Help me find find the best flights to Europe

[FrothDaddy]

Dear Community,

Could I please ask for suggestions on how I could get my family (2 adults, 2 children) to CDG or FRA from SYD in December?
I've got 400K Qantas Points which I would prefer to use OR have the ability to spend up to $8K on flights OR combination of both.
Very mindful that is one of the most expensive times to fly with a lot of exclusion/black out periods for deals.
Preferable dates: 16/12/2025 - 23/01/2026.

Thank you so much for any suggestions!

 

[offshore171]

Dear Community,

Could I please ask for suggestions on how I could get my family (2 adults, 2 children) to CDG or FRA from SYD in December?
I've got 400K Qantas Points which I would prefer to use OR have the ability to spend up to $8K on flights OR combination of both.
Very mindful that is one of the most expensive times to fly with a lot of exclusion/black out periods for deals.
Preferable dates: 16/12/2025 - 23/01/2026.

Thank you so much for any suggestions!

It's the first sector out of AU that is almost impossible at that time of year for 4pax.

Search from TYO or BKK to Europe. We found 4 JAL seats in J from HND to FRA last year.

You'll need to make a paid staging staging flight to your pivot point in asia, but you should be able to pick up the long sector to Europe on points. Departing a bit earlier in Dec would also help, because fewer schools will have broken up.

By the 16th it's on for young and old.

 

[RooFlyer]

Reflecting what @offshore171 wrote.

Find seats from one of the OneWorld carries with your QFF points from Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore (less so), Kuala Lumpur,Tokyo maybe others.

seats.aero is good for finding Award seats - pay a subscription so that you can see next December, then don't renew.

Then get a cheap $ flight that Asian port. but make sure you have at least a day between arrival and departure, in case the first one is delayed.

 

[3dprintingsaus]

With 400 K Qantas points you could book award seats on partners like Emirates, Air France or Lufthansa-just hop onto qantas.com and look for saver availability to CDG or FRA. You can also mix cash + points if that helps, and try breaking the trip in Dubai or Singapore for more options.

 

[Forg]

Can you normally get 4 award seats on the same flight to Europe as each other, these days?

 

[gaz0303]

I’m taking the family (2adults +3children) to Europe over a school holiday period. Paid return flights to SIN from SYD (used points play pay). Award seats for 5 in Y from SIN to Munich on Finnair (a plethora of Euro cities to chose from). 3 Award seats from MAN to SIN in Y and 2 paid Y seats (different bookings). Getting home was the hard part and I eventually had a big spreadsheet with all the pricing differentials of one-way fares to different ports. Also had to start searching for 1 seat to find possibility, then start looking for flights with multiple awards. Some options that required extra stops or longer duration of travelling were vetoed by the wife who probably better understands the challenges of travelling with children.

If you are looking for December 2025, multiple award seats might be hard to find now.

 

[FrothDaddy]

Thank you to all for very helpful suggestions. I think my best bet will be to mix and match, probably purchasing flights to a major city in asia and then looking for some Classic Rewards flights from there with Qantas' partners.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

If you do book tickets separately for flights between Australia and Asia and Asia and Europe you need to be mindful of the fact that these are two separate itineraries and thus won't have the same protection compared to if you booked the whole thing on one itinerary. For instance, if your flight from Sydney to Manila gets delayed by 8 hours and you miss your onward (not connecting) flight to Europe, you will have to fix that yourself, and you may be out of pocket for the costs. Similarly, bags checked on the first ticket to Asia may or may not be checked through to your final destination meaning you may have to pick up the bag at the hub airport in Asia and re-check (possible paying additional baggage fees on the way).

This is not to discourage you from booking such an itinerary, but you need to take precautions. For instance, if you were to book your trip to Manila so that it arrives on the 17th of December, and then your flight out to Europe is on the 20th, it shouldn't matter if your flight to Manila gets delayed since you have enough buffer to deal with the delay. And if the airline was so severely delayed they would be on the hook for buying you a new ticket to Europe pursuant to Article 19 of the Montreal Convention as airlines are liable for up to $9000 USD in damages for disruptions they cause on international travel when they have not taken all reasonable measures to mitigate such disruptions (the reason why adding a buffer is necessary is so that you can legitimately claim they didn't take all reasonable measures and should have expected you may have had onward travel later on).

-RooFlyer88

 

[offshore171]

If you do book tickets separately for flights between Australia and Asia and Asia and Europe you need to be mindful of the fact that these are two separate itineraries and thus won't have the same protection compared to if you booked the whole thing on one itinerary. For instance, if your flight from Sydney to Manila gets delayed by 8 hours and you miss your onward (not connecting) flight to Europe,

Most regulars here would recommend a 1 night layover at the staging city, as a buffer for any delays.