Europe - May

[kezsco]

Hi everyone,

I would like to use your collective wisdom. I am getting married in Europe (Basel) in late May 2011. My friends will come over and need advice on cheapest way to get there (need to check in one bag 20kgs) ex Sydney.

I will be going with Qantas via LHR, but this is out of reach for some of my poorer buddies. Their plan is to incorporate in 6 weeks of travel starting mid May returning end of June. They don't care where in Europe they fly into (there are plenty of Easyjet switzerland or Air berlin flight from everywhere in Europe to Basel). They are also sightseeing, so they can arrive in Amsterdam or Turkey or Spain or even Morocco (you get the idea).

Does anyone have any ideas for the lads? Thanks

Regards,
Kez

 

[xt_20]

Congrats on your upcoming wedding!

How about JQ from SYD to HKT, then AB from HKT-DUS/TXL and then to Basel?
D7 would be a stretch with too many connections since they don't fly to SYD.

 

[kezsco]

Thanks.

JQ is a start, but has to go via Melb. AB only do seasonal flights to HKT, so flights cease end of April, resume Nov.

Malaysian had a special running this week for that time which came to about $1650 return ex SYD to some parts of Europe (Amsterdam etc). So, I would think that this is the base. As a full service carrier, I was thinking that this should be able to beaten by the likes of AirAsia X, but not sure.

 

[xt_20]

MH are one of the best in my opinion, so you can't go wrong if the price is good. Definitely better than LCCs. While I haven't been to coughet airport, I don't think it's as good as KL Airport as a transit point.

I went to the JQ website, and put departing May 16, 2011 and it came up with this: (moot point anyway since AB doesn't fly HKT-DUS in May '11)

13:15 PM
Sydney
<img style="display: none;">
19:30 PM
coughet
<img style="display: none;">
JQ 27
(Airbus A330)

 

[notzac]

When doing a search for fares SYD-ZRH in late may for 6 weeks, I managed to find a couple options for flights in whY on reasonable carriers:

• $1770 on SQ (SYD-SIN-ZRH and vv)
• $1791 on EK (SYD-BKK-DXB-ZRH and vv)

Side note - rock bottom for AU-EU flights is going to be around $1500-$1600, and those prices generally don't exist during the EU summer.

Congrats on the upcoming marriage!!

 

[Andyzx]

Couple of points to save money etc

• Go via internet based bookings - generally cheaper, I know this sounds silly but tell them, something like Expedia is good for comparing
• Seasonal surcharges. May is shoulder on most but not all airline, April is low(er), June return may be high(er). It's worth checking out the dates of their seasons. A day or two earlier may save a few hundred.
• Book NOW not in Feb onwards, they will have gone up.
• Try KLM, its Malaysian to KL and them KLM onwards, but recommend Malaysian. Even a SAI might be good to some destinations and much better then the cheapies
• Baggage. From experience check carry on bag limits. If you want a suit bag and backpack in the cabin, some allow and some dont. Check internal Europe flights too. My wife was in tears (actually yelling mad) as they wanted to pack her wedding dress in the hold as she already had a handbag!! It is generally easy to get your suits streamed / pressed on arrival in a laundry anyway.
• Trains are generally a fast way to get around countries without the hassle of travel to airports etc
• Basel is a very nice city and great for a wedding, good luck

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