Nov 23 Routes

[Pom-DownUnder]

Hi All,

Looking to travel back from UK first / second week of Nov 23, looking at business or better. Seems to be a real lack of options at the moment and i've been checking consistently for the last month or so.

Japan only offering prem eco to syd.
Emirates seems like their flight times have gone to garbage and without being able to book direct into Aus all the options inbetween (unless I have missed one?) seem to have 18 hours hanging around in an airport
Cathay I have just havent seen pop up basically AT ALL
Qantas - i'm only bronze so seeing nothing
Malaysia - pops up a few times but flight timings seem average at best
British - again premium eco time

Scratching my head a bit here and wondering if i ride the lightening and wait until a month or so out and see what becomes avail.

Any genius suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Looking to travel back from UK first / second week of Nov 23, looking at business or better. Seems to be a real lack of options at the moment and i've been checking consistently for the last month or so.

This seems very odd. I can see plenty of availability. I randomly chose 07NOV and LHR-SYD.

I didn’t bother searching for EK or MH given your comments about timings, but...

Japan only offering prem eco to syd.

J is available:

Cathay I have just havent seen pop up basically AT ALL

Agree. Can’t see much.

Qantas - i'm only bronze so seeing nothing

J also available and almost twice the price of JL:

British - again premium eco time

J available with BA too:

Any genius suggestions? Thanks.

Not genius, but QR also has J inventory available.


These were all simple google flights searches. If you’re not seeing any of them I suspect there’s some other issue.

How are you searching?

 

[jase05]

These were all simple google flights searches. If you’re not seeing any of them I suspect there’s some other issue.

How are you searching?

I suspect they are looking for award flights

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

I suspect they are looking for award flights

lol yes sorry I should have said that

 

[algae]

Try going via Delhi or Bangalore. Often requires a bit of a long wait in India though (20h or so). Maybe add a quick 1 or 2 day trip in?

Could also try a number of other Asian destinations from the UK. Have a look at BAs flight map and pick some of those cities to see availability.

Or looking via Japan, change your starting point from LHR to Helsinki or Amsterdam.

Couple options to consider!

 

[encryptededdy]

Japan only offering prem eco to syd.

Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on this for a few weeks and it seems like JAL is not releasing business award space at the end of the calendar right now.

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on this for a few weeks and it seems like JAL is not releasing business award space at the end of the calendar right now.

yea and cathay just nowhere to be seen, its weird. and lets not even discuss qatar

 

[kangarooflyer88]

It's certainly possible to get J all the way there, provided of course you have some flexibility on the routing. In particular, I see that there's tons of J classic awards with BA from LHR to LAX:


Now I know what you're thinking, you're taking me to the US, how on earth does that get me any closer to SYD? Well it turns out there is some FJ awards down to SYD from LAX:



I think this could be booked as a OneWorld award since it involves two OneWorld partners, which might save some points. The dates I was seeing this was Friday November 10 for BA to LAX and Saturday Nov 11 for FJ.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

hmmm Found a route but whenever I included EK its giving me the "Central Database" error, anyone had any joy booking EK lately on QFF points?

 

[kangarooflyer88]

One other thing I should point out that maybe isn't so clear on the QF website is that searching for flights out of London will necessarily default you out of Heathrow. Now don't get me wrong, Heathrow is a great airport (particularly Terminal 2), but it may make sense to look at Gatwick or Stanstead where EK operates a number of flights to DXB. In addition, although it may sound counter-intuitive, flying out of London City airport could yield some options as well.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

One other thing I should point out that maybe isn't so clear on the QF website is that searching for flights out of London will necessarily default you out of Heathrow. Now don't get me wrong, Heathrow is a great airport (particularly Terminal 2), but it may make sense to look at Gatwick or Stanstead where EK operates a number of flights to DXB. In addition, although it may sound counter-intuitive, flying out of London City airport could yield some options as well.

-RooFlyer88

the multi city seems to offer ones from gatwick / stan even if you kick off with LHR as first departure, just having issues locking in the EK's even though the route lets me go all the way to last step before entering credit card, annoying.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

the multi city seems to offer ones from gatwick / stan even if you kick off with LHR as first departure, just having issues locking in the EK's even though the route lets me go all the way to last step before entering credit card, annoying.

Maybe try calling this one in. If they try and charge a phone booking fee, ask them how you are supposed to make the booking online if it keeps erroring out!

 

[RichardMEL]

Another option to consider, and to avoid horrendous UK APD fees, is to look at leaving out of places like DUB or even CDG/AMS/BRU (fairly easily reachable from London). More options may come to hand.

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

Another option to consider, and to avoid horrendous UK APD fees, is to look at leaving out of places like DUB or even CDG/AMS/BRU (fairly easily reachable from London). More options may come to hand.

will check these out thanks, seems like the real stumbling block at the moment is that last leg back into AUS for most carriers

 

[Captain Halliday]

will check these out thanks, seems like the real stumbling block at the moment is that last leg back into AUS for most carriers

A known problem. Not specific to time of year, and amplified by MSC. It’s also worse than usual with CX operating a limited schedule and QR awards severely restricted.

I’d endorse the suggestions up thread that you’ll need to be both flexible and creative with routing.

 

[jase05]

will check these out thanks, seems like the real stumbling block at the moment is that last leg back into AUS for most carriers

Plenty of availability CGK-SYD on QF for the whole of November. You should be able to find a way to get to CGK.
I’ve seen some JL availability from LHR-HND and then NRT-CGK

 

[kangarooflyer88]

One other possibility is making this a OneWorld around the world award. Given you'll likely be spending 100K+ points on the oneway when the dust settles, why not add on some extra segments to bring you back to London (or to some other destination in the world for that matter) for a little more points in J? AFF has an excellent article on this.

Plenty of availability CGK-SYD on QF for the whole of November. You should be able to find a way to get to CGK.
I’ve seen some JL availability from LHR-HND and then NRT-CGK

The potential issue there is making the transfer from HND to NRT (yes there are trains and buses but you need to clear immigration, collect your bags, take transport to next airport, check bags clear security, etc.). Certainly you would need to factor in several hours to make the transfer. Then again, perhaps OP could turn this into a stopover to go exploring Tokyo (that's what I did in 2018 flying HKG to YOW). In addition, CGK isn't a great airport for transfers in general with there being tons of security checks and not that much in terms of amenities.

Another possibility they may want to consider is departing from alternate airports outside London such as GLA or EDI which is just a train ride up from London Town as there may be additional availability on EK, QR and other OW partners. Also, considering that QF charges APD on departures leaving the UK, it might even make sense for them to take the EuroStar into Paris or Brussels. Sure you'll have to pay for the train ride there but there could be a couple of pounds in savings to be had there and again, there may be classic award seats departing those destinations.

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

i've considered a few days in Paris and leaving via CDG but getting out of europe isnt an issue its when I get to asia and finding a way back into AU on something other than economy.

Plenty of availability CGK-SYD on QF for the whole of November. You should be able to find a way to get to CGK.
I’ve seen some JL availability from LHR-HND and then NRT-CGK

?

 

[AIRwin]

View attachment 310939?

CGK = Jakarta
CKG = Chongqing

 

[jase05]

i've considered a few days in Paris and leaving via CDG but getting out of europe isnt an issue its when I get to asia and finding a way back into AU on something other than economy.

View attachment 310939?

CGK is Jakarta