Cheap flight to Australia at Christmas this year?

MOLLYBRUSH

I have just had a little look at flights to Australia for Christmas this year as I want to take my two kids and myself to visit my brother and his family. They are so expensive :eek:

Anybody know if there is a good/better time to book and are there any ways to do it a bit more cheaply. We would ideally like to go with Emirates but the cheapest I can get is £3,378.

Many thanks

swiss69

What dates are you looking at and where are you flying to in Australia? Is the cost you quoted the total cost or each?

ince_mon

Think you should have sorted this out a lot earlier.Christmas is an expensive time for everyone,including airlines.

jillie1974

flights for oz come onsale 11 months in advance. genrally, once you want to travel from bout 10 dec on wards you get the most expensive tickets.
even in oct emirates are charging approx £900 per adult

MOLLYBRUSH

I am looking at 12 Dec to 1 Jan. I have now got it down to £3347 for me and the two kids in total, so approx £1100 each. I wasn't planning on going but a family illness has brought forward my plans which is why I have not done anything sooner.

welshnige

I have to ask why would you want to fly with Emirates. I flew with them this year, I was so looking forward to using the airline as it has been hyped up so much, I was actually disappointed. I even rated BA better than them and thats saying something!!!
Give me Cathay Pacific anyday.

The_Old_Bag

Is it possible to bring your departure date forward a few days ?
We went to Oz a few years ago, and booked about May time - and found we had left it late.
We had planned to go mid Dec, but then saw how the prices leap up after about the 10th Dec, so brought our dates forward, and our price dropped by about a third.
Also, it was already too late to return after the new year - everything was booked coming any route back with any carrier for about 4 days after New Yr, so ended up having to travel back New Yrs eve.
Also, got a package including 3 Free internal flights each, which obviously saved us a fortune.
I did spend WEEKS researching prices - could have gone via middle east, Germany, Had stop overs etc.
Hundreds of different options. Direct flights tend to be dearest, so if you can cope with stop-overs or changing planes and 10 hours in Singapore Airport etc, you can get lower prices - but if you are going on your own with 2 children, you may not consider this a viable option.
Has you brother tried checking the price out if boooking from Oz ?
Just a thought, in case he could get it cheaper. Although Australians we met well !!!!!! off with deal I got, as they couldn't get any cheap internal flights let alone free ones. Then again, this was a few years ago, and things might have changed.
Have you considered going East to West, ie via US, just a thought.
Sometimes to save money you have to think outside of the box

Good luck, I wish I had the time and money to go again - best holiday EVER

MOLLYBRUSH

We flew Emirates a few years ago and having just flown with American Airlines to California, I thought they were a bit shabby in comparison. More to the point the kids complained about the in-flight entertainment being pants compared to Emirates! LOL.

I will look at suggestions by Old Bag as they might be do-able but son starting new school with very strict Head who even scares me! Not sure I dare ask for more than a week off.

Thanks for all your input everyone x

Engadine

Most expensive time of year to go to Australia or to fly from Australia to the UK. My brother in law, his wife and 2 kids are coming home for Christmas, it is costing $AUD13,000 for their flights.

If you are definitely going then I would book sooner rather than later, the prices will likely go up