From Aus to London, cheapest approach?

[covertowl]

Hi all, my partner and I are planning to make our way at the end of the year from Australia (we are in Brisbane) to London and we've been doing some research to find the cheapest way to get there. We've scanned the lowest fares we could find on itasoftware, but wonder if we can do better.

We have a small sum of flybuys and have only just started looking at rewards points via credit cards... there are some nice signup bonuses but we then read that paying for economy fares with points still leads to being bitten by taxes and such. Plus we have no idea which points we should aim to grab for the trip we have in mind. Qantas pts for their classic flight rewards?

We've also seen some fares quite low through third parties as opposed to booking direct through the airline, but have read this is a bit risky.

We have even considered flying to a neighbouring country, hiring a car and driving there although we're worried about what it takes to cross borders and such. We will be hiring a car one way or another.

Lastly, we're looking to fly on or after Dec 15 and return on or before Jan 27 with at least a week long stay (but longer is better). Any tips would be appreciated!

 

[jetpack]

What price are you trying to beat? I wouldn't worry about using points if you can get a cash fare in the low $1,000s.

 

[covertowl]

What price are you trying to beat? I wouldn't worry about using points if you can get a cash fare in the low $1,000s.

Our best so far is 2.8k return for us both (1.4k each). In your opinion, is that low enough to ignore points?

 

[Denali]

Etihad taxes on reward seats SUCK so avoid them but I got business class reward seats to Europe flying SQ and the tax was only $90pp each way. Flybuy points can be converted to Velocity points if you can find VA reward seat (flying SQ, do not fly Etihad) or transfer points (1.35:1) to Krisflyer to grab reward seats with SQ and pay the taxes. Edit: I just looked at random dates for Dec and not finding reward seats.

Keep an eye out for Flybuy transfer bonus offer and are you doing eReward surveys for 2000 VA points per month?

Doesnt Heathrow have a high departure tax so maybe avoid that airport for Manchester or Europe.

 

[docjames]

$1.4k heading into peak season is a pretty decent price. At that price, i'd not be bothering trying to use FF points as typically the co-pay makes it not worth it.

Best I can see easily is $1500 on QR for those dates.

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to AFF.

A few things to look out for.

UK airport/govt taxes are very high, so look at flying into Paris - if you are looking at any of the 'Gulf carriers' - Etihad, Emirates (Qantas ticket?), Qatar, this is a possibility. Then catch the Eurostar train into central London, or the stop on the outskirts, if London isn't your destination.

Yes, if you can get a very cheap cash fare, then the points option falls away, as govt/airline taxes (especially with Qantas) on a points ticket will almost be as much.

Crossing borders in cars in Europe is easy - in the Schengen Zone, there are no immigration checks or barriers (only on entry into the zone). UK not in Schengen, and given they are RH drive, trickier to take to and from Europe, but not impossible. If you want a hire car in UK and also Europe, I would make it two hires, either side of the Channel.

I would avoid third party sellers of very cheap tickets - there are usually a bunch of conditions on them, and if something goes wrong - or there is a delay etc, you are at the mercy of the seller, and not talking to the airline direct.

 

[dajop]

Welcome to AFF.

A few things to look out for.

UK airport/govt taxes are very high, so look at flying into Paris - if you are looking at any of the 'Gulf carriers' - Etihad, Emirates (Qantas ticket?), Qatar, this is a possibility. Then catch the Eurostar train into central London, or the stop on the outskirts, if London isn't your destination.

Sorry RooFlyer, not particularly good advice, UK taxes are high only for departures. So you can fly into London, no problem, just fly out of somewhere else. Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels would all be candidates by rail, and further afield by air, Barcelona,Milan, Rome and Zurich are potential low taxing candidates. Most airlines who serve multiple European destinations will allow you to fly into one city and out of another). Worth looking at this using "multi city" tool on Skyscanner or Kayak. (Brisbane-London in one direction, Other city- Brisbane on return date).


Having said all that, in economy the taxes aren't that significant, and often fares to/from London aren't too much different, and if paying cash fares taxes are often absorbed in the fare (as there is a lot of capacity into London, and if they fill up the premium seats, happy to provide lower fares in economy).

 

[RooFlyer]

Yep my bad on the UK departure taxes, but other than that, Im ok with the advice, thanks all the same. You could rail or fly from virtually anywhere in Europe but that's not the point.

If looking for cheapest fares, a round trip to the same port is usually attractiv e, so I'd still be looking at flying both into and out of Paris

 

[ozjuice]

You're leaving it very late for cheap flights. I just had to book my son a flight which has doubled in price since February when i booked a seat for my daughter. Being flexible and not caring who you fly with is key here.

 

[burmans]

Try Skyscanner or Adioso, on the first you can select a whole month to scan for cheap fares. Travelling late December is not ood but you'll find cheaper flights just after Xmas (try the 26th) or just before New Year (maybe 30th).

Coming back fares vary a huge amount but generally the first week and the last 2 are the worst.

 

[dajop]

If looking for cheapest fares, a round trip to the same port is usually attractiv e, so I'd still be looking at flying both into and out of Paris

Yes, always worth looking at the different options (in this example, return into London, return into Paris, into London + out of Paris). And including the $$ and time cost of getting to and from London (in this example Eurostar probably going to cost at least 80 euro - $120 AUD - return).