Hi!

I have a trip in the next few months to Australia from NYC, where I'm based. Checking Qantas, Cathay Pacific and BA, most are giving me itineraries through LAX or DFW, connecting in either Hong Kong, or straight through to Sydney. I need to visit Perth and then Sydney.

My employer will pay for Economy Plus, but not business. They are happy to reimburse a hotel as a stopover, too. So, I am more inclined to go East rather than west. I would rather stop over in Europe than the Far East. The cost on BA is slightly more, but not near the business class price westbound, so I have approval to do this routing. Any thoughts on the best routing to accomplish this? Should I consider stopping over in Hong Kong instead of Europe? (FYI, I would like to stick with Oneworld).

Thanks for any thoughts.

You may want to play around with the Oneworld interactive route map to get an idea of routes and connections, if you're most interested in Oneworld carriers:

http://onw.innosked.com/?show=MAP

You mentioned going to Perth first before Sydney. Note that direct to Perth there aren't too many OW options outside of domestic connections - it appears HKG, KUL, AKL, or DOH are it as far as international direct to PER.

You won't find any nonstops from NYC to SYD if that's what you're looking for.

Yes, I've used the OneWorld interface before. At this point, if I want to go East, I think that my best bet is BA through Singapore to Perth. Then, I can add a leg to Sydney on Qantas and then reconnect to BA through Singapore to London.

However, I am open to to other suggestions.

BA doesn't fly to Perth, it would be a codeshare on Qantas from SIN I would guess.
Unless you really want to add many hours to your trip, I would look at CX JFK-HKG-PER//SYD-HKG-JFK.

Thanks, I am considering that routing.

I'm pretty sure that Qantas doesn't fly direct Singapore to Perth anymore and you are routed through either Sydney or Melbourne. There's been a massive uproar over it.

I think BA/CX are your only options flying East, unless your company is willing to stump up for Emirates.

Given the limited options to PER I would add a vote for CX. The premium economy product on Cathay is quite passable, and an HKG stopover is easy and enjoyable.

EK is out, I guess, as your employer will not stump up for business class.

I ended up booking BA through SIN to SYD, then a change to Qantas to PER. I did this because I was able to apply BA On Business points to the fare for a guaranteed op-up.

SQ to Paris then Singapore then Perth followed by Qantas to Sydney is one possibility.

I had a similar situation a few years ago. I was going from NYC to Hobart, Tasmania. The people who invited me would pay for premium economy. At the time I was a 1K on UA and an EXP on AA. I considered going on UA and hoping for the upgrade. I decided against it and went with Premium economy on Qantas. On the way over (LAX-MEL) I was on an Airbus 380 and on the way back, on a 747. I remember arriving in MEL and thinking, I can't believe how I don't feel like I have been in a plane that long. The return was not as nice. But the Qantas Premium economy is very, very nice. Being on the 380 makes it even better. I flew later on an LH 380 from NRT to FRA in business and thought the Qantas Premium economy compared very favorably. Not as nice, but close considering.

[Oops, deleted wrong post ]

SQ to Paris from where onwards to SIN and PER?