Where to buy flights to Sydney with stopovers?

Gloomendoom

isie1980 wrote: »

Flying nannies sounds like a great idea. Totally agree re the separate cabin or creche though. I just hope they kind of entertain each other!

Hubby said last night he isn't bothered about stopping on the way out as he just wants to get there, so I will look at the various airlines options.

I'm wondering whether to forget Dubai for now and see the family for a separate holiday later on in the year. Everything is very flexible except the need to be in Sydney for easter weekend!

I'm very grateful for all the suggestions and I have a few different options to look into which is great as I just didn't know where to start!

We've stopped over on the way there and on the way back. I actually prefer on the way there as I usually want to get back home as soon as possible. In some ways on the way back makes a bit more sense as there isn't usually such a time difference to get used to so you may get more out of your stay. We once missed a whole say in Singapore on the way out because we just didn't wake up until the late afternoon.

Kuala Lumpur is a lot cheaper than Singapore for just about everything although, if you eat where the locals eat, Singapore can be very reasonable for food.

richardw

tadgh_99 wrote: »

...... a complaint about duty of care as my sister in law was left in Abu Dhabi overnight (due to Etihads flight being delayed from Heathrow) and nobody from Etihad took the slightest bit of notice or did anything to help...and this was for single female travelling on her own..

Did your sister in law have a contingency plan in case of delays and/or cancellations?

tadgh_99

richardw wrote: »

Did your sister in law have a contingency plan in case of delays and/or cancellations?

I don't want to hi-jack someone elses thread, but...what sort of contingency would she need?

We planned the flights for her. We allowed a 3 hour gap from the arrival of her flight to the departure of her connecting one. The flight from Heathrow left 3hrs 15mins late. Etihad even announced to the flight that connecting flights would be held back to accommodate passengers on their onward leg. But her connecting flight left on time.

Etihad just didn't want to know. It wasn't until we intervened (5 hours worth of phone calls from our hotel to the manchester call centre) that they accepted they had to do something and put her on an Air Berlin flight to Phuket (a 3 hour taxi ride to her intended destination of Krabi).

Considering this is a major airline, what other contingencies could have been put in place? Maybe book a hotel in the stop over country?

The delay was caused by them and they had a duty of care to her.

I'm not even going to start about the customer service issues we had for our trips.

Doshwaster

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Kuala Lumpur is a lot cheaper than Singapore for just about everything although, if you eat where the locals eat, Singapore can be very reasonable for food.

Personally, I find KL to be fairly dull compared to Singapore and Bangkok but it is excellent value for hotels and eating out (especially in the night markets). The only thing which is expensive is alcohol as it is a Muslim country.

eamon

If you have a few hours waiting at one of your stopovers then I recommend paying for an excutive lounge. The price normally includes the use of showers, food and drink. Much better than wandering around a huge airport.