Top tips to get a good deal on business/first to Australia?

[geeman237]

I live in South Carolina, USA (ex Brit). My brother lives in Australia with his wife and toddler son, my only nephew. I've been to Oz 5 times over the years and every time the journey gets more miserable on the long haul from the west coast to Melbourne. I'm 6' 3" with a slim build, and can never sleep on planes. I've flown economy all but once, (that time was premium on United) to save a few pounds/dollars for extra spending money.

I've pretty much decided next time I'd like to fly at least business class for the comfort. But wow, round trip business from South Carolina to Melbourne is around $7000 US. That's looking on Google flights today with travel dates at the end of Jan next year for 3 weeks. A round trip from LAX to Mel is about $5000. That seems steep to me and I am not actually going for a couple more years so time to save up a bit. I have a credit card I use to earn reward points I can redeem against travel and even using that its going to take ages to get anything near paying for the whole flight. I don't have any other frequent flyer cards or anything because I otherwise don't travel enough to get any gain from them.

So, thought I'd ask the PH travel guru's for some recommendations on how to snag a good deal on business class or above if I'm giving myself a couple of years. (Besides the obvious.....keep saving)

[Puggit]

If you're on Facebook, look for a page called 'God save the points' - he's often pointing out US - NZ or Aus deals.

[schmalex]

If you fly a lot internally, align yourself with a One World or Star Alliance Carrier and start building the points up

The other way is take an economy flight over to UK / Europe for a few hundred $$$ (it’s only 6 - 7 hours, so not long enough to worry about business) and then book a business Class ticket from UK / Europe to Australia. I’m flying to Melbourne in a week or so from LHR and, before my itinerary got changed, the return (with a quick jump over to Wellington) was about £2,300 in Emirates business Class

Doing that might save you a bit...

[shirt]

Is there any route/carrier using the A380? Economy seating is much more generous and comfortable on this and if you pay for the extra leg room / exit row seats [green and green/yellow on the seat map below] then there's no problems whatsoever. Seat width better than normal economy and legroom on a par with B777 business.

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emirates_Airline...

[audidoody]

schmalex said:

If you fly a lot internally, align yourself with a One World or Star Alliance Carrier and start building the points up

The other way is take an economy flight over to UK / Europe for a few hundred $$$ (it’s only 6 - 7 hours, so not long enough to worry about business) and then book a business Class ticket from UK / Europe to Australia. I’m flying to Melbourne in a week or so from LHR and, before my itinerary got changed, the return (with a quick jump over to Wellington) was about £2,300 in Emirates business Class

Doing that might save you a bit...

I think this is one for a real-life bricks and mortar travel agent to sort out for you. Could be a complex ticketing challenge to get the best deal and involve many, routings, and stop-offs.

[PorkInsider]

To add to the above, subscribe to https://www.turningleftforless.com and see if anything pops up on there.

Also consider premium economy, if you can’t stomach the prices you’re seeing.

I know Virgin cover the LAX to MEL Delta route and their premium economy looks ok (and cheap).

[captain_cynic]

Sign up to the mailing lists of the airlines you'd like to fly on. Occasionally they discount business or premium seats.

The problem you've got is that you're in the US, which has notoriously st airlines and travelling to Australia, which has notoriously st airlines who think their st doesn't stink.

[geeman237]

Thanks for the comments/input/ideas.
Looks like Quantas and Virgin are the top 2 airlines from LAX to MEL. Non stop its about 15-16 hrs. In reply to some of your comments, yes I've wondered about doing it the other way round, east Coast US through Europe. I don't fly a lot internally in the US, maybe 1-3 times per year. I've signed up for the suggested websites.

I did fly Premium Economy on United around 2010 and it wasn't great TBH, but United aren't great full stop as has been pointed out.

I've tried piece mealing the legs together myself, but have never been able to better the price and connections of an all in ticket, door to door.

I did find Hawaiin did a cheap business class, but I think their business class is a bit dated, ie no beds and you have to have an over-night layover in Hawaii. Just been there actually.

I'll keep on checking from time to time. Taking a few more hours wouldn't be the end of the world, its just with crappy US vacation time it eats into the holiday even more.

[Kenty]

South Carolina to Washington, NY or Boston internal flight economy
Then Emirates to Mel via Dubai.
Book early to get the Business saver seats.

[captain_cynic]

geeman237 said:

Thanks for the comments/input/ideas.
Looks like Quantas and Virgin are the top 2 airlines from LAX to MEL. Non stop its about 15-16 hrs. In reply to some of your comments, yes I've wondered about doing it the other way round, east Coast US through Europe. I don't fly a lot internally in the US, maybe 1-3 times per year. I've signed up for the suggested websites.

Out of those two, I'd choose Virgin because they've got better seats on the trans-pacific leg.

I'm orignally from Perth, I've done the PER-LAX route on both airlines, Virgin is way and above better than QANTAS despite QANTAS having the better plane (A380 vs B777ER, not that the 777 is bad mind you). Domestically they're about the same, packing you into a 737/A320 like sardines.

IIRC, Virgin only flies to LAX and codeshares with Delta. QANTAS flies to LAX and DFW and I'm not sure who they codeshare with in the US (AA or United possibly)

If you really want the absolute best business class offering, you want Singapore. Few airlines can compare to the level of comfort and service Singapore provides but this means going via Singapore which is about 9 hours in the wrong direction if you're going to Sydney or Melbourne.

[captain_cynic]

Double Post.