Cheap PER-SGN (or similar) run, 6pax

[exceladdict]

Hi All, basically wanting to find out if I'm making a huge mistake as per the below plans. Very open to brutal criticism.

After a basically RTW J trip with Mrs Excel, parents and two sisters want to go on a trip to 'somewhere warm'. Sisters both students, so it's a budget trip. Ex PER - I'm looking at JQ so I'll at least scrape some SCs. I am aware I will be brutally reawakened to the hard JQ seats compared to the QR/CX/AY Beds.

The kicker: it has to be during school holidays, not because any of us are at school or teachers, but that's unfortunately where the stars align. Looking at first week of July and was planning something like:

PER-SIN - JQ price matched to Scoot - $277
SIN-SGN - JQ $~70
SGN-SIN - JQ $~70
SIN-PER - JQ price matched to Scoot - $210

After I put it all together, I'm wondering whether $627 is too much to be spending on JQ Y fares (this doesn't even include plus bundle, baggage nor CC fees). Given no QF, and minimal OW, flights to SE Asia, I'm outside of my knowledge zone (or ready to learn about another).

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Use googleflights to cross reference the JQ pricing against full service carriers, and make your choice based on that.

Googleflights quotes in USD, so you need to factor that in. But if SQ was a hundred dollars more, you need to weigh up the benefits such as baggage, meals, alcohol, and perhaps even Changi Dollars (if Viet Nam is eligible). With Changi Dollars you get free lounge access in SIN, plus another voucher to use for duty free.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

The price of AUD677.00 return seems pretty good to me for PER/SGN/PER but is with all the plus bundles and/or any luggage allowance added though?

I've noticed on the JQ site that you are able to add baggage for only those who want it however IIRC the plus bundle would be added to everyone so you'd probably need to do a separate booking for those pax who wanted the plus bundle. You can also specify if you only want checked luggage on the return sectors if you were travelling outbound with HLO.

If you book using the Jetstar mobile app (which you can access from your tablet) and use a debit card eg QF Cash card you can avoid paying the credit card surcharge.

Airfares PER/DPS/PER are often cheaper than to SIN however you would then need to get a pretty good deal on fares DPS/SGN/DPS which could take you total airfare over the AUD677.00 mark.

It may be an option if you wanted a couple of nights in Bali on the way over. The option below DPS/xSIN/SGN has a long transit however plenty of time for a stay at the Changi transit hotel. I got the fare quote of AUD159.00 from Cheap flights | Free flight comparison at Skyscanner Australia using 28 May as a random date.

Outbound journeyOUTBOUND - Thu, 28 May 2015

[TABLE="width: 492"]
[TR="class: airline, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD="bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]Jetstar
JQ116[/TD]
[TD="class: operated-by empty, bgcolor: #FBFBFB, colspan: 4"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: departure, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD="class: times bold, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]23:10[/TD]
[TD="class: route, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]DPS Bali (Denpasar)[/TD]
[TD="class: leg-icon"]Departure[/TD]
[TD="class: duration, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]2h 40[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: destination, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD="class: times, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]01:50 (+1)[/TD]
[TD="class: route, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]SIN Singapore Changi[/TD]
[TD="class: leg-icon"]Destination[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: connection, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: connect"]Connect in airportLong wait[/TD]
[TD="class: leg-icon"]Connection[/TD]
[TD="class: connection-time bold"]5h 20[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: airline, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD="bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]Jetstar
JQ555[/TD]
[TD="class: operated-by empty, bgcolor: #FBFBFB, colspan: 4"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: departure, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD="class: times bold, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]07:10[/TD]
[TD="class: route, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]SIN Singapore Changi[/TD]
[TD="class: leg-icon"]Departure[/TD]
[TD="class: duration, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]2h 05[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: destination, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD="class: times, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]08:15[/TD]
[TD="class: route, bgcolor: #FBFBFB"]SGN Ho Chi Minh City[/TD]
[TD="class: leg-icon"]Destination[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: arrival-info, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD="colspan: 5, align: right"]Arrives: Fri, 29 May 2015 Journey duration: 10h 0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[exceladdict]

Sorry for the late reply - had a couple of crazy days at work. Very much appreciate your ideas. Will check both out along with QF's new PER-SIN (gasp) announcement.

 

[dajop]

Oh. Unless it has changed recently, you can't add a plus bundle to price match fares, so can't earn points/SCs on the JQ sectors you suggested between SIN and PER.

 

[exceladdict]

Oh. Unless it has changed recently, you can't add a plus bundle to price match fares, so can't earn points/SCs on the JQ sectors you suggested between SIN and PER.

Oh wow. That was a crucial flaw in my case then. Didn't realise that at all. Thanks for the heads up