k8bug79 Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Hi, I hope everyone has had a nice Christmas :xmas12: We are ready to book our flights and I am just after some advice on the best way to proceed given our plans. We are heading to Sydney in the summer. Our plan stands that if neither my husband or I secure a job before then, we'll go to France at the end of July and stay with family for a few weeks. My husband will fly ahead to Sydney and stay with a friend in the hope of getting some work and a rental before we fly out. I am a nervous flier and therefore I am choosy who I fly with, therefore we would like to fly with Singapore or Emirates, but would consider Qantas and BA also. What we are uncertain of is whether to just book 5 flights on the same date as they are getting more expensive and we can amend the dates later when we have a better idea of what we are doing (but I think that will mean we'll end up with a lot of charges altering flights) Book my husband a flight at the beginning of Aug and then us follow at the beginning of Sept. May mean we have to little time between him going and us arriving and then we'll still face amending flights and possibly not getting 4 seats at the last minute, also face increased fare costs. Also we face the dilemma that we are applying for jobs and if I secure work which is the more likely outcome, that we'd have to change my flight and replace it with my husbands, again could get costly. Is it better to book through and agent or direct with the airline? I'm wondering if an agent would have more choices if we need to change? In theory my husband could fly with anyone out there as he would be going by himself and I would be traveling on my own with the 3 kids, which is going to be hell !!!! Does anyone have any experience of amending flights and how easy it was or just general advice really based on the scenario above? Finally does anyone know of any good flight sales at the moment? Lol Thanks:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindor Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 (edited) Hello, I went to perth twice last year and both times booked with Emirates when they had offers on for cheaper flights. However if you do change flights it costs around £70 plus the difference in fare if the new date isn't during the offer period. It is easy to do I've done it online and also by phone direct to Emirates, they were really helpful. Hope this helps. ps I got an email from Emirates today, they have offers on now, Sydney £816 between April 6th-June 10th and September 9th-November 30th Book by January 11th. Edited December 29, 2012 by Lindor Addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k8bug79 Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Thanksi will check Emirates in a bit. i know Singapore is free to amend if its a flexifare but depends on fare availability. maybe then we should plump for 2 dates and if necessary amend either end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incata Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Try the Office for Overseas Migration. We saw a thread about them, got quotes and they were half the price of either agents or the companies themselves. We did direct comparisons with their quotes and agents + companies and they were over 50% cheaper. They are a charity organisation who specialise in flights for refugees but they also do migrant flights, which means you get lots of extra baggage allowance. My husband has gone out with Emirates and got a 40kg weight limit, even though he was in economy. You do need to email them copies of all of your passports, plus a copy of your visa grant letter to prove you are emigrating. If you want to contact them the email to contact is: bookingsuk@ion.int We found them to be absolutely excellent, very quick to respond and everything went very smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k8bug79 Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 Try the Office for Overseas Migration. We saw a thread about them, got quotes and they were half the price of either agents or the companies themselves. We did direct comparisons with their quotes and agents + companies and they were over 50% cheaper. They are a charity organisation who specialise in flights for refugees but they also do migrant flights, which means you get lots of extra baggage allowance. My husband has gone out with Emirates and got a 40kg weight limit, even though he was in economy. You do need to email them copies of all of your passports, plus a copy of your visa grant letter to prove you are emigrating. If you want to contact them the email to contact is: bookingsuk@ion.int We found them to be absolutely excellent, very quick to respond and everything went very smoothly. Thanks i got a quote from then but they said nothing with Singapore air and quoted with Malaysia air and not that much cheaper than skyscanner. :nah: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Hi, I hope everyone has had a nice Christmas :xmas12:We are ready to book our flights and I am just after some advice on the best way to proceed given our plans. We are heading to Sydney in the summer. Our plan stands that if neither my husband or I secure a job before then, we'll go to France at the end of July and stay with family for a few weeks. My husband will fly ahead to Sydney and stay with a friend in the hope of getting some work and a rental before we fly out. I am a nervous flier and therefore I am choosy who I fly with, therefore we would like to fly with Singapore or Emirates, but would consider Qantas and BA also. What we are uncertain of is whether to just book 5 flights on the same date as they are getting more expensive and we can amend the dates later when we have a better idea of what we are doing (but I think that will mean we'll end up with a lot of charges altering flights) Book my husband a flight at the beginning of Aug and then us follow at the beginning of Sept. May mean we have to little time between him going and us arriving and then we'll still face amending flights and possibly not getting 4 seats at the last minute, also face increased fare costs. Also we face the dilemma that we are applying for jobs and if I secure work which is the more likely outcome, that we'd have to change my flight and replace it with my husbands, again could get costly. Is it better to book through and agent or direct with the airline? I'm wondering if an agent would have more choices if we need to change? In theory my husband could fly with anyone out there as he would be going by himself and I would be traveling on my own with the 3 kids, which is going to be hell !!!! Does anyone have any experience of amending flights and how easy it was or just general advice really based on the scenario above? Finally does anyone know of any good flight sales at the moment? Lol Thanks:wink: I would forget France and just go out together in the summer, this journey to your new life is one that is best shared. And not least because otherwise one of you has to fly with 3 children. Seriously, I am still sorry that me and the OH flew a few days apart, we missed that joint excitement. Unless you are in very specific occupation (nursing maybe engineering) it is hard to secure work before arriving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k8bug79 Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 I would forget France and just go out together in the summer, this journey to your new life is one that is best shared. And not least because otherwise one of you has to fly with 3 children. Seriously, I am still sorry that me and the OH flew a few days apart, we missed that joint excitement. Unless you are in very specific occupation (nursing maybe engineering) it is hard to secure work before arriving. Thanks Rupert, sadly you are right although my career is relatively specialised it is unlikely either of us will secure work in advance, which is why we need to go seperately. At the risk of starting a "can u really afford it" argument - we are part of the long running thread "can u do it with less than 10k" - although tbh we have a little more we can't justify spending thousands on short term lets when my husband has a place to stay. His mate is a single guy renting a smalll place so 5 of us pitching up wouldn't work. like you say i would give anything to start this together and whilst i hate the idea of being apart 1night let alone 1 month it is that that will start our new life so therefore it's worth it. As is flying on myown with the 3 kids.......i'll keep telling myself that :wink:. Happy New Year and heres hoping for a miracle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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