Looking for cheap J class to Europe from Mel

[dvt]

Hi

currently looking for oneworld J class for the following trip:

28 May 2016 MEL to LHR
18 June 2016 IST to MEL

I would really appreciate some tips, suggestions, advice. I'm willing to look at creative routes if required. The cheapest fares that I've found appear to be Mel to Lhr return, so i'm even considering this an option and then booking separate flights within Europe.

Budget is around $6k which I've based on MEL to LHR with Finnair which is coming in at around $5.5k (not my exact dates, but using this as a guide).

I'm also thinking of going to the Flight centre Europe expo to see if they have any offers. Does anyone have an idea of pricing to LHR based on previous experience?

Thanks in advance!

 

[winfred]

Hi

currently looking for oneworld J class for the following trip:

28 May 2016 MEL to LHR
18 June 2016 IST to MEL

I would really appreciate some tips, suggestions, advice. I'm willing to look at creative routes if required. The cheapest fares that I've found appear to be Mel to Lhr return, so i'm even considering this an option and then booking separate flights within Europe.

Budget is around $6k which I've based on MEL to LHR with Finnair which is coming in at around $5.5k (not my exact dates, but using this as a guide).

I'm also thinking of going to the Flight centre Europe expo to see if they have any offers. Does anyone have an idea of pricing to LHR based on previous experience?

Thanks in advance!

MEL-BKK in Y - any airline that you fancy
BKK-LHR in J - AY

It should be well within your budget.

 

[clifford]

MEL-BKK in Y - any airline that you fancy
BKK-LHR in J - AY

It should be well within your budget.

Or MEL-BKK-MEL in Jetstar business class - still much less than $5.5K for the entire trip in business.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not sure of what AY are offering at the moment, but periodically they do have good sales, or offers, which sometimes include pricing to HEL with the next leg within Europe for 'free' (or at least, no extra cost). Excellent value.

LH sometimes have a similar structure (ie fly to FRA, then onwards at same price).

I have a good TA who lets me know when these come about - they aren't necessarily visible on the web, but these would mean booking AY the entire journey - so for instance you would be on AY code share (QF metal) from Australia to SIN, BKK or HKG and that may be more expensive than the two component solutions suggested above. For LH, it would be TG to Asia and LH onwards.

For the return, you might have to go IST-HELorFRA-asia-MEL, but think of the SCs/points

I wouldn't go to Flight centre for that sort of deal, though.

 

[dvt]

Good point about the extra status credits!

Not sure of what AY are offering at the moment, but periodically they do have good sales, or offers, which sometimes include pricing to HEL with the next leg within Europe for 'free' (or at least, no extra cost). Excellent value.

LH sometimes have a similar structure (ie fly to FRA, then onwards at same price).

I have a good TA who lets me know when these come about - they aren't necessarily visible on the web, but these would mean booking AY the entire journey - so for instance you would be on AY code share (QF metal) from Australia to SIN, BKK or HKG and that may be more expensive than the two component solutions suggested above. For LH, it would be TG to Asia and LH onwards.

For the return, you might have to go IST-HELorFRA-asia-MEL, but think of the SCs/points

I wouldn't go to Flight centre for that sort of deal, though.

 

[Nizar]

Ex-Asia seems to have the best prices.

Some examples below.

KUL-LHR return can be had for A$3,850 return on TK J.
BKK-LHR return for $4k return on BA J.

 

[gogo419]

EK J from SIN is normally pretty good as well..

 

[dvt]

Thanks for all of the advice.

Currently looking at the following:

J* J class Mel to BKK for $850 (sale)
QR J class BKK to LHR, IST to SIN for $3300
J class EK SIN to MEL reward seat 60k points $350 tax

Total comes in at $4500

Out of interest, does anyone know if the QR flights can be found cheaper in one of their sales? Or is this price pretty much all year round?

thanks

Dvt8

 

[Nizar]

Thanks for all of the advice.

Currently looking at the following:

J* J class Mel to BKK for $850 (sale)
QR J class BKK to LHR, IST to SIN for $3300
J class EK reward seat 60k points $350 tax

Total comes in at $4500

Out of interest, does anyone know if the QR flights can be found cheaper in one of their sales? Or is this price pretty much all year round?

thanks

Darren

So the J award seat is from SIN-MEL ?
Which airline ? QF ?

Award seats SIN-MEL are very hard to come by, though for one pax you may be successful this far out. Have you checked for availability ?

Re QR their "normal" fares ex-BKK are actually very good, even in F. They often have promos but they tend to be 2 for 1, so may not be of use if travelling solo, which appears you are in this case.

 

[dvt]

Award seat SIN to Mel is available but only with EK, not QF.

Actually travelling with my partner so will potentially look out for a deal!

thanks

So the J award seat is from SIN-MEL ?
Which airline ? QF ?

Award seats SIN-MEL are very hard to come by, though for one pax you may be successful this far out. Have you checked for availability ?

Re QR their "normal" fares ex-BKK are actually very good, even in F. They often have promos but they tend to be 2 for 1, so may not be of use if travelling solo, which appears you are in this case.

 

[ffhound]

You might wish to check this article out

Low-cost Qantas business, first class buying US frequent flyer miles - Australian Business Traveller

 

[ffhound]

Here's an idea

Per the Qantas program

MEL - LHR in J is 128,000 points

IST - MEl in J is 112,000 points

Total FF points required = 240,000

Credit card promotions


Card Annual cost (1st yr) Points

AMEX Velocity Platinum $349 * 110,000
ANZ Frequent Flyer Black $0 75,000
Jetstat Platinum Mastercard $69 50,000

Total $418 235,000 with balance in points (5,000) made up from meeting spend requirements.

* includes free return flight within Australia plus various other benefits

There are some compulsory spend requirements which are easily met by paying household bills though the cards, One should cancel the cards in the first year after points have been credited and domestic round trip has been taken.

The only other additional costs are the usual taxes plus Qantas's fuel surcharges. I don;t have enough points at present to calculate that online but maybe one of the other readers can provide an estimate of taxes and surcharges for a J class redemption on the above itinerary. I am sure that overall it will work out to be a very cheap J class trip.

cheers Peter

 

[ffhound]

Also check out this free course

http://knowledge.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/premium-travel-for-peanuts-register/

 

[alex_au]

Recently booked the following for April 2016:

MEL - BKK: JQ Business $550 one way
BKK - AMS - BKK: EY Business $2325 return (Via AUH)
BKK - MEL: TG Economy $510 one way (possibility to upgrade checkin for $)

So all up $3385, Stop over in BKK each way.

Good value I thought, if you are willing to let your fingers do the typing there are some great deals ex ASIA as previously mentioned.

 

[Melburnian1]

While the seats/ 'beds' (particularly MNL to LHR) will not be to the standard of some other airlines, one creative route is PR via MNL. It should be significantly under $5,000 return. You may need to overnight in Manila both ways.

Find a travel agent in Sydney or Melbourne who specialises in Filipino travel if interested. That will be cheaper than going to Flight Centre or using the Internet.