Looking at heading to Australia in July for 2 weeks, unfortunately due to work commitments got quite specific dates that I have to go on.

Has anyone got any experience on where to get the cheapest flights? Internet searches at the moment are returning flights at around the £1k mark.

Have a look at Finnair. They code share with BA, and fly via Helsinki which makes it longer. However, they’re pretty damned cheap most of the time!

cheapest flights I found – STA Travel, may be worth going in store if there is one near you to better customize your flights and price.

The further away you book it, the cheaper it becomes (Obvious, but price quickly ramps up going that far)

For comparison, looking to go February next year, were were quoted £980 per person for these flights:

England -> Auckland, NZ
Auckland NZ -> Christchurch NZ
Christchurch NZ -> Melbourne, AU
Melbourne, AU -> England

Good deal, but remember it was a year in advanced!

We are flying to Perth WA on good Friday with Qatar airways. Was pretty reasonable.

It’s worth going direct to the airline though not through the travel agents.

We spent ages looking for our flights and used all sorts of offer codes but there was little difference in price only in carrier and route.

http://www.kayak.co.uk if you haven’t already.

If you manage to grab a sub £900 deal with one stop-over you`ve got as good as it gets….

ALL flight prices have escalated significantly in the last 9 months or so.

Book early as poss or quidco?

I thought it would be cheaper due to winter in July.

Did the £1k include all taxes?

Trailfinders were the cheapest when we went in July a few years ago.
Just don’t go via Dubai. The 15hr leg Dubai to Sydney is hell in cattle class.

Try http://www.skyscanner.net/

Not really any cheap flights any more – taxes are pretty heinous. And Takisawa2 has it – that leg from Dubai to Au is about 2 hours too long to bear, esp in economy.

On a related subject, I have to go to Oz too, with a bike.
Which airline has the biggest baggage allowance? I’ve found 30kg with Emirates. BA is 23kg, with another bag for £77 but that doesn’t increase the total weight.
Do any of them let you pay a sensible sum for another bag of a decent weight? Don’t fancy $100/kg excess baggage charges!
For the OP, look at fly-drive packages, some bargains there. And you don’t actually have to use the car if you don’t want to (See Travel section of this week’s Sunday Times)

AirAsia and China Southern and Vietnamese Airlines are all good cheapie options. But they all come up through Kayak anyway.

A grand is about ball park these days especially if your specific with dates.

For luggage try Virgin (partner with Ethiad) I think they were 40kg ish failing that air freight the bike etc. probably 400 return for the bike but you could save that being flexible with airlines.

Where are you heading to Andrew?

Heading to Canberra for 24Hr World Champs, so have to be specific with dates. Hopefully got somewhere in the city I can hire a bike from so will only need to take one of my own, would much rather take two but that’s really not going to be possible. Just amazed how much stuff one takes to a 24hr!
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Just had a quick google of Virgin (actually typing virigin into google throws up some, err, interesting results) Anyway they carry sports equipment and say
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“If you’re planning a cycling trip and only your own ride will do, you’ll be glad to know you can bring your bicycle with you at no extra charge – as long as it doesn’t weigh more than 23kg.
That’s in addition to your free baggage allowance.”
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Looks good. £1,076 return. And top marks to Virgin for including all the surcharges in the advertised price!
Had a look at the general baggage policy, 23kg limit, can be upped to 32Kg for £30 each way. So I’m thinking one bike in a case as sports equipment, another in a 32kg case with my other bits. Extra 23kg bag for £32 each way, so looking at £1,200 to get me, luggage and two bikes there and back. Not a bargain, but not as bad as expected… Might ring them tomorrow and check my plan will work! Makes sense in my head, if not above. You are an genius Mike.
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For the OP (sorry for the thread hijack!), I went a few years ago, cheapest then was Air China, but luggage allowance put me off and went for Emirates, would strongly recomend them, excellent service. Are you taking your bike(s)?

No worries enjoy stromlo is awesome and fairly uk like in terms of trails.

I’m lucky enough to have been to Stromlo back in 2010 (a “once-in-lifetime” trip I thought)
Can’t wait to go back!

virgin australia are complete nobs with bikes.

We just did Ethiad through flight centre. Think we paid about 850ish. their allowance was 30kg. Never took my bike but wish I had! And that 2nd leg Abu Dhabi to Sydney was hell! First flight delayed so missed 2nd, ended up in hotel for night.

Virgin international legs are Ethiad (I think..) TBH there isn’t anywhere half way so one of the legs is hell whatever. The UK to SE Asia is tough but so is the Middle east to Oz. If you are entering the country at your final point of entry then look for the early morning flights (clear immigration much faster) if not do the stopover time in a 24/7 airport like Dubai.

Check the lay over times on arrival too as some will leave far more than is required but will guarantee connections. Melbourne shouldn’t take more than 2hrs from landing to check in for domestic etc.

Also domestic luggage on Virgin & Jetstar is sensibly priced per trip so you can get loads on internals. Could be worth looking for a bargain into Melb/Sydney/Brisbane then connecting internally.

Flown a couple of times back and forth with Singapore. Not cheap but very good. Better imho than Emirates who everyone seems to rave about.

My folks flew with Qatar and said they were fine. My wife’s folks flew with Cathay who were about the cheapest. Air Asia is meant to be very cheap but you pay a lot for the extras. Singas was all included meals, free booze etc.