Flying from Australia to London every year!

[rigavitch]

Hello all, I'm new to this site and know nothing about frequent flyer points....other than you can get them!
i am flying to London in September and back to Australia next year at Christmas and will be doing so for the foreseeable future due to my success in an international relocation case. I will also be bringing my son back to Australia every year to see his father. In short we will be flying a lot and I have no idea which Plan to join. I am not rich so will always be looking for the cheapest economy flights which means, I guess, various airlines.
Any advice would be appreciated and apologies in advance for my ignorance!
riga

 

[Mwenenzi]

Welcome to the forum.
As price is your driving factor, you may end up on different arlines year to year

- With Freq flyer programs [FFP] you can collect miles in one airlines FFP but actually fly with another airline (airline partner) (eg get QF points while flying eligible Emirates flights)
- Some low cost flights get nil or very little points/miles
- Many to most FFP's have a rule where you lose points/miles after 18 months of no activity
- Some airline FFP's have very high cash co pay fees on rewards flights (like Qantas)
- Reward flights can be hard to get, espically at peak times (Christmas)
- FFP's have many rules that need to be understood to get the best out of them

 

[harvyk]

Welcome to the forum,

Do you do any other flying outside the annual trip to London?
To get the best value from points with only a couple of flights per year you really need to pick an airline and stick with them (or at least within that airlines alliance / partner airlines).
Think of points as things that will get you flying in the higher cabins as redeeming points for economy (Y) tickets is usually very bad value. (There is times when the "taxes" in an award booking can be more expensive than simply purchasing the same flight with cash and no points).

Don't forget things like wollies every day rewards and other things which will help your points balance and ensure that you gets points at least once every 18 months.

 

[The Rok]

Join AAdvantage, fly BA, QF, CX.. CX would probably be the cheapest on those routes, but sometimes QF sales can be ok.

 

[kempvet]

Join AAdvantage, and sign up for the platinum challenge, then fly BA codes from Australia to Europe, one completed flight should give you platinum status and lounge access and double miles for at least a year on AA, BA, AY codes. Do your homework as there is a lot to know about what is best for you, post your questions on the AA forum on this site. Look for cheap fares coded AA Aus-USA, you can then look for cheap AA reward 20,000 mile tickets anywhere in the USA to anywhere in Europe, why not enjoy the USA on the way to and from Europe for no extra cost if you work it correctly.

Unless you have a lot of flying here in Australia, I would give QF the big miss. And once again, you have a lot of homework to do. If you are definite about the timing each year, try using a points flight to Europe and then book Europe-AUS-Europe as often the fares with oneworld alliance are significantly cheaper.

 

[Mwenenzi]

....will always be looking for the cheapest economy flights which means, I guess, various airlines

Which is unlikely to be legacy carriers like QF or BA. Asian or Middle East airlines will probably be cheaper. For an annual flight selecting the airline on points/miles is not a good idea. Unlikely to get real value from 1 return flight. The points/miles are a bonus if used.
From London for price look at LHR [Heathrow]and LGW [Gatwick]

http://www.trailfinders.com/flights/sydney
http://www.farecompare.com/flights/London-LON/Sydney-SYD/market.html
http://www.skyscanner.com.au/flight...ghts&utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=farecompare_au
http://www.globehunters.com/FlightS...=1254&uws=1&ufb=0&sbex=0&aff=farecompare&src=
http://www.worldwideflights.com/fli...O,BUSS,FIRS&adt=1&chd=0&inf=0&dir=R&aff=FCFLT

 

[serfty]

If flying years, you may like to look at buying your tickets from the UK in £ this can often be cheaper than buying in Australia for in $ for the same flights.

 

[Nizar]

If flying years, you may like to look at buying your tickets from the UK in £ this can often be cheaper than buying in Australia for in $ for the same flights.

This is precisely the thought that came to mind as soon as I saw the thread title.
Last I checked prices were around 1/3rd cheaper for LHR-MEL-LHR on BA/QF compared to MEL-LHR-MEL on QF.

 

[rigavitch]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I'm grateful....I think....looks like I still need to do lots of research and still not sure how. It helps if you know what questions to ask. I imagine if I call the actual airline they will say whatever the need to say to get me "on board"!
Ill give it a go and hopefully make the right decision!
i do travel to Vienna and Italy and Paris when in UK at least once a year so will factor this in. Thanks again

 

[Zulaiha]

What I learned from going to UK quite often that it pays to fly out of UK not through Heathrow, it might be a bit silly flight like get flight to Amsterdam first via Standsted or Gatwick first and or even out from Dublin or other airport will save you lots, as Heathrow has the highest tax of all I believe, and your tax is based on your first airport out.

 

[rigavitch]

Thanks!
im looking at Etihad as they are often cheap and in partnership with Virgin.
Riga

 

[Zulaiha]

As Etihad Guest is free, I would apply for it for your first flight, even if you find you do not like it in the future, at least you have some miles in your account already. The other thing is that you automatically got 5kg added check in baggage allowance for their lowest tier Guest.

 

[rigavitch]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[rigavitch]

Thanks for the tips. It all seems a bit hard though and possibly not worth it as ill always be flying economy with my son. I do travel to Europe once a year so will try and work out which FF is best for that...oh gosh...I'm losing the will to live ha ha. I don't expect free flights but possible upgrades and excess luggage and lounge use would be amazing!

 

[Zulaiha]

It is easy to get status in Etihad, and as silver you will get access to some lounges. If you hit silver you will have extra 10 kg baggage allowance.

for a trip from Syd - LHR in economy the cheapest will earn you almost 11K miles. and Silver only required 25K I believe.

From UK you can fly to Asia, and or other destinations around Middle East which is quite cheap, suddenly before you knew it, you hit Silver

I used to be overwhelm like you do, but just do one airline at the time, now I can enjoy the status plus plus.

 

[rigavitch]

Zulaiha-you're great. Thank you!
im going to start with etihad then.
I really just want upgrades ha ha....

 

[Mwenenzi]

im going to start with etihad then.
I really just want upgrades ha ha....

Check very carefully if the cheap fares are upgradable. And be prepared to fly in the fare class you buy.
Etihad does not have as many airline partners compared to the OneWorld & www.staralliance.com airlines

 

[Melburnian1]

If price is your consideration, take the advice of others above and switch airlines from year to year.

The Middle Eastern airports are inferior to the better Asian ones.

One cheapie carrier is CZ (China Southern) which does not go through a great Asian airport, but it may well save you a lot.

In the future (probably from mid 2014 although PR may be a trifle earlier), both PR (Philippine Airlines) and GA (Garuda) will resume flights to Europe. Both are likely to be cheap. The former has the advantage of as close a culture to Western as you will find in Asia; the latter similarly is buying new planes.

Shop around. Do not just go to Flight Centre!

Consider using Europe's fantastic trains to get from A to B once you have arrived by air at an airport such as AMS.

 

[Zulaiha]

Here is some what I have learnt along the way of travel world

No frequent flyer programs nor any hotels clubs comes for nothing, one way or another they will get us if we are not vigilant and be very flexible. None of them are perfect by any means, but if you are like me, i.e only cares about the priority check in, possibility to be upgraded, extra baggage that only comes with the status then learn to concentrate in reaching a status the cheapest we can (i.e plan ahead our travel, take the opportunity to earn more for less in their promotions etc).

I do not work thus all travel has to be funded from our own pocket, I manage to get status and keep it going because I have the time to be flexible. It pays me now because I have more upgrade thus flying in style for minimum charge

Good luck for whatever you choose, as I said everybody has different circumstances and preference; I can only tell you about Etihad because that is what I am in for now.

 

[rigavitch]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate it. Is there any reason I cannot join a couple of FF clubs? I've joined Etihad and perhaps I should join one of the others suggested above...