What would you do ? CX or BA ??
 

I have a HUGE dilemma. I need to fly home to Aus from the UK for a wedding at the end of April. I have come up with two choices:

CX for £2101 in J
BA for £1343 in WT+

The BA and QF fares in J are too expensive for this trip ... £3200 +, and I simply don't have the time to trip to Europe to pick up a cheaper fare.

My issue is, of course, as a QF WP, I would receive more miles for the BA trip than I would for the CX trip, allbeit in far less comfort.

The difference I see is as follows (approximate):

CX

22000 + 11000 (for business) = 33000

BA

22000 + 5500 (for WT+) + 22000 (status bonus)= 49500

So I would receive an extra 16500 miles for flying BA, on a cheaper fare.

What would you do ?

Do SCs come into the equation? Basically you'd get double the SCs for the CX trip.

But if they don't, think of the fun you could have with £750. Plus there reportedly seems always to be a reasonable chance of W->J op-ups, and as a WP/OWE you might well attract the eye of the upgr*de fairy, so you've got some chance of ending up in NCW for some or all of the trip at the lower price.

I will pick comfort over miles...

I think CX's J service is much better than BA's WT+... you get more legroom and it is a really long flight to Australia.

So I will choose CX!

Carfield

"The BA and QF fares in J are too expensive for this trip ... £3200 +, and I simply don't have the time to trip to Europe to pick up a cheaper fare."

To get the extra miles as well as comfort, you can get Qantas from Frankfurt for £1974 return in business class . All you need is to buy a cheap connecting flight to Frankfurt from London City or Heathrow on BA. You don't need much extra time; you can take the 20:10 departure to FRA out of LHR , one hour conenction in Frankfurt on to thw flight to SIN and arrive into Sydney at 5:15 am. Total journey time outbound is only an extra 1hr 45 minutes over going straight from London. Alternatively there is a 19:30 departure out of LCY.

When flying back; if you ask nicely at the Qantas check in, they may well agree to fly you straight to London, bypassing Frankfurt. They did that for me each time I have used this routing.

( fare found on www.ebookers.com/de )

Mileage earned each way

125 + 125 = 250 + 10 SCs
10,243 + 2,561 + 10,243 = 23047 + 220 SCs ( or 260 SCs if you change flights in Singapore )

Nice totals of 46,594 miles and 460 - 540 SCs


On your calculations you seem to have given the BA WT+ fare a business class bonus of 25%. I wasn't aware that QF awarded a 25% bonus for BA economy travel, albeit in WT+

Dave

[This message has been edited by Dave Noble (edited Jan 19, 2004).]

I'd go for the CX J. It'll be a hard trip and even WT+ can get cramped. The WT+ seats don't recline nearly enough - especially when your back is getting tired and can't sleep. This is even more painful if you know what the BA product is in the NCW cabin.

If you are planning to break the journey in SIN/BKK, WT+ would be bearable. If you want to go straight through, it has to be CX J.

WT+ Bonus is 10%. So LHR-SYD it's around 21,172 base + 2,117 cabin + 21,172 status = 44,461 points, and 240 SCs (260 if you change flights in SIN eg BA15 to BA 17).

With CX: LHR-HKG 11,982 base + 2,996 = 14,978 and 320 SCs.
HKG-SYD 9,162 base + 2,292 = 11,454 + 200 SCs.
Around 26,432 points and 520 SCs.

WT+ in W class bought ex Oz include an Euro sector in Y class on BA. You may be able to get the same for the reverse direction. That would give a nice add-on in Oz that could pay good points and SCs. That might tip the balance to WT+ ??

At the fare quoted I am 99% sure that it will not be in W class but in T class and I would bve surprised if it provided any domestic add ons

Dave

That's a pretty good fare Dave... CX has some excellent deals, for around the same price, ex LHR to SYD via HKG or (bizarrely) cheaper still to AKL.

Agree with all my esteemed fellow posters, it must be a balance between:

1. Cost
2. Status Credits (particularly relevant to re-assessment)
3. Frequent Flyer points earned
4. Comfort

1. Cost - well, hands down win to BA (but you aren't really comparing like-with-like cabins)

2. SC's - hands down win to Cathay from all the calculations that have been proferred. As a WP, depending on your commencement date this might really help in your re-assessment.

3. FF points - win to BA by a country mile. Lots can be done with an extra 18K FF points.

4. I have flown WT+ MEL/SIN/LHR/SIN (see my honeymoon Trip Report) and as a 6'2" WP, I got op-up'ed on the SIN/LHR leg. To get those op ups, you need an absolutely full flight in Y and WT+ (OW Emerald does have "status" in BA's selection, but you will still be behind BA Golds in the queue for op ups).

Having also flown CX HKG/LHR and intra-Asia in J, I believe they have the best service by far - certainly their J is well ahead of BA's WT+; however BA's J thrashes CX J. Both have given me op ups regularly (and both beat QF in this regard). Result = Tie

Not knowing your "importance weightings" to the aforementioned 4 points, it's hard to say which I would choose if I were you. If I were me, well, I'd be taking what gave me the better benefits overall...

"That's a pretty good fare Dave... "

There may be cheaper out there. This was just checking the one company.

Dave

"
1. Cost
2. Status Credits (particularly relevant to re-assessment)
3. Frequent Flyer points earned
4. Comfort"

SO where did my suggestion of QF fit in these equations hrmm http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif get the SCs of CX plus the 100% bonus of QF with the minor drawback ( possibly ) of having to go via FRA ?


Dave

Comparing QF J via FRA, BA WT+, or CX J
1. Cost BA
2. Status Credits (particularly relevant to re-assessment)QF
3. Frequent Flyer points earned QF
4. Comfort CX
5. Convenience -BA/CX tie but if leaving from the City East London ex LCY to FRA then QF makes the tie as well.

Verdict: QF

The serious issues that a FTer must contend with!!!! It must be a difficult world!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif