Best flights to travel OZ

[Dorsetbrit]

My wife and 3 month old child are flying over as a holiday in October with a view to move if visa approved in July 2018 (and if we love it) In our mind we want to live in Brisbane but are going to visit a few of the usual areas as well.

We will start in Perth then fly to Melbourne, Brisbane then drive to Sydney then home from their. Ive priced a few times and doing the long hall flights with Ethiad then national flights with Qantas and including the car hire for 3 days ive come up with around £3000 for us all. Is this the figure we are looking at or is there better ways to save?

Any thoughts on the matter and any comments about living over their and what we can expect would be great.

[Hedgewitch]

Fly QANTAS only if you want to spend the rest of your trip looking for your baggage. I fly Singapore Airlines and they've been pretty good, usually the second cheapest option. Cheaper still if you can get last minute flights and wing the rest of your trip. I don't bother with other airlines now as I do the Heathrow to Adelaide flight regularly and Emerates etc are out of my budget. Good luck. 

[ScottieGirl]

Virgin and Jetstar are cheaper for domestic flights. The Asian carriers are cheaper for international  (Thai, Malaysian, China Southern) 

[Evandale]

10 hours ago, Dorsetbrit said:

My wife and 3 month old child are flying over as a holiday in October with a view to move if visa approved in July 2018 (and if we love it) In our mind we want to live in Brisbane but are going to visit a few of the usual areas as well.

We will start in Perth then fly to Melbourne, Brisbane then drive to Sydney then home from their. Ive priced a few times and doing the long hall flights with Ethiad then national flights with Qantas and including the car hire for 3 days ive come up with around £3000 for us all. Is this the figure we are looking at or is there better ways to save?

Any thoughts on the matter and any comments about living over their and what we can expect would be great.

Ring some of your local travel agents, they might be able to cut you some good deals incorporating stop overs and domestic flights.  On line doesnt always mean good value. Certainly I do this from this end and more often than not we manage to get our domestic legs FOC when taking international flights who code share.

[Guest]

I usually check Skyscanner and the like and then check against airlines own websites and if its not much difference, book direct with the airline. Peace of mind I go for booking with the airline direct. 

FWIW flying London - Singapore for the long leg on the A380 is much nicer than just 6/7 hours on it from London to Dubai or wherever else in the Middle East then the next leg being 12-13 hours stuck on the shoebox that is the 777 if that is what you would then fly on to Perth. It could be the A380 but check the planes on the flight listing. 

With a young child I'd opt for a night flight out where possible, so around the 9-10pm window (flying via Singapore is my preference), so you have the long leg first and then if you need it a few hours on the ground at Changi to relax or book the airport hotel for a 6 hour block. Changi airport is fab to transit in, the pool on the hotel roof in the terminal is a great way to unwind if you've a few hours there transiting, as are the outdoor decks and gardens. 

I don't know if £3,000 is a good deal with car hire unless I sat and compared the flight costs etc myself. 

[Guest]

And yeah, Qantas can be pricey for domestic. Check other options there for sure. 

Also keep in mind your luggage allowance. You may get 30kg each per adult for the international flights but won't get that on the domestic I don't think. So would be paying for the excess or if using one of the cheaper airlines most likely paying per kilo for whatever goes in the hold. Worth looking in to to ensure you know what to expect and the possible extra costs you could be stung for. 

[Nemesis]

21 minutes ago, snifter said:

And yeah, Qantas can be pricey for domestic. Check other options there for sure. 

Also keep in mind your luggage allowance. You may get 30kg each per adult for the international flights but won't get that on the domestic I don't think. So would be paying for the excess or if using one of the cheaper airlines most likely paying per kilo for whatever goes in the hold. Worth looking in to to ensure you know what to expect and the possible extra costs you could be stung for. 

Qantas domestic luggage is very generous, they go by piece not weight. So you get one bag, up to 32kg, and can buy another bag or bags for about $30-40 each. That makes it a lot easier and cheaper than Jetstar or Virgin if travelling with international amounts of luggage. 

 

https://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/checked-baggage/global/en?int_cam=au%3Abaggage%3Aarticle%3Achecked-baggage%3Aen%3Ann#domestic-flights

[Evandale]

1 hour ago, Nemesis said:

Qantas domestic luggage is very generous, they go by piece not weight. So you get one bag, up to 32kg, and can buy another bag or bags for about $30-40 each. That makes it a lot easier and cheaper than Jetstar or Virgin if travelling with international amounts of luggage. 

 

https://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/checked-baggage/global/en?int_cam=au%3Abaggage%3Aarticle%3Achecked-baggage%3Aen%3Ann#domestic-flights

And if they code share on an international flight,  the domestic leg honour the larger luggage allowance without any problems!

[Collie]

Given your itinery, it would be worth having a chat with a good travel agent.  They would have better knowledge of fares with stopovers etc (Perth, Melbouren,Brisbane etc).

I think it will come down to 2 options based on code shares alliances;

You either have Qantas, Emirates (via Dubair on the long legs) or Virgin, Etihad (via Abu Dhabi).  I haven't flown Emirates before but have done the others (& was Gold on Virgin until recently).  Always found Etihad good on the international flights.  Have a preference for Virgin over Qantas domestically, not sure why, generally a bit cheaper and better service IMO.

One option may be to do a return to Perth and then look at domestic flights and car hire separately.  Note Perth to the East Coast is a 4-5 hour flight, the rest are more like a European flight of 1-2 hours.

Virgin & Qantas are both the better airline with Jetstar (owned by Qantas) and Tiger (owned by Virgin) low cost options for domestic.  Have flown them all and wouldn't fly Jetstar or Tiger for more than 2 hours personally (ie fine for Melbourne - Brissie but go Virgin/Qantas for Perth - Melbourne)

Not sure if you have sorted accomodation yet but Air bnb is the way to go IMO.  Get much more bang for your buck.

 

 

 

[VERYSTORMY]

16 hours ago, Hedgewitch said:

Fly QANTAS only if you want to spend the rest of your trip looking for your baggage. I fly Singapore Airlines and they've been pretty good, usually the second cheapest option. Cheaper still if you can get last minute flights and wing the rest of your trip. I don't bother with other airlines now as I do the Heathrow to Adelaide flight regularly and Emerates etc are out of my budget. Good luck. 

That is not correct. The earlier you book the cheaper

[Baby Pom]

Do Etihad still do the Australia Skypass?

I used this in 2011 and it allows you to buy internal flights before you leave UK at a fixed price per sector.

It was not very well advertised on their website at the time and not even their ticketing staff were that aware of the deal.

The internal flights were on Virgin and because it was part of the Etihad ticketing you kept the full baggage allowance and were given a meal (which was an extra on the MEL-SYD flight back then)

Might be worth asking Etihad or a good travel agent if this deal is still available. 

[Dorsetbrit]

Thanks for all your comments very helpful indeed. After hours of doing every combination there was we finally went on skyscanner and managed to get all flights we wanted for under £2k which I thought was a great deal and all flights with Qantas or emirates which I presume are owned by the same company.

So we have 3 weeks to see if Oz is for us and after that make a choice on weather we are going to move out there.(Visas depending of course) Exiting times and I hope it lives up to what I dream of.

Thanks to all who have replied.

[Guest]

Qantas and Emirates code share. So some of the flights may be on Qantas planes, some on Emirates. You will be going via Dubai? Be prepared for that airport, its a huge hub. Not my favourite to transit through. 
 

3 weeks isn't long. Try not to view it with holiday eyes. You need to get away from tourist places also. Of course do some tourist stuff but look round suburbs and how they are laid out, planned and what they can offer. I find Aus suburbs, especially the more modern ones to often be mind numbingly tedious and very samey in terms of house build etc. Perhaps check out some rental opens to see the inside of the houses as they differ greatly to the UK style. 

[Collie]

6 hours ago, Dorsetbrit said:

Thanks for all your comments very helpful indeed. After hours of doing every combination there was we finally went on skyscanner and managed to get all flights we wanted for under £2k which I thought was a great deal and all flights with Qantas or emirates which I presume are owned by the same company.

So we have 3 weeks to see if Oz is for us and after that make a choice on weather we are going to move out there.(Visas depending of course) Exiting times and I hope it lives up to what I dream of.

Thanks to all who have replied.

I think you have done well.  It may be worth joining Qantas FF with the amount of flying you will be doing, build up some points.  Should have enough for a couple of domestic flights when you return

[Dorsetbrit]

Thats a good shout thank you.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 12/06/2017 at 14:06, Evandale said:

And if they code share on an international flight,  the domestic leg honour the larger luggage allowance without any problems!

When we flew Virgin business class (using points can't afford otherwise) back from LA it was a Singapore flight but they refused at first to honour our baggage allowance we had to fight to get it approved 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 13/06/2017 at 18:43, Dorsetbrit said:

Thanks for all your comments very helpful indeed. After hours of doing every combination there was we finally went on skyscanner and managed to get all flights we wanted for under £2k which I thought was a great deal and all flights with Qantas or emirates which I presume are owned by the same company.

So we have 3 weeks to see if Oz is for us and after that make a choice on weather we are going to move out there.(Visas depending of course) Exiting times and I hope it lives up to what I dream of.

Thanks to all who have replied.

How exciting @Dorsetbrit

[Loki Grundy]

iknowthepilot.com.au is a great site to look up for the best flight deals if you like to save your budget.

[Stella Ravens]

If your have quite a few carry on luggage, don't go with Tiger Air.

[CaptainR]

7 hours ago, Stella Ravens said:

If your have quite a few carry on luggage, don't go with Tiger Air.

Having read reviews on Tiger Air (and having travelled with them) I'd recommend a lot of caution with them, they make Ryanair look like a 5 star airline. No compensation/hotel requirements like the UK so if they decide to cancel a flight they offer you a refund and thats pretty much it.  

 For the OP, Qantas/Emirates tie up is pretty good. Personally I think Qantas are an excellent airline, but then I'm biased as QF platinum card holder. 

[CaptainR]

https://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/qantas-walkabout-pass/sg/en

Also worth noting. 

[Evandale]

11 minutes ago, CaptainR said:

Having read reviews on Tiger Air (and having travelled with them) I'd recommend a lot of caution with them, they make Ryanair look like a 5 star airline. No compensation/hotel requirements like the UK so if they decide to cancel a flight they offer you a refund and thats pretty much it.  

 For the OP, Qantas/Emirates tie up is pretty good. Personally I think Qantas are an excellent airline, but then I'm biased as QF platinum card holder. 

As a Platinum Plus member I have no bone of contention. We are more than happy with Qantas. The huge BUT, in general here in Oz we dont have the same penalties placed upon airlines in the event of cancellations and delays as in Europe.

 

[vickyplum]

3 hours ago, CaptainR said:

Having read reviews on Tiger Air (and having travelled with them) I'd recommend a lot of caution with them, they make Ryanair look like a 5 star airline. No compensation/hotel requirements like the UK so if they decide to cancel a flight they offer you a refund and thats pretty much it.  

 For the OP, Qantas/Emirates tie up is pretty good. Personally I think Qantas are an excellent airline, but then I'm biased as QF platinum card holder. 

As a zero status Qantas FF, they are not so excellent. However, my OH was Platinum FF until recently (he is now gunning for lifetime Gold!) and I can see the perks.