Howdy folks,
I'm looking for a few pointers on finding some cheaper flights from Europe to Australia. I was living in the States until last year so it's been a while since I've had to fly this route and I'm a bit out of practice.
My wife and I are using the return leg of our flights from the USA to Australia last year, to get us to the USA in June, and then I already have a flight booked from the USA to London (from a BA promo last year). However, we still need to get back home.
We will be looking to depart Europe on or around 21/6/2012. We really need to be back in Brisbane no later than the morning of 25/6 (so I can go to work). I strongly prefer to fly Premium Economy (or better
). I was planning on booking a return, rather than one-way, flight, so I can benefit from the (supposedly) cheaper flights ex-Europe, and have an excuse to go on holidays again next year.
I've looked at the obvious QF and BA options, which are coming in around the $7k mark LON-BNE for Y+. I was hoping to see it more around the $5-6k mark, but maybe I'm just out of touch ? I do realise it's a busy time of year. We do have approx 300k Avios points that could be used for upgrades, but those seem to be as rare as rocking horse **** since I don't actually have any status with BA (and I've little interest in gambling on QFF upgrades (ca. 250k points available), even with Platinum).
We're ostensibly staying in London, but would be happy to travel within and spend a day or two elsewhere in Europe (France, Germany, Finland, etc). We're not adverse to a night or two in SIN or BKK en-route as we've never actually stopped there during previous trips. I don't mind switching airlines mid-trip (especially if tied to an overnight stopover), though I do have a bit of a preference to Oneworld to take advantage of my QFF status.
I'm also willing to consider a RTW like a DONE4, even though it needs a bit more planning applied, as we have friends in the USA we're always happy to visit (and I'll need a status credit boost to get me back up to Gold or Platinum by mid next year as well). Can anyone advise where the cheapest place in/near Europe to depart currently is ?
So, basically, I'm after a few suggestions to direct my research towards to get from Europe to Australia, as cheaply but as comfortably as possible.
Cheers.
I'm looking for a few pointers on finding some cheaper flights from Europe to Australia. I was living in the States until last year so it's been a while since I've had to fly this route and I'm a bit out of practice.

My wife and I are using the return leg of our flights from the USA to Australia last year, to get us to the USA in June, and then I already have a flight booked from the USA to London (from a BA promo last year). However, we still need to get back home.
We will be looking to depart Europe on or around 21/6/2012. We really need to be back in Brisbane no later than the morning of 25/6 (so I can go to work). I strongly prefer to fly Premium Economy (or better

I've looked at the obvious QF and BA options, which are coming in around the $7k mark LON-BNE for Y+. I was hoping to see it more around the $5-6k mark, but maybe I'm just out of touch ? I do realise it's a busy time of year. We do have approx 300k Avios points that could be used for upgrades, but those seem to be as rare as rocking horse **** since I don't actually have any status with BA (and I've little interest in gambling on QFF upgrades (ca. 250k points available), even with Platinum).
We're ostensibly staying in London, but would be happy to travel within and spend a day or two elsewhere in Europe (France, Germany, Finland, etc). We're not adverse to a night or two in SIN or BKK en-route as we've never actually stopped there during previous trips. I don't mind switching airlines mid-trip (especially if tied to an overnight stopover), though I do have a bit of a preference to Oneworld to take advantage of my QFF status.
I'm also willing to consider a RTW like a DONE4, even though it needs a bit more planning applied, as we have friends in the USA we're always happy to visit (and I'll need a status credit boost to get me back up to Gold or Platinum by mid next year as well). Can anyone advise where the cheapest place in/near Europe to depart currently is ?
So, basically, I'm after a few suggestions to direct my research towards to get from Europe to Australia, as cheaply but as comfortably as possible.

Cheers.