glenmore_saveloy

Planning a jolly to Oz with the clan of four. Eyeing up our options, departing from the wilds of Inverness. Surprisingly, every permutation seems to hit the wallet equally hard.

But, there's some good news, we can leverage BAH to snag a rental car and notch up those tier points.

Flying J on the way out all the way to SYD - return in Y but having a few days in SIN on the way back. (this is the one I am leaning towards)

Flying out W direct to SYD and returning in W.

Flying out W to SIN then W to SYD and same break on the way back, again in W.

Flying out J to SIN then Y to SYD (on SQ as it's a day flight) and same on the way back Y on SQ then J on BA,

What are people's thoughts on W to SYD? How is the cabin for sleeping (it would be BA15 so the 777) the SIN option is the A380.

Another option is AY from EDI - obviously losing the BAH bonus but is their W product any better than BA (also about 20% cheaper than BA)?

Cymro

When are you thinking of travelling? I have my own ideas but it'll depend on when you're travelling.

mikeyfly

What price are you seeing as there may be comfy business returns using slightly convoluted routings but sacrificing tier points over comfort. I�d take comfort for sure ? When are you looking to travel ?

glenmore_saveloy

Looking to be there for Christmas & New Year, so not the cheapest time to go.

Cymro

Have you tried FRA-SYD|SIN-FRA on Japan Airlines? �8,000 or so for four people in JL premium economy, which is superb, with a one night layover in Tokyo each time so plenty of comfort. It's slow but it's relaxing.

Swanhunter

Don�t just look at BA. there are some much more interesting J fares starting to emerge in Europe and that will be much more pleasant than W.

Swanhunter

I�ve done W as far as SIN and it was fine with chemical sleep assistance. If tribe means 4 kids then I can�t imagine how painful W would be�

Ancient Observer

Since we've been paying for our own flights, we have found that deals can be found if you look at 1/ Splitting the journey in Asia somewhere. For instance, Sin is expensive, to fly to, KL less so.. 2/ J from Asia to Europe return, but PE from your Asian port to Aus. Each journey needs research!

Dave Noble

Or even cheaper than JL, GBP1751 each (GBP7004 for 4) in PE on Vietnam Airlines from CDG-SYD or GBP3141 each in business or GBP2300 out in PE back in business

FamilyOf6

I suppose it depends how old the kids are?
We did Y recently, via FRA with Lufthansa and it was "fine". Of course, W or J would have been comfier for the adults, but my 4 kids (6-11), had plenty of comfort and slept as well as could be expected, I don't think the cabin would have made a huge difference to the kids. (In fact, I think the novelty of seat positions, storage nooks and the extra space of a business "suite" and not being cuddled up to dad and mum may have hindered the kids.
I should add that for SIN-FRA we got seats in the mini cabin (4 rows of 10) on the 747, so the environment was nice.

Grey Nomad

There is much more of a jump in comfort from W to J than there is from Y to W. I would take one flight in J and one in Y over two in W. Especially if your Y flight are daytime flights on the westbound return.

glenmore_saveloy

We're just a family of 4 - kids between 9 and 13. Though one of them has additional needs which makes transfers challenging. Saying that we've done DXB in Y on LX recently and that was fine, as well as SIN on QR (via DOH) again in Y - but we had a week to decompress in SIN before going to HKT.

I'm not opposed to a positioning flight - that can be done quite easily. I guess I was being blinded by the benefits with OW where I can select my seat for free (BA/AY/QR) and double tier points rather than *A where the fees to pick good seats are quite expensive.



I guess I was just thinking about the length of the flight with BA 12 hours to SIN then another 8 to SYD - quite a painful experience. Last time we visited SYD it was J and F - on reward flights too, but that was about 10 years ago

Dave Noble

In PE or J on VN , you can select almost any seat in advance - just a couple in business that are blocked

Don't get blinkered into just one carrier - how much is BA in business or Premium economy for example - compared to VN's fares for example?

Lounge access you can purchase in PE if you really need it

glenmore_saveloy

Have Amex platinum, so can get in to most lounges with that or PP.

Out in J and back in Y was coming in at 12k GBP. (But that was from INV so less taxes.)

Dave Noble

At GBP2300 x 4 = GBP920 would have out PE and back in J to CDG - would seem to be a nicer bet then J/Y for GBP12000