Buying Aus tickets from o/s

[Lez]

G'day!

I'm not a frequent traveller; as a teenager I could never sit still, so being stuck on long haul flights really isn't my thing. From time to time, however, a trip home is unavoidable, and in my recent search for a cheap fare for I found my way here.

I am currently living in Japan with my wife and infant. We are looking to go to Sydney, and then fly back from Adelaide next March. I have always tried to fly Qantas because a) they are Australian, and b) they offer direct flights to Aus. This time around the shorter flight is even more important as I'll have my son with me (he'll be turning 1 in April). Here is my problem: the flights out of Japan are all quite expensive. The return with Qantas for 2 adults and an infant is quoted at about 340,000 yen ($4,000). The cheapest I could find was Cathay Pacific at 295,000 yen ($3,500) which I suppose is reasonable, but the flights are quite long, not to mention the transfers. I noticed that Qantas are offering $999 for flights from SYD to NRT. For the three of us this comes to $2,344.08. It seems just a bit rude to be charging close to double the price for passengers originating in Japan for the same flight.

So anyway, my question is, is it possible to pay the rescheduling fee ($80, it would seem) and make the first leg (SYD-NRT) the return leg? I would like to support an Australian company as well as get my family the shortest, least stressful flight, but the budget isn't that good at the moment!

Any advice would be aprreciated!
Cheers!

 

[trooper]

Common question (for obvious reasons!) ...but sorry.. No... It doesn't work that way..

Prices ex-OZ (or NRT or LAX etc) relate to local markets and are not "turnable"..... you'll see plenty of discussion here on AFF about the disparity in pricing ex-USA versus ex-OZ..

The only real solution I'm aware of is for folks who are going to travel often enough to get to the cheaper origin point on a one way/points redemption.. THEN commence a series of return trips from there at the lower prices.

Note.. Looking on matrix.itasoftware.com a simple NRT-SYD return Jetstar seems to have prices way lower than that in March.. worth a look?

 

[markis10]

Have a look at fares ex Taiwan, there are plenty of carriers that will get you there.

 

[Robert K]

Qantas taiwan site is only useful for booking tickets back to australia. QF has no planes that go to taiwan. It code shares with BR from BNE to TPE, and J* flys from TPE to SIN

 

[markis10]

Qantas taiwan site is only useful for booking tickets back to australia. QF has no planes that go to taiwan. It code shares with BR from BNE to TPE, and J* flys from TPE to SIN

Who said QF, not me, and note the OP is looking at all airlines although they do have a QF preference.

Also note the OP is in Japan, so they are looking for tickets back to Australia! You can also use the TPE site to book CX to HKG and then pick up the QF service (its actually cheaper than the codeshares) if you so desire, however it was not a QF option that I was inferring, after all why fly Y if you can get J at a resonable price, only issue is the business standard fares are released within 6 months of departure, J has been around the $2500 return ex TPE for at least the last 11 years, including on QF metal when they flew there, I used to do it monthly:

 

[Robert K]

Who said QF, not me, and note the OP is looking at all airlines although they do have a QF preference.

Was more saying Qantas TW not great for direct flights to sydney so OP didn't have to check

but that is a ridiculously cheap J ticket!
i'm paying that much plus 120k points at the end of the year for the same thing (probably worse coz it'll be BR)!

 

[Lez]

Thanks for the replies. Jetstar is cheap, but unfortunately my distance from the airport means the departure and arrival times make it impossible to make it without staying in a hotel for a night each way. I haven't ruled out the option, but for now it isn't at the top of the list.