Flights - advice needed

gail.crease · 09-01-2007, 07:35 PM

I was hoping to get our visa this month but received a letter today saying it'll be deferred until after my son's operation :( . I expected it to happen but am a bit disappointed. The problem is we're planning a reccie over Easter leaving on 30th March and by the time my son has his op on 29th January and a letter is sent from the consultant to the panel doctor then on to Oz we probably won't get our visa's until March. This doesn't give us much time to book flights and we'll probably pay over the odds as it's short notice :shock: . We want to go to Melbourne and Sydney on our trip but the only airline that offers a multistop ticket is Quantas. My kids are 3 and 6 months at the time of the flight and I've heard Quantas is not good to fly with young kids. If I go with Singapore Airlines (my preference) I've got to pay extra to fly to another city and return to that city before coming home which adds to the cost and is inconvenient to add another flight to such a short trip. Anyone got any advice?

Cheers

Gail

Dave53 · 15-01-2007, 10:43 PM

If you only want to fly between Melbourne and Sydney during your stay , I suggest you concider flying either Jetstar or Virgin Blue . They are both low cost carriers and operate cheap fares within Australia . Check out www.iwantthatflight.com.au . Put in your details and all fares between the cities will be displayed . There are many Airlines apart from Qantas and Singapore Airlines to choose from . Qantas's traditional reputation for good service has dropped in the last few years . Singapore Airlines is as excellant as ever . I fly Australia to UK regularly and also find Emirates Airlines very good , especially if flying from a UK regional airport .Hope this helps .
Best of luck . Email or PM me if you want further info .

Dave

Dunteaching · 16-01-2007, 12:04 AM

I too have heard that Qantas offers a better service for adults than little uns - particularly business and first class

Dave53 · 17-01-2007, 02:02 AM

Another thing to concider ...... Only 3 Airlines operate a same plane service between Heathrow and Sydney . In other words all other Airlines require you to change aircraft at an intermediate point . They are BA , Qantas and Virgin Atlantic . Be very careful in choosing a carrier as some of the cheaper ones require a lengthy stop over between connecting flights . Not a good prospect with littlies in tow .
Dave

ali · 22-01-2007, 12:38 AM

I agree, shop around for internal flights. We visited Brisbane 2005 from UK and flew to Sydney and Cairns (from Brissie). The trip to Sydney was with Quantas as they were actually cheaper than both jetstar and virgin blue, whilst jetstar were the cheapest to Cairns. Our children at that time were 10 and 5 - both airlines were great, and jetstar let adults with children board first so they can sit together.

Ali