Best & cheap Business Class

[turneeri]

Decided to treat myself and go Mel-Lon business class (mid-July '08 - yes I know it's late planning but just checking it out at this stage!) - only because I can still remember doing this trip economy and promised I would never, ever do it again!
So I've had a bit of a look at prices and am comparing premium economy vs business but not sure whether to risk premium economy and (fingers crossed) hope it's a good experience (and apply for upgrade) or go all out for business class knowing that it will be good (i.e I've never flown business class internationally before so a newbie for this category)

What do the experts suggest and is there such a thing as a cheapish business class ticket??

Thanks!

 

[jpk]

Finnair generally have some cheap business deals - i priced up MEL-LHR last week at about 7k which is pretty good. QF Y+ is around the 5k mark. CX also sometimes have specials on certain flights (usually need to overnight in HKG) around 7k as well.

Star alliance deals are said to be cheaper than One World but I have no experiences in this area.

The answer will to a certain extend depend on your budget...

 

[NM]

A few other options to consider:

NZ have premium economy via AKL and HKG
VS Upper Class can be good value at times
EK has some reasonable prices to a lot of places in Europe
AF have some good business class fares to Europe (using QF to Asia and AF via CDG)
SAS have some good business class fares to Europe (using TG to BKK and SAS from there)

QF's business class prices are going to be high unless you have access to some good corporate deals. Same goes for CX, BA and SQ.

 

[dajop]

You can get a good overview of different options on the Best Flights website. It is a good starting point for further research.

 

[Travel Guru]

I always found TG to offer the best product in the lower price point.

Good seat, good service, excellent price.

TG

 

[clifford]

If you want to save yourself a few dollars, I see that www.expedia.com (NOT .au) has BKK-LHR business class fares available for AUD 3,000 return on Finnair. You can book online.

You could pick up a cheap fare from Oz to BKK for under $1,000 (can be cheaper still if you fly an LCC), so the total cost would be under AUD 4,000.

There are other options you might want to consider, such as TG from SIN for about $3,700 (www.zuji.com.sg).

 

[Batesy]

Try Malaysian Airlines Via KL. Great seats, good service one of the best lounges going around in KL. Can get for around $7000 from MEL. QF closer to $12,000

 

[sr81]

If you are over 55 then Thai have some good deals. My father is joining me after a conference for some Russian exploring and got MEL-ARN/FRA-MEL for about $6500 (inc taxes). All legs are in business class.

 

[Travel Guru]

Try Malaysian Airlines Via KL. Great seats, good service one of the best lounges going around in KL. Can get for around $7000 from MEL. QF closer to $12,000

Depending on the route, on some such as IST, they are using old product which is apparantly pretty disappointing, but on the major routes they're great

TG

 

[turneeri]

thanks to everyone who have responded so far. I've been looking at Thai and Malaysia. Would love to use Emirates but they've got quite expensive from when I last flew with them although that was in economy
Unfortunately(!!) I'm not in the over-55 age group.

Has anyone actually flown Qantas Premium Economy to London yet?? - I'm a QFF - Bronze Clum member so would like to use Qantas but so far can't justify the cost (even to myself!!) of their business class fares.

 

[ANstar]

If it was a choice between QF Premium Y and and Business on Thai/Malaysian I would most certainly take the business option. Better seats for such a long trip!

 

[garyjohn951]

thanks to everyone who have responded so far. I've been looking at Thai and Malaysia. Would love to use Emirates but they've got quite expensive from when I last flew with them although that was in economy
Unfortunately(!!) I'm not in the over-55 age group.

Has anyone actually flown Qantas Premium Economy to London yet?? - I'm a QFF - Bronze Clum member so would like to use Qantas but so far can't justify the cost (even to myself!!) of their business class fares.

If you a QFF-B only, then using PE+ will not get you into lounges, whereas Thai, MAS or Finnair all business will get you lounge access

 

[Travel Guru]

I'm not sure when you last flew with EK, but the sharp increase in their fares is likely to be their fuel fines which make their fares look more expensive than they actually are, as the added taxes to Europe are only around $190 instead of the $800 on QF or $600 on Thai

I also would fly Thai business over QF Y+, even with OW lounge access I still think the product on offer as far as the seat etc is superior, as well it should be.

TG

 

[Keith009]

Try Malaysian Airlines Via KL. Great seats, good service one of the best lounges going around in KL. Can get for around $7000 from MEL.

Amen. Whilst I've not been on them for a few years now, I've heard very good things about their (flagship) product from all accounts. Also, V noice new Regional Lounge in their main terminal building:

[KUL main terminal] MH J regional (Rimbun) - SQTalk

Even though you'd be flying long haul from the Satellite building, you can access this lounge by popping over to the Main building. As someone rightly pointed out, all that just for Regional and for J!

 

[Anna]

Turneeri, I am flying QF Y+ to London next month and will report back. YMMV but I rejected the non Oneworld J options in order to earn QF status credits. As QFF gold I already get lounge access so that was not an issue. In the past I have flown BA WT+ and thought it was a worthwhile option, so now I will give the QF product a go.

 

[clifford]

Amen. Whilst I've not been on them for a few years now, I've heard very good things about their (flagship) product from all accounts. Also, V noice new Regional Lounge in their main terminal building:

[KUL main terminal] MH J regional (Rimbun) - SQTalk

Even though you'd be flying long haul from the Satellite building, you can access this lounge by popping over to the Main building. As someone rightly pointed out, all that just for Regional and for J!

Problem with MH is that they don't have a worthwhile FF program. Otherwise quite a good airline.

 

[ANstar]

Problem with MH is that they don't have a worthwhile FF program. Otherwise quite a good airline.

I now dump all my malaysian points into Virgin Atlantic's flying club.

I then top up my flying club account with the 1.5 miles from the Amex Rewards Maximiser. The flying club has good redemptions with SQ, VS at much better rates than QF.

 

[HardieBoys]

Finnair have deals to Europe via Helsinki for around $7450 (including taxes). Stopovers are permitted, but travel must occur via Helsinki. I transitted through this airport a few weeks ago, and it's a very easy affair. The European leg is an economy seat, though they sell only the aisle and window seats, and you get a business meal service (all perfectly fine).

 

[turneeri]

Thank-you to those who took the time to read and reply to my query. I've decided on using Malaysian Airlines as their schedule fits in better with me!
Now - what's the best way to book? Online directly with the airline or see if Flight Centre can better the airline price??

 

[dajop]

Now - what's the best way to book? Online directly with the airline or see if Flight Centre can better the airline price??

Flight Centre have a price beat guarantee. If you don't have an existing relationship with a specific branch/agent, be warned that :
1) Their initial quote may be significantly $$$ higher than quotes available through other channels, unless you present a quote to beat.
2) Will try to hit you with CC surcharge that could bump the overall cost to higher than if booked through other channel (always take a quote that is inclusive of taxes, surcharges AND CC fees to allow a reasonable comparison)
3) Their taxes and surcharges often do match (read are higher than) the same quoted by the airline (see also 2 above).
4) They have a booking fee of their own, so ALWAYS compare NET fare with NET fare (see also 2 above)

To answer your original question, it doesn't take much effort to compare a couple of online agents (eg best flights, travel.com.au, zuji) and the airline itself. Worth checking anyway.