Aus 2015 with HK stopover. Buy now or wait til Jan

spencer999

Hi folks sorry if this isn't the the right place, but I am going to Brisbane next Feb with the jolly old GF and we are about to get the tickets with Emirates (I think), including a 3 night stop in Hong Kong. The price is about £1250 each BUT that's not the issue, the question is, should we do what my GF wants which is to buy now to avoid any uncertainty about when/where etc etc, or do what my instinct says and leave the money in the bank until say January, and look for the bargains that in theory will be knocking about then? We are flexible on dates within reason and we are going for about 3 weeks. We're staying with friends in Aus.

Are you in the picture now? TA.

candyfliss

Hey,

are you set on travelling with Emirates?
if you are wanting to do your stopover in HK, i would have thought that Cathay Pacific would have been a better / cheaper option?

regarding the price, £1,250 pp does seem quite high to me. I would expect to pay around £700 - 900 pp tbh, certainly if you can be quite flexible.

spencer999

Hi, sorry for not making that clear, not bothered about the airline. Although the cost I mention did include 3 nights in HK in a fancy pants hotel. I have no idea about how much a last minute fare would be or about the availability.

STOP PRESS it was actually Cathay Pacific. I wasn't paying attention. But the airline isn't important.

wildincrawley

Disclaimer: Last time I flew long-haul was 2 years ago.

I always found the cheapest seats were often released about 3 months / 12 weeks before travel, so in your position I would promise GF you will definitely have the tickets 8 weeks before, but buying them now would just be wasting hundreds of pounds.

I used to check Skyscanner and Travelocity once a week, then once I had the best dates and prices check direct with the airline. Oh and just once a travel agent beat the best price I found, but that was for package with hotel (so may be good for your situation).

"Last minute fares" always seemed to be a complete lottery.

Just my opinion!

Nile

Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

I’ve moved your thread from the ‘I wanna’ board to the ‘Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning’ board, where it is better suited.

Regards

Nile

Mr_Wang

wildincrawley wrote: »

Disclaimer: Last time I flew long-haul was 2 years ago.

I always found the cheapest seats were often released about 3 months / 12 weeks before travel, so in your position I would promise GF you will definitely have the tickets 8 weeks before, but buying them now would just be wasting hundreds of pounds.

I used to check Skyscanner and Travelocity once a week, then once I had the best dates and prices check direct with the airline. Oh and just once a travel agent beat the best price I found, but that was for package with hotel (so may be good for your situation).

"Last minute fares" always seemed to be a complete lottery.

Just my opinion!

Unfortunately whilst this used to be true, it no longer is.

Book a return to Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur or even Singapore and then take a Jet Star/Tiger down to Brisbane.

A quick look shows:

3 weeks in Feb with Turkish airlines to Hong Kong return is £454

Return from Hong Kong to Brisbane is £320

That's a saving of £950 across both your flights. Spend a bit longer looking and you will save even more.

littlereddevil

wildincrawley wrote: »

Disclaimer: Last time I flew long-haul was 2 years ago.

I always found the cheapest seats were often released about 3 months / 12 weeks before travel, so in your position I would promise GF you will definitely have the tickets 8 weeks before, but buying them now would just be wasting hundreds of pounds.

I used to check Skyscanner and Travelocity once a week, then once I had the best dates and prices check direct with the airline. Oh and just once a travel agent beat the best price I found, but that was for package with hotel (so may be good for your situation).

"Last minute fares" always seemed to be a complete lottery.

Just my opinion!

I have to disagree. I regularly fly long haul and always get cheaper flights by booking early

Mr_Wang

littlereddevil wrote: »

I have to disagree. I regularly fly long haul and always get cheaper flights by booking early

I too regularly fly long haul and I'll disagree with that ^^

Depends completely on the route, time of year, amount of bookings already, class etc etc etc

Best advice is to find a price that suits you, pay it and then don't look again.

Alan_Bowen

You potentially have two problems, fares are highest between December and Easter and February has school half term when the fares can be even higher and possiblyeven Chinese New Year when Cathay Pacific can sell seats out of Hong Kong for any price. My view would be that leaving it to January in your situation you would almost certainly pay a great deal more

ibizafan_2

We are flying to Brisbane in September and booked with Singapore Airlines when it was the New Year sale. We paid around £850 return including a stopover in Singapore, which we were happy with. I would not be happy paying over £1000.

Alan_Bowen

It is pointless to compare travelling off peak with fares you are seeing for peak-peak season. Chinese New Year 2015 is 19th February, slap bang in the middle of the English Half Term, if you must travel via HK you will pay for it, if you want to travel via Dubai or other destinations, it might be slightly cheaper but the school holidays affect all fares on all airlines.