Advice on booking LHR or TXL to SYD return flight for Mar-Apr via Frequent Flyer programmes

[Cybes]

Hi

I am trying to get my head around what is the best way to book a journey (around a month long) departing from either London or Berlin to Sydney, departing mid March and returning mid April, for 2 people in Economy.

I know BA, Qantas and some others have sales on right now, with a few airlines offering sales up till 31st December, but I am looking for the most cost-effective way of doing this, without resorting to using something like China Southern, Eastern or some other variant of that.

I have only bottom level memberships with Qantas FF, Virgin Australia (Velocity), Virgin Flying Club, Aegean Miles & More, Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer) and technically Etihad Guest (but never acquired points with them).

I don’t have many points with any of these schemes at present, but I know it can be possible to spend some of the points I do have and supplement with cash for various of these airlines. I also know you can transfer miles between some of these programmes and purchase miles too, which can sometimes help to bring the cost of the airfare down.

The primary options I have found from investigations so far have basically resulted in flights with either Qantas, Emirates via Qantas, Emirates, Etihad and potentially Singapore Air. As Qatar I'm not sure on and they may leave the OneWorld alliance before March, i'm not confident on trusting them.

I do have a desire to chase status with Qantas, but price is a higher priority for this trip!

I am feeling a bit lost in a world of OneWorlds, Star Alliances, etc. So if anyone can help me please with any tips on how to approach this, it would be appreciated!

PS. I'll be flying out of Germany, which is why I'm trying for Berlin as it'll be nearby, but I've realised Qantas is a bit useless from Germany in general and many "deals" seem to require going from London. Following that various go from Amsterdam, a few go via Rome. Etihad and Singapore seem to go from Berlin.

Thanks!

 

[kelvedon]

I’m reading from this your travel originates in Europe and is to Sydney and back. The only Oneworld airlines that fly from Berlin are BA and Qatar. Emirates do not fly to Berlin and Qatar have been murmuring about leaving Oneworld for years but I don’t think that’ll happen before April, if ever.
As regards points plus pay (Qantas) or the other airlines equivalent, unless you already have points to spend in the respective frequent flyer programs, I wouldn’t think purchasing them especially would offer any savings over the cost of just buying it outright.
Try looking for flights ex Frankfurt or Amsterdam as the choices, and therefore competition, should make prices cheaper.

 

[levelnine]

If you're only taking a single return economy flight, there's no point making points/status your first objective.

Go to Skyscanner or Kayak and choose the cheapest available flight that meets your time/airline requirements. Then assign the points/status you will get from that flight into your preferred frequent flyer program.

 

[Cybes]

I’m reading from this your travel originates in Europe and is to Sydney and back. The only Oneworld airlines that fly from Berlin are BA and Qatar. Emirates do not fly to Berlin and Qatar have been murmuring about leaving Oneworld for years but I don’t think that’ll happen before April, if ever.
As regards points plus pay (Qantas) or the other airlines equivalent, unless you already have points to spend in the respective frequent flyer programs, I wouldn’t think purchasing them especially would offer any savings over the cost of just buying it outright.
Try looking for flights ex Frankfurt or Amsterdam as the choices, and therefore competition, should make prices cheaper.

I mention Qatar, as aside from never having flown with them, it is an airline that keeps coming up in search results and there has been news even just going back a few days saying that the CEO will now decide in February 2019 if they will stay in or leave OneWorld (it is quite apparent that they are making an aggressive push into Australia when you look at their flight prices).

You're right, i'm looking to fly from Europe to Sydney and back, with me starting my journey from Germany, but potentially needing to fly (to and then) from London if I want to get the cheapest tickets. I'm not certain Qantas's Points plus Pay will be financially advantageous. It is a programme that I have the most points with, but when I last cashed in my points with Qantas ex-LHR, the airport tax and government fees were almost as much as a full fare could be (at certain times).

I've read that Etihad does have an offer on at the moment for Points plus Pay equiv. (with apparently 25% off till 31st Dec.) but that happens to be the one airline where i'm only technically a member, as I don't actually currently have any points with them. So it may be that my best option is to pay outright and then capitalise on FF points I would then get from this.

From my investigations, there isn't anything cheap ex-FRA (Frankfurt) to Sydney, which surprised me as Qantas used to fly via FRA on-route to SYD years back, but even TXL (Berlin) had better prices. AMS definitely had some of the more competitive prices in there, but only with specific airlines.

 

[JessicaTam]

Sometimes QR have good fares from HEL/OSL/GOT/ARN to Australia return.

 

[RooFlyer]

I do have a desire to chase status with Qantas, but price is a higher priority for this trip!

but when I last cashed in my points with Qantas ex-LHR, the airport tax and government fees were almost as much as a full fare could be (at certain times).

Bingo. This is an important consideration for you, especially ex the UK which has high departure taxes;avoid it like the plague. Economy is one of the worst uses of points, anywhere

I would suggest you put aside the 'using points on one world' concept and just look at cheap fares. That will bring QR back into the mix (although i doubt it will be leaving OW).

Think of Turkish connecting to Thai via Istanbul and Bangkok (the more connections ie less convenient, the cheaper the fare can be). Also Lufthansa connection with Thai. Finnair can have great fares - the sector taking you to/from Helsinki can be free, and they connect to Qantas in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Tokyo, I think.

 

[Cybes]

Turned out that waiting till the January sales in the end paid higher dividends. With various OneWorld airlines + Etihad, VA and more all having sales on ex-LON (plus some other destinations). CX had some real bargains on today for anyone only wanting direct flights from LON to SYD (around £470 pp return), but even QF+EK, Etihad and some others were offering some pretty competitive pricing themselves.