Flights to Australia

Author
Discussion

andygo

Original Poster:

6,796 posts

255 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
My son has moved to Australia and my wife and I are popping over there for 3 weeks in August.

Is skyscanner the best place to book flights or is it better to book direct with BA for instance.

We are intending to fly Economy as Premium is double the price and Economy is bound to be so much more interesting....

Any tips welcome.
Thanks

russy01

4,693 posts

181 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
If you want to fly with BA then just book on their site and look no further.

But if you want to see what else is about then get on the comparison sites and have a look around. Skyscanner is always a good place to start...

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

261 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
andygo said:
My son has moved to Australia and my wife and I are popping over there for 3 weeks in August.

Is skyscanner the best place to book flights or is it better to book direct with BA for instance.

We are intending to fly Economy as Premium is double the price and Economy is bound to be so much more interesting....

Any tips welcome.
Thanks
yikes

andygo

Original Poster:

6,796 posts

255 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
Dr Jekyll said:
yikes
Yeah, I know, but laugh

GT03ROB

13,262 posts

221 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
andygo said:
Any tips welcome.
Find a way to not fly economy all the way!

David Beer

3,982 posts

267 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
Just got back, see other post on oz. flew prem but said it was a struggle. On the way out In singapore bought the latest Sony noise cancelling headphones, best thing ever bought !

anonymous-user

54 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
GT03ROB said:
andygo said:
Any tips welcome.
Find a way to not fly economy all the way!
Print and framed this post.

And if you ignore it, take it as hand luggage and hang it from the seat back in front of you.

Hope you're not long sighted!

Bluequay

2,001 posts

218 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
Australia in economy is not that bad, I've done it 10 times+ just be prepared, decent headphones + the adapter, and make sure you get a decent stopover to stretch your legs.

We normally fly with Singapore, wouldn't even consider flying with BA for long haul, you want either emirates, Singapore or Qatar, next level down is Malaysia or Cathay Pacific. Get the evening flight out, it goes much quicker, than the day flights when you're would normally be awake,

Get a stopover hotel, singapore and Malaysia have them airside, you can book in blocks of 6 hours and it makes a huge difference, quick sleep and a shower and the you are ready to go, normally costs around £60.

I'd ignore everyone above, I've done it both business and economy, business is a fantastic experience, but for two or yoi, it's gonna cost a minimum of 4K more, and personally I'd rather suck it up for the flight and spend that money when I get there.

NordicCrankShaft

1,723 posts

115 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
The thing is also, not everyone is a rich powerfully built director like the average PH'er, so sometimes paying double the airfare for an ugrade is out of the question for us normal folk.

Yipper

5,964 posts

90 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
Know someone a few years ago who flew with Garuda via ~8 stops over ~3 days and managed London to Sydney for ~£350 return.

andygo

Original Poster:

6,796 posts

255 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
Bluequay said:
Australia in economy is not that bad, I've done it 10 times+ just be prepared, decent headphones + the adapter, and make sure you get a decent stopover to stretch your legs.

We normally fly with Singapore, wouldn't even consider flying with BA for long haul, you want either emirates, Singapore or Qatar, next level down is Malaysia or Cathay Pacific. Get the evening flight out, it goes much quicker, than the day flights when you're would normally be awake,

Get a stopover hotel, singapore and Malaysia have them airside, you can book in blocks of 6 hours and it makes a huge difference, quick sleep and a shower and the you are ready to go, normally costs around £60.

I'd ignore everyone above, I've done it both business and economy, business is a fantastic experience, but for two or yoi, it's gonna cost a minimum of 4K more, and personally I'd rather suck it up for the flight and spend that money when I get there.
I'm fairly open minded on carrier, Indeed have been to Singapore in the past. As a matter of interest, why would you choose Singapore Airlines etc over BA?

frye

76 posts

99 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
Bluequay said:
Australia in economy is not that bad, I've done it 10 times+ just be prepared, decent headphones + the adapter, and make sure you get a decent stopover to stretch your legs.

We normally fly with Singapore, wouldn't even consider flying with BA for long haul, you want either emirates, Singapore or Qatar, next level down is Malaysia or Cathay Pacific. Get the evening flight out, it goes much quicker, than the day flights when you're would normally be awake,

Get a stopover hotel, singapore and Malaysia have them airside, you can book in blocks of 6 hours and it makes a huge difference, quick sleep and a shower and the you are ready to go, normally costs around £60.

I'd ignore everyone above, I've done it both business and economy, business is a fantastic experience, but for two or yoi, it's gonna cost a minimum of 4K more, and personally I'd rather suck it up for the flight and spend that money when I get there.
Exactly what this guy said. Good advice. I wouldn't touch BA flying such a distance.

Best ones are by far the ones mentioned. Qantas also are ok, never had issues with them.

hairyben

8,516 posts

183 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
NordicCrankShaft said:
The thing is also, not everyone is a rich powerfully built director like the average PH'er, so sometimes paying double the airfare for an ugrade is out of the question for us normal folk.
Comes down to suck up a crappy day in an aeroplane or have a slightly less crappy day for £1000+pp more. Whether thats worth it depends on how hard you work for your money I guess.

For future reference mrs hairy tends to book our flights several months ahead for better prices, which can be less than half what they are few weeks out.

24+ hours is a long frickin time to spend in an airplane and not all economy class is equal, a380 is often better, this time round the mrs scored us some cheap tickets in a 787 via royal brunei and i dunno if its me getting used to the trip or that the atmosphere really is that much better but suffering much less jet lag this time. Dry airline though if you can cope with that. Arab airlines seem to have better catering too.

if you have the choice (ie you're connecting) Melbournes a better airport than sydney to fly to in our experience, smaller and better organised.

BertieWooster

3,271 posts

164 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
I'd recommend heading over to the flyertalk forums as there is a wealth of information on there.

One option you could consider is starting your trip from an airport outside the UK (e.g. Amsterdam or Dublin) as the fares can be substantially cheaper than going direct from Heathrow or Gatwick.

jamoor

14,506 posts

215 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
My recommendation is, instead of spending money on Premium economy, Fly on Korean air, asiana, JAL or ANA (the last 2 may be expensive), the ticket should be less than premium economy and more than the cheapest economy and you will have an excellent experience.

Failing that fly emirates A380 there and back in economy. They have wifi etc and the a380 is a quiet and comfortable plane.

Boylston

145 posts

191 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
I fly to Sydney for work each year. I would recommend emirates on an A380, with a decent (3 hour) stop in Dubai. The timing of the flights is so much better for jetlag than BA via Singapore. Secret is to get the mid/late evening flight to Dubai and don't sleep. Sleep on the Dubai to Sydney leg. Likewise on the way back, get the 6am Sydney departure and don't sleep before. Sleep on Sydney to Dubai.

Plus A380 is a better experience that 747.

Boylston

schmalex

13,616 posts

206 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
andygo said:
Bluequay said:
Australia in economy is not that bad, I've done it 10 times+ just be prepared, decent headphones + the adapter, and make sure you get a decent stopover to stretch your legs.

We normally fly with Singapore, wouldn't even consider flying with BA for long haul, you want either emirates, Singapore or Qatar, next level down is Malaysia or Cathay Pacific. Get the evening flight out, it goes much quicker, than the day flights when you're would normally be awake,

Get a stopover hotel, singapore and Malaysia have them airside, you can book in blocks of 6 hours and it makes a huge difference, quick sleep and a shower and the you are ready to go, normally costs around £60.

I'd ignore everyone above, I've done it both business and economy, business is a fantastic experience, but for two or yoi, it's gonna cost a minimum of 4K more, and personally I'd rather suck it up for the flight and spend that money when I get there.
I'm fairly open minded on carrier, Indeed have been to Singapore in the past. As a matter of interest, why would you choose Singapore Airlines etc over BA?
I fly a long haul a lot (in 2016, I managed 52 sectors over 8 hours!). Due to the amount of travel we do, we are fortunate that we fly J or F on anything over 6 hours but to be honest, regardless of class of service, I would chose pretty much any carrier over BA. For a run to Aus, I would be looking at either Qantas, Emirates (my favourite), Etihad or Qatar. Air NewZealand and Singapore are pretty good (very good in J).

I find BA seats to be pretty uncomfortable, the AVOD is poor compared to others and the food not brill.

Emirates, for example, have 5,000+ movies in the ICE AVOD, a frequently changing menu (often the Y meal is one of the choices on the J menu) and stopppng through DXB means you have a roughly 7 hour leg, followed by a 15 hour leg. They have a sale on at the moment, so it's worth looking at.

Other than that, you really can't beat Skyscanner for the best prices

Painthead

9 posts

100 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
schmalex said:
andygo said:
Bluequay said:
Australia in economy is not that bad, I've done it 10 times+ just be prepared, decent headphones + the adapter, and make sure you get a decent stopover to stretch your legs.

We normally fly with Singapore, wouldn't even consider flying with BA for long haul, you want either emirates, Singapore or Qatar, next level down is Malaysia or Cathay Pacific. Get the evening flight out, it goes much quicker, than the day flights when you're would normally be awake,

Get a stopover hotel, singapore and Malaysia have them airside, you can book in blocks of 6 hours and it makes a huge difference, quick sleep and a shower and the you are ready to go, normally costs around £60.

I'd ignore everyone above, I've done it both business and economy, business is a fantastic experience, but for two or yoi, it's gonna cost a minimum of 4K more, and personally I'd rather suck it up for the flight and spend that money when I get there.
I'm fairly open minded on carrier, Indeed have been to Singapore in the past. As a matter of interest, why would you choose Singapore Airlines etc over BA?
I fly a long haul a lot (in 2016, I managed 52 sectors over 8 hours!). Due to the amount of travel we do, we are fortunate that we fly J or F on anything over 6 hours but to be honest, regardless of class of service, I would chose pretty much any carrier over BA. For a run to Aus, I would be looking at either Qantas, Emirates (my favourite), Etihad or Qatar. Air NewZealand and Singapore are pretty good (very good in J).

I find BA seats to be pretty uncomfortable, the AVOD is poor compared to others and the food not brill.

Emirates, for example, have 5,000+ movies in the ICE AVOD, a frequently changing menu (often the Y meal is one of the choices on the J menu) and stopppng through DXB means you have a roughly 7 hour leg, followed by a 15 hour leg. They have a sale on at the moment, so it's worth looking at.

Other than that, you really can't beat Skyscanner for the best prices
All of which sadly depends on your company giving you a degree of latitude over your choice of airline. Most enterprises, especially those using a corporate travel service, are limited to two or three airlines one of whom is inevitably BA....Limits the options somewhat!

schmalex

13,616 posts

206 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
Painthead said:
schmalex said:
andygo said:
Bluequay said:
Australia in economy is not that bad, I've done it 10 times+ just be prepared, decent headphones + the adapter, and make sure you get a decent stopover to stretch your legs.

We normally fly with Singapore, wouldn't even consider flying with BA for long haul, you want either emirates, Singapore or Qatar, next level down is Malaysia or Cathay Pacific. Get the evening flight out, it goes much quicker, than the day flights when you're would normally be awake,

Get a stopover hotel, singapore and Malaysia have them airside, you can book in blocks of 6 hours and it makes a huge difference, quick sleep and a shower and the you are ready to go, normally costs around £60.

I'd ignore everyone above, I've done it both business and economy, business is a fantastic experience, but for two or yoi, it's gonna cost a minimum of 4K more, and personally I'd rather suck it up for the flight and spend that money when I get there.
I'm fairly open minded on carrier, Indeed have been to Singapore in the past. As a matter of interest, why would you choose Singapore Airlines etc over BA?
I fly a long haul a lot (in 2016, I managed 52 sectors over 8 hours!). Due to the amount of travel we do, we are fortunate that we fly J or F on anything over 6 hours but to be honest, regardless of class of service, I would chose pretty much any carrier over BA. For a run to Aus, I would be looking at either Qantas, Emirates (my favourite), Etihad or Qatar. Air NewZealand and Singapore are pretty good (very good in J).

I find BA seats to be pretty uncomfortable, the AVOD is poor compared to others and the food not brill.

Emirates, for example, have 5,000+ movies in the ICE AVOD, a frequently changing menu (often the Y meal is one of the choices on the J menu) and stopppng through DXB means you have a roughly 7 hour leg, followed by a 15 hour leg. They have a sale on at the moment, so it's worth looking at.

Other than that, you really can't beat Skyscanner for the best prices
All of which sadly depends on your company giving you a degree of latitude over your choice of airline. Most enterprises, especially those using a corporate travel service, are limited to two or three airlines one of whom is inevitably BA....Limits the options somewhat!
We are asked to choose the most cost effective route, airline and ticket type, but flexibility is allowed to enable us to gain / maintain loyalty with airlines or alliances. We have to book through a corporate travel provider but use Skyscanner to benchmark prices and create the justifications.

andygo

Original Poster:

6,796 posts

255 months

Sunday 15th January 2017
quotequote all
How do you ascertain which aircraft you will be flying on - looking at Singapore Airlines now.

(Thanks for all your help guys BTW)