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F to Sydney on redemption?
OK FT I have a problem, well, I have many, but lets tackle one at a time
Two friends have moved to Sydney and Wellington respectively and I want to visit them sometime mid/late next year.
Now, I have never been a Y kinda guy and being a large fellow the thought of Y for that period of time is not something to realistically consider.
I was initially planning on going for WT+ and MFU to CW, however...I've since flown F and I'm hooked (huge TR to follow in the new year...).
I have checked BA.com and can't find any MFU (from CW) to F seats available at all. Am I being too hopefully on the Kangaroo route to expect any seat availability? I assume due to low volume of flights that availability is also low?
So a few questions:
1. Is it possible to get MFU F to Sydney? Booking 6-9 months out
2. When is a CW sale likely so I can get a decent deal on CW to Syd?
3. Any other way of doing this? Book CW and hope for a decent offer via MMB or at the airport?
4. Anything I'm missing or being stupid/hopeful over?
Yep, this is a very popular route and redemption seats are snapped up as soon as they become available. Your best bet is to either plan about 11 months ahead or go at very short notice indeed. There's not much to be had between the two extremes.
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Think the main thing about this route is to be very flexible towards it.
It sounds like your flying on your own which should make it easier for you, try looking on a sector by sector basis, and look via multiple routes and OW airlines.
There are routes to Australia via the obvious places but also via Japan, USA etc etc etc etc.
Also with being flexible, if seats are available in Y for redemption book them, then you can upgrade nearer departure.
Thats what i did using my 241 for honeymoon in Oct/Nov. I initially booked a mix of Y LHR-SIN, CW SIN-SYD etc.
Seats opened up initially in CW on the outbound which we upgraded with Avios, then the day before the F seats opened up and we upgraded again, so for the 4 BA flights we flew 2xF and 2xCW.
Good luck with the search and let us know how you get on. Perhaps it might be worth at some stage having a Kangeroo route master thread so that its easy to find for people searching ?
cs
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I got lucky last year when I got an F redemption seat c7 months out. QF out and BA return and because of the rejigging of the 380s post the engine incident, ended up having QF 380 F (rather than 744) which was great and BA F back. Was very lucky though.
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Whenever I'm looking at F redemptions to the UK from Australia, the one that always seems to come up is BA to PVG and then QF down to SYD - for some reason there just seems to be far more availability on that route (looking about 4-6 months out) than anything else that comes up, but maybe that's a fluke. I'm not sure about CW availability to be honest.
Not saying it's the best option but might be worth looking at if you split the bookings, if you have an onward ticket from PVG you can get a 48 hour transit visa on arrival.
You could always look at CX availability too unless you're dead set on BA? Being flexible up until departure definitely makes a difference, I was hanging out for a BA F seat for my flight in two days time and at just after midnight GMT this morning they released their F seats so if you're willing to wait until a few days before the flight you might see some more availability come up. CX are also pretty good about releasing availability about a week before the flight.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jozdemir
Not saying it's the best option but might be worth looking at if you split the bookings, if you have an onward ticket from PVG you can get a 48 hour transit visa on arrival.
48 hours for people with a passport from a Schengen country (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc), the USA, Australia, etc but not from the UK (who only get 24 hour visa free transit).
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Quote:
Originally Posted by orbitmic
48 hours for people with a passport from a Schengen country (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc), the USA, Australia, etc but not from the UK (who only get 24 hour visa free transit).
Whoops well there you go - I should really check my facts next time, cheers for sorting me out on that!
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Look for Cirrus Business Class seats via HKG with CX..an all together much better option than BA CW down under. Much better use of Avios than BA First Class.
For availability join Asiamiles or Qantas FF programme and use their search facilities for flights on CX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sixth Freedom
Technical question
Can you UUA SIN-SYD only on an LHR-SYD through ticket?
Nope,
thats why i would suggest booking them as one ticket but with the change of aircraft.
Outbound BA11 - BA15
Inbound BA12 - BA16
cs
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Doesn't really seem to fit in on BA flyertalk anymore, hey ho, times change, I'm still around and might post from time to time, still read forum and PMs
48 hours for people with a passport from a Schengen country (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc), the USA, Australia, etc but not from the UK (who only get 24 hour visa free transit).
Actually from 2013 you can now get 72hrs in PVG and PEK, and this will now include UK passports.
For the OP, if you are willing to pay for CW you might find an and EU fare in F for similar money. Or a cheaper CW fare that frees some cash to perhaps upgrade at check-in where possible.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pauldb
Actually from 2013 you can now get 72hrs in PVG and PEK, and this will now include UK passports.
Yes, provided you are in transit to a third country. The previous 24 hour restriction confined you to the airport complex (admittedly broadly interpreted) but the new rules will give scope for many people to see these fascinating cities en route to Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and so on.
