How Do I cut My Long Haul J costs to Europe?

[TonyHancock]

I have become a bit lax, I thought I was getting some good pricing on my trips to Europe but it seems that is not the case.

I have got myself into a pattern of taking ex EU BA flights, predominantly from SVG, to MEL which is giving me an average cost of roughly $4400.00 per trip. I took a one way trip using JQ and UL way back in September 2015 to LHR and have been in this routine for seven trips. I have another four of these booked.

One thing this has given me is GGL status with BA and the ability to automatically upgrade Y+ fares so I have another couple of SYD-LHR-SYD fares which came in at AUS$3800 each. The beauty of these is that I can get them at short notice.

Any other trips will be using points and a BA joker to force availability and those tend to be absolute last minute and cost about AUS$1300 in taxes and a bucket load of Avios.

It has been suggested that I could take a quicker option with lie flat beds rather than taken this expensive option.

I am at a loss to find cheaper flights though. I am using Google flights and Skyscanner and have a little experience with ITA matrix but I am getting nowhere.

Could anyone point me in the right direction please?

 

[Happy Trails]

Have a look at VN for around $3800 ex LHR.

 

[defurax]

I can only see VN and Thai from 3,900 to 4,300...did not look at connection time.

 

[TonyHancock]

Thanks peeps. I had a look at VN before but can't really see how it reduces my costs when I throw the BA rewards flights in. :?:

The product does look good though.

edit: VN would be handy for Scaryteam status to help with the lovely MU/FM Y travel too.

 

[RooFlyer]

Get your self a good TA. There are great fares in J which mine can access which I simply cannot replicate on-line, not matter how much I try. They also have access direct to airline reps and can plead a bending of the rules if computer says no.

Its hard to get best service and deals on the first or second call, but you should be able to show them your travel history, and tell them your future requirements, and that should get their attention.

They usually can't beat airline 'flash sales' and the like, but if you get a good relationship with a TA, they, like mine, will waive through me booking direct if they can't get close.

Alas, this is likely to result in you losing your BA status (LH and AY seem to be the J price deal leaders ... even Oman Air on occasion!!) so like the mortals on this forum you will have to decide which is more important - high status or cost savings. At some point you may have to declare yourself self-funded ( :shock: ) to excuse the fact that you are shivering out in the T5 concourse rather and in the CCR.

 

[TonyHancock]

Alas, this is likely to result in you losing your BA status (LH and AY seem to be the J price deal leaders ... even Oman Air on occasion!!) so like the mortals on this forum you will have to decide which is more important - high status or cost savings. At some point you may have to declare yourself self-funded ( :shock: ) to excuse the fact that you are shivering out in the T5 concourse rather and in the CCR.

No alas about it. I fear I have wedded myself to status too much in order to achieve an overall average AUS$2900 per Europe trip cost for J with a few F upgrades thrown in, but I can live without them.

Do you have any recommendations for TA's that can achieve this for me, I'd be most obliged.

I should add with an average of 275k miles per year and eleven trips to Europe in 2016 I have not been short of TA attention and to date no one has been able to improve upon current pricing. (Taking the use of Rewards flights into account.)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think $3800-4400 is a pretty good fare ex Europe for fast services which will get you status.

There are flash sales... Air China offered £1100 or something recently from Europe to Australia. Oman Air is currently offering €1199 from various European ports to Asia, but you'd need another ticket from there (CMB-SIN-MEL on UL/QF would set you back ~USD1100 at the moment). KLM/China Southern is offering AUD3398 from SVG right now (via CAN), but China Southern isn't worth it.

Aside from the Air China or KLM/CZ combo, most ultra cheapies are going to involve separate tickets, with longer layovers to accommodate separate tickets, and aren't offered with the same regularity of the BA exEU prices.

Even if you pick and choose single alliances and take the best offer of the month (like KLM/CZ) the downside is little or no opportunity for serious status if changing regularly between carriers and alliances.

 

[TonyHancock]

I think $3800-4400 is a pretty good fare ex Europe for fast services which will get you status.

There are flash sales... Air China offered £1100 or something recently from Europe to Australia. Oman Air is currently offering €1199 from various European ports to Asia, but you'd need another ticket from there (CMB-SIN-MEL on UL/QF would set you back ~USD1100 at the moment). KLM/China Southern is offering AUD3398 from SVG right now (via CAN), but China Southern isn't worth it.

Aside from the Air China or KLM/CZ combo, most ultra cheapies are going to involve separate tickets, with longer layovers to accommodate separate tickets, and aren't offered with the same regularity of the BA exEU prices.

Even if you pick and choose single alliances and take the best offer of the month (like KLM/CZ) the downside is little or no opportunity for serious status if changing regularly between carriers and alliances.

I thought I was getting decent prices too. You have given me a few more options to investigate here. Thanks for that.

 

[Mal]

I'm a big fan of ex-EU Qatar fares to Australia. Usually Euro 1600ish when a good sale is on. Sales have become rarer though.

 

[TonyHancock]

I'm a big fan of ex-EU Qatar fares to Australia. Usually Euro 1600ish when a good sale is on. Sales have become rarer though.

Now that is something I'd like to try too. I'll keep my eyes open for the sales. The current non sales price isn't bad at Approx $5500 for what is perceived as a superior product to BA, but a bit pricey for me.

 

[Mal]

My latest one (ARN-AKL) was $A2518.62 on today's conversion.

 

[TonyHancock]

My latest one (ARN-AKL) was $A2518.62 on today's conversion.

Now that I could handle. How often are the sales and what sort of restrictions do they have?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Now that I could handle. How often are the sales and what sort of restrictions do they have?

They have them fairly often, but origins and destinations change like the wind. The FT premium fare deals forum is a good place to find out about these.

 

[madrooster]

Now that I could handle. How often are the sales and what sort of restrictions do they have?

QR ex-EU J sale fares are usually restricted to 1 month max stay. It's not for everyone. You would need to be doing very frequent trips (read: monthly) to make the QR ex-EU J sale fares work for you. These tend to be in the $2500-3500 AUD range.

Otherwise, if you aren't going to the EU every month, ex-EU BA fares and sometimes AY fares are the ones in oneworld that will work best for you. ex-EU BA fares can be had for about $3500 AUD on sale. When not on sale they're about $4200 AUD.

ex-EU BA fares have a hell of a lot of route flexibility, so if you need to go to the EU and say PVG in one trip, that's perfectly possible.

Ex-OSL CX fares during the week (mon/tue/wed/thu) are decent too, around $4000 AUD.

 

[TonyHancock]

QR ex-EU J sale fares are usually restricted to 1 month max stay. It's not for everyone. You would need to be doing very frequent trips (read: monthly) to make the QR ex-EU J sale fares work for you. These tend to be in the $2500-3500 AUD range.

Otherwise, if you aren't going to the EU every month, ex-EU BA fares and sometimes AY fares are the ones in oneworld that will work best for you. ex-EU BA fares can be had for about $3500 AUD on sale. When not on sale they're about $4200 AUD.

ex-EU BA fares have a hell of a lot of route flexibility, so if you need to go to the EU and say PVG in one trip, that's perfectly possible.

Ex-OSL CX fares during the week (mon/tue/wed/thu) are decent too, around $4000 AUD.

I use a combination of ex EU and Y+ (using GUF1 to J) and then outright points redemptions in J and F to meet my long haul to EU. I really thought the ex SVG fares at an average of approx $4300 with BA were pretty good. Apparently though I am opting to take this more expensive option instead of the cheaper lie flat options available. Hence the question. (One other advantage of the BA route is being able to use the Avios earned for short haul J redemptions - usually 15-20 per year either in Europe or with QF in Australia)

 

[ermen]

MH offered some really good prices too when they last had their sale.. A$2,200 it seems...


http://www.australianfrequentflyer....airfares/lhr-per-1430-roundtrip-mh-81280.html

 

[TonyHancock]

MH offered some really good prices too when they last had their sale.. A$2,200 it seems...


http://www.australianfrequentflyer....airfares/lhr-per-1430-roundtrip-mh-81280.html

I tried to get on to that. Was too late.

 

[ermen]

I tried to get on to that. Was too late.

as they say - better late than never! lol
hopefully there's a next time!

 

[TonyHancock]

as they say - better late than never! lol
hopefully there's a next time!

It is one of the sites I visit when I am planning the next trip. I don't mind MH, their A380 J is about on a par with QF from a seat perspective. They are a bit pricey for the next dates I need to book - GBP3.6k.

 

[TonyHancock]

This post has been deleted but I took the necessary screenshot.





Thank you for your detailed post and excellent information however this:

So don't think that your $4300 fare is either cheap or expensive.

does not reconcile with these two statements

Yes, so I think that proves the point. You could have flown this route cheaper and quicker and on a lie flat bed by flying non-QF/BA, but instead you chose to take the more expensive option.

Does it really matter how. The main thing is that you got your company-funded FF Points and status credits; isn't it?

I pride myself on my honesty and as you can imagine take exception to being accused of being dishonest in my actions, in this case taking a more expensive flight for my own personal gain.

Perhaps you made a mistake in your original posts, even misreading my posts, it happens to the best of us. Anyway I am sure you want to put the record straight or perhaps you have the evidence to substantiate your allegations?