Commencing European travel in Asia , issues ?

[mrsterryn]

Seems to be a lot of excellent deals come out from Asia to Europe and USA (of course depending on exchanges rates ) . Just wondering what are the pitfalls in flying from Aust to an Asian airport and then going on to USA /Europe . However the flights arent connecting
Possible delayed and missing ?
Having to enter into the country to get the bags before flying on ?
Are these valid ? Any others ?

 

[offshore171]

Ideally add a day's contingency between the staging flight and the onward trip to europe.

 

[bam71]

We take advantage of those deals ex Asia regularly. We build in a night in Asia en route, and a stopover for a few days en route back.

 

[OZDUCK]

We have done the same 4 or so times. We always build in at least one night eacch way in Singapore which is not exactly a hardship. On those trips even with the extra stopover costs we saved thousands compared to flying J from Perth.

 

[Mattg]

I have often done this and enjoy the opportunity to break up the long trip with a stopover in Asia!

I always build in at least 24 hours between flights on separate tickets, in case of inbound flight delays. If your first flight is late and you miss the next flight on a different ticket, you don't really have any recourse.

The only real other downside is that, depending on the country, you might need a visa as you'll need to enter the country (even if not staying overnight, at least to collect your luggage and check in for the next flight). This isn't an issue for places like SIN, KUL or BKK, but may be for somewhere like India or Sri Lanka.

 

[SYD]

Agree with previous comments. A stopover in Asia on the way out is an obvious insurance policy to avoid a complete F‘Up at the start of your journey. But you could take the gamble on the way home with just a long layover. SYD+1 recently had a reasonable experience QF SYD-SIN (whY) and QR SIN-Europe ($4k in J).

QF won’t interline bags on seperate tix (unless it’s an award flight) but QR will - so that made the return pretty seamless. Luggage checked through from BER-DOH-SIN-SYD (and arrived!) and all BPs issued. QF also came through with a whY -> J upgrade request ~24 hrs out.

 

[jase05]

The majority of times we have gone to Europe we have done so this way.
We always choose at least 1 day stop over in Asia but prefer at least 2 days on the way back. Pre pandemic more often than not we went via CGK or MNL as that often had the best deals.

 

[Cossie]

I learnt the hard way to allow a decent amount of time between flights if on separate bookings, so now I like to stay overnight at a minimum.
The Novotel at Bangkok airport allows you to stay for 24 hours from checkin.

Just saw the comment below and agree, also I will add that I don’t like arriving into Europe very early in the morning, especially Heathrow.

 

[theblank]

I did this each way in July... and hardly any jet lag on arrival in Europe

 

[SYD]

For those leaning towards Oneworld, AY and QR both have some relatively good J fares to Europe ex-BKK and SIN (in the mid A$3s to A$4K range). BKK tends to cheaper, but I’d probably lean towards SIN being a lot more user friendly and more options to position there. Including award seats on QF and BA.

I‘ve been researching options using ITA Matrix and I can normally see the same fare booking direct on the airline website. Just be mindful of currency conversion costs depending on where and how you pay.

 

[mrsterryn]

For those leaning towards Oneworld, AY and QR both have some relatively good J fares to Europe ex-BKK and SIN (in the mid A$3s to A$4K range). BKK tends to cheaper, but I’d probably lean towards SIN being a lot more user friendly and more options to position there. Including award seats on QF and BA.

I‘ve been researching options using ITA Matrix and I can normally see the same fare booking direct on the airline website. Just be mindful of currency conversion costs depending on where and how you pay.

Can these be booked by anyone , I mean it doesn't have to be a travel agent does it ? I think i saw on the Finnair specials it had to be done by a travel agent

 

[Mattg]

Can these be booked by anyone , I mean it doesn't have to be a travel agent does it ? I think i saw on the Finnair specials it had to be done by a travel agent

The Finnair RTW tickets (originating in Australia or New Zealand) need to be booked with a travel agent.

Anyone can book a round-trip ticket from Bangkok to Europe on the Finnair website.

 

[SYD]

Can these be booked by anyone , I mean it doesn't have to be a travel agent does it ? I think i saw on the Finnair specials it had to be done by a travel agent

As per @Mattg ’s comment, these relatively simple fares can be booked online. Just goto Finnair or Qatar etc and search SIN or BKK to wherever.

The QR Oz website lets you book these and pay in $AUD.

AMS, ZRH, FCO, BER and some others seem to attract the cheaper fares but you can do open jaw (using multi city) handy to get into LON but out from somewhere cheaper.