Direct pricey flight or cheaper connection flight?

[Velvetwater]

 

Hi

 

Looked at Asian cruise for this summer (I have to cruise/holiday in summer due to my job) and found a steal. Flights are more complicated and both are economy with similar time frames:

 

Manchester UK to Hong Kong direct is £865  Cathay Pacific

 

Manchester UK to  Hong Kong via Helsinki (Finland) for £569 Finn Air

 

London airports are not an option for us for various reasons.Now I know the obvious answer is to go cheap for most but I really get quite scared with flying but I do have experience of flying long haul and taking connecting flights in the past. Also have positive experiences with European airlines and Asian ones.

 

I'm tempted to book the expensive one as it's one flight each way (I am particularly nervous at start and end of flights) but I would save so much money to the point I'm wondering what to do and which airline might be best.

 

Any opinions from similar nervous flyers or cruisers with a lot of experience of these routes/airlines appreciated. 🙂 

[hallasm]

£300 is also a sort of money. Helsinki is a small and convenient  airport - will make transfer easy and Finnsir a reliable airline. Do not change the fact that you’ll have two more starts and landings. I would personally go for the Finnsir offer.

Finnsir is also part of Oneworld Alliance with BA.

[fbgd]

13 minutes ago, Velvetwater said:

Now I know the obvious answer is to go cheap 

 

It is? Price isn’t the only factor and in fact is pretty far down my list of criteria when booking a flight.

 

Nobody can really tell you what’s best for you. Everyone has their price and you’ve got decide where you fit on that spectrum.

[LHT28]

Personally I would take a non stop any day

YMMV

[Velvetwater]

Thanks for the replies...forgot to say my husband will be joining me so its 2x the flight prices.

 

Also..the cruise is only £680pp with a drinks package so tempted to splurge with the flights.

[Alaskanb]

I much prefer direct flights , as well as arriving a day or two early, when going on a cruise. So my choice would be the direct flight unless you want to explore Helsinki and can arrange for a no-cost stop over. I also would look at reviews of both airlines -- I'm not seeing much difference. 

My idea of a splurge is to save points and travel in business class on overnight flights. . 

[CruiserBruce]

There would have to be a really good reason to not take a non-stop flight, particularly of that distance.

[Zach1213]

2 hours ago, Alaskanb said:

I also would look at reviews of both airlines -- I'm not seeing much difference. 

My idea of a splurge is to save points and travel in business class on overnight flights. . 

 

I fly Cathay long haul several times each year, and Finnair long haul about every 18 months. Cathay is better in almost every way. 

[Flymia]

Cathay is known as a better airline for service. 

 

But $300 x2 is a nice chunk of money. Assuming that both flights would arrive with the right buffer, then I would take saving the money. 

 

It is all about how much $600+ means to you. Non-stop is always easier. But what does $600 mean to you? 

[Globaliser]

On 2/3/2019 at 4:33 PM, Velvetwater said:

Manchester UK to Hong Kong direct is £865  Cathay Pacific

 

Have you tried (physically or metaphorically) traipsing around the travel agents in Chinatown to see whether someone can do the Cathay non-stop for less than that? Historically, Cathay's distribution has been rather less than transparent, which in practice has translated to lower fares for Cathay flights being available through TAs more often than for other airlines. However, more recently I've seen signs of Cathay being rather more transparent in the London market, perhaps reflecting the extent of online buying here, so the same may now apply to Manchester as well.

[Velvetwater]

9 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

Have you tried (physically or metaphorically) traipsing around the travel agents in Chinatown to see whether someone can do the Cathay non-stop for less than that? Historically, Cathay's distribution has been rather less than transparent, which in practice has translated to lower fares for Cathay flights being available through TAs more often than for other airlines. However, more recently I've seen signs of Cathay being rather more transparent in the London market, perhaps reflecting the extent of online buying here, so the same may now apply to Manchester as well.

 

I don't really live near London and my closest Chinatown equivalent is Birmingham which does not have any travel agents due to it's small size...does have amazing Dim Sum though. Unfortunately we are quite used to paying high airfares due to having to fly in peak holiday times.

 

Thanks for everyone's input. I guess the longer I leave it the more the fares will go up.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Velvetwater

[Zach1213]

57 minutes ago, Velvetwater said:

 

I don't really live near London and my closest Chinatown equivalent is Birmingham which does not have any travel agents due to it's small size...does have amazing Dim Sum though. Unfortunately we are quite used to paying high airfares due to having to fly in peak holiday times.

 

Thanks for everyone's input. I guess the longer I leave it the more the fares will go up.

 

Oh I guarantee Birmingham has a Chinese travel agent of some sort, whether it be in Chinatown or not. Actually, I think I found one in Chinatown based on a Google Maps search - just head to Google Maps, look up Chinatown Birmingham, and then within that area search for "travel agent". At least one comes up with decent ratings. Might also be worth talking to a Punjabi travel agent, being in Birmingham, as they may have decent deals as well. Remind them that Turkmenistan Airlines is now getting banned in the UK so they could use your business even if it's not in the Punjabi market 😉

[Globaliser]

3 hours ago, Velvetwater said:

I don't really live near London and my closest Chinatown equivalent is Birmingham ...

 

I was primarily thinking of Chinatown in Manchester. But when I said "metaphorically", I meant doing it by phone or online searching anyway if you can't physically get to any Chinatown.

 

3 hours ago, Velvetwater said:

Unfortunately we are quite used to paying high airfares due to having to fly in peak holiday times.

 

Do you have any yardsticks by which to judge the price of a mid-summer Manchester-Hong Kong non-stop round-trip? Even now, London-Hong Kong non-stop round-trips may be had for something like £650 on some days in August 2019. And if you're near Birmingham, travelling to London may be worthwhile if you can get a fare like that; the distance from Birmingham to Manchester is not that different from the distance from Birmingham to Heathrow.

[kerryincork]

I pay more for convinence personally

[CruisingAlong4Now]

I would try for a non-stop if possible.

[waterbug123]

I'm not a nervous flyer and in general, have no issue with including connections.  But for me personally, given the length of the flight and the prices you mentioned, I'd probably suck it up and pay the price for the nonstop.

[Velvetwater]

21 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

I was primarily thinking of Chinatown in Manchester. But when I said "metaphorically", I meant doing it by phone or online searching anyway if you can't physically get to any Chinatown.

 

 

Do you have any yardsticks by which to judge the price of a mid-summer Manchester-Hong Kong non-stop round-trip? Even now, London-Hong Kong non-stop round-trips may be had for something like £650 on some days in August 2019. And if you're near Birmingham, travelling to London may be worthwhile if you can get a fare like that; the distance from Birmingham to Manchester is not that different from the distance from Birmingham to Heathrow.

 

Thanks for the advice

 

We commonly seem to find long haul flights (open jaw or otherwise) at a certain price point in general so I often have a vague idea of prices because of my chosen airport. As I said before, London airports are really not an option. We did try various independent online sources to the point I was using an app to translate from Cantonese and found similar prices.

 

In my days of enjoying Brum's Chinatown I could have sworn I did not see a Chinese TA, there used to be a general independent one on Hurst Street but it seemed general rather than Asian? I am there within the fortnight so I could always detour to check or google it before I go. I suppose in this day and age of internet booking I probably do not register travel agents.

 

My husband (also nervous flyer) has certainly hinted he would prefer non-stop so I guess that's the way we will go if the holiday is a gogo.

 

Thanks for the advice all.

 

 

 

 

 

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, Velvetwater said:

As I said before, London airports are really not an option.

 

I'm not sure why, given where you are? Getting to Manchester must be almost as much of a pain. And the closest airport to you is Heathrow, anyway, which is the London airport from which the vast majority of flights to Hong Kong depart.

[Velvetwater]

1 hour ago, Globaliser said:

 

I'm not sure why, given where you are? Getting to Manchester must be almost as much of a pain. And the closest airport to you is Heathrow, anyway, which is the London airport from which the vast majority of flights to Hong Kong depart.

 

It's quite a personal reason which is why I have not discussed it on this thread.

 

Also when we use the rather reliable National Express airport coaches  there is maybe an hours difference time wise (longer to Manchester) and a very similar cost.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Velvetwater

[Globaliser]

9 hours ago, Velvetwater said:

It's quite a personal reason which is why I have not discussed it on this thread.

 

I'm not going to pry, then, but this could be the thing that's preventing you from getting a non-stop flight from London for little more than the cost of the connecting itinerary from Manchester.

[SelectSys]

I see talk of looking for a Birmingham travel agent, but I am curious why you don't just fly from Birmingham?  I see round-trip  flights in August for 650 GBP on SWISS and Lufthansa. 

 

While I generally like to avoid connections,  the convenience of flying from your local airport is worth something as well - especially if the price and connections are good.  

 

I like the SWISS flight the best as Zurich is a simple airport with respect to connections.  Other options exist as well if you want a ME3 carrier like Qatar or Emirates.

Edited February 8, 2019 by SelectSys

[Velvetwater]

I guess you are right with the fact that if I choose to switch to 1 stop Birmingham has options. I suppose I always see BHX as always having to do connections due to its small size. I quite like it as an airport though obviously and have done small european flights from there and one to NJ in the US.

 

I'm seeing 1 stop flights for 806 for my time for the route.

Edited February 9, 2019 by Velvetwater