Case Study: How Matt books flights to Europe

[AFF Editor]

I thought some AFF members might be interested to see how I approach booking a trip to Europe, something I do a few times per year. I don't just fly the same airline every time, and try to make the journey part of the destination.

You can read the case study article here:

Case Study: How I Book My Flights to Europe

AFF Editor Matt Graham explains the strategies he uses to fly between Australia and Europe in comfort, without spending too much.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

What's your approach to booking a trip to Europe?

 

[OZDUCK]

Though not as interesting as some of Matt's exploits we do try to get to S.E Asia, usually Singapore, as cheaply as possible and then travel J class onwards to Europe.

For example on our trip to the German Christmas Markets last year we flew Perth to Singapore in QF Y Exit Row seats and then flew to Germany and return on Vietnam Airlines in J. This involved tranitting Hanoi on the way there and Saigon on the return trip. The last leg back to Perth from Sin was a points redemption in SQ J. We had originally booked MH and Oman Air in J for an excellent fare but Oman Air cancelled our flights and offered no sensible replacement. Previously we have used QR and AY flights out of Singapore after getting there in ScootPlus. These fares are usually around $5,000 to $7,000 cheaper than for the two of us to fly J out of Perth.

Coming out of Perth we do have limited choices.

 

[Human]

Great article; now I can't wait for the second instalment: "Case Study: How I Book My Flights to North America"

 

[Abus380]

We went J with Fiji airlines to Yvr for just over 12 K when Qantas was 22 K.
Can thoroughly recommend them

 

[serfty]

Great article; now I can't wait for the second instalment: "Case Study: How I Book My Flights to North America"

Fiji and New Zealand can make for interesting stopovers and can save on fares somewhat.

 

[mandolino]

Thanks for this Matt. I use a similar approach to get from my home in Scotland to Melbourne in comfort, when I have time. I hadn't looked at Air Astana, although I went to Kazakhstan on business a few times before Air Astana came on the go. Before my wife passed away, we would use BA 2-4-1 points to get to Singapore, BKK or KL in Business, stay overnight and then get a Scoot, Jet* or Air Asia daytime flight down to MEL. (Or once, to Avalon)
Or to Sydney or Adelaide and take a few days to drive to Melbourne which also can be quite pleasant and helps with jetlag if you have the time.

Turkish airlines could also get me to Denpasar from Edinburgh in economy/business via Istanbul, then overnight and get a relatively short economy flight to Melbourne.

I've often thought you could get via North America using a budget carrier from west coast or Vegas to Honolulu, then Fiji airlines to Nadi and then it's only 4/5 hours to east coast Australia.

 

[Frangipani]

Thanks so much. I've done one long haul to Europe and it was awful, really puts you off going again and I can't afford business class. I wont mind stopovers so I will take note of this.
One question though, with the wars going on around the middle east, how safe is Kazakhstan?

 

[elanshin]

I do believe a lot of the options do require people to be willing to stop more at middle eastern, west asia countries or think outside the box.

Most people however dont necessarily consider those places for travel and they just want to go from A - B asap which does limit the options significantly.

I have a friend that I can't convince to fly Syd - Tokyo via singapore even though I found him a JL F ticket and QF J ticket. He'd rather pay Classic Reward+ Y and fly as fast as possible (cost wasn't too off).

 

[levelnine]

I have a friend that I can't convince to fly Syd - Tokyo via singapore even though I found him a JL F ticket and QF J ticket. He'd rather pay Classic Reward+ Y and fly as fast as possible (cost wasn't too off).

Which is exactly why Qantas can do what it does with cash and points tickets. 99% of the flying public has no interest in what Matt does.

 

[elanshin]

Which is exactly why Qantas can do what it does with cash and points tickets. 99% of the flying public has no interest in what Matt does.

I've managed to convince my partner to do roundabout flights though. She likes the F lounges now (and I got her to gold so we took her parents into gold lounges too last trip). "An extra stop for SC? sure"

 

[jase05]

We very rarely go the fastest way to Europe and half the fun is taking a few stops along the way and we will often take 3 or 4 flights one way but just depends on award seat availability or places we want to stop for a few days and visit. We have no real desire to get there as quick as we can these days