Europe-Japan-Australia-Europe?

angelil

Hey folks

My husband and I are lucky enough to have friends in Japan and Australia who would be willing to put us up on a trip there. Since we are unlikely to have free accommmodation again we are not only thinking of taking both sets of friends up on their offer but also doing the whole thing in one go, travelling to Japan, then on to Australia, and then straight back to France (where we live) after Australia. A few questions though:

1) As mentioned, we live in France. Is it cheaper (or even possible) for us to fly from Paris? Or are we better off travelling to another French airport or even to London to start the long-haul bit there? Bear in mind we want to travel with a high-quality airline with a reputation for safety and for doing long-haul well. I also want this to be a good experience for my husband in particular as he has never flown long-haul before.

2) What is the cheapest way of purchasing the flights - to buy returns to Australia with stopovers in Japan, or to buy single flights from Europe to Japan, Japan to Australia, and Australia to Europe?

3) It seems to me that it may be better to buy the flights "last minute" (2-3 months before or less) as this seems to be when the good deals are on. True or false?

4) To the end of #2 in particular, are we best off consulting a travel agent, or booking our flights on our own online as we usually do?

Many thanks

richardw

Have a look at Air France, Qantas and JAL websites for flights from Paris.

Where do you live in France?

GRM

Round The World tickets may work out cheaper.

angelil

Thanks for the replies so far.

It has crossed my mind that a round the world ticket could be cheaper but as we would not have the time to spare to use it to its fullest it seems a bit of a waste. Nevertheless I will look into it

We live just outside of Paris...think our nearest airport is CDG but frankly none of the Paris airports are exactly 'close' to us (it takes over an hour to go to any of them)...we normally use the Eurostar to go to the UK. Hence why we would be willing to potentially use other French airports if it worked out cheaper to do so.

I have heard that Qantas are good but haven't heard great things about AirFrance...don't they tend to be more expensive too? Have never heard of JAL - are they any good? Will have a look at Qantas now

Bob_the_Saver

Don't know the prices but look at Air Asia from Paris

richardw

Start pricing up flights from websites to get an idea of prices.

Look at https://www.airlinequality.com for airline reviews.

Qantas and JAL have premium economy for extra space.

agrinnall

Just had a quick look on Opodo for flights in October. For Paris - Tokyo - Sydney - Paris best is BA - Quantas - BA for £1310, which doesn't seem too bad. Starting and finishing in London is about £130 less (the final flight can be either BA or Quantas). Obviously we don't know when you want to go or where in Japan and Australia your friends are so none of that may be suitable for you.

As you say you've never heard of JAL I'm assuming your knowledge of long haul air travel may be limited. If you aren't confident playing with dates, airports, airlines and classes online then going to a travel agent may be a better option for you.

angelil

It's true that I haven't gone long haul for a while (4 years since my last long haul trip) and this is the first time I've ever organised a long haul trip myself, so I won't rule a travel agent out. However, I'm happy enough to play around online and I know there are good deals out there

My friends in Australia are in Werribee, to which I understand the nearest airport may be Melbourne?

We will probably not go until 2012 so plenty of time to play around with dates etc. Sadly being a schoolteacher means I am restricted to peak holiday times (boo hiss): Easter, summer, October...so recognise there is a limit as to how cheaply we will be able to get our air tickets.

I will look up Air Asia as well; thanks

richardw

Melbourne is autumnal at the end of March, so perhaps do a bit of climate research.

hermante

angelil wrote: »

My friends in Australia are in Werribee, to which I understand the nearest airport may be Melbourne?

Correct. But where do you want to go in Japan?

We will probably not go until 2012 so plenty of time to play around with dates etc. Sadly being a schoolteacher means I am restricted to peak holiday times (boo hiss): Easter, summer, October...so recognise there is a limit as to how cheaply we will be able to get our air tickets.

I will look up Air Asia as well; thanks

As this sounds like something you are going to do once in your life, perhaps you should consider spending a bit more money and time. You might as well go in summer so you have months as opposed to weeks, though Australia will be cold. Air Asia is a bit like Ryanair, I wouldn't take it unless I was really short of money, and think about how much you're saving on hotels. Personally I would even go for Business Class if it's not too much extra.

You may want to stick with one airline alliance so you can collect miles, which will be substantial with at least 4 longhaul flights. If you have any credit cards which give miles, you could get enough to upgrade your flights.

There are no direct flights from Japan to Melbourne. So basically you need to stop over. I don't think a triangular route is a good idea in this situation.

The first thing you want to consider is your starting point. I would avoid London as a matter of principle, as 1) you will need to pay in Pounds, with the conversion fees and 2) the extortionate UK Air Passenger Duty which will be £85 per person by the time you go (£170pp for business class).

If you want to take Qantas (possibly get to ride the A380), then you have to start from Frankfurt. You would then book FRA-SIN-MEL-SIN-FRA. Then a return from Singapore (SIN-NRT-SIN) on Japan Airlines, staying with Oneworld.

Other French airports won't work - we are talking longhaul here! Besides Paris you can consider starting from Amsterdam or Zurich, depending on how easy it is for you to get there (probably best overland), the prices, and the airlines you want.

Air Asia flies to Kuala Lumpur from Orly: ORY-KUL-HND-KUL-MEL-KUL-ORY, and it takes you to Haneda airport in Tokyo rather than Narita (the main international one). Frankly, I wouldn't fancy taking 6 long flights in Air Asia unless it was less than half the price of anything else.

Other airlines all fly from De Gaulle. If your friends don't live in Tokyo, a good idea may be Korean Air stopping in Seoul: CDG-ICN-MEL-ICN-CDG. You can get a short flight from Seoul (ICN) on Korean Air directly to most places in Japan.

Alternatively Cathay Pacific stopping in Hong Kong, which also has good links to several Japanese cities. Avoid stopping in other places in China. The other common stopover is Bangkok.

Just to let you know, you will need a (free) online visa for Australia, and you will get fingerprinted when entering Japan. Almost as bad as the US!

All that said, MSE isn't really the best place to ask about air travel. Go to FlyerTalk and they will tell you exactly what to do to maximise your experience if you explain your plans fully.

richardw

hermante wrote: »

Air Asia is a bit like Ryanair, I wouldn't take it

I have been on both short haul airlines, Air Asia is much much better than Ryanair and easyJet. hermante appears to be expressing an uninformed opinion here.

Reviews of Air Asia X http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/airasia_x.htm