Australia 2014

Systema_2

The A380 is brilliant - we have travelled on it twice with Emirates to Australia but only 1 leg was on that plane. Did both journeys there and back without a stop over and it was fine and we are not young.

amy85_2

Hi, we went with emirates and they where brilliant but went to Perth. stopped at daubi for 2 hours on both legs. We had 3 children (one 6 months). and they couldn't do any more for us. we got a price from a flight comprassion site. then went to the travel agent as we only needed flight s as my parents live there, they used the same site and actually got it £500 cheaper than us. and got really good flights time etc.... Hope this helps.

ibizafan_2

At the moment, we're leaning towards Singapore Airlines and having a stop off for a couple of days in Singapore on the way back. We could also go with Emirates from Birmingham which is near us, but don't need the extra luggage allowance as we'll be staying with my son some of the time. Is it best to arrive in Australia late evening, or first thing in the morning? Would welcome some opinions on that. I'm thinking from the jet lag point of view, as my son would pick us up whatever the time. Many thanks for all the suggestions. It's really helpful.

zagfles

ibizafan wrote: »

At the moment, we're leaning towards Singapore Airlines and having a stop off for a couple of days in Singapore on the way back. We could also go with Emirates from Birmingham which is near us, but don't need the extra luggage allowance as we'll be staying with my son some of the time. Is it best to arrive in Australia late evening, or first thing in the morning? Would welcome some opinions on that. I'm thinking from the jet lag point of view, as my son would pick us up whatever the time. Many thanks for all the suggestions. It's really helpful.

It really depends how well you think you'll sleep on the plane (or how well you cope without sleep!).

The problem with travelling straight through and arriving in the evening is that the first leg is likely to arrive first thing in the morning at whereever you're changing (probably Singapore/Bangkok), but it will feel like around midnight to you, so you probably won't have slept much if at all on the first leg.

You are then faced with a second leg in the daytime, when the plane will naturally be noisier, more light etc, and you'll need to get some sleep on that otherwise you'll be shattered.

I'd go for a double overnight if travelling straight through with a short changeover. ie leaving UK in the evening, arriving SIN/BKK afternoon, leaving evening and arriving Aus first thing in the morning. It'll be easier to sleep on overnight flights. Then try to stay awake as late as possible once there, though you'll probably be ready for bed at about 6-7pm, after a couple of nights you'll be in the time zone properly.

But I think the ideal way is have a long (~10 hours) layover in Singapore and book the transit hotel as per my PP. (your bags are checked through and you don't need to go through immigration/customs etc).

ibizafan_2

Thanks for that. Exactly the information I wanted, and I will definitely be bearing your input in mind.

albacookie

I visited my sister in Melbourne last year and flew with Qatar - not much good for a stop over but great service and competitive price.
I arrived about 11pm Oz time and went straight to bed and managed to get away with no jet lag at all.

aaron90

I've been on Qantas before on the A380 which was fab stopping off in SIN, only 23kg luggage allowance unlike Emirates. They now stop off in Dubai as they have an alliance with Emirates. Dubai is lovely if you want to see the UAE.

Everynamestaken

I have flown to Aus arriving both in the morning, and the evening.
My advice is flight from the Uk in the evening, and arrive in Aus in the morning. You then stay awake in Brisbane, travel the city on adrenaline, go to sleep at a reasonable time and then wake up the next morning.

Enjoy your holiday.