Sydney to Düsseldorf May 2017 Business (Preferred)

[ajm]

I'm looking for a friend who is looking to travel to Germany in May next year. There will be 4 people in the group. His preferred travel dates are departing on the 10th of May and returning on the 15th of May with a small amount of flexibility in the dates (they are there for a wedding). He would like to go Business class if there is a good deal on the flights but is also happy with economy. He is also flexible about airports to fly into if that helps to bring the price down. He has approx 560,000 Altitude points which he would be happy to use if it brings the cost down as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MikeeB]

There's a couple of ways I can think to do it. Mind you none of them are going to be completely covered by the amount of altitude points in the bank and there's also no way it can be business, firstly because of the lack of points but predominantly due to the fact airlines rarely offer that many J seats as awards at any one time.
So the first way that comes to mind is via the middle east on Qatar using the altitude points through Asia Miles. There are many routes from DOH to DUS, but let's just use SYD-DOH-MUC-DUS as an example. Under the Asia Miles OW award (keeping in mind you will have to use a minimum of two OW airlines that are NOT CX) I believe this distance should put you into the 20000-25000 miles band which is 110000 miles for economy round trip. Altitude points still currently transfer at 2:1 Asia Miles so if they choose to do this they should do it quickly before the altitude points devaluation coming in September.
The second way is using a Star Alliance approach and going via Asia through KFlyer. Same rate as Asia Miles, currently 2Altitude:1Singapore KrisFlyer and same devaluation coming in September. I believe a round trip economy fare through KF is 100000. Example itinerary SYD-BKK-VIE-DUS. Again though you only have enough miles to cover two tickets and then you will have to be paying for the other couple, not to mention all of the fuel surcharges and airport taxes.
Personally if I was happy travelling in economy I would be inclined just to buy the fares outright through Etihad. They have fares available via AUH at the moment for only $1432 with just the 1-stop. IMHO this is by far the best option. Hope that helps somewhat

 

[greenfish]

So many options

One way to Dusseldorf from Sydney in Business class is 80750 Krisflyer points - 323000 points for all 4 pax. Unfortunately, 560,000 Altitude points translates to 280000 points, so not quite enough for 4 people but it is possible to buy the additional Krisflyer points. There is availability on this route on the 7th and 11th of May for 4 people. Then pay for economy home.

Another option would be to redeem two return tickets in business class (323000 points) - there is availability for 2 coming home on the 16th of May - and pay for two revenue tickets in business class.

A further option would be to buy premium economy tickets for all 4, then upgrade the long segments - this works on the way over, but currently there are not enough seats on the way home.

Cathay fly into Dusseldorf too, but I prefer Singapore's business class. The taxes required with Cathay will be lower, but you will need many more points.

Another option is to buy return tickets to Asia then pickup some sale business class fares on to Europe. This can be risky though and really requires a stopover in Asia to avoid the risk of missing a the separately ticketed flight due to delays on an earlier segment.

 

[magnacartic]

I'm looking for a friend who is looking to travel to Germany in May next year. There will be 4 people in the group. His preferred travel dates are departing on the 10th of May and returning on the 15th of May with a small amount of flexibility in the dates (they are there for a wedding). He would like to go Business class if there is a good deal on the flights but is also happy with economy. He is also flexible about airports to fly into if that helps to bring the price down. He has approx 560,000 Altitude points which he would be happy to use if it brings the cost down as well.

Thanks in advance!

What's your budget in $?

 

[ajm]

Sorry magnacartic - I missed your post. It looks like he's giving up on the business option and just looking at economy now. He's basically looking for the cheapest option.

 

[support]

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