14 Return Trips from Oz to LHR Per Year - Best Strategy

[k974]

You have a conflicting problem and your goals are actually in conflict with each other (not that it is a bad thing).

e.g. less flying is not always conducive to more points, higher status (why fly direct when you can connect?)

So what are your priorities? Speed? Ability to use points to upgrade? Status benefits (luggage, lounge etc)? Price?

So to break this down logically, you will need to choose
(i) alliance
(ii) airline

Looks like you are quite advanced with EK - which is not bad. And seems like it is the best way for you to get status. And use points to upgrade from Y to J - you have an advantage here because they don't run PeY). And it is a one stop for you in DXB. And you can potentially use the EK status on QF flights in future. And the price is reasonable. May not be a bad choice for you if you run it all on EK codes.

thanks for the reply, understand the conflict but given the turnaround time the priority is the transit time, and I assume EK/EY have the best transit times. My final end destination is actually southern Ireland so from Dublin I have a 3 hour drive, I can fly into Cork from LHR and be 20min from destination so that a consideration too, a quick transit in LHR would be same door to door time.

It looks like I will achieve platinum status with both airlines, is there a benefit in being platinum with one over the other? i.e will one be more likely to give op upgrades to platinum flyers?

i'll check QF, CX , BA (don't think they have a BNE option?) and QR I'd suspect there isn't much difference? I will need to price flights on each travel date to get the actual cost comparison at the moment its all based on being the same cost as the September trip

Thanks

 

[ermen]

I saw BA
seems like they will do ORK - LHR - SIN - BNE
or ORK - LHR - HKG - BNE
https://www.britishairways.com/travel/fx/execclub/_gf/en_sg?eId=111011&timestamp=0509033355

interesting...
but i guess the only leg you can upgrade would be LHR-SIN (BA Metal), and only Y to PeY too.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Aer Lingus hosts EY codeshares on their UK-Ireland routes, so you could book ORK-xLHR-xAUH-BNE and return on EY flight numbers (possibly MAN and EDI too), and not have to worry about separate tickets should they be your preferred carrier. Not sure on pricing, however.

 

[scwappy]

A couple of things you may wish to consider.
a) consider using your points earned to purchase an outright reward ticket in J or F rather than upgrading which can be poor value.
b) Not sure if you would be picked up or driving 3 hours , but would be a tough ask if you were driving yourself.
c) consider seat fees selection also as EK now charge on their saver fares, unsure with Etihad.
d) look at getting credit card which will maximise points or benefits with the carrier you choose.
e) EY has a great lounge in Dublin which is a nice way to start the trip once status kicks in but in AUH they would send you to a contract lounge till Platinum kicks in. It's ok but not great. EK may offer a more consistent lounge experience.
f) consider QF flight # and join QF club to allow lounge access in BNE and DXB before gold kicks in.

 

[scwappy]

Also entertainment book offers 5-10% discount off EK fares, likely to not be applicable ex DUB though.

 

[ermen]

have a look at the latest qR sale fares as posted by a member today.. it may work for you

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qat...62-current-qr-sale-fares-80.html#post28287347

 

[k974]

Hi I just looked up my EK account and I have 155,000miles from a credit card I used to have , along with the 9,300 tier miles I suppose that's the decision made.

Any thoughts on will I have any success with op upgrades or similar when I reach platinum status ?

Thanks

 

[Bundy Bear]

Hi I just looked up my EK account and I have 155,000miles from a credit card I used to have , along with the 9,300 tier miles I suppose that's the decision made.

Any thoughts on will I have any success with op upgrades or similar when I reach platinum status ?

Thanks

I would take one of the earlier flights in business class, yes it will cost more but it will help you in getting status that much earlier.

once you have status and flying in economy you will already have lounge and the pick of which seats to select and of course be first inline for any upgrades that might occur.

 

[docjames]

thanks for the reply, understand the conflict but given the turnaround time the priority is the transit time, and I assume EK/EY have the best transit times. My final end destination is actually southern Ireland so from Dublin I have a 3 hour drive, I can fly into Cork from LHR and be 20min from destination so that a consideration too, a quick transit in LHR would be same door to door time.

It looks like I will achieve platinum status with both airlines, is there a benefit in being platinum with one over the other? i.e will one be more likely to give op upgrades to platinum flyers?

i'll check QF, CX , BA (don't think they have a BNE option?) and QR I'd suspect there isn't much difference? I will need to price flights on each travel date to get the actual cost comparison at the moment its all based on being the same cost as the September trip

Thanks

LHR and quick transit dont usually go together.....

 

[docjames]

I would take one of the earlier flights in business class, yes it will cost more but it will help you in getting status that much earlier.

once you have status and flying in economy you will already have lounge and the pick of which seats to select and of course be first inline for any upgrades that might occur.

this is actually good advice too - the sooner the status, the "better" travel in Y will be.

 

[Flying Fox]

Also entertainment book offers 5-10% discount off EK fares, likely to not be applicable ex DUB though.

Hi I just looked up my EK account and I have 155,000miles from a credit card I used to have , along with the 9,300 tier miles I suppose that's the decision made.

If you have these points and can get additional discounts and EK fly with only one stop to your final destination, I would put forward that EK would probably suit this scenario best.

 

[Melburnian1]

Given that you'll be spending so much time in an aircraft, and to a lesser extent at airports, isn't SQ the best choice?

Its service is arguably superior to the ME3, and Changi is a delight compared to DXB/AUH/DOH. At the LHR (or AMS) end, you could fly (at least from LHR) to Cork, Ireland to try to minimise total transit time.

KrisFlyer is a reasonable FF program.

 

[mannej]

The OP asked for as quick as possible transit. I would have thought LHR would rule SQ out fairly quickly.

 

[k974]

Hi,

I've decided to go with Emirates for the following reasons,

1. Left it a little late to explore all options fully (thanks for all the responses and advice on here tho)
2. Emirates Flex Economy Fares with starting balance of 9.300 tier miles, 156,000 skywards miles will give me the following

a. After 1 Trip - Silver Status
b. After 2 Trips - Gold Status (My 2nd Trip is in Business an ex Dublin Ticket)
c. After 6 Trips Platinum Status
d. Enough Miles to updated 3.5 return trips, so out of 24 one way trips, I can upgrade 7 of them for the full one way trip, I have looked into how many of the A380 14hr legs I could do.
e. My travel agent has held the trips (just waiting to confirm dates today) looking at $31k for the 12 trips (including the 1ex Dublin in Business)
The ex Dublin trip is E3,500 so about $5,200, the avg cost for the rest is $2,300.

I've booked 12 trips with staying here for one rotation to give a mid year break from flying.

I'll submit some updates on how it is going.

 

[gaz0303]

If Cork is final destination, does MAN make more sense than LHR? Opens up EK, SQ and CX as one stop options to MAN.

 

[docjames]

I'm assuming the cheper fares arent upgradeable? As fares in Y ex-DUB would be ~ 1000euros (return). So ~A$1250.

How much are flex fares ex-DUB? Surely it's cheaper to buy the majority (online) ex-DUB?

 

[scwappy]

Hi,

I've decided to go with Emirates for the following reasons,

1. Left it a little late to explore all options fully (thanks for all the responses and advice on here tho)
2. Emirates Flex Economy Fares with starting balance of 9.300 tier miles, 156,000 skywards miles will give me the following

a. After 1 Trip - Silver Status
b. After 2 Trips - Gold Status (My 2nd Trip is in Business an ex Dublin Ticket)
c. After 6 Trips Platinum Status
d. Enough Miles to updated 3.5 return trips, so out of 24 one way trips, I can upgrade 7 of them for the full one way trip, I have looked into how many of the A380 14hr legs I could do.
e. My travel agent has held the trips (just waiting to confirm dates today) looking at $31k for the 12 trips (including the 1ex Dublin in Business)
The ex Dublin trip is E3,500 so about $5,200, the avg cost for the rest is $2,300.

I've booked 12 trips with staying here for one rotation to give a mid year break from flying.

I'll submit some updates on how it is going.

Sounds great. I personally like flying EK both in F, J and even Y.

 

[RB]

Hi,

I've decided to go with Emirates for the following reasons,

1. Left it a little late to explore all options fully (thanks for all the responses and advice on here tho)
2. Emirates Flex Economy Fares with starting balance of 9.300 tier miles, 156,000 skywards miles will give me the following

a. After 1 Trip - Silver Status
b. After 2 Trips - Gold Status (My 2nd Trip is in Business an ex Dublin Ticket)
c. After 6 Trips Platinum Status
d. Enough Miles to updated 3.5 return trips, so out of 24 one way trips, I can upgrade 7 of them for the full one way trip, I have looked into how many of the A380 14hr legs I could do.
e. My travel agent has held the trips (just waiting to confirm dates today) looking at $31k for the 12 trips (including the 1ex Dublin in Business)
The ex Dublin trip is E3,500 so about $5,200, the avg cost for the rest is $2,300.

I've booked 12 trips with staying here for one rotation to give a mid year break from flying.

I'll submit some updates on how it is going.

Just me but I would be testing how you are handling all the flying + the 3hr drive at the end before I locked myself into any $31,000 deal. Hope it all works out for you!

 

[Mattg]

Just a thought... you might want to ask Emirates for a "tier upgrade" based on your Gold Virgin status. EK don't generally offer status matches, but they might move your Skywards status up one level if you have status with a competing airline and can make a case that you'll be doing a lot of travel with Emirates in the future.

Have a read of some of the successful status matches here: Emirates Status Match | StatusMatcher

 

[PLANT]

So it definately won't be faster to go Brisbane to Perth then Qantas direct?
What if the difference in overall time with the stop in Dubai????