Please help me get to Australia this year

sparkiemalarkie

I want to get to Brisbane Australia this year to see my son. I have looked into flights but I'm completely overwhelmed by the variety of routes and airlines.

I have recently 'finished' cancer treatment (6 monthly top ups from here onwards) and will turn 70 late this year.
I will be travelling on my own.

I have 71,000 Avios points and £400 of Nectar points

I would like a bed/sleeper for at least the long part of the trip.
I understand that the weather might be better in September / October time 

Any help would be wonderful.

sx

Voyager2002

A flat seat ("sleeper") would mean flying business class or higher, which is going to be expensive. If you are going to use your Nectar and Avios points for this, you need to spend some learning how to work the system. Remember that Qatar Airways and Iberia also use Avios, and there are complicated ways to transfer points between them. See what you can find out from websites such as Head for Points.

An alternative would be to fly for only eight hours each day and in between spend nights in hotels. For example, you could fly economy on Etihad to Abu Dhabi, where they provide a hotel room free of charge so long as you book directly with them. Then continue your journey with Etihad to Singapore (or possibly Kuala Lumpur, where hotels are cheaper, although it is a bit further from Australia). Stay there long enough to rest, then use a completely separate air ticket to fly onwards to your destination in Australia.

silvercar

Do check your travel insurance.

zagfles

Something I've mentioned here a few times is using the transit hotel in Singapore rather than paying a ridiculous price for a business class bed in a "dorm". You get a private ensuite room which you can book by the hour, not expensive, and the hotel is "airside" so you don't need to collect bags or go through immigration/passport control etc. 

When you look at flights to Brisbane you'll probably see some options with a long transit time in Singapore, maybe 10 hours or so, and if you look at ones arriving in SIN early morning, and the onward flight leaving late afternoon/evening, that's ideal.

Early morning Singapore time is around midnight UK time, so you'll be ready for bed, probably just a few hours after your usual bedtime. You can then have a daytime sleep when it'll feel like nighttime to you, the rooms usually have no windows so it won't seem like daytime. Then you can get up late afternoon for your onward flight, arriving probably early morning QLD time. So you'll have done 2 overnight flights but not have needed to sleep on either of them as you'll have had a good sleep in a private hotel room rather than trying to sleep in a potentially noisy plane dorm with people snoring around you. 

Adds about 10 hours to your travel time but could just mean you arrive early morning instead of late the previous evening so the only time it's cost you in Aus is time you'd be in bed. 

zagfles

Voyager2002 said:

A flat seat ("sleeper") would mean flying business class or higher, which is going to be expensive. If you are going to use your Nectar and Avios points for this, you need to spend some learning how to work the system. Remember that Qatar Airways and Iberia also use Avios, and there are complicated ways to transfer points between them. See what you can find out from websites such as Head for Points.

An alternative would be to fly for only eight hours each day and in between spend nights in hotels. For example, you could fly economy on Etihad to Abu Dhabi, where they provide a hotel room free of charge so long as you book directly with them. Then continue your journey with Etihad to Singapore (or possibly Kuala Lumpur, where hotels are cheaper, although it is a bit further from Australia). Stay there long enough to rest, then use a completely separate air ticket to fly onwards to your destination in Australia.

Far too much hassle and risk, 3 legs with different bookings so no protection if first flight cancelled/delayed, and unless hotels are airside, having to collect bags, go through immigration, security, and do it all twice! Great if you want to see stuff on the way, pointless if you just want to get there. 

I've just had a quick look on the SIA website random dates in Sept/Oct, for £1097 you can go 
16 Sept
LHR 11:25 SIN 07:30
SIN 21:30 BNE 06:55

7 Oct
BNE 14:45 SIN 20:45
SIN 09:00 LHR 15:45

12 hours in Singapore transit hotel around £195 each way so total under £1500 for getting to Aus and back with a sleep in a proper bed in a private room with en-suite facilities, shower etc, no need to collect bags or go through immigration on route. Might be cheaper ways but likely with more risk and hassle. 

SIA are a great airline, standard economy is fine, you get free food and drink, good entertainment system. Unless you're very tall or very fat the seats will likely be fine, if you are tall you could pay a bit extra for extra legroom seats. And loads to do at Changi airport to fill the waking hours.  

Voyager2002

zagfles said:

Voyager2002 said:

A flat seat ("sleeper") would mean flying business class or higher, which is going to be expensive. If you are going to use your Nectar and Avios points for this, you need to spend some learning how to work the system. Remember that Qatar Airways and Iberia also use Avios, and there are complicated ways to transfer points between them. See what you can find out from websites such as Head for Points.

An alternative would be to fly for only eight hours each day and in between spend nights in hotels. For example, you could fly economy on Etihad to Abu Dhabi, where they provide a hotel room free of charge so long as you book directly with them. Then continue your journey with Etihad to Singapore (or possibly Kuala Lumpur, where hotels are cheaper, although it is a bit further from Australia). Stay there long enough to rest, then use a completely separate air ticket to fly onwards to your destination in Australia.

Far too much hassle and risk, 3 legs with different bookings so no protection if first flight cancelled/delayed, and unless hotels are airside, having to collect bags, go through immigration, security, and do it all twice! Great if you want to see stuff on the way, pointless if you just want to get there. 

I've just had a quick look on the SIA website random dates in Sept/Oct, for £1097 you can go 
16 Sept
LHR 11:25 SIN 07:30
SIN 21:30 BNE 06:55

7 Oct
BNE 14:45 SIN 20:45
SIN 09:00 LHR 15:45

12 hours in Singapore transit hotel around £195 each way so total under £1500 for getting to Aus and back with a sleep in a proper bed in a private room with en-suite facilities, shower etc, no need to collect bags or go through immigration on route. Might be cheaper ways but likely with more risk and hassle. 

SIA are a great airline, standard economy is fine, you get free food and drink, good entertainment system. Unless you're very tall or very fat the seats will likely be fine, if you are tall you could pay a bit extra for extra legroom seats. And loads to do at Changi airport to fill the waking hours.  

To clarify: my suggestion was ONE booking as far as Singapore, so minimal risk and not too much hassle. Of course, if the OP is fine with a nonstop flight to Singapore that makes everything much simpler, but it is an extremely long flight.

zagfles

Voyager2002 said:

zagfles said:

Voyager2002 said:

A flat seat ("sleeper") would mean flying business class or higher, which is going to be expensive. If you are going to use your Nectar and Avios points for this, you need to spend some learning how to work the system. Remember that Qatar Airways and Iberia also use Avios, and there are complicated ways to transfer points between them. See what you can find out from websites such as Head for Points.

An alternative would be to fly for only eight hours each day and in between spend nights in hotels. For example, you could fly economy on Etihad to Abu Dhabi, where they provide a hotel room free of charge so long as you book directly with them. Then continue your journey with Etihad to Singapore (or possibly Kuala Lumpur, where hotels are cheaper, although it is a bit further from Australia). Stay there long enough to rest, then use a completely separate air ticket to fly onwards to your destination in Australia.

Far too much hassle and risk, 3 legs with different bookings so no protection if first flight cancelled/delayed, and unless hotels are airside, having to collect bags, go through immigration, security, and do it all twice! Great if you want to see stuff on the way, pointless if you just want to get there. 

I've just had a quick look on the SIA website random dates in Sept/Oct, for £1097 you can go 
16 Sept
LHR 11:25 SIN 07:30
SIN 21:30 BNE 06:55

7 Oct
BNE 14:45 SIN 20:45
SIN 09:00 LHR 15:45

12 hours in Singapore transit hotel around £195 each way so total under £1500 for getting to Aus and back with a sleep in a proper bed in a private room with en-suite facilities, shower etc, no need to collect bags or go through immigration on route. Might be cheaper ways but likely with more risk and hassle. 

SIA are a great airline, standard economy is fine, you get free food and drink, good entertainment system. Unless you're very tall or very fat the seats will likely be fine, if you are tall you could pay a bit extra for extra legroom seats. And loads to do at Changi airport to fill the waking hours.  

To clarify: my suggestion was ONE booking as far as Singapore, so minimal risk and not too much hassle. Of course, if the OP is fine with a nonstop flight to Singapore that makes everything much simpler, but it is an extremely long flight.

But a separate booking from SIN/KL to BNE. That's a big risk considering the likely cost if the first legs are delayed/cancelled and you miss the flight from SIN/KL. Plus even if all goes well, the hassle of collecting bags, going through immigration etc and possibly transport to/from the hotel, then check them back in again the next day. Only worth doing IME if you want to do a stopover for a few days to see SIN/KL on the way. 

LHR to SIN is 13 hours, long but not massively long. There's loads of entertainment, and you aren't tied to your seat, you can get up and stretch your legs, I quite often walk down to the galley for a drink/chat with the staff, or stand at the back and do stretches every so often. 

silvercar

Today's Head for Points article may be of interest:

https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/02/17/use-avios-fly-to-australia-new-zealand/

jimi_man

A lie flat seat to Brisbane is £3300 or so with China Eastern. Unfortunately 70K Avios isn't going to get you very I'm afraid and using part cash/part Avios isn't great value unless you doing the smallest Avios saving. So you're down to getting a cash fare.

If you're prepared to do an ex EU fare, starting from Amsterdam is £2600 or so. Goes via Shanghai and is a lie flat seat on both sectors.

If you can afford the business fare then that's the way I'd go. Economy down to Australia is distinctly unpleasant, whereas with a decent seat the whole trip becomes something to look forward to rather than a chore to be undertaken. 

zagfles

jimi_man said:

A lie flat seat to Brisbane is £3300 or so with China Eastern. Unfortunately 70K Avios isn't going to get you very I'm afraid and using part cash/part Avios isn't great value unless you doing the smallest Avios saving. So you're down to getting a cash fare.

If you're prepared to do an ex EU fare, starting from Amsterdam is £2600 or so. Goes via Shanghai and is a lie flat seat on both sectors.

If you can afford the business fare then that's the way I'd go. Economy down to Australia is distinctly unpleasant, whereas with a decent seat the whole trip becomes something to look forward to rather than a chore to be undertaken. 

That's your opinion, which is fair enough (IIRC you're very tall?), but you're stating it as fact. I've done Aus/NZ several times in economy, and IMO it's not unpleasant at all on a decent airline like SIA, or in fact any flag carrier, eg Qantas, Thai, Malaysian, BA. I've always enjoyed the flight, much more so than a 3 hour Ryanair hop. 

The big downside of economy is getting sleep, when I was younger I'd be fine to sleep in a seat (done it on interrail trips enough as well as flights) but now I want a proper bed for the night, hence I'd use the transit hotel. Which IMO is a far better option than a "sky dorm" as you get a private en suite room with a shower etc. 

Of course if you've got money to burn you could do both! Fly first class/BC and stay in the transit hotel. But personally I have better things to spend money on!

sparkiemalarkie

Thank you all for your suggestions and comments. I have a lot to think about.

I've had a good look at Avios and Nectar and it seems that I don't have enough points anyway.

I now realise that there are a couple of things that would be good..

Flexibility, so if I want to stay longer in Australia then I could change my departure date.
Ease - this is my first trip away on my own for a very long time - if the journey is straight forward then I am more likely to want to do it again in the future.

I am 5'9" so tall-ish
Relatively fit
I will be flying from Heathrow

Are there any airlines worth avoiding / prioritising ?
  tia sx