Long direct flight or short hops

[Colrad]

If the brisbane route doesnt get you home any quicker then I would go via SIN, F/J all the way and lounges, no swaping from international to domestic. A long stop in singapore you could go into town, or watch a movie at the cinema in the airport and then hangout in the lounge/s

Thanks mooingchicken, and thank you to all the members of the AFF community who so readily offered advice, insights and alternatives. I really hope I can return the favour some time soon. The Brisbane seats have now gone, so that kind of made the decision for me, but I agree that not having to swap from international to domestic in Brisbane (and everything that goes with it) is the best option. And let's face it, if you are going to be in an airport for 7 hours - there's a lot worse than Singapore.

Thanks again to everyone for your very kind assistance.

 

[JohnK]

I would take the short hops with a long(ish) transit in between.

 

[harvyk]

Thanks harvyk, you have summed up my dilemma perfectly. What to do?

Well what I'd do is not do the BNE stopover, and just simply do SIN-MEL.

A stop over in SIN esp if it's a decent stop over isn't too bad. Since SIN has been set up as a transit airport, there is lots to do for transit pax at SIN (beyond just going to the lounges) and going further afield is also pretty easy. BNE on the other hand, esp for as INT-DOM connection is the definition of boring. You can sit around in the lounges, but there isn't exactly much else to do. You'll be tired so you'd really only be sitting there watching the clock until boarding time.

EDIT: just read your post 2 posts up, good choice...