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Thread: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

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    Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    I've never flown quite so far before. Does anyone have any tips for getting a cheap deal? I'll be staying with friends, so no need for accommodation. I'll also be flying to NZ but I assume it'll be just as cheap to organise that flight whilst I'm out there.
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Just lost a really long reply. Bloody tablet.
    Send me a pm and I'll answer on Monday. I do that trip every year.
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  3. #3
    OilSheikh
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Whereabouts are you in the UK?
    Where in Australia are you flying to ?
    When exactly do you want to fly out ?

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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Apart from checking out the comparison sites, it's also worth going onto the airline websites themselves and seeing what they offer. Personally I've flown with emirates in the past few years and collected miles etc and the rates from here to the far east have been some of the best despite flying in the "nicer" planes such as the Airbus A380 (bigger seats in all carriages).

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    OilSheikh
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kiyam View Post
    the Airbus A380 (bigger seats in all carriages).
    That's a lie! I flew in the Emirates A380 and it was more crowded and leg space seemed the same!

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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Quote Originally Posted by OilSheikh View Post
    That's a lie! I flew in the Emirates A380 and it was more crowded and leg space seemed the same!
    Oh wow really? I only say that because I flew not long before that on a KLM flight, and I could barely get close to straightening my legs, however on the emirates A380 there was plenty of room to stretch out in economy. Hmmm...

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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    A few years ago now, but we got a good deal flying from Birmingham with Emirates, older plane but we got 2 for 1 on Business Class making it only £250 more over all than cattle class from Manchester.

    We booked our other flights (like to NZ) before we went, the flight from Sydney to Queenstown took an hour less than scheduled due to a strong tailwind, great but meant we had to wait nearly an hour for our pre-booked taxi.
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kiyam View Post
    Oh wow really? I only say that because I flew not long before that on a KLM flight, and I could barely get close to straightening my legs, however on the emirates A380 there was plenty of room to stretch out in economy. Hmmm...
    Depends where you sit, I was on an a380 last year I think it was EK1, the seats wouldn't recline. Not very impressed and a kind stewardess upgraded me. But a different time on that same route emirates gave me a brilliant seat.
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    That makes sense. Each time I flew I checked in + picked seats really early, always choosing the seats as far forwards as possible. Was great

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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Emirates business to Auz on the A380 is pretty good, not cheep though.
    Prefered the seats on Qantas coming back but the bar and the service on emirates was damn fine.

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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    I have some tips but they are mainly US based.

    Have friends who are airline pilots. My last flight to the UK was an ID90. That's a 90% discount. The downside is it's space available, and I ended up going via Ireland as that was the only space I could find.

    Not all fares are equal. Buying a ticket through Virgin Atlantic's website is more expensive than finding the same seat through their partner Delta's.

    I have a credit card which will refund me some airline fees for excess baggage, etc. I used it to buy gift certificates, as I rarely check bags. They also have a two-for-one on Business and First class fares, although that isn't always a good option. There was also a huge bonus in points for signing up, almost enough for a business class fare.

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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    I'll be flying from somewhere in the vincinity of London. I'm going to WA/Perth, sometime end of Jan, beginning of Feb.
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Just lost another one. - Your inbox is full
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    I'm quite easily imagining how annoying that's going to have been! I've made some space in case you can bothered to try again
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    I'll give it a go in the morning
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    Re: Flight to Australia - how to get a deal?

    Give AirNZ and Emirates call centres a bell (sorry to bring up a slightly dead topic)
    If you haven't already booked fares, you may find it's cheaper to book to NZ (via Sydney) and take the hit on another 4hrs flying time to Perth
    The issue is that Perth is a really expensive destination
    I have always found that booking all the way to NZ, and making Aus the stopover (Melb or Sydney) is far far cheaper, because you aren't paying Australian landing fees - it takes the price down by about 150 quid on each seat.
    The big spanner is WA, where from memory, it was significantly more expensive to fly direct, as the price to NZ from there was huge.
    If you are planning a trip to Syd or Melb, then I'd fly there first, then hop across to Perth.

    Either way, give the AirNZ UK call centre a call (it will probably be their ChCh call centre) and give them your end stops and see what they can do with with the options. Try the same with Emirates or Singapore Airlines - Malaysian or Thai have been offering fairly good rates originating out of NZ, but you are quite restricted on what dates you are allowed to fly.
    Hope this helps
    Cheers

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