Using point / pay options?

[Quando Quando]

Hi I have 245,000 QFF points and we are planning to travel to Athens around 15/8/10 for a few months. I intended on using FF points but have left it a bit late

So I have come up with an alternative (Im on a very tight budget)

Book the following...

2x QFF retunr flights from Melbourne to Singapore = 120,000 points

2x Qatar return flights from Singapore to Athens = $2,291 (online booking)

Questions:

1) How risky is a booking of this type.. what if the Qantas flight is delayed into Singapore outbound..:!: or the Qatar flight is late inbound :!:, how much time should I allow to collect bags, check in etc etc..

2) Am I allowed to pay for a flight not originating from Australia in this manner... How do I get the tickets, currency fees? Should I use an agent or just expedia.com.au for example?

2) Stuff it and pay for a return flight (Qatar $4,200) and pay the $1,900 premium.

Cheers, Quando....

 

[JohnK]

1) How risky is a booking of this type.. what if the Qantas flight is delayed into Singapore outbound..:!: or the Qatar flight is late inbound :!:, how much time should I allow to collect bags, check in etc etc..

There is always some element of risk involved booking seperate tickets but generally around 3 hours connection should be sufficient.

From memory QF009 arrives into SIN around 9:30pm-10:30pm and the Qatar flight SIN-DOH-ATH departs at 02:25am so should be sufficient connection time.

If you present both itineraries at MEL check-in QF may check your bags all the way through to ATH otherwise Qatar check-in counters will more than likely open around 11:30pm in SIN which gives you plenty of time to clear immigration, collect luggage and check-in for SIN-DOH-ATH flights.

2) Am I allowed to pay for a flight not originating from Australia in this manner... How do I get the tickets, currency fees? Should I use an agent or just expedia.com.au for example?

No problem about paying in Australia for a flight originating in Singapore.

There are a few alternatives. Check on websites such as Expedia and Zuji and even check the Qatar website. With websites such as Expedia sometimes using the international version of the website (Expedia.com) can give better prices than the Australian version of the website.

2) Stuff it and pay for a return flight (Qatar $4,200) and pay the $1,900 premium.

I would not worry about this option.

 

[futaris]

If you were flying from SYD, I would consider transiting in CGK (Jakarta).

Qatar Airways Indonesia| World's 5-star airline

CGK-DOH-ATH is 994 USD per person
SIN-DOH-ATH is 1309 SGD per person

So they're about the same cost, but SYD-CGK is only 25k QFF points.

NB, you will be able to credit the Qatar flights to BMI Diamond Club, United Mileage Plus, US Airways, LH M&M or ANA.

The risk in two tickets makes it difficult, in the case of irregular operations. e.g. If you are stuck in Europe because of the volcano you will have to deal with two airlines, etc...

 

[Quando Quando]

Great advice thanks.,

Flying from MEL so FF point required are 30,000 x 4 = 120,000 so the same as Singapore. So may as well stick with flying into Singapore.

Are there any other issues I should consider,,, for ex will my travel insurance cover the SNG-ATH flight?

I will check but please let me know your thoughts...

 

[futaris]

Turkish is also cheap from BKK, and is a *A member.
Etihad is another option, via SIN or BKK.
Emirates is cheap from HKG.
Qatar also flies from HKG.

If you don't want two connecting tickets, sometimes the middle eastern airlines sell one way tickets for around 60% of the return cost. Do some research as to which works best for you. e.g. MEL-BKK-ATH on Thai is around 1280 AUD oneway. ATH-DOH-MEL is only circa 980 AUD oneway on Qatar.

It all depends on your dates, and QFF availability.

 

[JohnK]

If you don't want two connecting tickets, sometimes the middle eastern airlines sell one way tickets for around 60% of the return cost. Do some research as to which works best for you. e.g. MEL-BKK-ATH on Thai is around 1280 AUD oneway. ATH-DOH-MEL is only circa 980 AUD oneway on Qatar.

As mentioned in the OP the return on Qatar is AUD4,200 for 2 people.

I think the OP is trying to minimise the cash outlay (using QFF points) and 2 one-way tickets are definitely much more expensive.

 

[JohnK]

Are there any other issues I should consider,,, for ex will my travel insurance cover the SNG-ATH flight?

Read your travel insurance policy carefully on what is covered.

I have been looking at travel insurance for my mother's upcoming trip and most travel insurance policies (unless I have read it wrong) will cover you until you get to your final destination.

 

[dajop]

If you were flying from SYD, I would consider transiting in CGK (Jakarta).

I would NOT consider doing this. Whilst it can be done (I've now down two airside transits at CGK one QF->SQ the other Jetstar->QF) the process is all a bit perplexing (take a deep breath and hope for the best whilst they run off with your BP & passport). But the main reason is that if things go pear shaped there is more chance of a recovery in SIN. QF have 45 flights a week between Australia and SIN, but only 5 between Australia and CGK. Unless significant cost advantage, I'd be sticking to SIN.

 

[futaris]

Prices below per person:
MEL-SIN-MEL is 60k QFF + 210 AUD taxes (QFF classic award)
SIN-DOH-ATH-DOH-SIN is 1309 SGD per person (~1050 AUD)
Total = 60k QFF + 1360 AUD

MEL-SIN-FRA on QF is 64k QFF + 194 AUD taxes (QFF classic award)
ATH-DOH-MEL is 980 AUD.
Total = 64k QFF + 1174 AUD

MEL/SYD-SIN/BKK-LHR-ATH on BA is 75k QFF + 240 AUD taxes (QFF classic award)
ATH-DOH-MEL is 980 AUD.
Total = 75k QFF + 1220 AUD

Depends on the hassle of transiting LHR, the hassle of separate tickets and the availability of QFF awards.

 

[JohnK]

Well done futaris on coming up with some nice alternatives.

Just to nit pick slightly option 1 I believe should be $1260 cash component (not $1360) and option 2 requires a flight FRA-ATH which is not included in the cost and now makes it more expensive than the other 2 options.

Still options 2 & 3 require more QFF points and one needs to backtrack from LHR/FRA-ATH biut provides protection against misconnects.

Which is more important?

 

[Quando Quando]

awesome advice, this is what I have come up with so far.

My preference is to use my points to get into SE Asia and then get a cheap return flight to Athens.

Id also prefer to use the 120,000 points to travel MEL-BKK as this is a direct flight as opposed to SGP and HKG. Unfortunately I cant seem to find a cheap flight to Athens from this location.... Any suggestions here are very welcome

From SGP I have found an Athens return flight with Emirates for SG$2150 (AU$1750) but with a massive 12 hour stopover in Dubai (both ways).... The T&C states they offer accomodation and meals for inbound flight stopovers of > 8hrs ... is this practical????

With this option the route looks like

(MEL-[PER or SYD or ADL]-SGP) & (DUB-ATH)

All for AU$1750(Emirates) + $440 QFF Taxes..... for 2 ppl.

Im also finding the travel agency websites are 10-20% more expensive as opposed to booking direct with the airlines websites....:shock:

 

[dajop]

Id also prefer to use the 120,000 points to travel MEL-BKK as this is a direct flight as opposed to SGP and HKG.

Just a word of warning re direct flights MEL-BKK, this on Jetstar International (only QF flight to BKK is via SYD). For the same 120,000 pts you will not get any food or beverages, no in flight entertainment, nor blankets/pilloews - these all cost extra on Jetstar, but are obviously included in Qantas flights.

For travel ex-SIN www.airfares.com.sg is always something worth checking against, tend to close to airline offer in prices, and sometimes better. On some fares can waitlist through them as well.

 

[futaris]

Id also prefer to use the 120,000 points to travel MEL-BKK as this is a direct flight as opposed to SGP and HKG. Unfortunately I cant seem to find a cheap flight to Athens from this location.... Any suggestions here are very welcome

As mentioned above MEL-BKK is on Jetstar. Try Gulf Air or Qatar from BKK if you want to transit there. Royal Jordanian is ok on price too, if you want to stick to Oneworld, and earn status credits or have QFF status. Prices are $1300-$1500 pp return.

I've just used bestflights.com.au to do the research. Book on the airlines websites directly.

Only HKG and SIN are direct flights on QF from MEL.

 

[futaris]

From SGP I have found an Athens return flight with Emirates for SG$2150 (AU$1750) but with a massive 12 hour stopover in Dubai (both ways).... The T&C states they offer accomodation and meals for inbound flight stopovers of > 8hrs ... is this practical????

Be careful that you're on the direct SIN-DXB flight. The earlier one stops.

Do you really want to fly: MEL-PER/ADL-SIN-CMB-DXB-ATH? 5 stops to Europe. 4 if you don't take the CMB stopover flight.

Through HKG, you should be able to do on Emirates:
MEL-HKG-DXB-ATH

which is 11% longer than MEL-DOH-ATH (which is exactly the same length as MEL-ATH). Cheapest cost I saw was 7320 HKD or approx 1050 AUD.

STPC is standby paid the carrier. Plenty of people do it... Best to read about it on the flyertalk forums.

 

[Quando Quando]

Only HKG and SIN are direct flights on QF from MEL.

Unfortunately all the direct QFF flights (that I can find) from MEL to HKG/SIN are via PER/SYD/BNE... that is very strange....

I would love to take the Jetstar flight out of MEL direct to BKK but I cannot find anything that beats the emirates flight SIN-DXB-ATH (with 12hr stopover) for SG$2,150 (2)

frustrating.

 

[futaris]

Closest that I can get as a lowly NB is MEL-SIN on 31 Aug 10, for 2 adults in Premium Economy. Everything else is via another city.

 

[Quando Quando]

well spotted however looks like they charge an additional 30k points and no luck in finding a direct one back.

Maybe direct flights are booked out with europeans travelling back from holidays at that time....?? (but who would travel to melb in winter?)

I will keep plugging away with the kludgy Qantas website and see what I can find.