Perth -- London, One Way, End of Feb 2013

[Dee_l]

Hi All,

I am relocating to London leaving the end of Feb. I would like to book the most comfortable flight possible, and get into a business seat if I can.

I currently have about 60,000 QFF points, and am happy to buy AA or other program points if worth while.

Also of note, seeing this is a permanent move, getting as large a luggage allowance as possible is a factor.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

 

[Sethor]

You can purchase 60,000 AA miles for around AUD$2000, 60k+$80~ in taxes is enough for one way PER-LHR in business (most common routing is PER-MEL/SYD-DXB-LHR on QF). Return J fares are normally around $7000-$8000. If you want to go in First it will be another 20k, you can purchase another 25k AA through SPG for around $700. But time will be againest you if you're already not a member of AAdvantage &/or SPG as they both have 14 day waiting periods to purchase points on new accounts.

 

[Dee_l]

Thanks so much I will look into it.

Seems really silly to go from Perth over East though. Also is there no way to make use of my existing Qantas points?

 

[RooFlyer]

I think a bigger issue will be availability of QF Award seats, assuming you are talking about Feb '14 here. Can you see any available on the booking engine; if not, unless you are high status you may be disappointed.

EK flies to DXB and onto LHR out of PER. You can use Qantas points on them; and there are some Business Award seats available towards the end of February.

 

[Sethor]

For a J PER-LHR redemption through QFF is 112,000 points, if you want to go the J upgrade path it's 48k for PER-DXB & 24k for DXB-LHR with a discount economy fare or 30k for PER-DXB & 15k for DXB-LHR on economy fare.

 

[knasty]

Apart from award redemptions the whole way (AA could include non QF options such as CX and MH) you could also consider using 50k QFF points ti get ti SIN (heaps of J available late Feb) then take a paid one way J from there as ex SIN should be way cheaper than ex Perth.

 

[Dee_l]

But I can't upgrade Emirates flights even if they are under QF code can I? Otherwise I would definitely go the upgrade path...

 

[mannej]

But I can't upgrade Emirates flights even if they are under QF code can I? Otherwise I would definitely go the upgrade path...

Correct - keep in mind the upgrade path is also a lottery.

How much luggage are you looking to take? Perhaps it may be cheaper to ship it over and it meet up with you.

 

[knasty]

Actually I just looked and you can do MH one way Per-Lhr in J for 1753 inc tax with availability late Feb using the cash + miles option, using the 1000 free miles you get when you sign up to Enrich.

 

[Dee_l]

yes I'm sure it is cheaper, and i do intend to do this...but it's normally a bit slow so 30 or 40kg over 23kg will certainly be helpful in bringing the essentials with me!

Whats the malaysian airlines business class service like?

Comparable to the Qantas one? Also the emirates flights are on the 777 which i also heard isn't the best business class product compared to many others..

 

[casanovawa]

I guess you could put it out there if there are any long lost family you didn't realise you had on AFF who might be willing to do a family transfer of QF points...

Maybe around 52k is it to get you to the number needed for QF J redemption that they may have lying around??

 

[Dee_l]

I guess you could put it out there if there are any long lost family you didn't realise you had on AFF who might be willing to do a family transfer of QF points...

Maybe around 52k is it to get you to the number needed for QF J redemption that they may have lying around??

Well naturally this would be AMAZING. I do suspect I'll have at least 5-10k more points come thru via credit cards before I leave..(thanks to using my 2 points per dollar HSBC visa on some overseas purchases recently) but other than that all I have to offer in return is Love and admiration

 

[browski]

Hi Dee
Here is your best option.

Wednesday February 19, 2014
Departure: 9.05am Perth
Arrival: 2.25pm Singapore
Qantas Flight 77 Business Class
Cost: 50,000 QFF points + taxes

Departure: 16:00pm Singapore
Arrival: 17:20pm Colombo, Sri Lanka
Srilankan Airlines UL303


Change of plane required. Time between flights : 10:15.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Departure: 03:35am Colombo, Sri Lanka
Arrival: 10:00am London, United Kingdom
Srilankan Airlines UL505


Cost: SGD $1222.50 = AUD $1119.71

NB. There is a 10hour connection at CMB but at least you get the Business Class lounge. You can get better connections if you can redeem a Malaysian Airlines PER-KUL J flight and then fly KUL-CMB-LHR on Sri Lankan Airlines (instead of SIN-CMB-LHR), but I do not have access to MH award availability

 

[ozbeachbabe]

The initial outlay to purchase the required 60K AA Miles (45K + 15K bonus) if you buy prior to 31 January 2014 would be USD1,237.50 plus taxes USD128.31 = total outlay of USD1,365.81.

Then to redeem the Business Class MileSAAver fare costs USD91.40 in taxes plus the 60K points. If ticket is issued within 21 days of travel AA charge an extra USD75.00.

Tue 04 Mar PER/SIN QF077 0905/1425
Tue 04 Mar SIN/HEL AY082 2355/0620+1
Wed 05 Mar HEL/LHR AY831 0800/0910

Finnair J class baggage allowance according to their website is "3 priority bags up to 23 kgs each" and as they are the most significant carrier on the journey PER/SIN/HEL/LHR the AY luggage allowance would apply to the entire PER/LHR trip as opposed to the 40kg QF J allowance.

The above flights are also available Wed 19 Feb if you can depart that soon or hang out until first week of March depending on how much of a hurry you're in to get there.

 

[Dee_l]

Thank you to everyone but I managed to get the points from a family member who never uses theirs, and I got business class Emirates/Qantas.

I was hoping to get the Qatar business class all the way but it was no longer available, and whilst I know the Emirates 777 product is not very popular for a normally economy flier like myself i'm sure it will still be a really amazing trip!

thank you so much to everyone who assisted me it is very very appreciated! i decided i really wanted to find an option that meant I could use the Qantas points i already have as I'm unlikely to keep contributing points to that program once i'm in the UK.

 

[browski]

Thank you to everyone but I managed to get the points from a family member who never uses theirs, and I got business class Emirates/Qantas.

I was hoping to get the Qatar business class all the way but it was no longer available, and whilst I know the Emirates 777 product is not very popular for a normally economy flier like myself i'm sure it will still be a really amazing trip!

thank you so much to everyone who assisted me it is very very appreciated! i decided i really wanted to find an option that meant I could use the Qantas points i already have as I'm unlikely to keep contributing points to that program once i'm in the UK.

On retrospect, the OP probably should not have posted in this thread.

 

[support]

As per the rules for threads in this forum, this thread is now closed.