Best J value Melb- manchester flights-under 6 K?

[miclyn111]

I am keen to try my first business class flight- in comfort long haul
I am currently planning for may 15 until june 12 th MEL-MAN , looking at options in J -dates are flexible, one pax
I found thru varies sites: Qatar- $7079, Etihad- $6949, EM- $7189 , I was hoping to keep within/under 6 K budget for J flight, is that unrealistic?
I also looked at departing SIN-MAN Qatar $4264, could fly JQ starclass MEL-SIN but worry a bit about missing the connecting J.
Also would I be able to use Qatar lounge pre/ post those flights? Would like any ideas or feedback from AFF punters- appreciate your time.
Cheers, miclyn111

 

[serfty]

If flying JQi allow an extra day at SIN each way.

If Qatar has a business lounge and you are departing Qatar Air in business class then you should have lounge access.

 

[miclyn111]

If flying JQi allow an extra day at SIN each way.

If Qatar has a business lounge and you are departing Qatar Air in business class then you should have lounge access.

Thanks serfty for your response........I was allowing 5-6 hours bw flights, you say an extra day at SIN?
Wow maybe I'm more relaxed about the times than I should be.
Does anyone have any experiences of qatar lounge at SIN please?

thanks, miclyn111

 

[MELso]

Was just playing around with a few dates on Jetabroad's site. It threw up an interesting fare on CZ and KL if you went 14 May-19 June: MEL-CAN-AMS-MAN. Intriguingly, the CAN-AMS leg appears to book into F, not J. Fare costs $5351.94.

Don't know what CZ's F's like, and their J is a wedgie bed I think, but F is F I'm guessing...

 

[miclyn111]

Was just playing around with a few dates on Jetabroad's site. It threw up an interesting fare on CZ and KL if you went 14 May-19 June: MEL-CAN-AMS-MAN. Intriguingly, the CAN-AMS leg appears to book into F, not J. Fare costs $5351.94.

Don't know what CZ's F's like, and their J is a wedgie bed I think, but F is F I'm guessing...

Thanks for this info.- I need some help with some of the abbreviations- ?KL, CAN
cz is china sthn, ams=amsterdam and I know mel and man. Also what do you mean by a wedgie bed?
Sorry I'm still a newbie here learning.
Thankyou, miclyn111

 

[miclyn111]

Thanks for this info.- I need some help with some of the abbreviations- ?KL, CAN
cz is china sthn, ams=amsterdam and I know mel and man. Also what do you mean by a wedgie bed?
Sorry I'm still a newbie here learning.
Thankyou, miclyn111

kl is KLM and can-stop in china-looked up abbreviations list
checked jetabroad....how can you tell can- ams is in F?
also when I checked- there was also another stop in peking
Price was the same...Are we on the same page?

miclyn111

 

[serfty]

5-6 hours would be fine for 98% of such connections on separate bookings - it's that ~1 in 50 occasion where issues may occur (admittedly, JQi is much better than in the early days when they only had a few aircraft.)

 

[MELso]

Thanks for this info.- I need some help with some of the abbreviations- ?KL, CAN
cz is china sthn, ams=amsterdam and I know mel and man. Also what do you mean by a wedgie bed?
Sorry I'm still a newbie here learning.
Thankyou, miclyn111

Wedgie bed is what some people call angled lie flat beds, so-called because you slide down while sleeping giving you what in primary school was known as a wedgie... :mrgreen:

A bit more playing round on Jetabroad this morning reveals the same behaviour (business class flights on CZ - China Southern - booking into F) on flights to CDG (Charles de Gaulle Paris) and AMS (Amsterdam) and better connections (the connection on the one I quoted above actually appeared to be MEL-CAN-PEK-AMS-MAN, PEK being Beijing) in that they are MEL-CAN-AMS/CDG on the right combinations of dates. Don't ask me how these are being triggered though.

 

[miclyn111]

Wedgie bed is what some people call angled lie flat beds, so-called because you slide down while sleeping giving you what in primary school was known as a wedgie... :mrgreen:

A bit more playing round on Jetabroad this morning reveals the same behaviour (business class flights on CZ - China Southern - booking into F) on flights to CDG (Charles de Gaulle Paris) and AMS (Amsterdam) and better connections (the connection on the one I quoted above actually appeared to be MEL-CAN-PEK-AMS-MAN, PEK being Beijing) in that they are MEL-CAN-AMS/CDG on the right combinations of dates. Don't ask me how these are being triggered though.

LOL- wedgie bed-doesn't sound too comfy for sleeping.....
Thanks for getting back to me about flight details-are these in the same price range as above? Do CZ have F- anyone experience this?
miclyn111

 

[MEL_Traveller]

best value fares? wither royal Brunei or Garuda Indonesia. both offering flat beds in business class, although royal Brunei are angled, and much better service in GA. you would need to add a connecting flight from either London (royal Brunei) or Amsterdam (Garuda), but both have fares for around $3500-3700 return.

 

[spudseamus]

I didn't think Garuda were flying to Europe yet?:shock:

 

[oz_mark]

I didn't think Garuda were flying to Europe yet?:shock:

Daily flight to Amsterdam.

 

[spudseamus]

Daily flight to Amsterdam.

have any made it back yet??:shock:

 

[MEL_Traveller]

have any made it back yet??:shock:

we'll... by exactly the same principle that most people here are satisfied to fly the a380 because regulators have said it's safe... those same regulators have taken garuda off the no fly list... so they are saying it's safe as well.

 

[miclyn111]

best value fares? wither royal Brunei or Garuda Indonesia. both offering flat beds in business class, although royal Brunei are angled, and much better service in GA. you would need to add a connecting flight from either London (royal Brunei) or Amsterdam (Garuda), but both have fares for around $3500-3700 return.

Hi MEL_Traveller
I looked on royal brunei site and was quoted $5171 RT for MEL-LHR- where are you looking to get these prices?What amI missing?:evil:
Garuda says outgoing flight 15/5/12 not avail.- so I'm still playing around with dates there.
Keep the ideas coming folks but let me know where/websites you are seeing these prices.
I have been using jetabroad, kayak, expedia, direct with airline sites also to get quotes,

Cheers, miclyn111

 

[spudseamus]

we'll... by exactly the same principle that most people here are satisfied to fly the a380 because regulators have said it's safe... those same regulators have taken garuda off the no fly list... so they are saying it's safe as well.

ok i have done a bit of research and I must admit on the reviews Garuda do seem to have lifted their game markedly --- my post was in hindsight flippant!!

 

[MELso]

best value fares? wither royal Brunei or Garuda Indonesia. both offering flat beds in business class, although royal Brunei are angled, and much better service in GA. you would need to add a connecting flight from either London (royal Brunei) or Amsterdam (Garuda), but both have fares for around $3500-3700 return.

...And Vietnam Airlines offers a similar price from time to time too (I snagged one myself).

Only catches (based on my research last year; happy to be corrected if wrong/things have changed) are that none of them are offering this price in May, GA typically has a one month limit on time away (for the cheap fares) and requires an additional stop in DXB, VN has angled lie flat beds, and BI has angled flat beds and is dry (what's the fun of long haul if you can't extract extra value by consumption of large amounts of booze? :mrgreen...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi MEL_Traveller
I looked on royal brunei site and was quoted $5171 RT for MEL-LHR- where are you looking to get these prices?What amI missing?:evil:
Garuda says outgoing flight 15/5/12 not avail.- so I'm still playing around with dates there.
Keep the ideas coming folks but let me know where/websites you are seeing these prices.
I have been using jetabroad, kayak, expedia, direct with airline sites also to get quotes,

Cheers, miclyn111

yeah sorry... I was looking at the headline price... I see for April onwards the price on royal Brunei goes up to over 5000 as you stated. I.m not sure that price is sustainable for them and it might come down.

not sure what is up with Garuda... I can't seem to find a fare for them either right now... I was going off their previously advertised specials.

the other option you might want to consider is a mixed class fare... economy to Asia, then Swiss from Asia to Europe. all on the one ticket of course.

those fares are around the 4600 mark... that's not showing as seasonal (I'm checking best flights.com.au)