It's a question of ???

[Dalescott]

It's a question of ??? Should Mrs Dalescott and I go PE with CX or QF, or do we go J with CZ or MU or for that matter RB. Is PE worth the money, I thought after the last trip to EU, NO. But the cost of airfares, and with retirement couple of years away, well I am thinking about it.
So is it PE or J???

 

[ozbeachbabe]

It's a question of ??? Should Mrs Dalescott and I go PE with CX or QF, or do we go J with CZ or MU or for that matter RB. Is PE worth the money, I thought after the last trip to EU, NO. But the cost of airfares, and with retirement couple of years away, well I am thinking about it. So is it PE or J???

So using CZ, MU & BI (assuming by RB you meant Royal Brunei not Syrian Arab Airlines :shock what is the approximate cost of those carriers?

It's quite possible you could buy a cheapie in whY to Asia then stopover then purchase a 2nd ticket ex Asia to Europe.

Seeing as though you're MEL based you could always purchase a JQ Starclass fare MEL/BKK/MEL which would give you a bit more comfort & purchase a plus bundle if you want to earn points & SC plus get lounge access in MEL. You could do it cheaper if you flew over in whY which is a day flight but flew back in Star Class on the overnight flight BKK/MEL.

Recently ZUJI: Your Leading Online Travel Agent. Cheap Flights, Hotels & Holidays. had special J class fares on AY ex BKK to Europe via HEL for AUD2,640.00 return including taxes which is a bargain considering it was about the same price as Aeroflot! AY fares in J ex SIN or HKG were considerably more so ex BKK is definitely the best AY deal.

You could also fly MEL/DPS or MEL/HKT if you wanted a few days R&R before Europe although that might be a better idea on the way home to assist with getting over the jetlag Europe to Australia.

You'd then need to buy a cheap one way ticket from there to BKK to pickup AY. The BKK/HEL flight is in the morning so you'd need to stay at least one night in BKK prior but it's hardly an inconvenience given the bargain price of the AY flights.

By thinking outside the circle you can save a bundle instead of putting all your eggs in one basket and going into the nearest TA asking for the best PE or J 'deal' MEL to Europe return. I don't think that would even come close to what you can do for yourself by being a bit creative.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm with ozbeachbabe... plenty of connections in business class out of Asia for ~$1800-$2500. These include Qatar, Sri Lankan, Air India, Finnair... all of whom will have full flat beds for most if not all the journey from Aisa.

Combined with your choice of carrier to SIN or BKK from australia (in economy), gives a mixed class return for as little as $2500. QF PE would need to come in at around that price (no more than $2500) to make the direct service worth it over business class.

For more comfort on the AU-Asia - can use star class or air asia business class.