Getting to Australia
 

Folks,

I need some advice and couldn't find anything in a search. I need to go from the UK (preferably MAN but LHR if I need to) to Sydney in C in the middle of March (4 days there!). I would prefer to fly *A to get the miles, but not at any cost - as the company is paying and I won't get away with it.

EK and EY are looking quite cheap (GBP3k) but the timings aren't great (and no miles!). SQ are much more expensive (GBP5k), but TG look okay on price and timing (GBP3.5k)

Does anyone have experience of TG in biz for such long flights or am I missing another route / airline that might suit me?

Was a bit surpirsed that LH do not fly down under - why is that?

Cheers

ManxFlyer

Sydney
 

Same surprise when I moved to Australia, but with more then a handfull of *A widebodies coming in from Asia it might be less of a commercial opportunity (Australia has the same population as the BeNeLux).

Try
-United Airlines, long shot, but might get positivly priced
-New Zealand operate a flight to LHR (over the US), which is also Star Alliance.
- Asiana might also qualify in your budget

I have flown TG to JHB in the past which I really enjoyed, slightly lower service than SQ

Good luck

I've flewn OZ and TG from FRA to Australia and New Zealand in the past. Both are great airlines, the service is comparable but I liked the food at OZ a lot better.
The problem is that the schedule of OZ will give you one very long stopover in Seoul, right now it's at the way back, two years back it was the other way around. Nice if you want to get to know a new city and spend a day, but something I would avoid for a business trip.
With TG you have pretty short connection times and can use the Spa in the Thai Lounge which is quite good.

Right now I find a cheaper option from MAN with SK in Z for (GBP3.1K) over CPH which also has short connections. That would give you the miles, you could check out Business at SK and TG and compare the service. ;)

Try searching at http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ for possible flights and book them at some travel agency afterwards.

I can indeed recommend OZ (Asiana). There will be an overnight on the way back and OZ will (most likely) not cover the cost of hotel accommodation, but I actually enjoy this break as can better adjust to European time zone. You need to go through a travel agency to book the flights (OZ booking engine is hopeless, I am not sure if any OTA can support this itinerary - try vayama.com). For information on budget hotels at Inchon Airport you may visit the Asiana forum (or consider staying in Seoul downtown area, if you have never been to Korea before). TG is also good but IMHO not as good as OZ.

Doesn't necessarily answer your question, but if you're starting at IOM anyway, Etihad fly from Dublin to Sydney and I'm seeing a bargain price for £2512 for mid-March, whilst Emirates goes for a couple of hundred pounds more.

The fare can also be changed/cancelled for a (quite hefty) fee and needs to be booked by Feb 22nd. You don't even need to be away a Saturday night!

Oh, and the EY timings look fair enough to me - as with most airlines (ex LON), you have the option of leaving morning of day 1 arriving evening day 2 or evening day 1 to morning day 3. 23hrs is pretty snappy, too.

Similar story on the way back

TG is OK. Do it for the double miles earning in business, rather than for an amazing biz experience.

SK is pretty much the same, and it's TG anyway on the BKK-SYD/BNE/MEL run. Incidentally, Matrix has been chucking out that GBP3,100 fare for years now, but it never seems to actually book. (IIRC, even Matrix shows it as having a bizarre 51 hour journey time, including 24 hours in CPH).

Don't bother trying to go over the Pacific - the fares going via LAX/SFO are usually hideous. You could try NZ, but at 30 hours, it's slooow.

Bit of topic...I will go + familly in April LHR - SIN - SYD with SQ in Y A380 and will credit my miles from SQ (around 21k) to A3 to get *G as no other longhaul is planned this year (so won't hit SEN) and my FTL runs until 02/14 so I don't need to worry about renewing it in '12, will do that in '13.

Another way I was looking at was LHR - DXB - SYD with EK in Y. As I have to go in Y I wanted to make sure its an A380 for reduced cabin noise, higher cabin humidity (not talking about the drinks) and IFE in Y. Ok, the wing cracks might have to be considered as general risk of flying....

But you'll be in C....so have a good trip :D

I am really not a fan of TG. They are cheap. The seat is usually similar to LH (sliding). But be aware of the usual TG plane lottery.
If the price is OK and you are after the miles - take them.

I am as well not a fan of BKK as a connecting airport, but it improved a bit over the years.

You should play a bit with different departing airports (like ZRH, MXP, BRU). Maybe you will find some interesting fares.

I made my choice and switched to QF/BA as they offer the better product and the better prices form Germany on that route.

what happened to NZ flying via HKG? Was it cancelled or something?

Air NZ still operates to London via both LAX and HKG. However, a few weeks ago, the via-HKG services were cut from daily to 5-times weekly in response to falling demand on both London routes. The route via LAX remains daily (for now).