Now for something completely different

[Aus Traveller]

7 minutes ago, Snoopkat said:

Sydney to Brisbane return on Virgin Australia (forgot about Virgin Atlantic so I can see the confusion there!)

I thought the prices you quoted ($1,800 with a special deal of $600) were too much for a Sydney-B'ne flight, even if it is return.😁

[Snoopkat]

Yes I was very shocked to see that $1,800 price tag from Qantas. I understand that they have 2 years of lost revenue to try and make up for but it still feels like price gouging to me. 

[NSWP]

11 minutes ago, Snoopkat said:

Yes I was very shocked to see that $1,800 price tag from Qantas. I understand that they have 2 years of lost revenue to try and make up for but it still feels like price gouging to me. 

Qantas have always been expensive, when we did our last trip to UK/Europe in mid 2018, they wanted $9000 each, yep $18,000 for two for a business class return airfare. So we got on board Cathay Pacific - business class return for $11,000 for two, spethial double family deal Sydney to London Heathrow.

Edited May 24, 2022 by NSWP

[MMDown Under]

i just booked a direct flight to hobart from gc in feb for $99 bargain  Now I just have to find flight home!!

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

Qantas have always been expensive, when we did our last trip to UK/Europe in mid 2018, they wanted $9000 each, yep $18,000 for two for a business class return airfare. So we got on board Cathay Pacific - business class return for $11,000 for two, spethial double family deal Sydney to London Heathrow.

When we booked flights to Europe for what we hoped would be an amazin Western Europe cruise in 2020 we looked at the Qantas business class fares and just laughed. Not in our budget! After some research I found business class return - into Rome, out of Gatwick - for just under $10,500 for two on China Airlines which is a Taiwanese airline. When the enevitable happened due to Covid we had the refund back in three days - overnight to Paypal, then a couple more days to show up on our credit card. 

[MMDown Under]

10 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

When we booked flights to Europe for what we hoped would be an amazin Western Europe cruise in 2020 we looked at the Qantas business class fares and just laughed. Not in our budget! After some research I found business class return - into Rome, out of Gatwick - for just under $10,500 for two on China Airlines which is a Taiwanese airline. When the enevitable happened due to Covid we had the refund back in three days - overnight to Paypal, then a couple more days to show up on our credit card. 

I fly EVA Air Business Class for the same reason.  It is great to be able to fly out of Brisbane to Taiwan, then to London with short stopover in Bangkok (where I have a shower and enjoy the most delicious tropical fruit).  I love their table setting, fine bone china, variety of teas and delicious Asian food.  Flat beds are a bonus.  

[Cruisers47]

We have used China Southern before Covid.   I guess that is no longer a viable option.   They were very pleasant and the price was under $10,000 for two business class seats to Europe..

 

we are flying to Europe later this year with Thai business class with the credit from 2020.   I think it was about $11,000 but doubt that we will get anything like that in the future!

Eileen

[Mareblu]

9 hours ago, NSWP said:

Qantas have always been expensive, when we did our last trip to UK/Europe in mid 2018, they wanted $9000 each, yep $18,000 for two for a business class return airfare. So we got on board Cathay Pacific - business class return for $11,000 for two, spethial double family deal Sydney to London Heathrow.

Exactly what we're doing this year, Les.  We usually fly Singapore Airlines, we just love their extra touches in business, but this year they were over the top, and nowhere, nowhere near the ridiculous price Qantas wanted.  So we're flying Cathay to London, then sailing back from Barcelona with Cunard.  We actually flew Cathay business  to Vancouver via Hong Kong in 2019, and found the experience very comfortable, with delightful crew and delicious cuisine.  Still  miss SAL though, and loved stopping over a few days in Singapore to break the journey.  Anyhoo, as Mic says, horses for courses.  We'll be very happy to try Cathay again this year.

[Porky55]

We have just returned from Europe (Amsterdam & Czech Republic) with Singapore Air business return flights - dropped $26k on a pair of lay flat seats 🫣 thankfully a work trip cost 😮‍💨

Thats what happens 10 days out from fly date - usually pay around 12k to 14k with SAL if you buy far enough out, like 10 months. But …… the 26 hour flight is getting harder the older we get - had a delay of 2 hours extra in the middle of the night in Singapore and that made the trip lonnngg!!
 

So  ……… we have decided to bite the bullet and book one way flights on Qantas business class out of Perth for our WC cruise from Dover to Sydney next year. Gonna see if the 17 1/2 hours on a Dreamliner is that much harder than the 14 hours on SAL to Europe 🙄 the reviews are brilliant, we’ll see ……… 🤔
 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Porky55

[Mareblu]

3 hours ago, Porky55 said:

We have just returned from Europe (Amsterdam & Czech Republic) with Singapore Air business return flights - dropped $26k on a pair of lay flat seats 🫣 thankfully a work trip cost 😮‍💨

Thats what happens 10 days out from fly date - usually pay around 12k to 14k with SAL if you buy far enough out, like 10 months. But …… the 26 hour flight is getting harder the older we get - had a delay of 2 hours extra in the middle of the night in Singapore and that made the trip lonnngg!!
 

So  ……… we have decided to bite the bullet and book one way flights on Qantas business class out of Perth for our WC cruise from Dover to Sydney next year. Gonna see if the 17 1/2 hours on a Dreamliner is that much harder than the 14 hours on SAL to Europe 🙄 the reviews are brilliant, we’ll see ……… 🤔
 

 

Last paragraph first:  your adventure from Perth sounds just wonderful...how exciting!  Please let us all know how you find the direct flight on the Dreamliner.  Which cruise line are you sailing back with?

Yes, earlybird bookings are so much better...we usually book 11 months out, but this time SAL were asking over $2K more than Cathay, which is still costing $14.5K (that's for 2, of course).  Qantas wanted, I kid you not, something like $23K.  I can't recall the exact amount, but it was certainly over $20K.  And not Dreamliner direct.   Not looking forward to flying straight to London with only the brief HK changeover, but we have 3 days to recoup before boarding O's Sirena in Portsmouth.  Had we been flying SAL, we would have stayed a few days at our usual Singapore spot.  The good thing about sailing back to Sydney is no jet lag.  We'll hop in a hire car and drive the familiar road to Canberra and be home in no time, or else I wouldn't be surprised to see one of the family waiting at the cruise terminal ready to take us home.  We're so lucky both our son and daughter live close by in Canberra with their families.

[Aus Traveller]

After our last international cruise we flew back from the UK on the Dreamliner into Perth, then domestic to Brisbane. We liked the long international flight, but we still had the long domestic leg. 

[Porky55]

10 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

After our last international cruise we flew back from the UK on the Dreamliner into Perth, then domestic to Brisbane. We liked the long international flight, but we still had the long domestic leg. 

Exactly - we will be flying Mackay, Brisbane, Perth, so are spending at least one night in Perth before tackling the 17hrs. How did you find the Dreamliner flight anyway?

[Porky55]

19 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

Last paragraph first:  your adventure from Perth sounds just wonderful...how exciting!  Please let us all know how you find the direct flight on the Dreamliner.  Which cruise line are you sailing back with?

We are on the Coral Princess - Dover to Sydney sector.
 

Will let you know how we go with 17 hrs, though hear only good things. 🤞 AusTraveller has flown London to Perth, she could answer that now 😆

 

[Aus Traveller]

6 minutes ago, Porky55 said:

Exactly - we will be flying Mackay, Brisbane, Perth, so are spending at least one night in Perth before tackling the 17hrs. How did you find the Dreamliner flight anyway?

The plane was fine, but there were a few issues that made it a less-then-pleasant experience. These are not issues that would be repeated, hopefully. They were my husband who wouldn't sit still and who watched movies all night (Gr....), a kid behind me who kept kicking my seat (Gr....), a stewardess who topped up people's small waterbottles from her jug by touching the lip of her jug onto the top of their bottle that had been in their mouth (Ugh.....;.) and a stewardess who skipped our 3 seats when serving breakfast. I stood up when she was around seven row past us and said "Excuse me, we would like some breakfast". Her response was I am just getting to you. Yeah.

 

If they are still just giving out a small bottle of water to each passenger, maybe I would take a larger bottle (empty of course) and fill it up before boarding or on board the plane to avoid the issue that might occur of filling up people's 300ml bottles from a jug.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[Porky55]

3 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

If they are still just giving out a small bottle of water to each passenger, maybe I would take a larger bottle (empty of course) and fill it up before boarding or on board the plane to avoid the issue that might occur of filling up people's 300ml bottles from a jug.

Noted - thankyou. 👍

[NSWP]

I have travelled various airlines in business, premium economy and economy, never had a problem in requesting bottles of water inflight.  No top up of bottles then.  Just ask for a few bottles. Or a few G&T's to keep hydrated.

Edited May 25, 2022 by NSWP

[Aus Traveller]

8 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I have travelled various airlines in business, premium economy and economy, never had a problem in requesting bottles of water inflight.  No top up of bottles then.  Just ask for a few bottles.

I asked for another bottle of water and was told they had none. I have never before seen water bottles topped up and was stunned when it was done with the pouring spout of the water jug resting on the top edge of the customer's water bottle - time after time. I asked if they had a clean jug and was told "No".

 

I usually get my own water during the flight but this was a night-time flight and I was jammed in between two large men. I couldn't easily get out.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[NSWP]

5 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I asked for another bottle of water and was told they had none. I have never before seen water bottles topped up and was stunned when it was done with the pouring spout of the water jug resting on the top edge of the customer's water bottle - time after time. I asked if they had a clean jug and was told "No".

 

I usually get my own water during the flight but this was a night-time flight and I was jammed in between two large men. I couldn't easily get out.

Bit slack them running out of bottled water.  Slack Qantas Trolley Dollies, they probably could not be bothered to get you some.

Edited May 25, 2022 by NSWP

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Bit slack them running out of bottled water.  Slack Qantas Trolley Dollies, they probably could not be bothered to get you some.

Maybe they didn't have much spare water. I seem to recall that there was one small bottle waiting on each seat when we boarded. The flight was full.

 

The stewardess on that flight has to be one of the worst I have encountered. Firstly, filling people's water bottles without regard to hygiene, then forgetting to give us breakfast. Maybe the only other stewardess in the running for the award, was one who spilled two litres of orange juice over me on an international flight. There was a rather perfunctory apology. It was on LATAM.

[Mareblu]

12 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I asked for another bottle of water and was told they had none. I have never before seen water bottles topped up and was stunned when it was done with the pouring spout of the water jug resting on the top edge of the customer's water bottle - time after time. I asked if they had a clean jug and was told "No".

 

I usually get my own water during the flight but this was a night-time flight and I was jammed in between two large men. I couldn't easily get out.

That's appalling.  So much for health security🙄

 

2 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Maybe they didn't have much spare water. I seem to recall that there was one small bottle waiting on each seat when we boarded. The flight was full.

 

The stewardess on that flight has to be one of the worst I have encountered. Firstly, filling people's water bottles without regard to hygiene, then forgetting to give us breakfast. Maybe the only other stewardess in the running for the award, was one who spilled two litres of orange juice over me on an international flight. There was a rather perfunctory apology. It was on LATAM.

The whole two litres?   Oh that's unbelievable.  You probably felt like a mouldy orange by the time you landed.

[Mareblu]

10 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Bit slack them running out of bottled water.  Slack Qantas Trolley Dollies, they probably could not be bothered to get you some.

Sure sounds like it, Les.  

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, Mareblu said:

That's appalling.  So much for health security🙄

 

The whole two litres?   Oh that's unbelievable.  You probably felt like a mouldy orange by the time you landed.

I went to the bathroom, partially stripped off and tried to wash what I could of the sticky juice off me. When I returned to my seat, I covered it with several layers of the blankets they give out. It was yuck. Then I had another flight before I would be able to have a shower and change of clothes.

[Mareblu]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I went to the bathroom, partially stripped off and tried to wash what I could of the sticky juice off me. When I returned to my seat, I covered it with several layers of the blankets they give out. It was yuck. Then I had another flight before I would be able to have a shower and change of clothes.

What a nightmare.  That little event would've started a fist fight in America😆

[Mareblu]

6 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The plane was fine, but there were a few issues that made it a less-then-pleasant experience. These are not issues that would be repeated, hopefully. They were my husband who wouldn't sit still and who watched movies all night (Gr....), a kid behind me who kept kicking my seat (Gr....), a stewardess who topped up people's small waterbottles from her jug by touching the lip of her jug onto the top of their bottle that had been in their mouth (Ugh.....;.) and a stewardess who skipped our 3 seats when serving breakfast. I stood up when she was around seven row past us and said "Excuse me, we would like some breakfast". Her response was I am just getting to you. Yeah.

 

If they are still just giving out a small bottle of water to each passenger, maybe I would take a larger bottle (empty of course) and fill it up before boarding or on board the plane to avoid the issue that might occur of filling up people's 300ml bottles from a jug.

One of the issues will probably be repeated:  the husband who won't sit still.  I have one of those.  Then again, I tend to read for hours on a plane.

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, Mareblu said:

One of the issues will probably be repeated:  the husband who won't sit still.  I have one of those.  Then again, I tend to read for hours on a plane.

Never again. I had wanted to book the aisle seat but he wanted me to sit beside him. I don't know why because he had headphones on nearly the whole way while he was watching movies. I told him that for our next long-haul flight, he can have the window as usual, but I am going on the aisle. I don't care if there is a stranger between us. I want to be able to get up out of the seat when I want to.