Flying from Australia to London every year!

[rigavitch]

Thanks!
I will indeed continue to research as time goes by and travel by train AND earn reward points by buying online!

 

[Zulaiha]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate it. Is there any reason I cannot join a couple of FF clubs? I've joined Etihad and perhaps I should join one of the others suggested above...

I don't think there is any restriction on joining any other programs. Many people do that. As I live in Saudi and to keep my residency here there is number of days I need to stay put in Saudi, my option quickly becoming VERY limited. In fact there is not any point for me to join any credit cards here as I hardly use cc here thus reaching any of their limit will be hard for me.

But as you are leaving either in UK and or OZ you certainly will have much much more options open for you.

 

[joyvee]

The cheapest flight from MEL to LHR is with Royal Brunei in Y when they have special fare promotions. Have a look at different expedia sites world wide. Jetstar seem to be cheaper on Japanese site and QF cheaper on Brazil site. ( Use Chrome to translate from Portuguese ) I am sure it will be cheaper booking from UK or Europe to come to Australia .

Sometimes there are perks like Qatar offers free train travel first class when you arrive in Germany. Can use up to 3 days after your arrival and 3 days prior to departure but only within Germany. Think Oman air has similar offer. Think you may have to travel business class but can't remember.

Also if you fly Business class to Bangkok or Singapore and then fly economy into Australia it may be more comfy and about $4k rather than twice that or more on regular airlines.

Look at airlines sites for prices as they are often the cheapest and get yourself on all their mailing lists so you can get first choice of their specials.

Look at itamatrix to get an idea of possible flight combinations and prices too. Good luck. JoyV

 

[casanovawa]

When it comes closer to the time you want to book, come back and run a few options by the people here and they should be able to give you some good advice...

If here in Australia do what you can to earn some qantas frequent flyer points as well through credit cards or other offers...

 

[Mwenenzi]

.. Is there any reason I cannot join a couple of FF clubs? I've joined Etihad and perhaps I should join one of the others suggested above...

You can join as many airline FFP's as you like. Always look at the partner airlines and what they earn with your freq flyer program. Having too many FFP's will result in having orphan miles which will expire. Better to have only a few, including a OneWorld & Star Alliance airline.

But as price is the driving factor for your UK-Aus trips treat any miles/points as a bonus if you get them. For many of us non flying miles/points from shopping (Woolies or Tesco in UK? ), credit card spend, hotels, rental cars, etc are very useful.

 

[harvyk]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate it. Is there any reason I cannot join a couple of FF clubs? I've joined Etihad and perhaps I should join one of the others suggested above...

There is no restriction in joining as many FF programs as you can, that said with only one or two flights a year you are unlikely to see any benefit at all from any loyalty programs if you spread the earn around.

The big benefit of loyalty programs is not the points themselves, they are a nice bonus, the big benefit is the status levels. Once you start climbing the levels you start getting into the good stuff like lounge access, larger baggage allowances, free advance seat selection, priority boarding, express immi etc...

 

[winfred]

If flying years, you may like to look at buying your tickets from the UK in £ this can often be cheaper than buying in Australia for in $ for the same flights.

As long as the $A doesn't drop too much more.

I would pick QFF due to the number of airlines in the alliance and ease of getting some status. I think it is free if join it from the UK.

 

[blu]

What about BA Exec Club?
Buy BA sale fares for codeshared Qantas (or Cathay).
Executive Club - About the Club - British Airways
British Airways Executive Club - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[FrankC]

& don't forget about Air Berlin - you can earn miles by flying Ethihad, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia, BA, and many others in eligible fares

Cheers

 

[rigavitch]

Hi FrankC
are you saying Air Berlin has a FFProgram which is partnered with those listed airlines?
thanks for replying

 

[Mwenenzi]

Hi FrankC
are you saying Air Berlin has a FFProgram which is partnered with those listed airlines?
thanks for replying

Yes. AB, like QF and others, AB is in the Oneworld alliance. So all OW airlines are parters, as well as some other airlines, including for AB Ethihad & VA. Ethihad is a major shareholder in AB and Virgin Aust. As my post above look at the partnter airlines for your FFP . For eligable flights you earn miles/points