Where to book a flight for a domestic sector on international flight?

[Spider]

Hi, I've been away for a while, mostly flying domestically. Recently, I have been unable to book seats on international flights for domestic sectors, like a QF flight landing in SYD and continuing on to MEL, JQ from NRT/KIX-CNS-SYD etc. The obvious reason for this is that such biz seats go for half the price of domestic ones, despite very ungodly hours, not to mention much better seats and service.

Can anyone point me to a site where I can book such flights as my own searches, so far, have not proven very successful? Like SYD-CNS-NRT/KIX leaves SYD around 6am but I am unable to get a seat to CNS on it. Same times and situation on the way back. Thanks.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi, I've been away for a while, mostly flying domestically. Recently, I have been unable to book seats on international flights for domestic sectors, like a QF flight landing in SYD and continuing on to MEL, JQ from NRT/KIX-CNS-SYD etc. The obvious reason for this is that such biz seats go for half the price of domestic ones, despite very ungodly hours, not to mention much better seats and service.

Can anyone point me to a site where I can book such flights as my own searches, so far, have not proven very successful? Like SYD-CNS-NRT/KIX leaves SYD around 6am but I am unable to get a seat to CNS on it. Same times and situation on the way back. Thanks.

They are there, but you need to check the domestic connection is actually operating. JQ15 for example, CNS-KIX is not showing as originating from SYD on the random dates I checked, it's a single flight starting in CNS. MEL-CNS-NRT is there on Fridays (for example 26 January), and I think the flight also operates on some Sundays. You can book the MEL-CNS flight by itself, business class is $599 one way.

A site like flightaware will show you the full route of a particular flight, and the days it operates.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Its rarer these days for that, few years ago, there were many of those JQ flights where you could pick them up in SYD to fly to MEL, or BNE to SYD.
Either now that JQ don't sell these sort of tickets, or maybe they prefer to fly the plane from where it needs to go to, empty, saving them a lot of money.
When I did it, the plane was full from SYD - MEL, I was a domestic passenger on that international sector.
QF used to do it too, but not now, now the only way is to try and find the elusive JQ, and even if you do have a ticket, they might just swap the service to a pure JQd one.
I have done 1 BNE - SYD (QF) long time ago now with it, and 2 times SYD - MEL (JQ) 1 in Y one in J with it, but would have been about 2.5 to 3 years ago now.
I have wanted to do CNS - BNE/CNS - SYD these past few months, but it has never appeared in the JQ booking system where an "international" sector has appeared when I type CNS - BNE/CNS - SYD.
Edit: if you need the QF SC or want to see the lounges/the international terminals, these days the only way is to buy a $3xx fare SYD - AKL in Y/MEL - AKL/BNE - AKL with QF and fly back with JQ.
There are some $6xx sales from the eastern state capitals to NZ in J with QF at the moment.

 

[RichardMEL]

QF don't, in general, do international tags anymore like they used to quite a bit.

The most one can hope for these days are things like 747's on peak demand lights (like the footy dates around grand finals if a PER team is in) or reposition to/after an antartic charter are usually sold as domestic sectors, and you just need to keep an eye out as to when they are but they are few and far between

and of course the most recent 787's doing domestic sectors prior to entry to service on international routes.

None of these though, are the tags that used to abound.

As noted JQ have some but they are very sporadic and change often, or cancel at short notice.. and while there is currently, for example, a MEL-BNE on a Tuesday afternoon it almost certainly won't last and be changed to some other random sectors.

The days of things like the old SIND-ADL-SYD and v.v. tag sectors are long gone though... so that's why you can't book them

 

[RichardMEL]

Of course when QF9 goes MEL-=PER-LHR then those MEL-PER (and v.v.) sectors are, more or less, tags......