Flight to Oz - is it worth paying extra £££ for 'well known' airlines?

Westin

If the OP is prepared to fly out of Gatwick rather than Heathrow the Virgin-Atlantic option opens up at about £1170 (just under the BA cost). Well worth considering in my opinion.

Virgin Atlantic fly the route from Heathrow, not Gatwick.

VS200/1 routes LHR/HKG/SYD/HKG/LHR.

I doubt however they would be any cheaper that the options suggested for Emirates/Malaysian/China Eastern

richardw

There's also Virgin Australia from Heathrow with Etihad.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Westin wrote: »

Virgin Atlantic fly the route from Heathrow, not Gatwick.

VS200/1 routes LHR/HKG/SYD/HKG/LHR.

I doubt however they would be any cheaper that the options suggested for Emirates/Malaysian/China Eastern

Sorry, my mistake. :doh:

totallybored

jacques_chirac wrote: »

But they do still have code shares via HKG.

I like the shell seats, because I hate people reclining into 'my' space. However I am in a distinct minority, hence why they are reverting back to the more traditional style.

I liked the shell seats too! I found economy in them far more bearable than regular economy seats. Don't understand why people don't like them.

Personally, I choose flights on price and flight times. All economy seats tend to be pretty much the same (apart from the Cathay shell ones that I prefer) and I don't care how grumpy the crew are. I did fly Asiana last year and their seat pitch seemed much more generous in economy but I don't know if this is the same for all types of aircraft.

richardw

totallybored wrote: »

...All economy seats tend to be pretty much the same

…..(apart from the Cathay shell ones that I prefer) …

I did fly Asiana last year and their seat pitch seemed much more generous in economy ...

Thanks for highlighting some differences.

There's a lot of airlines on routes between the UK and Sydney, it is well worth checking https://www.seatguru.com to look at the differences on preferred airlines before booking and also checking https://www.airlinequality.com

martindow

steelframedhouse wrote: »

They're the cheapest but... althought the flight on the way there takes 25h 20 it takes 42h 40 on the way back due to a 20 hour stopover. I'm not sure that warrants the saving of £250, but saying that I could do something fun with that £250 in Oz!

Isn't a 20 hour stopover rather good with such a long journey? Stay in a hotel, sleep, recover have a decent meal and carry on with the trip.

bylromarha

martindow wrote: »

Isn't a 20 hour stopover rather good with such a long journey? Stay in a hotel, sleep, recover have a decent meal and carry on with the trip.

I'd hate that - when in travelling mode, I need to travel and get on with it. Don't want to recover mid journey - just want to get home!

steelframedhouse

bylromarha wrote: »

I'd hate that - when in travelling mode, I need to travel and get on with it. Don't want to recover mid journey - just want to get home!

Me too!

My dilemna has changed though... suddenly there are non-flexible ie no cancelling/amending flights on the Singapore website at just £890 so saving £240 on the Singapore flights I was leaning towards.

The only snag is that there's a 7 hr layover on the way but I understand Singapore is a great airport.

Any ideas why these flights are suddenly available? Before there were just two fare options 'flexi saver' and 'flexi' whereas now there's also 'super deals' and 'sweet deals'. The two new addditions aren't flexible so I might lose the whole £900 if I end up not being able to go but a sub £900 on Singapore with A380's on 3 of the legs looks a good deal?

Gloomendoom

steelframedhouse wrote: »

Me too!

My dilemna has changed though... suddenly there are non-flexible ie no cancelling/amending flights on the Singapore website at just £890 so saving £240 on the Singapore flights I was leaning towards.

The only snag is that there's a 7 hr layover on the way but I understand Singapore is a great airport.

Any ideas why these flights are suddenly available? Before there were just two fare options 'flexi saver' and 'flexi' whereas now there's also 'super deals' and 'sweet deals'. The two new addditions aren't flexible so I might lose the whole £900 if I end up not being able to go but a sub £900 on Singapore with A380's on 3 of the legs looks a good deal?

Seven hours at Changi airport is no hardship, believe me! The place is like a five star hotel... cinemas, swimming pools etc. Depending on your flight times, with a seven hour lay over you could also do the free Singapore tour bus trip.

undetterred

Obviously_the_best wrote: »

Why on earth has no one recommended Asiana yet. They're a brilliant airline. Skytrax rated 5*, that's higher than Emirates.

If they're the cheapest, then you're in luck.

http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/asiana.htm

They have a habit of landing short of the runway