Best Price for Brisbane-London return in Business Class?

[HKGNZL]

Also CX does cheap J flights from Bali. Always wanted to try but never yet. Sitdown have you actually tried?

 

[OATEK]

I managed $6,900 for J on QF via Dubai when the codeshare with Emirates was launched. Currently the PE on the same flight is about $6,600. But I must admit that for the future, the MH 122/2 with A330/A380 for around $5K looks quite interesting.

 

[Cafe Specific]

Cheapest fare for dates the OP wants is MH at around $5600 BNE-KUL-LHR return (A330 & A380). Z class- earns partial QF points.

Only other cheaper option might be EVA Aiir- operate 2x/week ex BNE. Sometimes they go sub $5K, but routing/duration not as appealing as MH.

 

[sydunipete]

I recently booked Singapore Airlines / Swiss Air in business return for $5900. All fully flat beds and travelling May / June this year. QF/LX was available for slightly less.

Finn Air does great deals.

You can shop around on kayak.com - but be careful when you click through the price shown on kayak may not always be available from the source site. But it is a good way of seeing what might be available.

Scandinavian and Lufthansa have good fares all the time - currently just over $6K. Although their business class on these fares is not lie flat beds (TG to Bangkok then LH does not offer lie flat from there) it's still not bad value and Copenhagen is a sweet terminal to transfer through.

Last year I found an incredible option if you wanted to compromise a bit. Scoot Biz to Bangkok then Sri Lankan Business from Bangkok to Europe. I forget the exact price, but it wasn't much more than $2K in total. I also toyed with Scoot Biz to Bangkok then Qatar (supposedly excellent business class product) from there.

Shopping around is half the fun (IMHO).

 

[markis10]

I recently booked Singapore Airlines / Swiss Air in business return for $5900. All fully flat beds and travelling May / June this year. QF/LX was available for slightly less.

Finn Air does great deals.

You can shop around on kayak.com - but be careful when you click through the price shown on kayak may not always be available from the source site. But it is a good way of seeing what might be available.

Scandinavian and Lufthansa have good fares all the time - currently just over $6K. Although their business class on these fares is not lie flat beds (TG to Bangkok then LH does not offer lie flat from there) it's still not bad value and Copenhagen is a sweet terminal to transfer through.

Last year I found an incredible option if you wanted to compromise a bit. Scoot Biz to Bangkok then Sri Lankan Business from Bangkok to Europe. I forget the exact price, but it wasn't much more than $2K in total. I also toyed with Scoot Biz to Bangkok then Qatar (supposedly excellent business class product) from there.

Shopping around is half the fun (IMHO).

SQ don't have fully flat beds ex BNE.

 

[sydunipete]

My mistake. I'm ex Sydney.

I last flew SQ ex-BNE in late 2008. I can't recall the seating.

 

[markis10]

My mistake. I'm ex Sydney.

I last flew SQ ex-BNE in late 2008. I can't recall the seating.

Same as the VA 330s for the SQ A330s.

 

[sitdown]

Also CX does cheap J flights from Bali. Always wanted to try but never yet. Sitdown have you actually tried?

No but last year my brother in law and wife and 2 others flew Perth to Bali and then Qatar (I think I mistakenly said Etihad) to New York via Dohar and return with short stays in Bali both ways. Cost was just under $5000 return excluding Perth to Bali

 

[Paddy55]

No but last year my brother in law and wife and 2 others flew Perth to Bali and then Qatar (I think I mistakenly said Etihad) to New York via Dohar and return with short stays in Bali both ways. Cost was just under $5000 return excluding Perth to Bali

That is terrific value!

 

[HKGNZL]

Still the same on CX for selected dates and routes to Boston JfK etc. some require a night in HkG.

 

[sydunipete]

I recently booked Singapore Airlines / Swiss Air in business return for $5900.

Correction. I just checked my invoice from my travel agent (I normally don't use one) and the fare was $5160. SYD-SIN-ZRH-VCE//ZRH-SIN-SYD

 

[HKGNZL]

That's great value

 

[georgeflightdiscounts]

Etihad for $7800 most seasons. D Class

Not as cheap as some of the others. But great airline.

 

[flychrisfly]

Try also flying into Southampton or Gatwick to save a few $; perhaps from a European city.

 

[Duffa]

I know this is slightly OT but it seems a lot of flyers are prepared to part with $10,000 to $14,000 per couple to get to Europe in J. My salary has almost doubled in the past ten years but I still find it really hard to shell out that sort of after-tax income on flights (i.e. never!) My question is this. At what sort of annual salary would it be considered miserly, to NOT fly business?
100k? 150k? 250k?
I'm not asking members to divulge their personal income; just to get a ball park figure. So I can justify to Mrs D why we're down the back when we aren't flying on points!!!

 

[sydunipete]

I know this is slightly OT but it seems a lot of flyers are prepared to part with $10,000 to $14,000 per couple to get to Europe in J. My salary has almost doubled in the past ten years but I still find it really hard to shell out that sort of after-tax income on flights (i.e. never!) My question is this. At what sort of annual salary would it be considered miserly, to NOT fly business?

I'm not sure you can put a salary on it as everybody has different values and priorities. For me, I'm 6'4" and I've never paid between $10 - 14K for my tickets. I travel to Europe on average once a year since 2000 and my average fare cost would be in the low $6000s.

So let's say that's an extra $4K over an economy fare. I figure over a full holiday (accommodation, restaurants, transfers, tours etc) let's say $15K I'm looking at paying about a 25% premium for the business class fare. That's not a big amount for the holiday to start the minute you leave home instead of a day or two after you arrive and have managed to uncurl yourself from the fetal position inflicted over 24 hours. Plus I don't have to absolutely dread that return flight home for all of the vacation. That's priceless.

But when internal to Europe (or Australia) I'll often fly economy and discount carriers (EasyJet etc) because leg room is important to me, but so is money.

Others will fly economy but then stay it top hotels. Me I'm happy with 3 star in "colourful" areas. Everybody's mileage will vary.

Just to keep this a little on topic - the Chinese carriers offer excellent value. I did Air China to Europe 2 years back and they delivered what I needed - extra leg room and airport lounges providing some respite from the crowds. On the down side they were very mixed in their aircraft fitouts, service was "different", meal service rushed and plain and English was very poorly spoken. I hate to think what might happen in an emergency. But I survived, saved a lot of bucks and it did the job. I've written a trip report on it here (Sydney to Iceland via China. Mostly J, some China Domestic Y and Magnetic Levitation! - FlyerTalk Forums)

 

[OATEK]

I know this is slightly OT but it seems a lot of flyers are prepared to part with $10,000 to $14,000 per couple to get to Europe in J. My salary has almost doubled in the past ten years but I still find it really hard to shell out that sort of after-tax income on flights (i.e. never!) My question is this. At what sort of annual salary would it be considered miserly, to NOT fly business?
100k? 150k? 250k?
I'm not asking members to divulge their personal income; just to get a ball park figure. So I can justify to Mrs D why we're down the back when we aren't flying on points!!!

Having the resources to travel in greater luxury is important. But for my wife and myself we can no longer cope with Y as the arthritis takes hold, and we don't fly enough to grab the seats with extra leg room. From this year we have decided to go Y+ at least, but when I saw J on QF1 for under $7K, I decided to splash the extra $2K above Y+.

Probably be back in Y+ for our 2014 trip, but very much looking forward to J this year.

As far as the money goes, when the Feds decided to cut the max Super contribs by half this year, I was able to use some of that to beef up the travel account. Not much to thank Julia and Wayne for, but indirectly they made J possible this year.

 

[joyvee]

Not from BNE but am looking at traveling economy on Royal Brunei which has a sale now for about AUD 600 return and then Business from BKK to FRA and back via CDG to BKK. Oman air has good reports and is just under $3000 return and gets excellent seating of 1 : 2 :1 but only travels on specific days. Qatar is also a lot cheaper on this route about $3100. has great dedicated executive lounge in new terminal at Doha too. If I travelled business all the way it would add up to about $5000. This takes more time and lots of plannibng to co-ordinate connections within a price range. China Air ( based in Taipei) has a direct flight to AMS for AU$2700 but I wanted a flat bed! such a shame I will miss out on Finnair's revamp. Any other suggestions welcome ! JoyVee

 

[joyvee]

Update, I rang Finnair and they depart from BNE and they already have flat beds on some routes and seating configuration is 2:2:1 as I was interested in not having to climb over someone to go to the loo or gofor a walk. Very short 10 hour flight to HEL from BKK

 

[flychrisfly]

Update, I rang Finnair and they depart from BNE and they already have flat beds on some routes and seating configuration is 2:2:1 as I was interested in not having to climb over someone to go to the loo or gofor a walk. Very short 10 hour flight to HEL from BKK

Finnair have code shares from Brisbane but don't fly to any Australian port, I believe. A quick perusal of their booking system routes you via SIN or HKG flying QF or CX out of Oz and then Finnair to HEL but no mention of BKK... Don't think any of this is a big deal though