Booking Flights - Long Distance & Extra Legroom Advice?

PowerHandle

Hi, 

I'm looking to book flights next year to Australia, late September/early October. The idea is to be ready to book the moment the flights become available.

I've never booked flights before, and I want to make sure I can get the extra legroom seats - at 6' 6" getting any available extra bit of comfort matters. I'm stuck with booking economy seats, wish I could upgrade but for 4 of us its just too expensive. From what I've read Emirates and Singapore Airlines are both a good bet for being relatively comfortable, are there any other carriers worth looking at? Singapore also seem one of the quickest on average, with 22-24hr flight times. I've been looking at skyscanner for flights and details.

On top of this, what's generally the best way/most beneficial/safest way to pay? No idea about protections or air miles etc. 

Thanks in advance.

tacpot12

Paying by credit card is the best way. This makes your card provider jointly liable to provide you with the flights you have booked. 

My step-son is on his way to Australia today by coincidence, on Qatar Airways. He booked direct with BA, as the flights are code-share flights. Qatar charge for seat bookings if you buy the cheapest fares. The cost was 12-60 USD per person per flight. Booking direct cost about £80 more, but the extra seemed worth it to have direct contact with the airline.

He was impressed with how plush the A380 was, but hasn't landed in Doha yet, so don't know his thoughts on the 787 Dreamliner. I'm hoping to go to Aus. in June next year and had already identified Singapore as my preferred airline, and also hope to book a quite quickly.

You have to book your flights before you can see what seats are available, so it's a bit pot luck, but booking early should give you the pick of the best seats. I always look for where the babies might be on the flight as I find that the crying of some babies makes it difficult for me to relax or sleep.  The seats with "sky-cots" are marked on the seating plan. On Qatar Airways there are some "Premium" seats that don't have any extra legroom, but are forward of the engines so will be quieter. Check the restrictions on who can occupy any Exit row seats if you plan to book these. You might have to put some younger travellers in the seats behind you. 

You might find this website useful: Airline Seat Maps, Flights shopping and Flight information- Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru

eskbanker

PowerHandle said:

On top of this, what's generally the best way/most beneficial/safest way to pay? No idea about protections or air miles etc.

Buying with a credit card offers section 75 protection, but only if you book direct with the airline rather than using an agent, whereas either a credit or debit card will also give the option of chargeback, further details on both at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases/

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/airline-credit-cards/ outlines options for rewards.

On your main point, everyone will have their own opinions about which long-haul airlines are 'best' - flight timings are readily accessible but I don't know where to find objective comparative data on seat pitch for the extra legroom seats....

PowerHandle

Thanks both for the info so far. 

Regarding booking, I'm planning to be there for 4 weeks, so I guess I have to wait for my return flight date to come available before I book the trip?

Westin

PowerHandle said:

Thanks both for the info so far. 

Regarding booking, I'm planning to be there for 4 weeks, so I guess I have to wait for my return flight date to come available before I book the trip?

Correct. At least to get the more affordable return ticket fares.

Voyager2002

PowerHandle said:

Hi, 

I'm looking to book flights next year to Australia, late September/early October. The idea is to be ready to book the moment the flights become available.

I've never booked flights before, and I want to make sure I can get the extra legroom seats - at 6' 6" getting any available extra bit of comfort matters. I'm stuck with booking economy seats, wish I could upgrade but for 4 of us its just too expensive. From what I've read Emirates and Singapore Airlines are both a good bet for being relatively comfortable, are there any other carriers worth looking at? Singapore also seem one of the quickest on average, with 22-24hr flight times. I've been looking at skyscanner for flights and details.

On top of this, what's generally the best way/most beneficial/safest way to pay? No idea about protections or air miles etc. 

Thanks in advance.

You should book directly with the airline rather than through an agent. Use sites like Skyscanner to see what is available, but go directly to the airline site to buy your tickets.

Note that many of the seats on Emirate's 777s are rather cramped: you are likely to be a good deal more comfortable on the Airbus 'planes they operate.

Most of the airlines based in the Middle East are as good as Emirates: Qatar has a good reputation, while I have fairly recent experience of Oman, who are also reasonably good.

You MIGHT be able to find affordable business-class tickets on the likes of Saudi, particularly if you are willing to begin your journey in Dublin or Paris.

If you anticipate fairly large expenditure between now and when you buy your tickets, it might be worth getting an American Express card and earning some of their Membership Rewards points. You can exchange these for points in most airline Frequent Flyer schemes, and use these points to pay to upgrade at least part of your journey.

newretiree

When I looked at flights with Singapore Airlines the other day, you could access the seat map and choose seats after you entered your details but before you paid.  

k3lvc

Voyager2002 said:

You should book directly with the airline rather than through an agent. Use sites like Skyscanner to see what is available, but go directly to the airline site to buy your tickets.

This, this and thrice this - adding a middle man into the equation adds all sorts of risk and complexity when you have specific requirements - do your research and then book direct

daveyjp

Convenience costs money, so if you are prepared to be inconvenienced by taking longer sgnificant savings can be made.

Two leg haul direct from UK is expensive.  Three leg via a European airport may not be so, especially if you book with airlines in the same Alliance.

https://www.flightsfrom.com/a/airline-alliances

As an example I priced Manchester Sydney with Singapore in November and it was close to £9k return in business, compared to about £1800 in economy.

Manchester Sydney with Finnair to Helsinki and Singapore to Sydney £3,500 in business.  Finnair is in an alliance with Cathay Pacific so via Hong Kong may be cheaper.

Also consider premium economy if leg room is key.

Sandtree

k3lvc said:

Voyager2002 said:

You should book directly with the airline rather than through an agent. Use sites like Skyscanner to see what is available, but go directly to the airline site to buy your tickets.

This, this and thrice this - adding a middle man into the equation adds all sorts of risk and complexity when you have specific requirements - do your research and then book direct

On the flip side, a good agent can be worth their weight in gold.

Wife and a friend was going on a trip for business, of sorts, and the airline cancelled in the morning about 2 hours before the time to leave to get to the airport. Friend had booked direct with the airline and at the time of original take off they still hadn't managed to get through to the airline. We had got through to the agent that had changed our booking to another airline at the original airline's expense that left 5 minutes later than the original planned time and enabled her to get to the place on time. 

An agent does break S75 (really it changes it but still) however S75 isn't the silver bullet that many mistakenly think it is (see number of posts on here about flights that have flown but people have been unable to go due to Covid and they believe its a S75 claim). 


To the OP - Japan Airlines (not Nippon) are always highly rated for Economy - Nippon/ANA are also well regarded but not been in economy with either personally.

k3lvc

Sandtree said:

k3lvc said:

Voyager2002 said:

You should book directly with the airline rather than through an agent. Use sites like Skyscanner to see what is available, but go directly to the airline site to buy your tickets.

This, this and thrice this - adding a middle man into the equation adds all sorts of risk and complexity when you have specific requirements - do your research and then book direct

On the flip side, a good agent can be worth their weight in gold.

OK - was specifically referencing Skyscanner (any by default Opodo/Kayak etc) vs a true 'agent' who has your interests at heart