and if you pick the right city….DUB for example…and book Emirates via QF with a QF flight #, you earn TP and avios as well! Mind you the prices are huge compared to CX out of AMS, where you also do the QF/EK. Random check has prices around €7,500!

I suggest to the OP to go with the cheapest option- as others have said, it's peak Aussie season, so anything sub Ł4k IMO is decent. I have been underwhelmed on my last few CX flights, but it's a good hard product. QR, BA (Club Suites) and Qantas all offer good products as well. This is probably one not to overthink too much if one is costs conscious.

I do LON-AUST every year in late December, just after Xmas so my fares may not be comparable to the OP. This year I needed a J fare on a OW carrier to keep my Silver but when I looked at the prices, I could not warrant the extra cost.

For far less hassle, and far less money I am throwing my money this year at MU which actually leaves and returns to LHR, saving around Ł2000 on the OW fares and the hassle of having to go ex-EU. Timings are excellent both ways too.

I can put a fraction of that money saved back into lounge access next year if I need it and I am still way ahead. As for the experience, well I am mainly wanting the flat seat. The food and the service will be fine, not QR standards I am sure. But for a total price of Ł3200 I am very happy. And I'll throw the points onto my VS account.

I would not pay an additional Ł600 to fly QR over CX - in J the most important perk for me is a lie flat seat and you'd be getting that with CX. If pampering is what you're after save that money and splurge at your destination.

Having said that if you are willing to pay up to Ł4600 for your flight you can fly in first class ex-BUD for around that much in Jan/Feb 2024, albeit on Star Alliance. I'd definitely pay Ł600 extra to upgrade from J to F.

I flew recently on CX (albeit only PE) and was underwhelmed - there seems to be some thought they have fallen behind

What fresh hell is this, Achilles?

Serious question though - who has the better food? Quantas or Quatar?

did you see this on time?

EY: BCN-SYD in J for 2831EUR return

Interesting….! Whilst that exact fare has gone. I can still find similar to this, Barcelona to Sydney on Ethiad Business for Ł2900 return. In comparison it is 1k less than Cathay Pacific and 2k less than the Qatar QSuite.

Collecting my tier points maybe isn’t as important as I initially thought, if this is a good product and can save me 2k. Unfortunately it’s not the new A350 Ethiad, plane looks slightly dated in business, but still… great value.

Ł3250 from Sofia early Jan on Qatar. I’m there this evening positioning for an oz trip. A320 recliner seat to Doha and then wide body flatbed to oz from there.

I've flown CX PE quite a few times (LAX-HKG) before the pandemic and I would agree. Upgraded once (from HKG) and J was (obviously) much better in every aspect.

Another vote for Cathay's A350 over the 777. It is very noticeably quieter and makes a difference over that length of trip. I've done the LHR to Sydney trip 3 times in the last year on Cathay and once on Qatar. If the prices are similar I'd go with Cathay A350. If Qatar is significantly cheaper I would do that especially on the A380. All assuming you want to stick with One World. I noticed Air India had cŁ2250 to Sydney from Paris at least in March if price is the only consideration.

Hahaha! I did notice I'd made that typo

Clearly Quantas and Quatar both have the best food in the Quniverse

OSL-DOH-HKG-MEL/MEL-DOH-FRA Ł2600


Spike

thanks Spike, I must have missed this deal. Was this just through Qatar? I’m on the app trying various versions of the journey and can’t replicate this anymore.

It's gone up a couple of hundred quid, and only available departure date seems to be 31Dec. Now prices out at 39465NOK 2870GBP




Apologies for not seeing your post sooner.

Spike

So many choices as you can see. Our current favourites are QR from OSL or AY from HEL. Oslo has some great museums for an extra day on the way;,Helsinki has salmon soup and saunas! However if you make a transit stop in Jan you will be carrying heavy coats to Oz -packing for both climates is an extra complexity

Best of all is to take a Round The World fare. The,base business fare on oneworld (“DONE4”) starting in OSL is 40% lower than a straight LHR-SYD-LHR business class fare.