Which flight to choose?

[sng1971]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to book a J seat redemtion with Qantas SIN-MEL and there are 3 flights that suit.

Option 1:

09:05 Singapore 14:10 Perth QF72 18:20 Perth 23:45 Melbourne QF776 12h 40m

Option 2:

1945 Singapore 05:15 Sydney BA15 06:45 Sydney 08:20Melbourne QF403 10h 35m


Option 3:

22:30 Singapore 06:40 Adelaide QF82 09:10 Adelaide 10:55 MelbourneQF676 10h 25m

I understand everyone will have different criteria (day flight vs. night, duration, etc).

As for me, my only real criteria is to enjoy the trip. I'm on holidays so timing doesn't really matter. The main questions I have are:

1. How does the BA B777 compare with QF A330 in J?
2. What is the PER-MEL A330 like in J, and is it worth the extra time.
3. Should I try to avoid Sydney?
4. Is it worth taking the day flight to make the most of J, even if it involves a domestic J leg.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

 

[sng1971]

Sorry for the format - my cutting and pasting is a bit dodgy!

 

[ColinP]

Adelaide is by far the easiest Int to Dom transit.
SYD at 06:45 is a zoo.

 

[dajop]

via PER: Pros - good chance to enjoy J on daytime intl flight, Con - waste who day travelling, painful connection
via ADL: Pros - easy connection, Cons -late evening flight, service will be quick as they will probably want to get lights out ASAP, relatively short flight
via SYD Pros - get full meal service out of SIN, longer flight than other two, Cons- relatively short sleeping time if you want full meal etc, transfer can be hectic at that time of the morning.

If you want to enjoy the J experience probably the via PER option gives you the best chance of that. (I say probably, as it sometimes depends on the crew).

 

[markis10]

Would not touch the BA flight on award, award PAX get the lowest priority when things go wrong, and with BA there is a chance of that happening while the industrial action continues!

 

[medhead]

Definitely check that the SIN-ADL flight doesn't stop in DRW. I got this flight once in the past and it stopped in DRW without any really notice, no i didn't check, so it is my fault for not realising it would stop in DRW, although I think it may be non-stop now. But if it does stop in DRW it is a real pain - early morning and no lounge just sitting around in a locked room. And they will probably take any duty free off you as well.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Definitely check that the SIN-ADL flight doesn't stop in DRW. I got this flight once in the past and it stopped in DRW without any really notice, no i didn't check, so it is my fault for not realising it would stop in DRW, although I think it may be non-stop now. But if it does stop in DRW it is a real pain - early morning and no lounge just sitting around in a locked room. And they will probably take any duty free off you as well.

Via DRW was bearable in the days when there was a QF Club airside in the transit area but that was way before LAGS 9/11 etc.

FYI QF have nil intl flights into/out of DRW - everything is codeshare operated by JQ.

I would go for option 3 via ADL. If you happen to have friends in PER you could go out to dinner with them to pass the time which would make option 1 viable but killing that much time at the airport would just about do your head in.

In any case as all three options are international to domestic flight connections you won't have any issues with duty free grog being confiscated.


Cheers Oz

 

[dajop]

FYI QF have nil intl flights into/out of DRW - everything is codeshare operated by JQ.

Yep. I did QF82 SIN-ADL (with dom connection to MEL) twice last year. Definitely does not fly via DRW.

I would go for option 3 via ADL. If you happen to have friends in PER you could go out to dinner with them to pass the time which would make option 1 viable but killing that much time at the airport would just about do your head in.

Although the OP could very well be upstairs and checked in at domestic within 15mins of landing at ADL, still leaving 2 hrs till boarding ... at PER by the time of mucking around with the bus, it's schedule and transfer ticket, it may only be 2 hrs to boarding once all checked in at domestic as well

The other plus of the ADL option, given flight will be in J, if all goes well, the OP could be upstairs checking in by 7am (20mins not unreasonable), and could then try and move to 7:30am flight instead of 9:10am. Usually Ok with moving award seats.

In any case as all three options are international to domestic flight connections you won't have any issues with duty free grog being confiscated.

As long as, if buying at SIN, you answer "Yes" to the question "Is Adelaide your final destination?" sometime the nuances of a domestic transfer is lost on the DFS staff, and they may refuse to sell it to you if you answer "No".

 

[markis10]

I take the PER flight to get back to BNE all the time ex SIN, cannot stand the overnight flights.

 

[mannej]

I believe QF has just changed the QF777/QF776 double to A333's, which means skybeds in J for PER-MEL.

I don't know what dates you are looking at, but that is what has been mentioned on here, and I can tell you that it is Skybeds on this service.

If it is an A332, then it is a lottery as to what seat you will get up the pointy end of the plane

 

[ozbeachbabe]

... at PER by the time of mucking around with the bus, it's schedule and transfer ticket, it may only be 2 hrs to boarding once all checked in at domestic as well.

I was assuming that the PER friends would pick you up at the intl terminal after you have cleared customs and rechecked your bag, then head off to dinner before dropping you back at domestic otherwise definitely not worth the hassle.

As long as, if buying at SIN, you answer "Yes" to the question "Is Adelaide your final destination?" sometime the nuances of a domestic transfer is lost on the DFS staff, and they may refuse to sell it to you if you answer "No".

Geez that's a potential can of worms. It really goes to show that the traveller has to know the nitty gritty because DFS staff in SIN aren't going to be well versed on idiosyncrasies of international to domestic connections being okay for LAGS if your final destination ADL/xx_ is operated by a domestic flight number. It comes down to as long as you clear customs at the first port of entry to Australia which in this example is ADL.

You'd be stuffed if you were getting QF82 SIN/SYD via ADL as you would have your prize duty free booze confiscated at the inbound transit screening point airside in ADL as that would be the first port of entry into Australia. You wouldn't be clearing customs until SYD.

Similarly if you were flying SIN/ADL on QF82 then travelling on another intl QF flight number QF1-QF399 either within Oz or intl eg ADL/AKL - say bye bye to duty free booze in ADL.

Cheers

Oz

 

[sng1971]

I decided on the BA flight via Sydney. Seemed a waste to pay for another nights accomodation in Singapore, and I was able to get on the same SYD-MEL flight as a friend of mine.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

 

[harvyk]

Geez that's a potential can of worms. It really goes to show that the traveller has to know the nitty gritty because DFS staff in SIN aren't going to be well versed on idiosyncrasies of international to domestic connections being okay for LAGS if your final destination ADL/xx_ is operated by a domestic flight number. It comes down to as long as you clear customs at the first port of entry to Australia which in this example is ADL.

Well I don't think it's just SIN which travellers need to know the rules... Earlier this year I flew AKL - SYD - CBR and when the person at DFS asked me if SYD was my final destination. It had to spend a fair bit of time convincing the DFS sales assistant that I could infact buy DF in AKL and it wouldn't be confiscated in SYD. It wasn't until I explained that I had flown the route before and that I knew there would be no problems that they decided to sell me the DF grog...

The problem was that they know that there are some AU dom flights which are subject to LAG rules, it's just they don't know exactly which ones.

 

[froggerADL]

I couldn't work out what LAG/LAGS was so I went to the Abbreviations & Explanatons page and it wasn't there. So no LAG or LAGS please people . I worked it out eventually, but it hurt!

 

[harvyk]

I couldn't work out what LAG/LAGS was so I went to the Abbreviations & Explanatons page and it wasn't there. So no LAG or LAGS please people . I worked it out eventually, but it hurt!

LAG's isn't an AFF specific term (unlike QP or WP), it's a term coined I believe by the TSA, you'll probably see it writen all over international terminals (maybe with an explaination in small print), especially just before security and at Duty Free stores.

 

[froggerADL]

LAG's isn't an AFF specific term

The page I was referring to has lots of non-AFF specific terms listed. I don't really expect it to have every term listed though.

 

[serfty]

The page I was referring to has lots of non-AFF specific terms listed. I don't really expect it to have every term listed though.

The abbrev. page predated the term LAG(s)... fixed now though