Per-sin-per

[Kiwi Flyer]

Next year's SIN Run is 12-14th Jan, so may be a chance to finally meet you wandering_fred

 

[JohnK]

Why in mid-Oct?

I like to have my flights booked early. The only reason I have left it this long was waiting for news on the fuel surcharge but it was not worth waiting for it.

Anyway other than maybe Saturdays I very seldom see fares other than the SG$398 (plus about SG$300 in taxes) until the times get real close. Allow some time for holiday periods though. Loads I've seen recently are 50-70% PER-SIN and 80-100% SIN-PER. Just remember to ask for the seat assignment at the time of booking or change. So far QF has been quite reasonable to an AA member, though the H ticket may have been an influence.

My airfare is a little more expensive as I want to book SIN-PER-SYD-PER-SIN. Those loads look a little more promising than the ones I have been experiencing to/from the east coast. As I mentioned earlier as a QF Gold I generally get row 23 allocated on the 333.

Theoretically I'm scheduled
PER-SIN to CX SIN-CMB 10 Nov
CX CMB-BKK and AY BKK-SIN 15 Nov SIN-PER 17 Nov
PER-SIN to AY SIN-BKK 12 Jan
CX HKG-SIN and SIN-PER 18 Jan

Pleased to have a meeting if any of the above matches your schedule.

At this stage I am planning to return on AY BKK-SIN and QF SIN-PER-SYD either on 9 Jan or 10 Jan. Miss you by a few days.

Thanks a lot for that very useful information Fred.

 

[serfty]

... There are worse things that could happen, but if flights are always full then there is no alternative seating after you are in the air and you are seated behind a recliner, the IFE does not work, you have a screaming child next to you etc, etc. ...

You could always look for flights that have bulkhead seats available for preallocation.

edit: I see you are getting R23 on 333's ... this is good ...

 

[JohnK]

edit: I see you are getting R23 on 333's ... this is good ...

Because I book early enough and with mid-range status I get it most of the time. It is the times I don't get it that is a worry.

Anyway I can think of worse things that can happen.

 

[JohnK]

I would appreciate it if anyone with expert flyer access would be kind enough to post class availability on the following flights :-

27 Dec QF071 PER-SIN
10 Jan QF078 SIN-PER

The first flight appears to be full as it no longer appears on QF website when requesting flights PER-SIN on that day.

 

[Dave Noble]

Both flights (QF71/QF77)from PER-SIN on 27th December have zero seats available in economy class

Dave

 

[StevePER]

Looks like there is now one seat...

27/12/06 QF 71
J9 C3 D0 I0 U0 Y1 B1 H1 K0 M0 R0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0 T0 X0 E0

10/01/07 QF 78
J9 C9 D8 I3 U0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 R9 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0 T0 X0 E0

 

[JohnK]

Looks like there is now one seat...

27/12/06 QF 71
J9 C3 D0 I0 U0 Y1 B1 H1 K0 M0 R0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0 T0 X0 E0

Thanks Steve and Dave.

Hmmm. What to do! Major dilemma. Stick with allocated seat of 23J or try to upgrade to business class with FF points. I guess that the remainder of business class seats will not be sold at this late stage but rather allocated for FF points upgrade or even op-up.

Considering economy is hovering between 0 and 1 economy seats available what is the likelihood that economy has been oversold on this flight by the time I take flight. Checking in at 9:00am in SYD for 16:30 (18:30 syd time) flight PER-SIN could enhance chances of any op-ups available assuming only small number of WP's on flight!

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Thanks Steve and Dave.

Hmmm. What to do! Major dilemma. Stick with allocated seat of 23J or try to upgrade to business class with FF points. I guess that the remainder of business class seats will not be sold at this late stage but rather allocated for FF points upgrade or even op-up.

There is still plenty of time for business seats to be bought. Business fares tend to go much later than economy (in general, there are some routes where the reverse is true). Having said that 27 December could be high demand date (post-christmas leisure travel to asia/europe) or low demand (little business travel). I know for many of the longhaul routes to/from AKL around that time (and I'd also include 10 January) are heavily sold in all cabins, whereas trans-tasman tends to be full in economy and not so full in business.

Personally I would not assess op-up chances, unless I was familiar with loads for a route, until less than 1 week before flight.

 

[JohnK]

Personally I would not assess op-up chances, unless I was familiar with loads for a route, until less than 1 week before flight.

Thanks for that advice Rob.

An op-up is only a remote possibility at the best of times. I am happy with 23J but not sure whether to burn 24,000 FF points on a request for business class upgrade on a 5 hour flight.

If business class availablility looks high a week before the flight then I will take my chances with current seat allocation. In theory my seat of 23J should be secure given my QF Gold status and I will be checking in at around 9:00am in SYD for a 16:30 PER-SIN flight, which should be earlier than most locals and interstate travellers.

 

[JohnK]

Arriving QF72 SIN-PER 01:55am and departing QF574 PER-SYD 05:50am.

The inter terminal transfer service does not start operating until 05:00am. What would be the approximate cost at that time of the morning hiring a taxi between the 2 terminals.

The Qantas club in the domestic terminal does not open until 04:45am. Is it better to stay in the international terminal as long as possible or go straight to the domestic terminal and wait there?

 

[chrisb]

It's been a while since I've been out there at night, but the Qantas Perth terminal used to be locked up between the last flight out and first checkin - So you'd want to check before getting a taxi...

The International used to be open 24hrs - I assume it still is.

 

[oz_mark]

The international terminal still lists as being open 24 hours a day, so you would probably be better off staying there. Not sure exactly what facilities would be open, but SQ departs about 3 a.m. at the moment, and the Mauritius flight departs at some equally friendly time on the days it runs, so there should be some things open!

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Arriving QF72 SIN-PER 01:55am and departing QF574 PER-SYD 05:50am.

The inter terminal transfer service does not start operating until 05:00am. What would be the approximate cost at that time of the morning hiring a taxi between the 2 terminals.

The Qantas club in the domestic terminal does not open until 04:45am. Is it better to stay in the international terminal as long as possible or go straight to the domestic terminal and wait there?

See my reply to your other post about immigration closure.

 

[JohnK]

The International used to be open 24hrs - I assume it still is.

The international terminal still lists as being open 24 hours a day, so you would probably be better off staying there. Not sure exactly what facilities would be open....

I think this is what I will doing. If there are still people around waiting to board flights maybe something will be open.

 

[JohnK]

See my reply to your other post about immigration closure.

Thanks. I still see no point in rushing through immigration. Stalling each of the activities slightly then makes the waiting in the end seem bareable.

So plan would be to wait on the aircraft for all the other passengers to get off first, purchase duty free (I hope duty free is open at that time), clear immigration, collect luggage, clear customs and hang around international terminal until 03:45am then hopefully get into a taxi to get to domestic terminal around 04:00am.

Based on the assumption that Qantas club in domestic terminal is open at 04:45am then checkin should be open sometime between 04:00am-04:30am.

 

[oz_mark]

I think this is what I will doing. If there are still people around waiting to board flights maybe something will be open.

EK departs at 7 am, so presumably there would be some facilities open for this. You would be better off going throiugh immigration and waiting landside.

 

[JohnK]

EK departs at 7 am, so presumably there would be some facilities open for this. You would be better off going throiugh immigration and waiting landside.

More useful information, thanks Mark. If any coffee lounge/bar is open, a beer or 2 would be great.

 

[JohnK]

The inter terminal transfer service does not start operating until 05:00am. What would be the approximate cost at that time of the morning hiring a taxi between the 2 terminals.

The Qantas club in the domestic terminal does not open until 04:45am. Is it better to stay in the international terminal as long as possible or go straight to the domestic terminal and wait there?

Some updated information for anyone who may be interested in PER international to domestic transfer.

The taxi fare between terminals early in the morning, before the complimentary bus service, is ~$25.

The PER domestic terminal opens at 04:00am and the QF lounge opens at 04:15am.

I wish I had known that before my arrival and would not have spent as much time waiting around in the near empty PER international terminal.

 

[acampbel]

.

Very good info for me, thanks JohnK.

I am spending a week in Singapore (5th-9th of February) and could not get out of Singapore back to Sydney on the Friday night, so have booked to come back via Perth. The good points are that it is cheap, gains more miles/SC's (presumably), and gets me to Sydney by midday Saturday.

The one bad point is the 01:55 to 05:50 visit to Perth airport.

My plan (based on your info) is to walk off QF78 and visit the international QC for a sit, shower and shandy. Then at some time between 04:00 and 05:00 I should clear customs and transfer across to the domestic terminal (by taxi at 04:00 or bus at 05:00) and spend any remaining time at the domestic QC.


Any glitches on the horizon?


Cheers,

Andrew

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