUD 1426 or about US$1000. That looks like a great price for Sydney to Des Moines round trip.

I do not fly that often. You might find more expert advice on the airline forum

tripadvisor.com/ListForums-g1-i12085-Air_Tra…

I apologize for not explaining kayak.com.

They are a search engine, but they do comparison searches for airlines (through airline websites) as well as cheap websites (expedia, orbitz). You click on the link that takes you to the place where you actually purchase the ticket.

One more thought- I agree with using the airline directly. I am wary of using several airlines as given by expedia, etc. The minute they find out that you used a discount website they throw the book at you.

I thought Quantas was going belly up?