Flying to Australia without a stopover

Engadine

Last time I went to Sydney we flew outbound with BA via Bangkok and inbound with Qantas via Singapore. The outbound without a stopover was fine, we had an hour in Bangkok then on to Sydney. I can sleep anywhere and did sleep a lot of the way. Next time I go I would be quite happy not to stopover on the outbound journey.

However the inbound journey last time was awful 13 hours from Singapore to Heathrow, I lost the will to live! I would never do the return again without a stopover

SarahLou22

I have family in Perth and so the incentive to get over is probably a little more than if you are travelling for a holiday and so we always do the whole thing in one go.

To be honest we did once have a stop over for one night and it simply wasn't worth it (it was a freebie) as ther wasn't time to do/see anything and the time difference was just confusing!

I am lucky that i can sleep anywhere, however it would be interesting to know how far your wife has previously flown? My b/f had only flown 4hrs before and we recently flew what i would class as long haul (14hrs+) and he was amazed at the difference in the plane/quality of service/entertainment etc. Does she know what she can expect? Hopefully she will be pleasantly suprised It may be worth showing her some of the "extras" they put on for long haul and if she is as geeky as me the plans of the plane/menus etc. Final
trick maybe to spend some of the £500 saved on a treat for her to make the trip more bearable (pashmina, nice face cream, foot cream etc)
Have a lovely trip

redalligator_2

We flew Emirates economy 'non-stop' Birmingham - Melbourne via a two hour stop-over in Dubai in January. Very tough, particularly on the way out. The cheapest option was a Friday night departure from UK which arrived 07:15 Sunday morning in OZ. Thankfully our hotel had a room free so we could check-in at 09:00, otherwise I don't know what we would have done (worth checking ...).

We were totally shattered. Really not recommenced. The 14 hour flight Dubai - Melbourne was hell as we were totally jet-lagged arriving from the UK before the flight even took off!

My advice would be to try to find a early afternoon departure from the UK which arrives evening time in OZ. You can then crash out in a hotel & wake-up the next day feeling vaguely human.

The flight back on the same route was much better. We left Melbourne at eight in the evening Saturday, arrived Dubai early morning Sunday & then got to Birmingham midday. This seemed much easier on the body.

Emirates economy was cheap but the seating is awful. The multi-media screen box is under the seat in front & seriously compromises leg-room.

Altho' the January flights were grim we are planning to spend Xmas back in OZ as we had a wonderful time earlier this year. With a bit more careful planning on timing, the 'non-stop' routing needn't be such hell. Also I really don't see the point of paying money to stay one night at a stop-over; I would rather reach OZ as quickly as possible & then spend the money enjoying myself there.

Have a great trip ...

nearlyrich

We did Manchester via Dubai (changed plane)and Singapore (just a touch down less than one hour) to Melbourne (1 hour refuel stop) and on to Auckland without a "proper" stopover. We flew economy with Emirates and it was OK, in fact better than the Oz flight with a one day stopover in Singapore. I don't sleep well on planes DH can sleep anywhere....

kazrem

I would really recommend phoning up or visiting Austravel - they have branches, phone centre, and online site - although I'm very good at using online flight finders, I managed to put together an awesome flight with them that negated buying a round-the-world ticket when I took a year off travelling. Got a basic UK-Oz return, but with a stopover in each direction, and two free flights within Australia, which I then managed to push further by 'open-jawing' parts of the ticket (e.g. flew into Bangkok for a stopover that lasted a month, and flew onwards to Australia from Singapore not Bangkok, spending the month to travel independently between the two cities; flew in and out of different Australian cities). The agents there were very helpful, and great at cutting the cost down.
That ticket was a British Airways-Qantas "Dreamtime" ticket. Not sure if they'll do them over Christmas, but if not, often good deals crop up over summer/in September too - like £699 to Melbourne via South Korea with Malaysian/Air Korea...
Also see https://www.kayak.co.uk - register free and you get to choose flights with a bit of date flexibility.
My main reccommendation though - speak to Austravel! Good luck and happy travelling/hunting...
Oh, and the journey without a long stopover is long - 24-26 hours total - but providing you have enough things to entertain you I think its bearable, especially flying as a couple rather than alone. Unfortunately its just one of those things you have to deal with if you want to travel out to Oz (I have family there, so a 24hour journey is a necessary evil!). I think, though, as the journey IS that long, its more than worth stopping over, just for the chance to see a different part of the world en route!

Nobjocki

dmg24 wrote: »

If she has problems with flying, a sympathetic GP may be able to prescrible her something to help her get some sleep? Obviously I would only recommend this option with the full agreement of the GP, I would not try to source medication elsewhere.

If the GP isn't responsive buy some over-the-counter anti-histhamines - specifically the ones that say on the box " These will make you drowsy ! "

Bob63

The key thing is the time of day of the flights and the length of the stopover.

My best ever flight to Australia was my first which involved a through the night flight to Tokyo on BA which landed in the morning local time followed by a daylight flight to Sydney on Quantas which got me there in the evening around 9:00pm. By that time I was ready for a very long sleep but my body clock wasn't too messed up because I had done a full day in the air on the way down from Tokyo.

My last flight there had terrible timing - although I flew all the sectors in Virgin Upper Class which helped. The London-Hong Kong flight left UK at 21:30 and gets into Hong Kong the next evening. Then you take off late evening from Hong Kong landing in Sydney at 7:30. Two back to back night time flights plays havoc with your body clock.

A change in itinerary meant my flight home was even worse as I did Perth-Sydney-Hong Kong-London without any stopover, just time to grab a meal and a shower in the lounge. I did get three massages in flight though!

Mike

duchy

If your wife is a poor flyer then there is something to be said for getting it all over with in one go.
I did the straight through with just an hour to stretch my legs. Wasn't too bad on the way out-I took a chill out day to recover before starting touring though but coming back was rougher-(didn't help I arrived Sunday am and has to be back at work Monday-try and have 2 days before going back to work if you can) but I didn't sleep at all. If you can sleep then it's OK .
For the price difference you have I'd bite the bullet and fly direct.

CockneyBrum

Got back yesterday from Australia and I can tell you first hand that Qantas probably has the worst seat pitch of any airline I've experienced. Not fun on a 12-and-a-half hour flight! To be fair, the service was good though and they kept you topped up with water and soft drinks throughout the night. Try to get the two "love seats" down the back of the aircraft if you can. It's horrible trying to clamber over people if you're stuck in the middle and have a weak bladder. www.seatguru.com can help you with this.

I would recommend Tokyo as a good stop-off, as the BA flight to here from London seemed a bit more roomy and the service was great.

Biggest shocker was how amazing Singapore airport is. It's gadget heaven at duty free prices. Oh yes, and it has a rooftop swimming pool, cinemas, live cabaret in the many bars and even areas you get go to sleep, live Premiership football and a multitude of free internet kiosks with printers attached. If you stop over for more than 5 hours they even give you a free sightseeing tour of the city! This airport should be a benchmark for everyone else, it's just incredible. Even the Qantas steward described it as a "shopping mall disguised as an airport terminal". I was actually sad to leave to get on the flight!

Also I would recommend keeping an eye on your itinerary if you choose Qantas. Our final flight from Frankfurt to Birmingham was changed by BA from a morning flight to an evening one. This would have meant a 14 hour stopover in Frankfurt - longer than the actual flight from the Far East! In the end we cut our losses and booked another £1 flight with Lufthansa so we got back earlier than we would have done previously.

Have a great trip - Australia is a truly amazing country and the people are fantastic.

buxtonrabbitgreen

I would love to go again but I would want to be time warped. I too went from Birmingham which meant a 4 hour stopover in Frnakfurt both ways. But it did give me time to catch up on the nicotine.
By the time we had disenbarked at Singapore there was only 40 mins off the plane.
I had never flown for more than 2 hours and it seemed like forever to me.
I went on my own and got stuck in an inside seat beside a couple who , luckily for them slept the whole time.
I spent hours at a time just watching the flight path to see how much further it was.
Having said all that, the only way I would be able to go again is economy. So would do it.
Just to add to the travel time, I went on the INdian Pacific railway from Sydney to Adelaide another 15 hour journey. However I did have 7 hours after landing before this left.
I think as I am rudely awoken by the alarm clock at 4.30 am every day I am quite good at cat napping when ever I get the chance. So didn't end up with jet lag either way.