Opinions wanted - VS or QR for January 2021 flight?
Apr 19, 2020, 9:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,354
Opinions wanted - VS or QR for January 2021 flight?
Hi all. I posted a similar on the BA forum and the general consensus was QR over BA but now VS are in the picture I’m looking for further advice.
Im looking at flying J to JNB in Jan. QR are currently offering DUB-DOH-JNB on 788 & 359 for about €1850 rtn. That’s the lowest QR have been ex DUB in a very long time. On similar dates ex OSL they’re about €1350. Add in the DUB-OSL hop with bags and it’s about €1550. The advantage ex DUB is I can add in car hire to make it a package and just put down €150 deposit pp
For similar dates BA DUB-LHR-JNB in J are about €2400. Again I can add car hire to make it a package and just put down a deposit.
Now VS have added ex DUB fares for about €2150.
So, is the longer flight time with QR worth it for their service over BA or VS? Connections in DOH are about 90mins, about 2.5-3 hrs in LHR. I’m edging away from the OSL option, it seems like a hassle too much, extra self connect etc.
As a ref, I’m BA Gold and will almost certainly requalify either way so TP don’t matter. Never flown QR but flown J with AC, SQ, BA, AA, UA, VS so a bit of variety.
Thanks guys
Im looking at flying J to JNB in Jan. QR are currently offering DUB-DOH-JNB on 788 & 359 for about €1850 rtn. That’s the lowest QR have been ex DUB in a very long time. On similar dates ex OSL they’re about €1350. Add in the DUB-OSL hop with bags and it’s about €1550. The advantage ex DUB is I can add in car hire to make it a package and just put down €150 deposit pp
For similar dates BA DUB-LHR-JNB in J are about €2400. Again I can add car hire to make it a package and just put down a deposit.
Now VS have added ex DUB fares for about €2150.
So, is the longer flight time with QR worth it for their service over BA or VS? Connections in DOH are about 90mins, about 2.5-3 hrs in LHR. I’m edging away from the OSL option, it seems like a hassle too much, extra self connect etc.
As a ref, I’m BA Gold and will almost certainly requalify either way so TP don’t matter. Never flown QR but flown J with AC, SQ, BA, AA, UA, VS so a bit of variety.
Thanks guys
Apr 19, 2020, 1:13 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,041
VS will not be alive in January 2021. The only sure thing is (rich) government owned and supported airlines such as QR.
I'm not even sure that any country in the world will be open to receiving foreign tourists in January 2021.
I'm not even sure that any country in the world will be open to receiving foreign tourists in January 2021.
Apr 19, 2020, 2:51 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,710
I am certainly somewhat less pessimistic than craigthemif and we have no idea what the future holds but VS is clearly the most at risk to fail between, VS, BA (IAG) and QR. If it were me my primary driver would be on making a reservation that was refundable and held the least risk of complications. At this point I am only booking speculative points bookings with low fees for this reason.
Apr 19, 2020, 4:29 pm
#5
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,225
Of course they will. Most will be open later this summer. Once countries have passed the first peak the next step will be to put systems in place to allow business and economies to function again. This might include temperature checks, mandatory face masks, testing or a combination of all these but international travel will resume. Whether there is demand is another thing entirely but countries don’t keep borders closed for extended periods.
Apr 20, 2020, 1:49 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,041
Of course they will. Most will be open later this summer. Once countries have passed the first peak the next step will be to put systems in place to allow business and economies to function again. This might include temperature checks, mandatory face masks, testing or a combination of all these but international travel will resume. Whether there is demand is another thing entirely but countries don’t keep borders closed for extended periods.
Testing would be nice, but since very few countries can even come close to testing their own health care workers, much less the wider citizenry, how are they supposed to test every tourist arrival?
It's fine to be optimistic if you want. but booking travel right now is just a recipe for having your money locked up indefinitely as "vouchers" (or worse...)
Apr 20, 2020, 1:55 am
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
Of course they will. Most will be open later this summer. Once countries have passed the first peak the next step will be to put systems in place to allow business and economies to function again. This might include temperature checks, mandatory face masks, testing or a combination of all these but international travel will resume. Whether there is demand is another thing entirely but countries don’t keep borders closed for extended periods.
Apr 20, 2020, 2:04 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,225
I don't believe I said it would be "normal travel" - you said that. What I said was that borders would be open and international travel would be able to resume. I then went on to point out that there may not be the demand for it but I'm pretty certain borders will be open.
Apr 20, 2020, 2:10 am
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
Sure, borders will gradually reopen, but it's not clear to me whether this will be for tourist purposes. In order for travel to happen you need a lot more than than an open border. You need hotels, restaurants, local infrastructure to work. I suspect that semi-essential business travel, supported by contracts/agreements will slowly get going first, though possibly with the threat of quarantine. What is not going to happen by July is a family of four from the UK spending a week in Disneyland.
Apr 20, 2020, 2:13 am
#11
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
Back on topic, there is no way I would give money to an airline which may not be around in six months time, only so they could hold it as a cash position for flights that might not be operated at all.
Apr 20, 2020, 2:21 am
#12
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,225
Until there is a vaccine, only the most desperate of countries will want tourists arriving... bringing the coronavirus with them.
Testing would be nice, but since very few countries can even come close to testing their own health care workers, much less the wider citizenry, how are they supposed to test every tourist arrival?
It's fine to be optimistic if you want. but booking travel right now is just a recipe for having your money locked up indefinitely as "vouchers" (or worse...)
Testing would be nice, but since very few countries can even come close to testing their own health care workers, much less the wider citizenry, how are they supposed to test every tourist arrival?
It's fine to be optimistic if you want. but booking travel right now is just a recipe for having your money locked up indefinitely as "vouchers" (or worse...)
Apr 20, 2020, 2:46 am
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,041
Which then leads that notional UK family to the unfortunate position of having paid for a trip that might be operational but really ought not to take.
Apr 20, 2020, 2:48 am
#14
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
Although I don't want to stray too far into politics, I dare say that Florida is crazy enough to have Disneyworld open in July....
Which then leads that notional UK family to the unfortunate position of having paid for a trip that might be operational but really ought not to take.
Which then leads that notional UK family to the unfortunate position of having paid for a trip that might be operational but really ought not to take.