Which Airline to Oz??
Discussion
Ridealong said:
I don't know for sure but was told Singapore to Australia leg is an angled seat in business class.
I flew with Singapore (Business) last year, although where your feet go is slightly to the left/right, I wouldn't say this caused an issue with being comfortable or being able to sleep.Done the trip a few times and used Singapore, Emirates and Qantas. IMO Emirates is my go to, as the entertainment, chauffeur drive and selection of flight times suit us. From MAN it has to be Emirates unless you go to LHR.
The A380 is a great product and without doubt the quietest and smoothest ride out there. I really don’t know how Qantas seems to be so bloody awful though.
The A380 is a great product and without doubt the quietest and smoothest ride out there. I really don’t know how Qantas seems to be so bloody awful though.
Surprise surprise, now i'd pretty much decided on Emirates, the price point has moved & now a difference of nearly £1000 between Emirates & Cathay Pacific, so Cathay is looking more preferable.
Flight times & connections are very similar so travel time is very similar, albeit an extra 2hrs layover in Hong Kong on the way back with Cathay. Still direct from MAN with just the 1 stopover, however rather than A380's all legs with Emirates, Cathy appears to be A350-900 from MAN-Hong Kong & 777-300ER from Hong Kong to Melbourne. On the way back it's A350-900 both legs.
For the £1000 saving, would Cathay be pleasurable or am i better off spending the extra & going Emirates? Although the Chauffeur to/from departure & arrival airports would be handy, i'm only 30mins from MAN & can get a lift to/from Melbourne, so not really worth the extra £1000 just for that service.
Flight times & connections are very similar so travel time is very similar, albeit an extra 2hrs layover in Hong Kong on the way back with Cathay. Still direct from MAN with just the 1 stopover, however rather than A380's all legs with Emirates, Cathy appears to be A350-900 from MAN-Hong Kong & 777-300ER from Hong Kong to Melbourne. On the way back it's A350-900 both legs.
For the £1000 saving, would Cathay be pleasurable or am i better off spending the extra & going Emirates? Although the Chauffeur to/from departure & arrival airports would be handy, i'm only 30mins from MAN & can get a lift to/from Melbourne, so not really worth the extra £1000 just for that service.
w8pmc said:
Surprise surprise, now i'd pretty much decided on Emirates, the price point has moved & now a difference of nearly £1000 between Emirates & Cathay Pacific, so Cathay is looking more preferable.
Flight times & connections are very similar so travel time is very similar, albeit an extra 2hrs layover in Hong Kong on the way back with Cathay. Still direct from MAN with just the 1 stopover, however rather than A380's all legs with Emirates, Cathy appears to be A350-900 from MAN-Hong Kong & 777-300ER from Hong Kong to Melbourne. On the way back it's A350-900 both legs.
For the £1000 saving, would Cathay be pleasurable or am i better off spending the extra & going Emirates? Although the Chauffeur to/from departure & arrival airports would be handy, i'm only 30mins from MAN & can get a lift to/from Melbourne, so not really worth the extra £1000 just for that service.
Emirates gaudy business class for an extra grand? You’d be mad.Flight times & connections are very similar so travel time is very similar, albeit an extra 2hrs layover in Hong Kong on the way back with Cathay. Still direct from MAN with just the 1 stopover, however rather than A380's all legs with Emirates, Cathy appears to be A350-900 from MAN-Hong Kong & 777-300ER from Hong Kong to Melbourne. On the way back it's A350-900 both legs.
For the £1000 saving, would Cathay be pleasurable or am i better off spending the extra & going Emirates? Although the Chauffeur to/from departure & arrival airports would be handy, i'm only 30mins from MAN & can get a lift to/from Melbourne, so not really worth the extra £1000 just for that service.
Cathay business on the A350 looks nicer to my eyes, less bling, more private, wider seat. You’d also be collecting 560 tier points which puts you close to silver status.
w8pmc said:
Surprise surprise, now i'd pretty much decided on Emirates, the price point has moved & now a difference of nearly £1000 between Emirates & Cathay Pacific, so Cathay is looking more preferable.
Flight times & connections are very similar so travel time is very similar, albeit an extra 2hrs layover in Hong Kong on the way back with Cathay. Still direct from MAN with just the 1 stopover, however rather than A380's all legs with Emirates, Cathy appears to be A350-900 from MAN-Hong Kong & 777-300ER from Hong Kong to Melbourne. On the way back it's A350-900 both legs.
For the £1000 saving, would Cathay be pleasurable or am i better off spending the extra & going Emirates? Although the Chauffeur to/from departure & arrival airports would be handy, i'm only 30mins from MAN & can get a lift to/from Melbourne, so not really worth the extra £1000 just for that service.
There is nothing between these business class products that justifies a grand. You'll still get off feeling like sFlight times & connections are very similar so travel time is very similar, albeit an extra 2hrs layover in Hong Kong on the way back with Cathay. Still direct from MAN with just the 1 stopover, however rather than A380's all legs with Emirates, Cathy appears to be A350-900 from MAN-Hong Kong & 777-300ER from Hong Kong to Melbourne. On the way back it's A350-900 both legs.
For the £1000 saving, would Cathay be pleasurable or am i better off spending the extra & going Emirates? Although the Chauffeur to/from departure & arrival airports would be handy, i'm only 30mins from MAN & can get a lift to/from Melbourne, so not really worth the extra £1000 just for that service.
t! djc206 said:
Emirates gaudy business class for an extra grand? You’d be mad.
Cathay business on the A350 looks nicer to my eyes, less bling, more private, wider seat. You’d also be collecting 560 tier points which puts you close to silver status.
That doevetails onto my thinking & got some Their points already so if 560 available then i'll go Silver on this trip. Looks as though it'll be Cathay thenCathay business on the A350 looks nicer to my eyes, less bling, more private, wider seat. You’d also be collecting 560 tier points which puts you close to silver status.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Probably be on an A340 from Brunei to Melbourne as some of their B787s are caught up in maintenance. I have heard Emirates has or will be cutting some flights to Oz.
Etihad have stopped flying into Perth and don't fly as many A380s here anymore.
Singapore are 4 into Melbourne a day, Cathay maybe 3 or 4 not sure. Emirates 3. Eithad 2. Qatar 1.
fizz47 said:
My choice would be QR and try and see if you can get the q suite flights — not Easy as they seem to swap them around every now and then but even if you don’t have a q suite I find all their iterations of business very good ..
This. I’m Emirates Platinum but would choose Qatar over them any day. The QR Q Suite is pretty much identical in privacy to the EK First Suit. You still get Dine on Demand with the QR seat and the prices are very keen indeedCathy in the a350s is good, the 777 okay. But the Cathy lounge in HK is superb, probably worth it over emirates just for it. They have 4 lounges so make sure to go to the one with the marble bar and check out the hot noodle bar & cafe.
I haven’t flown Emirates but the CP seats are probably better than SIA but slightly inferior food and service. I’d definitely go CP over SIA for a $1000 difference, probably SIA all things being equal.
And the way the Arab states have supported Saudi after killing the journo I’d be reluctant to spend money to support them so CP if I was in your shoes.
I haven’t flown Emirates but the CP seats are probably better than SIA but slightly inferior food and service. I’d definitely go CP over SIA for a $1000 difference, probably SIA all things being equal.
And the way the Arab states have supported Saudi after killing the journo I’d be reluctant to spend money to support them so CP if I was in your shoes.
Decided on & now booked with Cathay Pacific, MAN-HKG-MEL & the same in reverse for the return.
After much investigation if was by far the quickest route from MAN & the better flight times with only 1 overnight in each direction (ex-Europe although a little cheaper was +2 outbound & around 31hrs for the return). Didn't get the flights at the lowest price i saw them a few weeks ago, but hadn't jumped up by too much.
Ended up paying an extra £120 booking direct with Cathay rather than via Expedia as had a last minute thought i may not get the BA (OneWorld) Tier points by using an agent & also thought it easier to select seats for free using Cathy direct (this thought process may of course have the potential to be incorrect)
I've logged my BA Exec Club details against the booking for all 4 legs, so i assume once completed i'll get the full credit of BA Tier Points & Avios (appears to be 125% of Avios with Cathy when flying Business Class I).
Both directions i have about 3hrs to kill in HKG & i note a couple of people mentioned that Cathy have a few Lounges available & that one is defo worth a visit. What's the name of the 'must visit' Lounge?
Also i'm travelling to Melbourne for the Australian F1 GP (Fri-Sun), so will have a couple of days in Melbourne on the Monday & Tuesday before setting off home on the Wednesday. Any must visit places or sights worth seeing on these spare days? Wife is an avid Neighbours fan & i'm under strict instructions to avoid Ramsey Street or she'll kick my arse
After much investigation if was by far the quickest route from MAN & the better flight times with only 1 overnight in each direction (ex-Europe although a little cheaper was +2 outbound & around 31hrs for the return). Didn't get the flights at the lowest price i saw them a few weeks ago, but hadn't jumped up by too much.
Ended up paying an extra £120 booking direct with Cathay rather than via Expedia as had a last minute thought i may not get the BA (OneWorld) Tier points by using an agent & also thought it easier to select seats for free using Cathy direct (this thought process may of course have the potential to be incorrect
)I've logged my BA Exec Club details against the booking for all 4 legs, so i assume once completed i'll get the full credit of BA Tier Points & Avios (appears to be 125% of Avios with Cathy when flying Business Class I).
Both directions i have about 3hrs to kill in HKG & i note a couple of people mentioned that Cathy have a few Lounges available & that one is defo worth a visit. What's the name of the 'must visit' Lounge?
Also i'm travelling to Melbourne for the Australian F1 GP (Fri-Sun), so will have a couple of days in Melbourne on the Monday & Tuesday before setting off home on the Wednesday. Any must visit places or sights worth seeing on these spare days? Wife is an avid Neighbours fan & i'm under strict instructions to avoid Ramsey Street or she'll kick my arse
I've done NZ four times now in Cathay business class but from CDG. The lounge is the Pier Business Class lounge at HKG and it's superb, easily the best business class lounge I've ever been in and it's huge. I've been Cathay Silver for some time so don't know if that makes a difference when selecting seats.
What aircraft is it from MAN? If it's the A350-1000 then don't select the first two rows of business class - try for anything in rows 15 to 18 as they are the best located for service etc., row 11 is the very worst on the plane and you get the stink from the toilet as it's directly adjacent to the toilet door!!
What aircraft is it from MAN? If it's the A350-1000 then don't select the first two rows of business class - try for anything in rows 15 to 18 as they are the best located for service etc., row 11 is the very worst on the plane and you get the stink from the toilet as it's directly adjacent to the toilet door!!
WyrleyD said:
I've done NZ four times now in Cathay business class but from CDG. The lounge is the Pier Business Class lounge at HKG and it's superb, easily the best business class lounge I've ever been in and it's huge. I've been Cathay Silver for some time so don't know if that makes a difference when selecting seats.
What aircraft is it from MAN? If it's the A350-1000 then don't select the first two rows of business class - try for anything in rows 15 to 18 as they are the best located for service etc., row 11 is the very worst on the plane and you get the stink from the toilet as it's directly adjacent to the toilet door!!
It's the A350-900 for 3 of the legs (MAN-HKG, MEL-HKG & HKG to MAN), the HKG-MEL leg is on a 777-300ER.What aircraft is it from MAN? If it's the A350-1000 then don't select the first two rows of business class - try for anything in rows 15 to 18 as they are the best located for service etc., row 11 is the very worst on the plane and you get the stink from the toilet as it's directly adjacent to the toilet door!!
Seat allocation is free & i have reserved in order of the legs, 15K, 11K (777-300), 15K & 18K. It's as you'll know a 1-2-1 configuration on both aircraft types, so i'm not precious which row i choose & can change any to go a little further back. A couple of the legs had the front row being bassinet rows so i chose a couple back from those as the entire row was taken so i assumed a family may have booked those & although i've flown numerous times with my young children, i'm not a fan of flying with other peoples babies
I'll be sure to head to the Pier Business Lounge when connecting both ways. Thank you.
WyrleyD said:
I think you'll be happy with your choices. Our preferred seats on the 777 are 11A & 12A and 15A &16A on the A350 (mrs in 11A/15A and me in 12A/16A as we both prefer the left side of the plane for some reason).
Took your advice (thank you) & have changed all outbound seats to 16K & return to 18K. Likewise have a preference, but it's the right side of the plane for some strange reason.w8pmc said:
Decided on & now booked with Cathay Pacific, MAN-HKG-MEL & the same in reverse for the return.
After much investigation if was by far the quickest route from MAN & the better flight times with only 1 overnight in each direction (ex-Europe although a little cheaper was +2 outbound & around 31hrs for the return). Didn't get the flights at the lowest price i saw them a few weeks ago, but hadn't jumped up by too much.
Ended up paying an extra £120 booking direct with Cathay rather than via Expedia as had a last minute thought i may not get the BA (OneWorld) Tier points by using an agent & also thought it easier to select seats for free using Cathy direct (this thought process may of course have the potential to be incorrect)
I've logged my BA Exec Club details against the booking for all 4 legs, so i assume once completed i'll get the full credit of BA Tier Points & Avios (appears to be 125% of Avios with Cathy when flying Business Class I).
Both directions i have about 3hrs to kill in HKG & i note a couple of people mentioned that Cathy have a few Lounges available & that one is defo worth a visit. What's the name of the 'must visit' Lounge?
Also i'm travelling to Melbourne for the Australian F1 GP (Fri-Sun), so will have a couple of days in Melbourne on the Monday & Tuesday before setting off home on the Wednesday. Any must visit places or sights worth seeing on these spare days? Wife is an avid Neighbours fan & i'm under strict instructions to avoid Ramsey Street or she'll kick my arse
You would have got tier points if you had booked via Expedia and if you are a member of Nectar a paltry 200 points, I'm a BAEC member too and got my points after a couple of days after each flight (LHR - HKG - BNE - HKG - LHR).After much investigation if was by far the quickest route from MAN & the better flight times with only 1 overnight in each direction (ex-Europe although a little cheaper was +2 outbound & around 31hrs for the return). Didn't get the flights at the lowest price i saw them a few weeks ago, but hadn't jumped up by too much.
Ended up paying an extra £120 booking direct with Cathay rather than via Expedia as had a last minute thought i may not get the BA (OneWorld) Tier points by using an agent & also thought it easier to select seats for free using Cathy direct (this thought process may of course have the potential to be incorrect
)I've logged my BA Exec Club details against the booking for all 4 legs, so i assume once completed i'll get the full credit of BA Tier Points & Avios (appears to be 125% of Avios with Cathy when flying Business Class I).
Both directions i have about 3hrs to kill in HKG & i note a couple of people mentioned that Cathy have a few Lounges available & that one is defo worth a visit. What's the name of the 'must visit' Lounge?
Also i'm travelling to Melbourne for the Australian F1 GP (Fri-Sun), so will have a couple of days in Melbourne on the Monday & Tuesday before setting off home on the Wednesday. Any must visit places or sights worth seeing on these spare days? Wife is an avid Neighbours fan & i'm under strict instructions to avoid Ramsey Street or she'll kick my arse
Also you could of selected your CX seats as well.
I was at the Pier last Feb and is an excellent lounge, it is split into 2 lounges, the left entrance/exit has the Showers, Food hall
(International cuisine), Coffee cart and on the right entrance/exit has Noodle bar/Dim Sum, Tea house and Bar
The only down point is that it is at gate 65 which is quite a walk after security, for my flight to Brisbane and flight home to LHR the gates were the opposite side of the terminal.
The Bridge is nearer if pressed for time at gate 35 which is just as good but not as big IMO.
I have not used the Wing or the new built Deck (smallest of the CX lounges) of which are both closer to security than the Bridge and Pier.
You also can use the Qantas lounge if you wish, but I'm sure everyone will tell you to visit a CX lounge.
Ridealong said:
You would have got tier points if you had booked via Expedia and if you are a member of Nectar a paltry 200 points, I'm a BAEC member too and got my points after a couple of days after each flight (LHR - HKG - BNE - HKG - LHR).
Also you could of selected your CX seats as well.
I was at the Pier last Feb and is an excellent lounge, it is split into 2 lounges, the left entrance/exit has the Showers, Food hall
(International cuisine), Coffee cart and on the right entrance/exit has Noodle bar/Dim Sum, Tea house and Bar
The only down point is that it is at gate 65 which is quite a walk after security, for my flight to Brisbane and flight home to LHR the gates were the opposite side of the terminal.
The Bridge is nearer if pressed for time at gate 35 which is just as good but not as big IMO.
I have not used the Wing or the new built Deck (smallest of the CX lounges) of which are both closer to security than the Bridge and Pier.
You also can use the Qantas lounge if you wish, but I'm sure everyone will tell you to visit a CX lounge.
bAlso you could of selected your CX seats as well.
I was at the Pier last Feb and is an excellent lounge, it is split into 2 lounges, the left entrance/exit has the Showers, Food hall
(International cuisine), Coffee cart and on the right entrance/exit has Noodle bar/Dim Sum, Tea house and Bar
The only down point is that it is at gate 65 which is quite a walk after security, for my flight to Brisbane and flight home to LHR the gates were the opposite side of the terminal.
The Bridge is nearer if pressed for time at gate 35 which is just as good but not as big IMO.
I have not used the Wing or the new built Deck (smallest of the CX lounges) of which are both closer to security than the Bridge and Pier.
You also can use the Qantas lounge if you wish, but I'm sure everyone will tell you to visit a CX lounge.
ks, that's £120 wasted then. Just spotted something online saying Tier points may not be awarded or could be reduced if booking through a Travel Agent & in my infinite wisdom i decided Expedia were a Travel AgentGood point about the location of the Lounges & i will bear that in mind. I've no idea which gates i'll be arriving/departing from in HKG, but i do have a 3hr layover, so should be OK for time to visit the Pier. I'm assuming security in HKG won't be too much of an issue as i guess being Business they have some sort of priority line?
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