What would you do? Syd - UK

[garyinoz]

I'm struggling to decide who to fly with back to the UK in January, I flew Singapore back in July and would like to do so again but the prices seems to be going up. I am a member of KrisFlyer so this is why I would like to fly with them again plus there service was far superior to Qantas. I am however also a Qantas FF and either flying Q or SQ would get me enough points for a decent reward flight.

I could fly Virgin Atlantic for approx $500 less which is a very big incentive but how good are they on this route and how modern are here planes?

BA/Qantas (flying BA), Emirates and Malaysia are all around the 2k mark.

What are peoples thoughts?

 

[elbarto]

I'd swim before flying BA Y

 

[dajop]

How often do you visit UK/Europe (or plan to)? If you're doing more than once a year, with a reasonable degree of certainty, it may be worth considering finding a cheap oneway and buying return fares from there to Australia, which are often substantially cheaper than AUS-Europe return.

Otherwise for Virgin Atlantic, most fares will allow 50% or 100% accrual of miles in Krisflyer.

 

[ozmille]

I'd swim before flying BA Y

Or VS whY


filler

 

[garyinoz]

Well this gets interesting then. With Virgin I can't see what Economy class fare it is to be sure of claiming 100% KrisFlyer points. I've also found a MH flight with better dates for $50 more than VS but no chance of earning points on there (A380 for KL - Lon). Or should I pay an extra $400 to fly SQ?

This will be the third trip in 18 months to Europe and no more planned after this but Flying Q or SQ will get me some decent points for a reward flight.

 

[ozmille]

Well this gets interesting then. With Virgin I can't see what Economy class fare it is to be sure of claiming 100% KrisFlyer points. I've also found a MH flight with better dates for $50 more than VS but no chance of earning points on there (A380 for KL - Lon). Or should I pay an extra $400 to fly SQ?

This will be the third trip in 18 months to Europe and no more planned after this but Flying Q or SQ will get me some decent points for a reward flight.

Which dates are you looking at at the moment?

 

[garyinoz]

Mid Jan (17th), quick trip, less than two weeks.

 

[ozmille]

Mid Jan (17th), quick trip, less than two weeks.

In JAN I can see AUD1745 on VS and AUD1848 on BA which will give you QF miles. I have done BA down the back and it isn't the worst in the world and apparently what I have heard and seen of VS I would definitely pay the AUD100 extra to fly BA and get the miles.

(BA flights on BA website 17-28Jan)

 

[garyinoz]

In JAN I can see AUD1745 on VS and AUD1848 on BA which will give you QF miles. I have done BA down the back and it isn't the worst in the world and apparently what I have heard and seen of VS I would definitely pay the AUD100 extra to fly BA and get the miles.

(BA flights on BA website 17-28Jan)

It's an option, the Skytrax reviews don't seem that bad but the recurring comment is that the 747's look pretty tired!
Thanks

 

[andymoo]

I've also found a MH flight with better dates for $50 more than VS but no chance of earning points on there (A380 for KL - Lon).

MH joins Oneworld in December, so you will be able to earn QFF points if your travel is in January. You'll just have to add your QFF number to the booking once MH has formally joined the alliance...

 

[browski]

Fly Asiana and credit to Krisflyer............which sounds easy but I've never been able to do it through the Asian website.

 

[garyinoz]

MH joins Oneworld in December, so you will be able to earn QFF points if your travel is in January. You'll just have to add your QFF number to the booking once MH has formally joined the alliance...

Now that could really be of interest but I guess it's difficult to know if the ticket I end up with would allow me to claim 100% of the miles. I'll look into this and could go for it - thanks.

As for Asiana, I had a quick look but there site is optimised for IE as I'm on a Mac that's not going to happen and when it does eventually load destinations it doesn't let me go beyond Seoul. I think they need to work on their site.

 

[NM]

MH joins Oneworld in December, so you will be able to earn QFF points if your travel is in January. You'll just have to add your QFF number to the booking once MH has formally joined the alliance...

But we still don't know which MH fare classes will earn points/status for QFF members. Its quite likely that the cheapest fares will not be eligible for earning with QFF.

 

[Pukka]

I've just had someone arrive from London on BA economy & he said he will never fly with them again, SAL are good & I've heard good reports about Etihad on comfort & price.

 

[bjm76]

I have booked SQ for May in whY for SYD-LHR return so will be interested to hear your thoughts....

 

[blu]

Upper Deck A380 (QF Y) if there are any refurbished available.

 

[garyinoz]

I have booked SQ for May in whY for SYD-LHR return so will be interested to hear your thoughts....

I flew SQ in July to the UK, A380 upstairs in economy and even though 3hrs out from Singapore we had to turn back due to a hydraulic fault I'd fly SQ over QF anytime. The service was fantastic, they had us back in the air within an hour of landing and kept you informed the whole time. I've done QF twice in the last couple of years, I found their choice of films better but most of the time felt ignored by the FA's, trying to get an extra drink was near impossible.

 

[jetlagger]

I certainly know what my recommendations on airlines would be, though some would protest about the extra $ expense to be in some relative comfort for 20+ hours. Please don't be overly thrifty at the expense of scheduled & inflight satisfaction.
Work it out & let us know your verdict & basis of decision.
cheers,
jl