Mods - I'd really appreciate it if this thread could just hang around for a short period of time.

Esteemed people of this board, I ask for your help! I am looking to fly to SYD around 21st December staying for approx three months. I had my eye on a reasonable Cathay Pacific flight circa £3,000 for 22/12/13-22/03/14 but of course I hesitated and it has now been whipped away to be replaced by an alternative with a hellish 10 hour layover. I've found a Finnair one for £2857 but I'm not to sure about their long haul product.

Now I know I'm asking a lot to be picking up a decent flight at a decent price for this particular time of year but I know that some of you have access to some wonderful search engines and are always so helpful so does anyone have any bright ideas? I'm now starting to panic

If the saving is worth it I could do ex-Europe and can stretch to £3500.

Any help would be much appreciated and if anyone has opinions on Finnair that would also be useful.