Please help RW or not?

[Fly1170]

Hi

I was all set tomorrow at 10am to book a one way flight for my family (4 people) to Dublin using our points. Checking today the flight choice (for 353 days from today) is very very small with a 38 hr via Budapest the only option which costs more in points than direct to Dublin even though we don't want to go through Budapest!!!!! What's that about? Is it because it's in June next year ie peak season? Should I wait and see if more direct and cheaper (in terms of points) flights come up? Does this ever happen? Due to the fact we are very tight on points I was then going to book a one way back just from London and get from Dublin to London independantly. We are also doing side trips to Barcelona and Glasgow all paid for in cash as we don't have enough points.

I also about a RW OW only costing 140,000. After a call to qantas today however it appears Dublin is the glitch in the plan as noone from oneworld flies there and so the points would be too much to include it in the round world. We have relatives in Dublin which is the main purpose of the trip so we have to go there.

I am now very confused about what to do!!!

Can anyone give any advice on the cheapest way (in terms of points and $) to go where we'd like without it costing us to go to airports we don't even want to be in like Budapest?

Thanks heaps in advance

 

[JohnK]

The problem is trying to get to Dublin with Oneworld. There should be plenty of availability to London this far out even if it is peak travel season. Why not make London the destination of either the one-way award or the Oneworld award and pay for cheap return flight to Dublin?

Or if you plan it right it costs the same number of FF points to get to London, Barcelona or Glasgow. Perhaps you can go to Barcelona first on FF points and then Dublin and Glasgow on paid airfares.

Ryanair is a possibility for a cheap flight London-Dublin although I would avoid them. Also BA is not very expensive when flying intra-Europe especially if you can get a flight from Gatwick instead of Heathrow.

 

[moa999]

Note that Dublin is probably the LCC capital of Europe with ryanair and Aer Lingus based there (although ryanair now owns 20 something % of Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus used to be part of oneworld but dropped out and converted into an LCC

 

[serfty]

Actually, it may be better to fly to just about anywhere else in Europe other than the UK, then book a separate trip to Ireland.

The cost of a stopover in WHY in the UK can be as much as £40 currently and more next year.

 

[grussellt]

Hi

I was all set tomorrow at 10am to book a one way flight for my family (4 people) to Dublin using our points. Checking today the flight choice (for 353 days from today) is very very small with a 38 hr via Budapest the only option which costs more in points than direct to Dublin even though we don't want to go through Budapest!!!!! What's that about? Is it because it's in June next year ie peak season? Should I wait and see if more direct and cheaper (in terms of points) flights come up? Does this ever happen? Due to the fact we are very tight on points I was then going to book a one way back just from London and get from Dublin to London independantly. We are also doing side trips to Barcelona and Glasgow all paid for in cash as we don't have enough points.

I also about a RW OW only costing 140,000. After a call to qantas today however it appears Dublin is the glitch in the plan as noone from oneworld flies there and so the points would be too much to include it in the round world. We have relatives in Dublin which is the main purpose of the trip so we have to go there.


I hope it's not too late but the way to Dublin for the lowest points is via LAX and ORD (Chicago) for 64000 pts. Its odd as this is much further but includes Qantas and one partner (AA). Via London includes a trip with Aer Lingus so goes up to 74000pts.

 

[serfty]

...
I hope it's not too late but the way to Dublin for the lowest points is via LAX and ORD (Chicago) for 64000 pts. Its odd as this is much further but includes Qantas and one partner (AA). Via London includes a trip with Aer Lingus so goes up to 74000pts.
[/COLOR]

grussellt, welcome to AFF.

Fly1170 was looking for a 140,000 point QFF oneworld award. Unfortunately, now that Aer Lingus is no longer a oneworld carrier, that award cannot be used with them.

Fly1170 would be better off by flying to Europe (not UK) and purchasing a separate cheapy to Ireland.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

grussellt, welcome to AFF.

Fly1170 was looking for a 140,000 point QFF oneworld award. Unfortunately, now that Aer Lingus is no longer a oneworld carrier, that award cannot be used with them.

Fly1170 would be better off by flying to Europe (not UK) and purchasing a separate cheapy to Ireland.

Grussellt - that was a really good suggestion - and one that was outside the box at least for my initial thinking! Fly1170 was asking for the cheapest way (the potential for a RTW was only part of the question). But the main issue is the flight timings. The earliest arrival in ORD ex Australia and connecting in LAX is something like 1835, and the connnection to DUB would be at 1850 - so not possible. And being more than 24 hours (if you decided to stopover) it pushes the points up.

 

[grussellt]

Depending on availability the following itinerary works for me;

SYD-LAX QF107, LAX-ORD AA1372, ORD-DUB AA92 . There is about 4 hours in LAX and almost 3 hours in ORD. it's a long total flight but it avoids Heathrow and the taxes are lower (about $150pp). The LCC flights out of Ireland are plentiful but a 23kg suitcase certainly increases the price.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Depending on availability the following itinerary works for me;

SYD-LAX QF107, LAX-ORD AA1372, ORD-DUB AA92 . There is about 4 hours in LAX and almost 3 hours in ORD. it's a long total flight but it avoids Heathrow and the taxes are lower (about $150pp). The LCC flights out of Ireland are plentiful but a 23kg suitcase certainly increases the price.

Yes you are right. There are two flights connecting with the QF107 that will allow you to catch the AA flight to DUB ex ORD.

I don't why I didn't find these origially while writing my post above (might have been the dates I plugged in?).

 

[grussellt]

Yes you are right. There are two flights connecting with the QF107 that will allow you to catch the AA flight to DUB ex ORD.

I don't why I didn't find these origially while writing my post above (might have been the dates I plugged in?).

Yes you can also use AA54. It seems that the booking engine doesn't help you if there is a direct flight on another (non-partner carrier). I found this route by finding the carriers that fly into Dublin and then worked backwards to Sydney. I plan to make a booking next month.

 

[grussellt]

Yes you can also use AA54. It seems that the booking engine doesn't help you if there is a direct flight on another (non-partner carrier). I found this route by finding the carriers that fly into Dublin and then worked backwards to Sydney. I plan to make a booking next month.

My booking has now been made so I have a SYD-LAX-ORD-DUB for August 2010. By joining AA Advantage (no charge) I was able to do seat allocation and provide passenger information. Very efficient administration so I hope the flights are up to scratch!

 

[DTM1]

My booking has now been made so I have a SYD-LAX-ORD-DUB for August 2010. By joining AA Advantage (no charge) I was able to do seat allocation and provide passenger information. Very efficient administration so I hope the flights are up to scratch!

And if you're happy to spend the money on it, you should enrol for a platinum challenge.

 

[Flashback]

And if you're happy to spend the money on it, you should enrol for a platinum challenge.

Assuming the AA flight numbers were booked ......

 

[grussellt]

Remember this is a freebie using QF points (64000).