oidara Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Hi folks, We intend to come back to the UK every 18 months or so for a visit (mad, I know, but this is the plan). I read on here about how flights originating in Oz are much more expensive than flights originating in the UK, so I looked into it and it's certainly true! A flight from the UK would cost us almost 4000 GBP return (there are 5 of us) as compared to almost 8000 GBP return from Oz. This is where I had a light bulb moment - it would be cheaper to come back every 12 months (I think this is the max ticket validity) and change our one-way ticket to Oz into a return instead. In other words, it's cheaper to be out of sync and to always have a flight saved from Oz to the UK, then booking a new one from the UK to get back home to Oz....I hope I have expressed this clearly enough....it's driving me bonkers trying to get my head around it! The question is - what have I missed? It seems too good to be true. Do the airlines mind that your flights originate not in your country of residence? Any other downside? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vixxy666 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I can see your logic i thought about this the other day hope someone can confirm or deny as this would be really useful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewebweazel Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Great Idea! But you will only do it a couple of times as you will integrate into Ozzie society Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oidara Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 It's not about whether we integrate or not. To be honest, I couldn't care two hoots about coming back to the UK as I haven't lived here for more than 10 years now. However, we do feel the need to see our parents that often and that won't change no matter how Ozzie we become. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewebweazel Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 It's not about whether we integrate or not. To be honest, I couldn't care two hoots about coming back to the UK as I haven't lived here for more than 10 years now. However, we do feel the need to see our parents that often and that won't change no matter how Ozzie we become. Fairy Snuff, we found emigrating from S.Africa to the UK even though we planned to visit family in S.Africa every 1 to 2 years it doesn't work out that way, we couldn't afford the cost of tickets or the time as we got on with rebuilding our lives and visiting other places that we hadn't been before like Europe and OZ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest truebeliver Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 sounds like a good plan considering what your going to save by doing this! i cant confirm but im sure someone on here will be able to :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 An old colleague of mine used to do it the opposite way (i.e. he worked in the UK but always had a UK-Aus flight up his sleeve ) so I don't think it's a problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Yeah you can do this. If you originate in the UK you can buy your return tickets here. So buy an open return to Aus in the UK, fly out there, fly back and then buy your open return UK-Aus-UK in the UK. You would be in the UK purchasing them to depart from the UK so its not an issue. The only thing to consider is the cost of buying them once back in the UK and not buying date of travel much further in advance. Can cost more if you are buying tickets departing only a few weeks ahead and also not all airlines will have enough seats etc. Those things are worth considering and seeing if they would affect you. I'd talk to a few decent ticket agents if I were you and get a better idea about prices/availability at shorter notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Do bear in mind you'd also have to pay for a flexible ticket so you can change the return. This is generally more expensive than the cheapest flights, so may not end up being worth it. You would also be limited as to when you travel, since the tickets are only valid for 12months. Also bear in mind that travelling every 12months rather than 18months will eat into your leave a lot more, so you won't have as much time to explore this side of the world. Other than that, go for it Personally I'm sticking with the 18months, so that we get to alternate between xmas and a warmer weather trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shusselmann Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Hi, It sounds like a good plan, I saw a similar discussion on another forum recently and several people from the UK commented that this is the way they do it. That said, I think other comments here about the frequency you're likely to return are valid...When we moved over (two years ago) we thought we'd make annual trips back to the UK, we've been put off by the cost but we've also had so many visitors here (we've been very lucky) that we haven't felt the need to visit the UK. We also feel we have loads to explore in Aus so why go elsewhere? Of course, it's different if you're regularly visiting parents who can't make the trip this way. Another consideration is whether you will all (the entire family) make the trip together each time. We're a family of four with family in the UK and SA and it's just not practical with school holidays and work commitments for all of us to make each overseas trip together i.e. sometimes I'll be visiting my side of the family by myself with the kids. Something else to bear in mind. We don't have return tickets back to the UK so will be buying fresh this year - does anyone have any tips on the best time to buy tickets from Aus to the UK? Are there any annual sales for any of the airlines? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 shusselmann, try signing up to the mailing lists of the various companies that you would consider flying with (qantas, singapore, malaysia, emirates etc). They'll always email with any sales they have on. I've found there's often sales on for flights in non-school holiday times. Also keep an eye out on here as sometimes the people who get the emails will remember to post to let other PIOs know about the sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 My Sister in Law does this, or has up to now (she's lived here for 6 years) The problem from her point of view is lack of flexibility, because you have to use the return portion within 12 months. It means her annual return to the UK (which she used to time for school summer holidays) has crept slightly earlier as time has gone on, to the point where now she will miss the holidays of her godchildren this year is she goes back in July to ensure she gets to use the ticket. She also has to book her return to the UK super early to make sure the fare is valid, which also causes her hassle trying to organise things. It has also eaten in to her leave, so for the past 2 years she's bought additional leave from her company so she can get out and about around Australia as well as go home. She can afford it (she is single and on a good wage), but then again she can afford to pay the extra for the flexibility that buying her ticket in Oz will give her Since about a third of her reason for wanting to return every year has now gone (us), and because of the school holiday mismatch above, and because her friend is getting married in France in September and if she goes back within her flight window she'll miss that, she's finally accepted that this year is the year to throw the return in the bin and buy a flight from Aus for travel at the end of August so she catches school holidays and her friend's wedding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shusselmann Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 RockDr - thanks for the tips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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