Which carrier to use

[tammy]

Hi I am a newbie but would like to ask a question.

My son is to visit Oz from UK in October this year and wants to fly London to Perth and then Perth to Brisbane finally back to London from Melbourne. He will be using cattle class and paying - no FF membership. I want to advise him on which carrier(s) to use price wise, comfort and service.
If any member would like to comment would be very much appreciated.

 

[Dave Noble]

I would be choosing an airline that flies with 1 stop from UK to both Perth and Melbourne

This would include

Emirates
Singapore
Qantas/BA
Cathay Pacific

Emirates has ime the best inflight entertainment ; Qantas and Singapore allow pre-purchase of exit row seats which give a good amount of extra comfort imo for an extra cost. QF charges $160 each way for exit rows iirc

Emirates has a visit Australia pass which would allow the purchase of the 2 domestic legs on Virgin Blue for a total of USD200 with only USD25 change fees on the domestic sectors.

Qantas does have somethin similar but the fares tend to be worse than the cheaper normal fares though do have good flexibility

 

[GoldCoastGuy]

If he does end up flying Qantas, get him to join QFF anyway (it will cost nothing if he uses his UK address).

He should earn about 19500 points for LHR-PER (via SIN) and MEL-LHR

When he gets home, he can order his Mum a $100 gift card for 13500 points (or if he makes it to 20250 points, he can also get a $50 gift card).


Evan :->

 

[ric_melb]

Whichever airline your son chooses it is worth joining their frequent flyer scheme.
He may earn enough points for an award, but membership of the scheme allows easier access to features such as choosing your seat.

 

[tammy]

Thanks for the comments so far I have passed them on to my son.

 

[tammy]

Have heard from my son and he seems to to favouring using Emirates for his international flights.
Are there any points he should know when making a booking - best to book direct with them or use say Kayak. Is it best to use them to book his domestic Perth to Brisbane any advantage price wise.
Really appreciate the help given to date and if any other suggestions can be made would be good such as purchasing Oz dollars, duty free where to buy in fact anything you can think of.