Melbourne to coughet??

[bean]

Hi guys, really need some help as Im goign crazy!!

Trying to book a flight to coughet July next year, ideally business class and I just cant work out what to do. Im a Velocity member with 300,000 points and would prefer to fly Virgin but as they only operate 737s there they are ruled out. Jetstar are ruled out due to a history of poor reliability and a business class which isnt. Which leaves the following options:

Singapore Airlines/Emirates: Dont really want to pay a $4.5k business class for a 3.5 year old so would most likely be economy, both fly via Singapore

Garuda: Business class is reasonable at around $2.5k, but its via Bali and then KL so a bit of stuffing around.

Thai which would be via Bangkok and costs $300 more per ticket that SIA or Emirates!


Thoughts? Also very frustrated with Virgin as it will be another $6-7k in airfares that will end up going to a rival because they dont offer an adequate service!! Who in the hell wants to fly in a 737??? Crazy....And to top it off their airfares through SIA are double what you can get direct from SIA

Anyway, hints, tips or suggestions? Will be travelling with a 3.5 year old and the wifey..

 

[dalereardon]

Emirates flies to KUL and then you can get a cheap short flight with MH over to coughet.

Last time to get a brilliant product we flew Dragon Air to HKG and then back to MEL with CX. We did take a holiday in HKG on the way though otherwise it is a lot of extra flying.

We are going to do Emirates via KUL next time.

Dale.

 

[bean]

Emirates flies to KUL and then you can get a cheap short flight with MH over to coughet.

Last time to get a brilliant product we flew Dragon Air to HKG and then back to MEL with CX. We did take a holiday in HKG on the way though otherwise it is a lot of extra flying.

We are going to do Emirates via KUL next time.

Dale.

thanks Dale, so you woudl rate Emirates over SIA? They are the same price

 

[dalereardon]

I have only travelled EK First class and not business sorry so can't personally compare to CX business. Plenty of others will be able to give personal experience of EK business class.

EK First class was amazing though!

Dale.

 

[bean]

I have only travelled EK First class and not business sorry so can't personally compare to CX business. Plenty of others will be able to give personal experience of EK business class.

EK First class was amazing though!

Dale.

lol dont think I'll be springing for first class for the little fella just yet

 

[markis10]

Hi guys, really need some help as Im goign crazy!!

Trying to book a flight to coughet July next year, ideally business class and I just cant work out what to do. Im a Velocity member with 300,000 points and would prefer to fly Virgin but as they only operate 737s there they are ruled out. Jetstar are ruled out due to a history of poor reliability and a business class which isnt. Which leaves the following options:

Singapore Airlines/Emirates: Dont really want to pay a $4.5k business class for a 3.5 year old so would most likely be economy, both fly via Singapore

Garuda: Business class is reasonable at around $2.5k, but its via Bali and then KL so a bit of stuffing around.

Thai which would be via Bangkok and costs $300 more per ticket that SIA or Emirates!


Thoughts? Also very frustrated with Virgin as it will be another $6-7k in airfares that will end up going to a rival because they dont offer an adequate service!! Who in the hell wants to fly in a 737??? Crazy....And to top it off their airfares through SIA are double what you can get direct from SIA

Anyway, hints, tips or suggestions? Will be travelling with a 3.5 year old and the wifey..

Go have a look at the Frugal Flying article in the knowledge centre, specifically the Avianca Life Miles section Thai should be well under 2K using that

 

[smit0847]

I would either convert your VFF points to Krisflyer miles and redeem for SQ J (I’m pretty sure SilkAir flies to coughet) or else investigate Lifemiles and go on TG/SQ J. I’ve done this exact second option and was very happy (and comfortable!).

 

[bean]

I would either convert your VFF points to Krisflyer miles and redeem for SQ J (I’m pretty sure SilkAir flies to coughet) or else investigate Lifemiles and go on TG/SQ J. I’ve done this exact second option and was very happy (and comfortable!).

Thanks for the suggestions guys!! Sorry to be a pain-Im looking at the Thai website but cant work out how/where it tells me how many points I need?

 

[smit0847]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!! Sorry to be a pain-Im looking at the Thai website but cant work out how/where it tells me how many points I need?

Have a careful read through this - LifeMiles 100% Bonus On Purchased Miles Through September 30, 2014 - One Mile at a Time

If you do a points + pay it'll be about $1750 AU pp return in TG J including all fees and taxes.

If that's too much I would seriously consider JQ - they fly direct from memory and it should be well under $1000 pp. As much as you may enjoy flying a 3.5 year old won't and would probably prefer a direct flight.

 

[bean]

Have a careful read through this - LifeMiles 100% Bonus On Purchased Miles Through September 30, 2014 - One Mile at a Time

If you do a points + pay it'll be about $1750 AU pp return in TG J including all fees and taxes.

If that's too much I would seriously consider JQ - they fly direct from memory and it should be well under $1000 pp. As much as you may enjoy flying a 3.5 year old won't and would probably prefer a direct flight.

Hmmm looking at their site and there is nothign available business class is it hard to redeem with these points normally?

 

[smit0847]

Hmmm looking at their site and there is nothign available business class is it hard to redeem with these points normally?

Which site? Lifemiles? TG will usually only release 2 seats at a time (I'm guessing you're searching for 3 at once?). When those two seats are booked they usually release 2 more.

TG has some of the best J availability of any airline in the world - I've never had an issue booking 6 - 9 months out.

How about using your VFF points one way and buying lifemiles the other? That might be a cost effective way of going in J both ways and it'll give you some flexibility if there's availability issues. I think you'll need *about* 250k VFF points for 3 people one-way?

 

[bean]

Which site? Lifemiles? TG will usually only release 2 seats at a time (I'm guessing you're searching for 3 at once?). When those two seats are booked they usually release 2 more.

TG has some of the best J availability of any airline in the world - I've never had an issue booking 6 - 9 months out.

How about using your VFF points one way and buying lifemiles the other? That might be a cost effective way of going in J both ways. I think you'll need *about* 250k VFF points for 3 people one-way?

Ahhh yes that was the problem-I was looking for 3 You are a champion!

O.K, so 2 business class fares will cost 160,000 miles = ($33USD per 1,000miles = $5,280 USD = $6K AUD??

What am I doing wrong?

 

[dalereardon]

Life Miles are on sale presently but you needed to have a LifeMiles account open prior to the sale to be eligible. This halves the cost.

Dale.

 

[bean]

Life Miles are on sale presently but you needed to have a LifeMiles account open prior to the sale to be eligible. This halves the cost.

Dale.

ohhhh dam

 

[JohnK]

ohhhh dam

Oh the ups and downs.

Your 300,000 Velocity points will convert to ~222,222 KrisFlyer miles.

A return in business saver per person is 93,500 KrisFlyer miles + ~$600 in taxes which is steep. You don't quite have enough miles so will need a top up from say Amex Membership Rewards. Economy is half the points cost but almost the same taxes and surcharges which is not really worthwhile.