BuddysMum Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 LONG POST ALERT - sorry! Last year we flew to Australia, but had 2-3 day stopovers both ways (Tokyo and Hong Kong). That was great but in all we lost about a week of our holiday in Australia. We are going again this July/August in order to validate the visas, but want to fly direct. Steve has been looking up various options online, but before we start actually booking (with ABTA backing, just in case!) I just want to ask a couple of questions. I hope someone can help me here. Option 1: Fly London to Singapore, stop over for 3 hours and fly on to Brisbane. Total travel time is 23 hours, but it seems, as far as we can calculate, that total time in the air is about 18-19 hours. Is that correct? Option 2: Fly London to Sydney direct, then after a 2 hour layover, fly on to Brisbane. That gives a total travel time of 26.5 hours. But what I want to know is, is this actually a direct, non-stop flight from London to Sydney, or does the plane land en-route for refuelling? And if so, do we disembark? (I think I have heard that you have to get off for refuelling - but I'm not sure). If it doesn't land en-route, then it would seem that we are in the air for 22 hours. I am rather keen to be able to get up and stretch my legs a bit. I'm very tall (and big!) so I find the cramped flight a real torture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WARDStoOZ Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi Anette, there are no direct flights to Oz as of yet I believe, the flight from London to Sydney will have a refuelling stop of about an hour in either Singapore, Bangkok or Hong Kong normally, depending on the airline. The airlines also quote times i.e. 13 hours London to Singapore but in reality the air time is quite a bit less than this but it allows for a late departure, Hope that helps a bit! Dan xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest proud2beaussie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi, There are no non stop flights from the UK to Australia,at this stage as with current load factors there is no market for such a service although Virgin Atlantic ordered new Boeing 787's to launch such a service but put the plans on hold,so all flights involve a fuel stop,now whether this involves stopping in somewhere like Hong Kong and changing planes,or landing in Dubai then Singapore for refuelling and getting back on the same plane really doesn't change the big picture which is actual flying time of anywhere from 20 hours to 25 hours depending on carrier.you will often find cheaper fares if you are prepared to deal with 2 or 3 stops but I would personally go for an airline like Cathay Pacific where you chnage planes in Hong Kong ,have a 2 or 3 hour stop,time for a coffee and bite to eat etc then on to the last leg of your flight to Australia. BTW To answer your question about fuel stops,yes it is unsafe to refuel a plane with passengers on board so you do disembark and the plane is serviced and refulled whilst you wander round the transit terminal of wherever you stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cane Family Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi, We went to Brisbane last May. our route was :- Manchester - Abu Dhabi 7.5 Hours approx 2 hour wait for next flight.... Abu Dhabi - Singapore 7.5 hours approx 1 hour while plane refeulled (this was time to get off, quick wee and reboard) Singapore - Brisbane 7.5 hours approx Just to let you know I have looked at Manchester - Singapore (14 hours) - Brisbane (7.5 hours) all approx, there is also a 2 hour wait for Singapore to Brisbane leg. Adele informs me that if you are not in a hurry there is a flight in 25 years time that will do London to Sydney in 5 hours..... Regards Steve & Adele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris_mac Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 LONG POST ALERT - sorry! Last year we flew to Australia, but had 2-3 day stopovers both ways (Tokyo and Hong Kong). That was great but in all we lost about a week of our holiday in Australia. We are going again this July/August in order to validate the visas, but want to fly direct. Steve has been looking up various options online, but before we start actually booking (with ABTA backing, just in case!) I just want to ask a couple of questions. I hope someone can help me here. Option 1: Fly London to Singapore, stop over for 3 hours and fly on to Brisbane. Total travel time is 23 hours, but it seems, as far as we can calculate, that total time in the air is about 18-19 hours. Is that correct? Option 2: Fly London to Sydney direct, then after a 2 hour layover, fly on to Brisbane. That gives a total travel time of 26.5 hours. But what I want to know is, is this actually a direct, non-stop flight from London to Sydney, or does the plane land en-route for refuelling? And if so, do we disembark? (I think I have heard that you have to get off for refuelling - but I'm not sure). If it doesn't land en-route, then it would seem that we are in the air for 22 hours. I am rather keen to be able to get up and stretch my legs a bit. I'm very tall (and big!) so I find the cramped flight a real torture. Hi Buddysmum There is no Airliner that flies direct from London to Oz in one go! The thought of it would be very good though! All airline companies use the term DIRECT flight meaning that you are not put up in hotel overnight etc.. regardless of how many times you land or change planes.. Usually, mid way they refuel and restock catering equipment/cabin crew/Clean etc which usually is 3 hrs... During this time you are not allowed on the plane for safety reasons. Depending which airline you fly with depends on where you land midway, Emirates = Dubia, Singapore = singapore and so on.. Double check with the airline you book with as to where and when you change over. Hope this helps Best wishes Chris General Electrician Applied TRA Aug 07 TRA Retuned Oct (Skill path D removed) Re-applied Vetassess 01.01.08 Vetassess Paper Assess Passed 10.04.08 House up for sale 28.03.08 sold 14.04.08 (3 weeks, crikey) Vetassess Practical 15.07.08 Practical Passed 11.08.08 176 Visa Application submitted 11.09.08 DIAC Acknowledgement 24.09.08 Sent Police checks 27.08.08 - Recieved 06.09.08 Medicals done 12.01.09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cane Family Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi again. Just for interest i use the following site for flights Compare offers of flights and low-budget flights, book cheap flights at idealo.co.uk gives us an idea of times and of course the cost, then I have booked in most cases direct with the airline etc..... May help maynot. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddysMum Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 That is all very helpful, thank you so much. It is confusing though, as one option quoted a stopover but the other didn't, all with the same airline (BA?Quantas - we are looking to collect more air miles so that we can actually use them sometime!). Anyway, OH did another check, delved a bit deeper and it seems that the cheaper option (Option 2: London, Sydney, Brisbane) does in fact stop at Bangkok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Deb62 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi; Just thought I would add something about flights that I discovered last year. In the past I have always left at night and arrived in Oz in the morning. Last year I got a morning flight, leaving Heathrow about 11am. I did the Singapore Airlines 22hr somethig flight with a couple of hours at Changi Airport. We landed in Brisbane about 8pm and by the time we got to where we were staying it was getting on for 10pm and we went straight to bed. I suffered MUCH less jet lag than ever before - and it usually hits me badly. It really was so much better. Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddysMum Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi;Just thought I would add something about flights that I discovered last year. In the past I have always left at night and arrived in Oz in the morning. Last year I got a morning flight, leaving Heathrow about 11am. I did the Singapore Airlines 22hr somethig flight with a couple of hours at Changi Airport. We landed in Brisbane about 8pm and by the time we got to where we were staying it was getting on for 10pm and we went straight to bed. I suffered MUCH less jet lag than ever before - and it usually hits me badly. It really was so much better. Deb Oh that's interesting. I will give that some thought. We have been looking at the very opposite because of our 7 flights last year, the best one was the one that took off at 11pm, but that was the return journey from Hong Kong to London. SO, we might be better doing it your way going over to Oz. Mmm, thanks! p.s. Just a thought. Did you manage to sleep through the night that first night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest proud2beaussie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 If you have collected frequent flyer points by flying with either Qantas or BA remember that you can actually fly with any of the OneWorld partner airlines (Check oneworld - Member Airlines ) and earn extra points for redeem later,Cathay Pacific in particular have regular specials on the UK-AUS route as they have spare capacity at the moment due to the fact that they took delivery of new planes last year and were given extra landing slots at Heathrow.they are a top notch airline,very underrated in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Deb62 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Oh that's interesting. I will give that some thought. p.s. Just a thought. Did you manage to sleep through the night that first night? Hi; Yes. I slept right from about 11 through to dawn when I lay awake contentedly listening to the magpies outside the window, and my 11 yr old also slept through until I woke her up! As our hosts were up by 6.30am, I slept nearly as long as they did. I felt tired for a couple of days, but I never did feel the usual jet lag. Mind you neither of us slept much on the plane. Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 A stop over is where you change planes and either spend time in the transit lounge or head off to look at the sights, other flights are direct flights but involve a refuelling stop. I believe in getting it over and done with in one fell swoop - its only 24 hours of your life and you can live with that. I dont get jet lag either, mainly because I refuse to believe in it. I usually work all day and then get on the latest plane I can find. Because I am knackered by 10pm anyway I am usually asleep before wheels up, miss the first meal and then am usually awake just before the breakfast meal before touch down. I walk vigorously from one end of the airport to the other while refuelling, stretch and am generally ready to sleep about half way into the next leg then wake up just before breakfast again. I am then fine for the day until about 8-9 pm and wake up whenever I normally wake up. It's a routine I have been doing for years now. As for frequent flyer points - if you have Qantas ff you can get a ff credit card as well so the points mount up and you just use your credit card as you would normally. I reckon I get a free flight every 4th flight but obviously it would take longer without the credit card. Also there are family transfer options so you can get at least one person free if you pool points every now and again. Whichever way you do it though, you are stuck on an aluminium tube 30,000+ft above the ground for about 20 hours of your life (all depending on the winds), no getting away from that unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I agree with landing in Australia in the evening. Seems a lot better. When you land in the morning you are not meant to sleep during that first day but it is so hard not to just nod off for a second which turns into hours. If you stop in Singapore you can use the showers in the terminal to refresh yourself. Singapore airport is great. I agree that you should pay the extra, get as few stops as possible and get it over with. If you live outside London and normally fly through Heathrow you should consider flying with an airline who's first stop is someone else like Schipol or Abu Dhabi. Sometimes easier than Heathrow and less chance of losing your luggage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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