I was roaming around looking for flights to and from Europe in July that didn't cost a packet and also didn't take inordinate amounts of time, and settled on Cathay Pacific from Sydney to Paris. This will turn an otherwise humdrum to/from journey into a bit of an adventure, as we'll spend a couple of days in Paris, then catch Eurostar to London to spend a couple of days in England at my brother's 15th century manor house, then on to Ireland (possibly by train again, as having luggage makes budget airlines expensive...) to visit the nonagenarian mother for a week and a half. How we get back to Paris to return to Oz is not certain yet - open jaw tickets weren't competitive or available on the dates I wanted.
Cathay Pacific flights were around $2500-2700 return in Economy, and when I went to book the ones I wanted, when choosing the return leg (Paris - Sydney) I was offered Premium Economy for only about $350 more than Economy. I checked and checked and checked, but there it was. This wasn't even offered in the Cathay Pacific app, nor in any other booking engines, only on the Cathay Pacific website!
Just to make the trip even more interesting, we will arrive in Paris the day before Bastille Day, and a week after their "snap" parliamentary election. Depending on the results of that, Bastille Day could be even more interesting than usual! I don't think the Olympics will affect us - hotel prices and Eurostar prices are still reasonable.
I'm also not a fan of flying through Hong Kong, but it's difficult to be an ethical flyer from Australia to Europe these days. Etihad, my usual carrier, is probably not a whole lot better.
I've read some reviews of PE on Cathay, and am prepared to be disappointed by the lack of lounge access and not fantastic food, but the seats should be worth it. And also double the Economy luggage allowance if we can work out a way of using it!
Cathay Pacific flights were around $2500-2700 return in Economy, and when I went to book the ones I wanted, when choosing the return leg (Paris - Sydney) I was offered Premium Economy for only about $350 more than Economy. I checked and checked and checked, but there it was. This wasn't even offered in the Cathay Pacific app, nor in any other booking engines, only on the Cathay Pacific website!
Just to make the trip even more interesting, we will arrive in Paris the day before Bastille Day, and a week after their "snap" parliamentary election. Depending on the results of that, Bastille Day could be even more interesting than usual! I don't think the Olympics will affect us - hotel prices and Eurostar prices are still reasonable.
I'm also not a fan of flying through Hong Kong, but it's difficult to be an ethical flyer from Australia to Europe these days. Etihad, my usual carrier, is probably not a whole lot better.
I've read some reviews of PE on Cathay, and am prepared to be disappointed by the lack of lounge access and not fantastic food, but the seats should be worth it. And also double the Economy luggage allowance if we can work out a way of using it!
