Spoilt for choices, confusion reigns!

[Lara19]

Thanks for the add, was a member ages ago. Not even sure if I've posted this in the appropriate thread?

I/We (husband and I) are in an enviable situation. Sometimes tho', that does not makes things easier!

We have Prague for our outbound destination, Zurich for return (to Melb). The Zurich return seems pretty straightforward.

Due to an inheritance, we (think) have decided to fly Business Class.
So many choices, so many reviews, sometimes easier to look for the most suitable cattle class! Naturally, although we can afford the journey, we don't want to simply pick the most expensive, as that's not always the best.
To make matters even more confusing, he throws into the mix "why don't we go Premium Economy" instead, and splurge on hotels.
I've been also searching this option, however, not alot of airlines provide PE, at least from my findings, and some of the routes give a mixed class.
Am I better to flag this with a travel agent, I usually book everything myself, however, I'm sure the "brains trust" here can offer a/some solutions!


Many thanks in advance.

 

[RooFlyer]

This thread is fine. Welcome to AFF

Am I better to flag this with a travel agent, I usually book everything myself, however, I'm sure the "brains trust" here can offer a/some solutions!

While you'll get some well informed suggestions here, a Travel Agent can tailor to what you want much better, and with less fuss to yourself. Go to a 'bricks and mortar one, not Flight Centre. You may pay a fee, but small in the scheme of things and you will (should) get 24/7 assistance if changes are needed or forced on you.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Welcome to AFF
PRG-ZRH are not the far apart. Easy train ride.
And other airports in the area that you fly into/out with a train ride to where you want to go.

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

www.gcmap.com

Václav Havel Airport Prague - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Zurich Airport - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As this is AFF is collecting frequent flyer miles/avios/points a consideration. MEL to EU in business class can be a good earner

 

[Mwenenzi]

Welcome to AFF
PRG-ZRH are not the far apart. Easy train ride.
And other airports in the area that you fly into/out with a train ride to where you want to go.

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

www.gcmap.com

Václav Havel Airport Prague - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Zurich Airport - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As this is AFF is collecting frequent flyer miles/avios/points a consideration. MEL to EU in business class can be a good earner

 

[drron]

A warm welcome @Lara19. Singapore Airlines have PE and they do have codeshares with Lufthansa which also has PE.
SQ flies to Zurich. So you could fly to Frankfurt and could fly FRA to Praque with LH or catch a train -better scenery.

 

[drron]

A warm welcome @Lara19. Singapore Airlines have PE and they do have codeshares with Lufthansa which also has PE.
SQ flies to Zurich. So you could fly to Frankfurt and could fly FRA to Praque with LH or catch a train -better scenery.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for the add, was a member ages ago. Not even sure if I've posted this in the appropriate thread?

I/We (husband and I) are in an enviable situation. Sometimes tho', that does not makes things easier!

We have Prague for our outbound destination, Zurich for return (to Melb). The Zurich return seems pretty straightforward.

Due to an inheritance, we (think) have decided to fly Business Class.
So many choices, so many reviews, sometimes easier to look for the most suitable cattle class! Naturally, although we can afford the journey, we don't want to simply pick the most expensive, as that's not always the best.
To make matters even more confusing, he throws into the mix "why don't we go Premium Economy" instead, and splurge on hotels.
I've been also searching this option, however, not alot of airlines provide PE, at least from my findings, and some of the routes give a mixed class.
Am I better to flag this with a travel agent, I usually book everything myself, however, I'm sure the "brains trust" here can offer a/some solutions!


Many thanks in advance.

Can I suggest… 100%… you splurge business class airfare? A flat bed on the plane means you arrive refreshed, ready to start your holiday. No down time.

Premium economy is still an upright seat, and fine for the first couple of hours… but no so much after that.

As for hotels… a bed is a bed is a bed! You can get a great hotel for $200 a night, just as you can for $1000 a night. But you can’t say the same about the difference between premium economy and business class!

As for your choice or airline… get a range of prices from googleflights, which has a useful ‘anywhere’ function. You enter in your starting point and for the ‘to’ box type in ‘anywhere’. The handy function will show you a range of fares, in your chosen class. You can sometimes find really surprising deals like milan ($5700 return business class on singapore airlines and scandinavian airlines) instead of zurich ($6800 return). Prague comes in at around $5700 for a sample date in business class flying a combination of Thai and Finnair.

I don’t think there is one ‘perfect’ business class. The only real one to watch out for is Singapore airlines. While they are good, they have an unusual seat with a particularly small nook for your feet in bed mode. It’s not for everyone, so watch some videos to work out if it’s right for you.

 

[Forg]

Something else I might throw into the mix, offering even more options & maybe making it more confusing; 2nd-tier airlines can have business class fares for less than top-tier offers premium economy. My wife & I flew to London on 2018 on China Airlines (which is actually Taiwanese so not Communist Party owned/maintained like all the “mainland China” airlines) in Business for $3k/ea when for premium Cathay was about $3700 & Qantas was about $4500 and I think Singapore something in between.

The food & drink onboard will be slightly less good than a top-tier business-class meal (like a $40 cafe meal instead of a $50 cafe meal), but the seats & aircraft are no different (in our case the A350 we flew was a lot newer/quieter than the aircraft the more “premium” airlines were flying). The lounge may not serve food that’s quite as good as the 1st-tier airline in Business, but again, the comparison is like an average-quality Westfields food-court vs a good one; that difference is worth, what, $20 max and yet they’re asking $2k+ difference in fares. The in-flight entertainment won’t be as good, but then with flat-bed seats you’ll likely be sleeping anyway, and a lot of people just load-up their iPad with their own entertainment before flying anyway.

Regarding Business vs Premium Economy … if you’ve not flown business, not had the lounge experience, not had access to showers in between the long legs etc; I reckon it‘s worth paying for once. Enjoy it. And then if you’re someone who can sleep sitting-up, next time you take a trip you can save that $5k-ish between the two of you & try Premium Economy; I can’t sleep sitting-up at all though, and as I sit here typing this the concept of spending an extra $5k-ish for just a flight seems stupid, but when I’ve been awake for 30hrs and am wild-eyed just randomly stabbing people in Heathrow airport with a sharpened cardboard boarding-pass that $5k makes a LOT of sense.

 

[AIRwin]

China Airlines

In fact China Airlines flies direct from its hub to Prague

 

[tdimdad]

What Forg says about the sleeping upright vs not is an important factor. I'm cool with PE on long-haul, especially if my melatonin tablets work well. A huge step up from economy. At the same time, I have a much bigger Venn diagram overlap between the PE and business in terms of how I feel after the trip. But if travel comfort onboard is a must, then business it will be.

With the hotels, to me it's a question of how many nights are we talking of. 1-2 night in a lower end hotel works OK for me but the longer the stay, the more you might feel the difference when upgrading to a nicer accommodation.

 

[hwy]

I actually think the service, food and lounge at least in Taipei stopover on China Airlines is much better than Qantas. Planes being much newer is another bonus. Icing on the cake is that they are much cheaper as Forg pointed out. I dont have points loyalty so I just fly whoever has the best (or close to best) deal at the time.

 

[serfty]

We have Prague for our outbound destination, Zurich for return (to Melb). The Zurich return seems pretty straightforward.

If splurging, oneworld around the world fares can be of a similar cost to point to point, enabling Prague, Zurich and a dozen other places.

 

[Lara19]

What a plethora of information...many thanks to those who kindly took the time to offer suggestions.

I checked the Zurich to Prague train and it's a fairly long journey, albeit on an overnight train; 11 hrs I think! The reason for the different in and outbound is due to the fact that we are staying in Prague a few nights, down to Budapest for a few more, then taking a Scenic river cruise on the Danube back to Munich. We will then take the train from there down to Zurich to do a 15 day trip around Switzerland, returning to Zurich.

Air China...hmmm...food for thought. Thanks for clarifying it's Taiwanese, otherwise may not have been on my "check" list. And while I noted the food comparisons, I prefer comfort anytime!
Unlike hubby, who could sleep standing on his head, I can't sleep unless I'm able to lay on my side so even tho' I'd be better rested in PE, I doubt if I'd really sleep. We had a great experience flying to Hawaii on ANZ with their Skycouch option, as I could lay right down, so at least I know how that felt on arrival.

We were lucky to be able to have a lounge experience when we flew to Lisbon via LHR in 2019. TAP Executive had reciprocal access to Singapore's lounge. Yes, that shower never felt so good!

I'll do the google search options before heading to a travel agent, and then I've got a few options in my head, that they may discard or supplement.

when I’ve been awake for 30hrs and am wild-eyed just randomly stabbing people in Heathrow airport with a sharpened cardboard boarding-pass that $5k makes a LOT of sense.

Please let me know when you are next travelling as I really want to make sure I'm not in your way!

Thanks again, respect your knowledge!

 

[offshore171]

We have Prague for our outbound destination, Zurich for return (to Melb). The Zurich return seems pretty straightforward.

I would just go with Emirates

One stop both ways. Very easy to book an open jaw itinerary at no extra cost.

We do this pretty much every time to Europe, Fly in to one city, fly home from another (usually Zurich)

 

[luxury-lizard]

Personally your choice of airlines should depend on which airline alliance you already accrue points on (eg QF or VA) then chose an airline which will earn points in this one. Business vs PE is really a "value" issue - business can vary between $6000 and $12000 depending on airline / promotions - PE is usually less variable (say from $3500-$6000). As others have suggested a GOOD travel agent can assist - also consider connection times/cities - an 8 hour layover is not much fun. Another thing to watch our for is some attractive "business" class fares have one leg in Economy.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Personally your choice of airlines should depend on which airline alliance you already accrue points on (eg QF or VA) then chose an airline which will earn points in this one. Business vs PE is really a "value" issue - business can vary between $6000 and $12000 depending on airline / promotions - PE is usually less variable (say from $3500-$6000). As others have suggested a GOOD travel agent can assist - also consider connection times/cities - an 8 hour layover is not much fun. Another thing to watch our for is some attractive "business" class fares have one leg in Economy.

For me it is always

1. schedule
2. price
3. seat selection
4. x
5. w
6. z
7. freq flyer program

 

[Cynicor]

For pure seat and airline comfort, Qatar and Singapore airlines would be my pick.
Q Suites is arguably the best hard business product in the sky.
Singapore are pretty good overall.

 

[Forg]

Air China...hmmm...food for thought. Thanks for clarifying it's Taiwanese, otherwise may not have been on my "check" list.

No, China Airlines not Air China … Air China is full-on Communist Party spec, your seat-neighbour will be carrying a box full of live chickens!
I made the Air China mistake a few weeks after booking China Airlines tickets, had a mild panic when it couldn’t find my reservation before I realised I was looking at the wrong airline.

Note that China Airlines was just an example (given because we were very happy with them for the price), there are other similar ones; Vietnam Airlines for example.

 

[rbjhan]

I'm also a fan of China Airlines (NOT Air China as pointed out before), their Taipei Lounge in T1 is fantastic, T2 less so...

Flying to Europe you'll most likely have a long layover in Taipei, but not necessarily a bad thing - can even take the express train to Taipei city for a bit (highly recommend try a beef noodle soup!), AU citizens get visa on arrival.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

For pure seat and airline comfort, Qatar and Singapore airlines would be my pick.
Q Suites is arguably the best hard business product in the sky.
Singapore are pretty good overall.

You see this is the ‘thing’. A couple of my recent legs on Singapore airlines has a retractable seat belt in bed mode. Extremely uncomfortable, and annoying. I like to be able to move around when I’m sleeping. And while we had bulkheads on 3 of our 4 legs, the one where we didn’t was a marked step down in comfort… in fact almost impossible to get comfortable when contorted on a weird angle to try and get your feet in the tiny and ‘very’ off-centre foot nook.

Yes the service is amazing, The food is only ‘so so’ these days in business class. But i certainly wouldn’t be flying them for the bed. Unless I can score the bulkheads!

I’d rather take a small downgrade in service to get a really good sleep. China Airlines is a good example of that compromise.

Emirates is a great product too, but the 777s hare still not full flat, and have middle seats!