Flying to Europe around late Apr/May

[DB10TH14]

Hi, looking to get to a major euro airport (ideally from Mel to LHR) departing in late Apr, return roughly 3.5 weeks later. I have 1 mil QFF points but bronze status, so trying to secure Business. Only a couple of options available at present with the cheapest coming in at 340k points each way Mel -Sin - LHR - Sin - Mel. The SIN routes are on the A330 which I read isn't great.

Is that likely as good as I can hope for? i have seat.aero Pro and if I search for a few weeks time I can see some EK flights which I believe is a much better experience ( though more $$ for tax) but waiting till weeks out seems very risky. I am thinking to book the above flight then cancel if something better appears closer to the time?

Would appreciate any advice, thanks very much

 

[ChrisMars]

Which airlines for your current flight?
I imagine Qantas on the SIn leg? A330 is fine, it s the same J seats than other long haul Qantas airframe, it s just be in use several more years, so a bit more wear down. I wouldnt be picky on that aspect.
For a return flight AU-EU, you would normally want to use max 400k points return. The current pricing indicate some classic + flights? Those are priced higher.

Book now, and cancel / rebook seems like a good idea, point refund are not instantaneous, and can take weeks. Be carefull with this approach considering your point balance. You will want instead to call qantas to make some changes, and now you are exposed to the incompetency of a a call center agent.

EK is a good idea, but taxes are high as you notice. Depends what you optimise for.
For your return leg, try to not depart from the UK. Depart from another city, you may transit (less than 24h) via UK, but that way you save significnatly on the UK departure taxe.

Tell us more details on your current itinerary if you want more tailored advice

 

[lovestotravel]

How are you seeing seats for April ? I can't see anything in business class MEL-SIN-LHR ?

 

[DB10TH14]

Thank for your help. Itinerary is quite flexible, will be splitting my time between London and Spain so BCN/MAD also good option, though not seeing much for there.

Which airlines for your current flight?

Qantas, the SIN - LHR is A380 there and back

The current pricing indicate some classic + flights?

Yep all Classic+ cant find any classic looking back/forward months

point refund are not instantaneous, and can take weeks

This isn't great news so isn't really an option, I suspect they does this to avoid people using this tactic.

You will want instead to call qantas to make some changes, and now you are exposed to the incompetency of a a call center agent.

I had a a lesson in this the other day as seats.aero AI told me that I could book Qatar by calling Qantas. Took me 24h of retrying before they would even accept a booking call. In that time I learnt that more chance of flying there on Concorde then booking a Qatar reward flight

For your return leg, try to not depart from the UK. Depart from another city, you may transit (less than 24h) via UK, but that way you save significnatly on the UK departure tax

Have tried this however searching for one way flights gives you limited flights and even more points (600k one way) to get there.

How are you seeing seats for April ? I can't see anything in business class MEL-SIN-LHR ?

This may the different results if searching one way VS return thing I mention above

 

[ronlon]

Given late April/May is not that far away I would grab any reasonable classic reward flight irrespective of class asap. Try a multi city search as two separate one ways. Failing that you will need to consider classic plus.

 

[Doctore1003]

If I was you I’d just book Classic Plus return to LHR, but wait for the next sale to be on (as the points cost is based on the underlying cash price). More expensive yes but also convenient (and if you’re a Points Club member at least you’ll earn some status credits).

 

[MELso]

I'd see if there are classic rewards out of SE Asian cities, then book a cash positioning fare if necessary. For example, there may be CR availability from BKK to LHR on Finnair or Oman. Book a classic reward, and then get a cash fare from MEL to BKK. (EDIT Or if there is CR award availability MEL-BKK on one day and BKK-LHR the next, use the multi-city booking tool to combine the flights onto one ticket.)

 

[kpro]

point refund are not instantaneous, and can take weeks.

I've always gotten the points back immediately, the refund of taxes back to the card takes a while though.

 

[fletty]

You can always call and ask for the points to be expedited for a new booking.