HELP! Flights to Australia

Flopper_2

I'm going to visit my mate in Melbourne at the end of Dec/start of July
and I need some help with getting the flights booked as I'm pretty clueless when it comes to long haul flights.

Should I look to book asap or are there deals to be had if I hold off ?
A travel agent told me the price will just keep going up and up the longer I leave it and I've probably already cost myself a fair wedge by not having it booked already. On the other hand I've heard people saying you can get deals with six weeks to go before the flights but I'm not sure if it's worth the risk.

Am I better dealing direct with an airline for smoothness of journey connections etc even though it will cost around £400 more ?

I got a quote from a company called the flight centre of £1240 which I thought was pretty good but my Melbourne mate says to tread carefully and get guarantees over certain things like who will be liable if any connections are missed or what would happen if for whatever reason I was unable to travel on the dates I had booked.
My mate seems to think if there are more than one airline involved in my journey that missing a connection could complicate things but the person I spoke with at the Flight Centre said that would not be the case unless it was my own fault that I missed a connection.

How often and by how much do the flight prices generally jump up ? as I'm worried that I am going to cost myself a small fortune if I dilly-dally for too long.

Finally who are the best airlines to travel to Australia with and can the choice of Airline make a really big difference to the long journey ?

Thanks in advance if anyone can help

Flopper

NiftyDigits

End of December/start of July??

Yes, it's likely prices will keep going up, but £1240 seems a bit much. £750 is closer to the mark for the end of December.

Which date range/for how long?

NiftyDigits

Cheaper via a travel agent, but with more restrictive conditions.

If it is really a twelve month ticket for which you search, not everyone has released their schedules for flights returning in July.

Flopper_2

NiftyDigits wrote: »

End of December/start of July??

Yes, it's likely prices will keep going up, but £1240 seems a bit much. £750 is closer to the mark for the end of December.

Which date range/for how long?

I finish up work on the 28th Dec so anytime after that then I dont go back to work till the 25th Feb so would probably fly home sometime around the 18th - 20th of Feb

Meant to say I live in Scotland so it would be Glasgow or Edinburgh airport maybe that's why my quote was more expensive.

NiftyDigits

London:

Your quote is too high, even for Scotland.

Edinburgh:

richardw

Check the reviews for Royal Brunei and China Southern https://www.airlinequality.com before booking.

callum9999

I was dreading my flight with Royal Brunei after reading the reviews (it was a £399 return fare to Brisbane, so even if it was Ryanair-standard I would have happily gone along regardless!) but it was really good.

The aircraft was a bit dated, but they were the most comfortable seats I've ever been in on an aircraft. They looked old but they were really soft and springy - almost like an armchair. The AVOD was more than adequate and the food was reasonably nice (Etihad had an obssession with serving green beans for every meal when I flew with them - even breakfast!).

The only thing I hated was the transit in Brunei (it's a tiny room with a cafe and duty free shop) and again in Dubai (the flight from Brunei to Heathrow and vice versa stops in Dubai, where you have to take all your stuff off, go through security, then go back to the same plane again) - but even that had the added benefit of breaking the journey up into 3 7-8hr flights. Oh, and it's a dry airline - but I tend not to drink on flights anyway, don't really see the point!

Voyager2002

callum9999 wrote: »

I was dreading my flight with Royal Brunei after reading the reviews (it was a £399 return fare to Brisbane, so even if it was Ryanair-standard I would have happily gone along regardless!) but it was really good.

The aircraft was a bit dated, but they were the most comfortable seats I've ever been in on an aircraft. They looked old but they were really soft and springy - almost like an armchair. The AVOD was more than adequate and the food was reasonably nice (Etihad had an obssession with serving green beans for every meal when I flew with them - even breakfast!).

The only thing I hated was the transit in Brunei (it's a tiny room with a cafe and duty free shop) and again in Dubai (the flight from Brunei to Heathrow and vice versa stops in Dubai, where you have to take all your stuff off, go through security, then go back to the same plane again) - but even that had the added benefit of breaking the journey up into 3 7-8hr flights. Oh, and it's a dry airline - but I tend not to drink on flights anyway, don't really see the point!

Another vote for Royal Brunei, although it is many years since I last used them. A long stop-over in Brunei is actually a plus: it is cheap and easy to take a bus from the airport into town, and there are lots of interesting things to see and do there.

Flopper_2

NiftyDigits - What site is the screen grab from ?

NiftyDigits

Kayak/Lastminute.com

jpsartre

That fare is not actually available on Lastminute (a common issue with that site IME). The cheapest flight they have from EDI is £1160.

Unless there's a ton of money to be saved, I would personally always book straight from the airline. Much less hassle if something goes wrong along the way.

Only the dodgiest 3rd party booker would book you on separate tickets with the airline having no responsibility of getting you to your destination in case of a missed connection. If you book from the airline in a single booking, everything will be one ticket and they will take care of you if something goes wrong on your trip. Doesn't matter if it involves different airlines.

As far as what happens should you be unable to travel, the cheapest fares are usually non-refundable and expensive to change (if they even can be changed). Will almost certainly be cheaper to get travel insurance for those sort of events rather than buying a flexible ticket.