Advice on Sydney trip from UK - BA / Qantas / CP??
 

Morning all

I have to take my first trip to Sydney, Australia next month (either the 3rd or 4th week of Feb) for work meetings. Corporate travel policy dictates Premium Economy for trips > 6 hours, and I'm a BAEC Gold card holder with around 100k Avios. I can either fly from LHR or BHX.

I've looked at the 'book & upgrade with Avios' option on the BA website, and can't find any availability for an official upgrade, so I'm looking for advice as to the best PE cabin for me to spend the best part of a day in! To add into the mix, I'm pretty tall (6 ft 6 inches) and wide, so seat comfort and especially legroom are both important.

I've flown long haul in BA PE before and it was fine, but wondered if the alternatives are superior? Earning tier points (plus the very slim chance of a potential upgrade!) are more important than Avios earnings on this trip. Finally, is it wise to break up the legs with an overnighter (i.e. a night in Singapore/HK) or is it do-able back-to-back?

Anyone with recent experience able to offer some advice?

Many thanks!

You are going to get jetlag, that is for sure. My personal take on it is that I'd rather get to my destination as soon as possible and acclimatise there rather than get the first hit of Jetlag in, say SIN, and then a second hit in SYD. Both flights are overnight if you stick to BA the whole way.

As for PE vs. CW I cannot say, but reward space on LHR-SIN-SYD is quite rare, so if that is not available and work only allows PE then you do not really have too many options apart from perhaps choosing Cathay PE via HKG rather than BA via SIN. By all accounts it is a nicer product, although I have not experienced it myself.

You might like to book BA and hope that CW upgrades open up closer to departure date. This has been my experience, but the route is usually quite busy and I am not sure how likely that is.

There's reasonable J availability on LHR-SIN. Can you book into WT+ on a day when there's reward space in Club and ensure you are on the correct BA11/15 segment to get you J ?

If flying BA then I personally would take the BA11 out of London before getting onto the BA15 in Singapore. This method earns slightly more tier points (which is a positive), gets you on an A380 out of London (nicer than the B777) and gives a bit more time in Singapore to stretch ones legs and have a shower in Singapore (which in my view is essential).
On the return I would also change planes, if anything for a bit of variety, although the departure time difference between the flights on the return is pretty negligible.
As for upgrades to Club with Avios they are few and far between unfortunately, however don't discount the possibility of an AUP or even an OPUP materialising.

I flew PE and returned in J (BA), ask them to have a bit of mercy and let you fly CW, but PE in BA is fine, leg room is decent.... bit annoying if you have someone in front of you, so try to get a seat by the exit door.

I'd take the A380 into sing and take the 777 to sydney if possible, same on the way back. Otherwise Cathay is probably the better choice, plus you get treated better because of gold and excellent lounges in HKG.

As everybody has said if you want to stick with BA then BA11 and switch to the BA15 for all the reasons above + IME it improves your OpUp chances.

LHR-SIN and SIN-SYD CW Reward availability does appear sometimes 2 to 3 weeks out and is much more common than LHR-SYD so I would book into PE and set up an alert on Expertflyer.

In terms of the product I would rank them as QF / BA / CX. CX's PE product is not great in my experience but that is flying SYD - HKG, they might do it better on the LHR - HKG leg. However as a GCH on BA you have a good chance of nabbing an exit row which you won't get on QF (and I think you get on CX but not sure).

Other things to think about:
QF is an A380 all the way = better pressure, quieter plane
Due to the clocks changing the BA15 arrives at 0600 so you don't get the airport to yourself like you do in (Australian) winter.
BA gets you the convenience of the First Wing but QF and CX have excellent lounges in T3.

CP: Sadly, Canadian Pacific Airways was absorbed ay Air Canada many years ago.

Nice pointer and good fare (if you can find the remaining few days it's available!) however OP does state on the cash front - it's premium economy only

If company are paying and insist only on PE then why not use the non stop service to PER on QF dreamliner then onwards on 330 to SYD. Just a thought .

QF Premium Economy is a pretty decent product.
Seating wise its 2-3-2 on the upper deck if using the direct A380. Including exit row options for additional leg room. Your BA gold should be able to secure one of those. Window seats will have the additional side-bin storage/shelf. The PE seat is comfortable, felt slightly wider than BA's and allows for decent knee room. You can pre order main courses on all sectors via the manage booking feature on the QF website. Good selection of drinks including access to J class wines as well as the Premium Economy snack bar if you're feeling hungry between meals. Nice cotton/fleece blanket too. You can also bid for a J upgrade for additional cash. You'll be notified at least 24hrs prior to flight departure if you've been successful. Tier points and avios will also reflect the upgraded cabin unlike on some other carriers offering similar pro active upgrades. QF lounges at LHR T3 and in particular SYD (First lounge) are pretty special - you'll have access to that regardless of OW carrier based on your BA gold .
Downside is avios earned will be at standard levels without the BA tier bonus based on your BA gold.

After pricing the trip up, I've booked with Cathay Pacific. I got Premium seats (exit rows on all 4 flights) for a fraction over £2000. Compared to BA at £3300 and Qantas at £3500, it was a fairly easy decision. I've booked timings where I get 10 hours at Hong Kong in both directions, and have booked the Marriott Skycity on both days, so I'll be able to get 5 or 6 hours sleep, a shower and a meal before heading onto the next flight.

I've read that CX credit TPs for each leg of the journey, so does this mean that I'll earn 90 x 4 TPs for the entire trip? Seems a lot if that's the case, but I won't be complaining if that's the case!

As long as all 4 legs have different flight numbers, yes :)

Beautiful :D