Any Cheap Options to Australia and New Zealand?
The period from Christmas to Easter is the peak season for flights to Australasia and, if you want a choice of airlines and fares, it is sensible to look now before prices get too high.
The main routes are those operated by BA and Qantas via the Far East (and many of their fares come with the useful add-on of some domestic travel), Singapore Airlines, Malaysia, Thai and Cathay via their respective Asian hubs and, of course, the Gulf carriers. Air New Zealand flies both via Los Angeles and Hong Kong, meaning you can take a mini-round-the-world trip if you wish. BA and Qantas also offer this option but we notice that US airlines, which, at various times, have pushed themselves as alternative carriers to Australasia, do not appear to be doing so at the moment… though, of course, this can change at the drop of a hat.
Unfortunately, all the standard options are rather pricey. Airlines seem to take it in turn to run promotions, so one month you will see BA and Qantas looking competitive and then, a few weeks later, Singapore Airlines and Emirates will announce some special deals. If you have time to plan, it can pay to simply wait until your choice of airline has a promotion.
We have been looking at some of the cheaper alternatives to see whether any can be recommended. Most of the following offer deals in both Economy and Business Class. Again, it is unlikely that they will all be offering special fares at the same time but, over a period of a few months, we would expect most of the following to be offering some form of deal.
China Airlines: The Taiwanese airline is well-known for its bad safety record, but it will argue that that is all in the past and the current airline is much more safety conscious than before. We are never entirely convinced by this argument because it can take a whole generation for safety attitudes to change, especially since a main cause of the problem was retired air force pilots who had not learnt the different disciplines required for civil flying, and most of these pilots remain in the airline. Nonetheless, the airline’s record has improved markedly. The airline recently launched a non-stop flight from Heathrow to Taipei which connects with flights to Australia. We imagine it has a struggle to fill seats just to Taipei, which may explain why it has been offering some of the lowest fares to Australia. Around £700 in Economy and £1,500 in Business (for companion tickets with two travelling together) is very good value, especially in Business.
We always say that an airline’s website is its shop-window and that a poor site suggests a poorly organised airline. On this basis, you would not rush to book. The site is terrible and, even if you go to the special UK site, you will struggle to get any information on fares and timetables since the pages are all designed for the US market.
The reports we have regarding on-board service are more positive. Economy is reasonably satisfactory, for the price, and Business tends to be old-fashioned, with limited video and other gadgets, but is quite...read the rest of this article by signing-up for a free trial issue of Inside Traveller - Save 50% by ordering now! SUBSCRIBE NOW! CHOOSE ONE PAYMENT OPTION AND SAVE £48.50! |
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