J sales to LHR, do they happen? any tips?

[Mattg]

Thanks to all of you for suggestions!

My Update: the QF business sale fare SYD>LHR reappeared! A return J quoted $8.1K for July departure. I know it is significantly more than what other airlines offer, but it is also significantly less than the standard business saver fare $9.2K is, such that even my loyalty to Red Roo would struggle to justify it. Better yet, found a multi-city itinerary returning TXL>SYD at $7.9K - not only saving $450 for 2 pax compared to return SYD>LHR but also giving 40 more SC for an extra leg TXL>LHR in J. Crazy!

Glad it worked out for you. Yeah, departing from Berlin instead of London is a good idea as you won't have to pay the excessive UK departure tax. From memory it's nearly $300 each for a Business class passenger travelling long-haul ex LHR!

And you get to spend some time in the amazing city that is Berlin.

 

[BorisWood]

I just paid for return trip in business class with JAL - MEL-SYD-NRT-CDG - total was $5,454. LHR will be a little more but was under $6,000 last time we flew there.
The downside for some is an overnight in both Sydney and Narita. This is a plus for us retirees. Luggage allowance is 3 X 32 kg. Food and service are excellent. JAL have an great on time record.
The seats are now good on all flights.

 

[DOROTHEA]

May have a solution so drop me an email.
Dorothea

 

[get me outta here]

With only one post I don't think you can accept or send emails as yet.

May have a solution so drop me an email.
Dorothea

 

[Thomasa]

Secrets? Hardly. Most frequent flyers would know the info in this article v well. For years Airlines have put out B Class sale fares in Sept and again around New Year. This is a boon for leisure travellers, not so useful for people doing business. My tip: when you see what you regard as a cheap fare, don't wait. Airlines have a habit of turning off the tap overnight!

 

[PaulST]

I just paid for return trip in business class with JAL - MEL-SYD-NRT-CDG - total was $5,454. LHR will be a little more but was under $6,000 last time we flew there.
The downside for some is an overnight in both Sydney and Narita. This is a plus for us retirees. Luggage allowance is 3 X 32 kg. Food and service are excellent. JAL have an great on time record.
The seats are now good on all flights.

Did you book through JAL directly? Those prices look great and JAL seem to be well regarded (and I note that I can co-share on a BA 789 from NRT to LHR).

 

[RichardMEL]

Just a small comment - all of these discussions about JAL and other sale fares are fine, but the OP (Elementalist) did explicitly say they wanted QF due to having a voucher credit to use and a wish to try and attain Gold. JL would help with the later, though the "Enhanced" SC earn is not helpful there.

 

[BorisWood]

I always book through our local travel agent. The JAL website is not flexible enough to cope with stopovers which we do on the way home. Also, he talks to them about getting free accommodation in Sydney and Narita. This happens if there is no possibility of a connecting flight. They do say you can fly from Melbourne to connect with the 9.15 AM flight during daylight saving time. We won't risk it and fly the previous afternoon and pay for a night in Sydney.

 

[CaptJCool]

Qatar are running sale business class until 18 Jan too. While not QF STILL got SCs. QF appear to be around $2k more than most the other airlines. Which unless I got access to first class lounge I'm finding the bus lounges underwhelming for the extra price. And especially when ex other locations as suggested earlier eg BKK. QF prices are way lower.

 

[boregos]

If doing a codeshare with AY or other OW member either book the QF ex Aus as a separate ticket or codeshare on CX. Flying QF with a codeshare (eg BA or AY flight number) is awful: no access to most of the MMB options on the QF website, incluing no online checkin or meal selection and SC and FF point earning is not at QF earn rates even on QF metal.

I flew a J return to Dublin via Hong Kong and Helsinki on Finnair last year... booked through the Finnair call centre and asked for the QF flight number on the SYD-HKG & HKG-SYD legs on the 127/128 rather than the AY codeshare. Only cost me around ~$200ish more and got the full QF points/SC for those legs.

 

[Mattg]

I flew a J return to Dublin via Hong Kong and Helsinki on Finnair last year... booked through the Finnair call centre and asked for the QF flight number on the SYD-HKG & HKG-SYD legs on the 127/128 rather than the AY codeshare. Only cost me around ~$200ish more and got the full QF points/SC for those legs.

Good to know that this is possible! Did you have to book via the call centre?

 

[boregos]

I can't remember if the QF numbers were available on the Finnair site or not... I think from memory one leg was, but the return wasn't showing, just the AY number. But I had no problems getting both QF numbers through the call centre.
As far as I recall, there was no extra fee to book via the call centre, unlike Qantas.

 

[knasty]

I flew a J return to Dublin via Hong Kong and Helsinki on Finnair last year... booked through the Finnair call centre and asked for the QF flight number on the SYD-HKG & HKG-SYD legs on the 127/128 rather than the AY codeshare. Only cost me around ~$200ish more and got the full QF points/SC for those legs.

Just to add to this I have seen similar through Expedia ie. Offering BA16 rather than the AY codeshare on BA/QF for less than the AY website quoted.

 

[ayebee]

I recently booked 2x Finnair business fares MEL to Zurich & return via Singapore & Helsinki, for about $5700 each. MEL - SIN - MEL are QF - one with QF number the other AY, no idea why, but we are not concerned with SCs. Fares seemed relatively reasonable, but the trap was the Finnair website is a piece of .... rubbish. I was unable to complete the booking so eventually called. The guy on the phone was great & set everything up easy as you like, but seemed as part of my unsuccessful attempts the website put a "hold" for $11.5k on my credit card and it took 5 days to clear it. I suspect it was just the bank timeout on the transaction that finally fixed it. So my advice is don't bother with Finnair's online bookings, but just call the service number. It is answered in Sydney, not some offshore call centre.

 

[PaulST]

Slightly off topic as only one of the flights is with QF (the other 3 are with OW, though, so I'll hit WP half way through the trip), but I've just booked SYD-HND-LHR (QF25 and then BA6) and then DME-NRT-SYD (both JAL) in July for $6400. I booked through lastminute.com.au who had the best prices.

 

[katiebell]

I recently booked 2x Finnair business fares MEL to Zurich & return via Singapore & Helsinki, for about $5700 each. MEL - SIN - MEL are QF - one with QF number the other AY, no idea why, but we are not concerned with SCs. Fares seemed relatively reasonable, but the trap was the Finnair website is a piece of .... rubbish. I was unable to complete the booking so eventually called. The guy on the phone was great & set everything up easy as you like, but seemed as part of my unsuccessful attempts the website put a "hold" for $11.5k on my credit card and it took 5 days to clear it. I suspect it was just the bank timeout on the transaction that finally fixed it. So my advice is don't bother with Finnair's online bookings, but just call the service number. It is answered in Sydney, not some offshore call centre.

I would be interested to know if the QF website allows you to check in online, preselect meals etc on the QF-operated flights. My recent experience with the QF website for flights on QF metal with a non-QF flight number was worse than abysmal.

 

[ayebee]

hello katiebell
Finnair had our QFF numbers so the booking appeared pretty much straight away on QFF website.
The systems seem partially integrated. Initially, on QF website I selected seats on QF flights whether QF or AY flight number, but it only had option to request seat preference for the AY flights. I then went to Finnair site & selected actual seats for AY flights, and the QF metal seats selected a few minutes prior had already appeared there.
Finnair website had option to select meals for each person for each Finnair operated flight. Nothing to request for QF operated.
Also can't see option on QF website to request meals - maybe that appears closer to date ?? It is not something I have ever bothered with so can't say if it is any different. Maybe this is a call to service centre.

I can see the "Check-in" button (inactive til 24 hrs before) but I don't know if it will work. For me it never seems to work for international, maybe as most of our recent trips have been to USA as first stop.
I generally only bother with online checkin if in economy.

 

[katiebell]

hello katiebell
Finnair had our QFF numbers so the booking appeared pretty much straight away on QFF website.
The systems seem partially integrated. Initially, on QF website I selected seats on QF flights whether QF or AY flight number, but it only had option to request seat preference for the AY flights. I then went to Finnair site & selected actual seats for AY flights, and the QF metal seats selected a few minutes prior had already appeared there.
Finnair website had option to select meals for each person for each Finnair operated flight. Nothing to request for QF operated.
Also can't see option on QF website to request meals - maybe that appears closer to date ?? It is not something I have ever bothered with so can't say if it is any different. Maybe this is a call to service centre.

I can see the "Check-in" button (inactive til 24 hrs before) but I don't know if it will work. For me it never seems to work for international, maybe as most of our recent trips have been to USA as first stop.
I generally only bother with online checkin if in economy.

Hi Ayebee,

My expereince on BA codeshare was the same at this point and I thought everything was great. The Q-eat preflight meal selection appears about 1 week before departure and this was when I first had problems: I am selective about what I like to eat and, therefore, like to preselect my meals. Q-eat was not possible on my codeshare flights on QF and the call centre were less than helpful. Online check in did not work and I when I checked-in in Europe I could not get a boarding pass for the final leg on QF despite the check in agent's best efforts. It made me feel really second class on QF. Hence my interest in how you are treated on the legs from/to Aus: i.e. if there is any difference between the AY & QF flight numbers and if QF treats AY pax better than BA pax.