Newbie flight advice Brisbane to London after Christmas..Thanks!

[AndyP]

Hello, I just found this forum and saw all the helpful advice you kindly provide people so I thought I would ask for your thoughts...flying with familiy, 2 adults, 2 teenagers. Brisbane to London 26th December then returning Vienna to Brisbane 16th January. Would love to fly premium economy to have some extra space but I haven't been able to find a reasonable flight at that time of year. I suffer from motion sickness and my head feels like it's going to explode due to cabin pressure so the least amount of stopovers the better. I read the A380's and A350's have more room in economy. I see on Google flights Cathay Pacific have A350s all the way and Emirates A380s. Thoughts? And also thoughts on the longer Qantas flight from Perth to London? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Seat0B]

Hi @AndyP and welcome to AFF!

A few more details would be helpful to people in offering advice.

• Are you looking to get paid fares or hoping to use points (might be a big ask this close to travel)?
• Do you have any airline frequent flyer status or loyalty to a particular alliance eg One World or Star Alliance?
• Do you have a budget in mind (assuming you want paid fares).
• If you go on Cathay or Emirates (or really any airline except QF9 the PER-LHR flight), you will have at least one stop over in each direction, plus your connection from BNE , if required.

I'm probably not the best one to help you as I haven't flown to London for a few years now. Although I will be doing the QF9 PER to LHR in mid- August, so if that's not too late for you I can come back after I have done that and give my experience.

Good luck getting it sorted out.

 

[levelnine]

Emirates A380 would be my pick, if you can get premium economy on all legs — they don't have it on all their A380s.

I'd avoid Qantas if you want the lowest cabin pressure the whole way, because you'll be on an A330 or B737 between Brisbane and Perth.

 

[AIRwin]

I'd avoid Qantas if you want the lowest cabin pressure the whole way, because you'll be on an A330 or B737 between Brisbane and Perth.

Most likely B737

Try China Airlines Brisbane-Taipei-London returning Vienna-Taipei-Brisbane all on A350

 

[AndyP]

Hi @AndyP and welcome to AFF!

A few more details would be helpful to people in offering advice.

• Are you looking to get paid fares or hoping to use points (might be a big ask this close to travel)?
• Do you have any airline frequent flyer status or loyalty to a particular alliance eg One World or Star Alliance?
• Do you have a budget in mind (assuming you want paid fares).
• If you go on Cathay or Emirates (or really any airline except QF9 the PER-LHR flight), you will have at least one stop over in each direction, plus your connection from BNE , if required.

I'm probably not the best one to help you as I haven't flown to London for a few years now. Although I will be doing the QF9 PER to LHR in mid- August, so if that's not too late for you I can come back after I have done that and give my experience.

Good luck getting it sorted out.

Thank you, I’ll be interested to hear about your flight. In response, we only have Qantas club membership but not enough points to use.
Budget is $3000-$3500 pp
And yes one stop over is inevitable.

 

[AndyP]

Most likely B737

Try China Airlines Brisbane-Taipei-London returning Vienna-Taipei-Brisbane all on A350

Thank you for the suggestion. I’ve never flown with China Airlines, is economy comfortable (or as comfortable as economy can be)?

 

[Mwenenzi]

Economy is economy. Have flown them CHC-MEL some years ago. OK trip. But that route now not flown by CI

China Airlines (CI) [Taiwan] is a frequent flyer partner of Qantas, so could earn QF points.
You say "Qantas club membership". Do you mean Qantas Freq Flyer membership or QF club (paid or status)?

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-experience/network-and-partner-airlines/china-airlines.html

China Airlines - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

On wide body aircraft look how may seats wide in economy. Can vary with the same aircraft type vs airline

China Airlines - AeroLOPA | Detailed aircraft seat plans

Up-to-date detailed seat maps of the China Airlines fleet

www.aerolopa.com

 

[offshore171]

Budget is $3000-$3500 pp

I dont think PE will be possible at that time of year within that budget.

So, then it's a matter of finding a "good" economy offering. A previous poster mentioned Emirates A380 and I'd back that suggestion. Decent spacious cabin, quiet aircraft, good air quality

Emirates is a very good airline for "open jaw" trips like yours, where you are flying home from a different location. Try the multi city tool on the EK website and see what is on offer.

Brisbane to London
Vienna to Brisbane

JAL 787 is another comfortable way to get to Europe in economy, since they pack in a lot less seats into the 787 than other airlines, but I don't think they fly out of Brisbane.

 

[AndyP]

Thank you everyone for your feedback!