Is QF ever likely to fly into Dubai again?

[Sprucegoose]

I have always believed avoiding the sandpit was the holy grail of Australian aviation achievement ?

 

[Seat0B]

I too wish for QF metal to Dubai or at least a reversion of the DSC offers to apply to QF codeshares on EK metal. I visit fairly often to see Seat son and fly business so I’m not really happy with the zero SC approach if booking direct on EK.
Costs are ridiculous. We just took a trip from 28 Nov and returned on 4 Jan (trip report will be forthcoming if work permits the time). We flew J. But in summary it was $1500 cheaper to fly to MUC or BUD and stop over in Dubai in each direction ( for up
to 30 days) per person than to just fly to DXB and return. Then a further $3000 odd per person cheaper to depart via MEL instead of SYD. We did have to fork out $500+ of that for an airport hotel in each direction due to flight leaving too early and arriving too late for same day connection from MEL to CBR. And had to get the final keg to CBR on a separate classic award ticket as it would not permit that to be done by online booking and I simply didn’t have time or energy to waste calling QF to get it booked.
So yes I wish they would reinstate DXB.

Edit: to clarify the relative costs of the flights

 

[jase05]

I have always believed avoiding the sandpit was the holy grail of Australian aviation achievement ?

My preference is to go via the sandpit.
I can’t ever envision me taking one of those direct ULH routes from Australia to Europe

 

[chiken_nugets]

My preference is to go via the sandpit.
I can’t ever envision me taking one of those direct ULH routes from Australia to Europe

Brisbane to Dubai is 14 hours.

Rome to Perth is 15 hours.

Might seem cherry picked but these are two legs from my upcoming holiday. Very comparable length.

I'd rather transit in Perth than Dubai personally.

 

[jase05]

Brisbane to Dubai is 14 hours.

Rome to Perth is 15 hours.

Might seem cherry picked but these are two legs from my upcoming holiday. Very comparable length.

I'd rather transit in Perth than Dubai personally.

No thanks.
We actually enjoy the ME transits and always stop for a couple of days either on the way over or back and sometimes even both ways.
I also have no desire to put up with a substandard QF for that length of time.

 

[justinbrett]

My preference is to go via the sandpit.
I can’t ever envision me taking one of those direct ULH routes from Australia to Europe

What’s wrong with Singapore?

 

[sqrt()]

Buy it on a QF ticket and QF add a ridiculous amount of $ to the price compared to what EK charge for the same flight, buy it on EK and you don't get any SC's - can't win!

What's this about QF adding a "ridiculous" amount to fly on a QF code? I checked a few dates for SYD-DXB and see max price delta of +$20aud for the cheapest Y, J, and F fares. QF and EK pretty much aligned, what am I missing?

On June 8, for example, QF is about $80 cheaper in Y!

 

[chiken_nugets]

No thanks.
We actually enjoy the ME transits and always stop for a couple of days either on the way over or back and sometimes even both ways.
I also have no desire to put up with a substandard QF for that length of time.

If you don't like flying with QF in the first place then I'm not sure how QF flying to Dubai would make any difference..?

 

[Sprucegoose]

max price delta of +$20aud for the cheapest Y, J, and F fares. QF and EK pretty much aligned, what am I missing?

Well maybe the QF premium is now a myth? Surprised me.

If you don't like flying with QF in the first place then I'm not sure how QF flying to Dubai would make any difference..?

It’s a choice driven by various factors. Primarily the ‘why’ will invariably drive the ‘how’.

 

[jase05]

What’s wrong with Singapore?

Nothing at all. We do like most Asian ports but enjoy the ME so even if we go via Asia we often end up taking a 2 stop flight to Europe. Very rare we would go Asia to Europe direct.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Nothing at all. We do like most Asian ports but enjoy the ME so even if we go via Asia we often end up taking a 2 stop flight to Europe. Very rare we would go Asia to Europe direct.

So DXB and HEL before LHR? (as an example)

 

[jase05]

So DXB and HEL before LHR? (as an example)

Our preference is normally Australia-Asia-ME-Europe unless we score a good enough cash J fare AU-ME-EU. Occasionally we will go one stop via Asia but pretty rare these days

 

[Sprucegoose]

Our preference is normally Australia-Asia-ME-Europe unless we score a good enough cash J fare AU-ME-EU. Occasionally we will go one stop via Asia but pretty rare these days

And why not if you have the time!

I will only do one stop if time poor, otherwise I'm a serial wanderer.

 

[Quickstatus]

I'm a serial wanderer.

Why fly direct when you can connect

 

[sqrt()]

So DXB and HEL before LHR? (as an example)

Wish AY would extend their HEL-SIN to SYD.

 

[SYD]

Wish AY would extend their HEL-SIN to SYD.

I suspect they’re happy with the QF/BA codeshares (plus CX via HKG etc).

But with the current sky high fares, I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of the Euro carriers didn’t try to cash in while they can. Albeit short lived once China gets back online.

 

[sqrt()]

I suspect they’re happy with the QF/BA codeshares (plus CX via HKG etc).

But with the current sky high fares, I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of the Euro carriers didn’t try to cash in while they can. Albeit short lived once China gets back online.

I'm sure they are...

Definitely some expectation on FT of (at least) premium fares dipping when Chinese carriers return. Hopefully sooner rather than later, not that I want to fly them.

 

[p--and--t]

I can't see what benefit to the overall business plan there would be for QF to go via DXB again with project sunrise.

On a personal level, went via Dubai once on QF and once on EK (codeshare QF). Have no desire whatsoever to go there again. The J lounge was nice but not as good as QR in DOH. Once been in the country nothing special to want to return.

 

[jase05]

Once been in the country nothing special to want to return.

I’m a bit over Dubai and Abu Dhabi itself after so many visits but the UAE has plenty of other places worth visiting and I consider it an excellent country to travel around. Well worth grabbing a hire car and touring around, we re entry spent another couple of weeks doing so and already are trying to plan our next stay there

 

[Melburnian1]

Hopefully not, if they dump SIN for DXB that only leaves the PER route to get to EU for those of us not wanting to transit the ME.

You have the choice of at least another 15 airlines that offer one-stop from various Australian airports to various UK or European airports, avoiding the Middle East.

Let's list a few: AA, AI, BA, BI, BR, CI, CX, JL, KE, MH, NH, OZ, SQ, TG, TR, UA...not exhaustive.

If you're a business passenger and 'wedded' to QFi due to a huge amount of accumulated points, it's understandable you might want to choose Qantas if the total monetary cost after fees and charges was relatively low.

But for holidaying or VFR users, or business passengers who don't have high QF FF points, why wouldn't you choose an airline with a better reputation for service and/or cheaper fares in whichever class you travel?

It can be very good to fly into London and then using an open jaw ticket, fly out of a European port to avoid the huge Air Passenger Duty levied in the UK. A Eurailpass that offers discounted seats on Eurostar, plus wonderful rail experiences in UK and Europe can come in handy.