Business Class flight to Australia.

zagfles

ibizafan wrote: »

I was being a bit flippant about the free airport transfer, as obviously that would be the least of my considerations. My main problem is that I can never sleep on a plane, and consequently arrive in Australia shattered, so was wondering if it would be worth treating myself to the upgrade just to get some rest and more comfort. I will be 64 by then and there will only be me as my OH wouldn't be coming with me, so can sort of justify the extra cost.

When we went to NZ we went economy on SIA and booked a night (or rather day) in the transit hotel in Singapore - there was no need to sleep on either flight.

Not sure if Dubai has a "transit hotel" but might be worth looking into, or a stopover if not. Is it really worth paying £2000 for a "bed" in a "dorm" which seems to be the main thing you're paying for, when you could have a stopover and get a private en-suite room for a tiny fraction of the price?

Unless you're in a hurry to get there and can't spare 8 hours or so en route it's a no-brainer IMO!

ibizafan_2

Actually Zagfles, that is a really good idea and one that I will be looking into as an alternative.

zagfles

ibizafan wrote: »

Actually Zagfles, that is a really good idea and one that I will be looking into as an alternative.

It worked really well when we did it.

Got a flight at about 1400 from LHR arriving in SIN at about 1000 local time, 0300 UK time. Didn't sleep on the flight so ready for bed when we got there - booked about 9 hours in the transit hotel (you book it by the hour so a daytime booking is no problem). Cost about £100 IIRC for a room for 4 (but SIA were offering transit vouchers at the time so we got it almost free). Quiet en-suite room with no windows so you didn't know it was daytime. Great night's (or rather day's) sleep.

Woke up about 1800 local time (1100 UK time), onto the flight to AKL at 2100 which arrived about 1000. Again no need to sleep on the flight as we'd just had a good 8 hours sleep in a proper bed in a quiet, dark, private room. Spent most of the flight watching movies - SIA had an excellent selection inc recent releases.

Was a bit weird on the SIN-AKL leg when they were serving dinner with wine when we'd just got up and wanted breakfast with coffee!

Really helped with the jetlag as well - first night in NZ we went to bed around 1900, couple more early nights and we were well into the new time zone.

richardw

Similarly you could get the 9.40am Emirates flight from BHX to Dubai, then stay in a hotel, then get the morning flight from Dubai to Perth, then stay in a hotel, then get a flight to Brisbane.

zagfles

richardw wrote: »

Similarly you could get the 9.40am Emirates flight from BHX to Dubai, then stay in a hotel, then get the morning flight from Dubai to Perth, then stay in a hotel, then get a flight to Brisbane.

Do they have transit hotels - ie airside like in SIN? Bit of a PITA if you have to collect luggage, go through immigration etc. In SIN you are airside all the time and bags are checked through.

Just checked for next Sept LHR-BNE on SIA, following looks good to me:
LHR 11:25 - SIN 07:30
SIN 21:30 - BNE 07:05

Longish layover but there's lots to do at Changi to fill the time once you've had enough sleep.

£728 in economy, plus maybe £50-100 for the transit hotel. Even if you add a limosine from Birmingham to LHR, a luxury hotel near LHR and an expensive meal with champagne there'll be plenty of change from £3000 And likely a far better night's sleep than trying to sleep on the plane in whatever class - people snore more if they're lying down! I never slept well in dorms.

littlereddevil

Yes there is a transit hotel in Dubai

1trainer1

zagfles wrote: »

Do they have transit hotels - ie airside like in SIN? Bit of a PITA if you have to collect luggage, go through immigration etc. In SIN you are airside all the time and bags are checked through.

Just checked for next Sept LHR-BNE on SIA, following looks good to me:
LHR 11:25 - SIN 07:30
SIN 21:30 - BNE 07:05

Longish layover but there's lots to do at Changi to fill the time once you've had enough sleep.

£728 in economy, plus maybe £50-100 for the transit hotel. Even if you add a limosine from Birmingham to LHR, a luxury hotel near LHR and an expensive meal with champagne there'll be plenty of change from £3000 And likely a far better night's sleep than trying to sleep on the plane in whatever class - people snore more if they're lying down! I never slept well in dorms.

Yes they do, if you can find a good travel agent tell them you want to do the Singapore stopover package which is cheap transit hotels

PeacefulWaters

silvercar wrote: »

Start saving Avios or some other frequent flyer programme and book reward tickets.

How long do you think it would take to build up that level of Avios?

And have you ever tried booking business class seats to Australia via Avios? Availability is virtually nil unless you get online at 1am 355 days ahead of the flight.

fifeken

As you can afford it, and you're 64 already so not long to go ( ), think of the Business Class experience as part of the overall trip. Enjoy the whole trip from leaving your front door to arriving in Brisbane.


That doesn't necessarily exclude transit hotel(s), but does include going Business Class.


Even Martin's Money Mantras - Will I use it? and Is it worth it? allow it, so don't get hung up on the MSE side of things.

PeacefulWaters

Shame you missed out on this £1,084 fare.

http://www.headforpoints.com/2016/11/28/garuda-australia-1111/