Please help me get to Australia this year

zagfles

sparkiemalarkie said:

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

I'm 5'11" and am fine in economy seats, I think it's people well over 6 foot who struggle. 

Singapore are the best airline I've flown on, but also done long haul on several of the flag carriers, BA, Air France, Thai, Malaysian, SAS, Qantas, and they've all been fine. Not used any Chinese ones, I think they have a worse reputation. I think American ones tend to charge for food/drink, but you probably won't be using an American one to get to Aus. 

Have a look at the fare terms, long haul flights are quite often amendable, sometimes for a small fee. 

If you're not confident researching yourself you could use a good agent like Trailfinders who specialise in long haul flights, I've not used them for decades but the staff always knew what they were talking about. Don't bother with the usual high street travel agents. 

Voyager2002

Everyone has their own favourite airlines, the choice is very subjective.

In my recent experience, Etihad was a good deal more comfortable than Emirates (both are usually considered to be among the better airlines). And I have had very good experiences in economy on Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

jimi_man

zagfles said:

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!

I'm 6'4 which makes a difference, as I tend to find my knees wedged up against the seat in front of me. For a couple of hours that's ok but for twenty or so it isn't. So I should probably amend my post to 'I find it unpleasant'. 

To be fair the OP asked for advice and stated that he wanted a lie flat seat, hence why I ignored economy seats.

OP
I concur with zagfles assessment of airlines. Any of the big ones are all fine; they might differ slightly in what they offer but not much - despite what you may read about on here or elsewhere. I haven't used the Chinese ones but I think there are reviews on YouTube (look up Non Stop Dan who does a fairly positive review on China Southern).