Melbourne to Paris in Business for <$3215

[wattch]

Just found this for MEL to CDG flying in J on Hainan Airlines for September to October 2019.

$3215 in J is cheap. Haven't checked what their product is like yet.

 

[AIRwin]

It was previously posted as low as $3,089:
Hainan J Brisbane-Brussels $3009

 

[goldenhorn]

Just found this for MEL to CDG flying in J on Hainan Airlines for September to October 2019.

$3215 in J is cheap. Haven't checked what their product is like yet.

View attachment 143393

Wow. Which site did you find it on?

Was impressed with the Flight Hacks review on Hainan.

 

[jase05]

Haven’t had a bad flight with them. Their staff can lack some English but they are more than helpful and friendly enough.
VA partner aswell which is a bonus.
I’d gladly fly with them again and I wouldn’t say no to a stop over at Xi’an either to see the Terracotta warriors again.

 

[jase05]

Wow. Which site did you find it on?

Was impressed with the Flight Hacks review on Hainan.

Hainan have them on their website for that

 

[wattch]

Wow. Which site did you find it on?

Was impressed with the Flight Hacks review on Hainan.

Started with Kayak.com and it took me to Hainan's website.

 

[goldenhorn]

Started with Kayak.com and it took me to Hainan's website.

OK - thanks!

 

[jase05]

Books into I class which earns 640 SC’s with VA

 

[AIRwin]

Any visa required for transiting?

 

[goldenhorn]

Haven’t had a bad flight with them. Their staff can lack some English but they are more than helpful and friendly enough.
VA partner aswell which is a bonus.
I’d gladly fly with them again and I wouldn’t say no to a stop over at Xi’an either to see the Terracotta warriors again.

Great idea. Would love to see the Terracotta Warriors. Went to Beijing last year and enjoyed China so much more than I thought I would.

 

[goldenhorn]

Any visa required for transiting?

From my trip to China last year, I think you can stay for 24 hrs or less without a Visa. Don’t quote me though.

 

[jase05]

Great idea. Would love to see the Terracotta Warriors. Went to Beijing last year and enjoyed China so much more than I thought I would.

Stillto this day ranks as one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Would gladly return

 

[Mattg]

Books into I class which earns 640 SC’s with VA

Can you earn Velocity points & status credits on the sector between China and Europe? The Velocity website says:

Earn Points with Hainan Airlines when you travel in an eligible fare class with a HU flight number and operated by Hainan Airlines or Virgin Australia. Points can only be earned on Hainan Airlines operated flights within or between Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). You can also earn Status Credits on all eligible fare types.

Still, great fare!

 

[jase05]

Can you earn Velocity points & status credits on the sector between China and Europe? The Velocity website says:



Still, great fare!

That is a little disappointing.
Have only flown them between Australia and China before so all was good.
320 SC’s in that case but at that price and with family pooling it’s still excellent

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Any visa required for transiting?

You can have up to 72 hours in Xian without a visa (= transit without visa). This applies as long as you fly non-stop into and out of China with your sole stop being XIY.

If you have multiple stops in China you are limited to 24 hours total (scheduled time of your first flight landing, to the scheduled time of yuor final flight departing). Flights with a technical stop in China limit you to 24 hours TWOV.

 

[Melburnian1]

Given the financial strain that the Hainan group is under, is there at least a small chance that the airline may cease to operate at relatively short notice?

 

[2infinity]

Hainan website is not overly useful. I thought I'd look at some Cairns - Brussels flights in late September 2019. I don't know if they haven't scheduled flights yet or not, but huge difficulty. Managed to find the Cairns - Shenzhen flights, but no direct flights Shenzhen - Brussels return, all transits through Beijing. Site doesn't show what flights are actually available on what days, just says there are no flights that match your search criteria. So its an individual search for each day. Very time consuming. I input the dates as per the email article, and they came up for March, just can't find anything for September.

Was impressed with the Flight Hacks review on Hainan.

I was very impressed too, but then I read the full disclosure statement (Hainan provided a complimentary trip). a) Surely someone's opinion about a free product is going to be biased even if you try not to be, and b) Hainan crew would have been briefed about the passenger(s) and would have provided a better service.

Having said that, still seems like a good product, just can't find the fares I want. lol.

 

[goldenhorn]

Hainan website is not overly useful. I thought I'd look at some Cairns - Brussels flights in late September 2019. I don't know if they haven't scheduled flights yet or not, but huge difficulty. Managed to find the Cairns - Shenzhen flights, but no direct flights Shenzhen - Brussels return, all transits through Beijing. Site doesn't show what flights are actually available on what days, just says there are no flights that match your search criteria. So its an individual search for each day. Very time consuming. I input the dates as per the email article, and they came up for March, just can't find anything for September.

I was very impressed too, but then I read the full disclosure statement (Hainan provided a complimentary trip). a) Surely someone's opinion about a free product is going to be biased even if you try not to be, and b) Hainan crew would have been briefed about the passenger(s) and would have provided a better service.

Having said that, still seems like a good product, just can't find the fares I want. lol.

I had the same problem this week. Was searching some different fares to USA. Wikipedia says they fly SYD to ORD, but couldn't find any flights there.

Same as you - error after error. Couldn't even work out if they have flights to the US. Gave up after an hour of trying.

Yes, I saw their review was sponsored by the airline. It's certainly a grey area and hard to imagine they would give a negative review after free flights.

 

[jase05]

According to their website the only route to Europe with them is MEL-XIY-CDG. Their flights from BNE and CNS go via SZX to Chinese destinations only. There are some MEL-CDG flights in Sept that vary between $3200-3700 in J if that helps

 

[2infinity]

According to their website the only route to Europe with them is MEL-XIY-CDG. Their flights from BNE and CNS go via SZX to Chinese destinations only. There are some MEL-CDG flights in Sept that vary between $3200-3700 in J if that helps

The following was provided in the AFF Monday email and I confirmed these dates myself on Hainan website, so flights are available for some dates, just can't find anything in September 2019. Thanks for looking though.
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We also found flights from Cairns to Brussels (via Shenzhen) for $2,913.56 return: