TopazMine

Hi.

I can't find where this question should go as it's not about any specific airline - it seems to be something they all do.

Is it possible to book travel from Europe to Oceania without being forced on to a 'partner operated airline' halfway through the trip?

I've flown enough times to know that booking through any given airline doesn't mean you'll travel that airline all the way through the trip if it stops at a midpoint such as Hong Kong, which I find frustrating.

I choose airlines for all sorts of reasons, only some of which are to do with price, and if I've decided I'd like to fly with Qantas or Thai or Virgin (or more importantly not with them) I'd like it to be the same airline all the way there and not switched on to one I specifically didn't choose part of the way through.

It's understandable when an airline doesn't have any aircraft that work that route, but when they do why are travellers shifted onto partner airlines and not simply put on the next available flight operated by their chosen airline? Cost? Timing? Convenience?

Duke787

You're limited by the routes serviced by that carrier. From the list you have in your post, only Thai serves multiple European cities without needing to transition you to a partner airline (aka you can go CDG - BKK - SYD all on TG). That's one of the reasons so many Australians were on MH17 since it's one of the few carriers that can get you from Europe to Australia in one stop on the same airline

Qantas only goes to London so if you're going anywhere else in Europe you have to fly a partner at some point. Virgin flies to no European destinations (and despite having the same name as Virgin Atlantic they are not the same airline).

However both QF and VA want to retain the ability to sell you a ticket to say Paris so having a partner (either via an alliance or otherwise) allows VA to sell you a flight from SYD - AUH - CDG with SYD - AUH on VA and AUH - CDG on EY.

Coming from Sydney I believe only the following could get you all the way to multiple destinations in Europe (aka not just London) while staying on the same carrier the whole time (and with one stop - for example BA could get you there in 2 stops such as SYD - SIN - LHR - CDG)

SQ, OZ, TG, EK, EY, JL, CX, MH and DL / UA / AC (which would require you to route via USA / Canada)

For everyone else at some point you'd need to be put on a partner airline to get you to your destination

nux

I'm a bit confused by your post. Do you mean why are you shown options for codeshare flights during booking, or that you may be moved onto another carrier due to IRROPS?

During booking with airline X, you may be shown options including codeshare flights on airline Y - most times this will be made quite clear.
It may be that the codeshare option has a lower duration as the connections are better, or that it is cheaper.

During IRROPS you may be put on another carrier that will get you to your destination quicker. You can reject the proposed carrier and elect to go on the carrier you've booked, but in doing so may forfeit any delay compensation (for example, EU261).

sdsearch

I don't understand Where you are booking? Travelers are usually not "shifted", but are rather given connection options in the order you specify. Many booking engines don't have an option for "no partners" (because to most people, unlike you, it's not the top priority), so you have to know to expand the list of connections until you see the one that doesn't involve partners (if most of them do, and if it the initial view only shows you the ones that do).

At most websites, there's information somewhere to identify whether it's a partner flight or not, but you may need to click to expand to "show more info" to figure that out. If you're very familiar with the airline, you can guess which are likely partner flights by the flight number; very low flight numbers (1 to 3 digits, and low 1000s) are very likely to be the airline's own flights; high flight numbers (4000s, 5000s, 6000s) are more likely to be partner flights. But the diving line between the airline's own flights and partner flights in flight numbers varies from airline to airline, and there are exceptions where this scheme doesn't work (such as when two airlines are in the process of merging but not quite done yet, like AA and US right now, flights on the other airline may have totally random low flight numbers).

As to why you may not see non-partner flights:

If, for example, you ask for a flight from AAA to BBB, and there are no direct flights, only connections, and the seven quickest connections are on partners, if a website only displays five connections at a time, it won't automatically show you the eight one which is the first one (sorting by "quickest") that doesn't involve a partner.

Very often, on a particular route, partners may provide a lot of flights, while the airline you want only provides one a day. That is the reason that the website by default steers you to partners, because it thinks that connection time is more important to you than which airline you fly.

MSPeconomist

I think you can do RTW on AF by using their LAX to Tahiti flight.

On SQ, there's a gap between NYC or IAH and LAX, although SQ had been technically considering their EWR-SIN nonstop to be transPacific for the purposes of their RTW fare.

I don't think BA--or LH, KLM, IB, SU, etc.-- crosses the Pacific while CX (or JAL, KE, TG, etc.) doesn't cross the Atlantic, although it does fly between JFK and YVR.

USA legacy carriers don't serve Asia to Europe routes except for some tag on flights from Europe to India, plus of course flights as far east as SVO, IST, TLV, DXB, etc.

nux

Although I originally thought when reading the title, the content of the OP's post is asking about Europe - Oceania. There are plenty of carriers that operate between those two regions without using partner airlines.

Air France only flies LAX-PPT, they don't fly west from PPT.

Air NZ used to operate RTW AKL-HKG-LHR-LAX-AKL however have discontinued HKG-LHR.

MoreMilesPlease

You just need to look at your preferred airline. It will tell you what flights are on their metal and which are codeshares. If it is a codeshare then simply look for your preferred airline from that place to the next. Be aware you will probably not be on the same PNR, will have to collect luggage, not be protected for delays flights or cancelations, etc. You can fly whomever you choose, you will just have to do the work.

aBroadAbroad

A number of off-topic, argumentative posts have been deleted. Please stick to the subject, and bear in mind that this is a flame-free forum.

Thanks

~Moderator

LondonElite

Europe to Oceania on one carrier?

Not sure what the essence of the question is, but here goes:

BA
MH
EK
MH
TG
CX
EY
QR
NZ
UA
AF
AA
QF
SQ

There are others as well.

irishguy28

Yes.

Air Canada (to SYD only)
Air China
Air France (to PPT only)
Air India (via DEL, to SYD or MEL only)
Air New Zealand (LHR via LAX to AKL, then onwards to multiple South Pacific/Australasian destinations)
Asiana Airlines
British Airways (via LHR and SIN to SYD only)
Cathay Pacific
China Airlines
China Eastern
China Southern
Delta
Emirates (multiple cities in Europe to multiple cities in Australia/NZ, via DXB and possibly one other SE Asia stopover)
Etihad
Garuda Indonesia (currently only from AMS via CGK; from September 5, also from LGW via AMS and CGK)
Japan Airlines
Korean Airlines
LAN Airlines (from FRA and MAD only; to SYD, PPT, AKL or IPC)
Malaysia Airlines
Philippine Airlines (currently from LHR only)
Royal Brunei Airlines (from LHR only; to MEL only)
Sichuan Airlines (from SVO only; to SPN, SYD, MEL)
Singapore Airlines
Qantas (from LHR only, and via DXB and either SYD or MEL to points throughout Oceania)
Qatar Airways
Thai Airways
United Airlines
Vietnam Airlines

There may be more.

The absence of any restrictions/limitations above should not be construed as meaning that there are a wide variety of origins/destinations on offer in either Europe or Oceania for that airline. Australia is, naturally, the best-served destination in Oceania, and all of the above operate their own services to either SYD or MEL, if not both.

lpkramit

I recently did LHR to MEL on Royal Brunei in biz. Really nice airline, would definitely recommend especially that they are much cheaper than the rest. Just take into account that they are a dry airline.