Advice sought CBR-AMS: Cathay Pacific, Qantas (EK) or Singapore?

[Swifty]

Hello all

As a first time poster I'm hoping I can tap into the knowledge and experience without wasting anyone's time. My work is about to book travel for me from Canberra to Amsterdam in May 2013 on a discount economy fare and they've come to me with quotes from Qantas (on Emirates planes flying S class), Cathay Pacific (V class), and Singapore Airlines (E class) which meet our travel policy, and I can chose the one I want. I've only recently been paying greater attention to the intricacies of flying, but I'm starting to get the impression that there's probably a best option between the three which would make a big difference to some 60hrs of economy flying, but I just don't know enough to choose it.

What's important to me is, in order of priority:

Chance of an upgrade to business (obviously, but I realise from a discount seat this is pretty unlikely);
Ability to pre-select (pre-purchase, if necessary) an exit row seat in economy (I'm 6'5" so every inch of space counts for me) - it appears this is available with Cathay, but Qantas said it's not an option on EK planes even with QF flight numbers;
General in-flight facilities - age of planes, movie options, customer service, seat comfort, quality of food. I've had a look at seat pitch on seat guru and they all seem to be pretty much of a muchness;
Lounge access (much lower priority, but still nice) - I have QFF Gold so I'm covered with the Cathay and Qantas;
Status credits / points (even lower priority - I'm probably going to fall short of Gold again so I'll just purchase Qantas Club when the time comes).

I also have a few hundred thousand QFF points which I would use for an upgrade if I could, but I don't think I can; and I have 80,000 Amex Ascent Premium points which I think I could put into Marco Polo or KrisFlyer points if an upgrade was available (but have no status advantages with either of these programs). I am waiting on hearing back from Amex whether their complimentary Gold enrolment into the Marco Polo club is still available to me or not (on their application form it has a cut-off date of 15/2/2013, and even if it does go through it might not be processed in time, so I'm not making plans on that basis) and whether it would even make any difference.

Can you please let me know which of these flight options you would choose, and why? It would be greatly appreciated by someone who is, frankly, dreading spending this much time cramped up the back of the plane!

 

[markis10]

Upgrades for QF need to be QF metal so point 1 is a no I am afraid.
Lounge access will be available for QF and Emirates lounges only, and all one world lounges if flying CX.

As for the other points, it depends on what equipment is scheduled but as you said its going to be much of a muchness.
I dont suppose work will reimburse you the economy fare if you book it your self, a JASA would be an obvious way to go for most of the journey!

 

[Swifty]

Thanks markis. I would love to be credited with the ticket cost and make my own way over with a JASA or as a chance to use up some Virgin Atlantic points I've got languishing in a never used account. But sadly no, not an option.

Does anyone know if ExpertFlyer (or any other service, I've just heard about them) can tell me, two months out, what particular equipment is scheduled? Or is this something that the airlines themselves probably don't even necessarily know?

 

[mannej]

Economy is economy to put it plainly

 

[legroom]

What's important to me is, in order of priority:

Chance of an upgrade to business (obviously, but I realise from a discount seat this is pretty unlikely)..

Not possible to use QFF points for upgrade on EK metals (I had tried !)
You could purchase an upgrade using $$ with EK
Op-Up with SQ is a rare event, and you could not buy it with points or $$ (and you have no status with SQ).
If you desire J seat, best bet is to purchase one, esp. you have no status with SQ or CX. Sorry to say that.

Time of arrival is relevant here: SQ & CX arrive early in the morning (6-7am) while QF/EK arrives later (1-2pm).

That is relevant as your hotel will likely refuse an early check in and you will need to plan for 5-6 hrs of Amsterdam exploration after the 22 hrs of flight.

If you like that, then plan for CX or SQ.

 

[eastwest101]

If work dictates that you are stuck in Y and you can't find a way to use points/$$ for a paid upgrade to PE or J class then I would pick the least stops/most direct route to get there, and you may definately want to arrive in Amsterdam in the late afternoon to walk around a little and then check-in and go to bed after 23-26 hours in Y and transit.

The obvious transit points for 1 stop is somewhere in Asia - whether that be Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok or even Jakarta? I would assume that Garuda and China Southern are "not approved" carriers? If so they may be out of date and no longer relevant restrictions.

I went to the expedia web site and just threw in some random dates, and sorted by arrival time and eliminated the silly 2 stoppers like via LHR. The best 1 stop option that arrives late in AMS seems to be Emirates all the way (based on the assumption that you can sleep in Y class).

Sydney	Amsterdam	via Dubai
SYD 9:10pm		AMS 1:30pm +1 day	1 Stop	24h 20m
Emirates EK413 Emirates EK147

A380 all the way but 2:45 waiting in Dubai so a bit of a downer.


This option lets you stay awake through to Kuala Lumpur and then take some sleeping pills and knock yourself out for the KL-AMS leg but gets you into AMS at 6-7am so then you have to kill the whole day in AMS before checking into your hotel.

Sydney	Amsterdam	via Kuala Lumpur
SYD 1:50pm		AMS 6:00am +1 day	1 Stop	24h 10m
KLM 4104 operated by Malaysia Airlines KLM 810

But have an experiment yourself on expedia or an equavalent if you want to sort by no of stops, departure time, arrival time, earning SC/points, whatever your priorities are. I take it that your work does not expect you to actually work in AMS for the first 24 hours after getting there? Considering you will be in the air in a Y class seat for 24-26 hours duration?

 

[Swifty]

Thanks legroom - arrival time is a consideration. And eastwest101, you're right on all counts.

I think, all things considered, I think I'm going to go with the Emirates flights and 1.30 p.m. arrival, booked as a Qantas flight. I've been playing around with SeatGuru and it looks like they have a LOT more extra-legroom economy seats in their configuration (up to 30 I think) and as this will be post 1 April after the Qantas-Emirates deal, I'm hoping my SG and height will garner some sympathy / consideration at check in and I get a decent seat. Plus it appears that two of the Cathay legs (to/from Sydney) are still on their old 'shell' seats, which have terrible reviews for their lack of recline and lack of lumbar support; and on those legs, there are only two economy seats on the entire plane which get the SeatGuru tick for extra leg-room.

So, apparently more comfortable seats and much greater chance of extra-legroom on departure (even without the benefits of advance exit row selection - I rang and checked) has made my choice easy. Plus SC, presumably pleasant lounges, and the lotto like chance of an upgrade to J (gotta dream!), and I'm happy with my choice.

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

 

[legroom]

Let us know if your SG-assisted charm offensive works

I am in a similar position come late April