Best Way to Fly from Sydney to Europe over Christmas with Stopover in Asia?

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  Godric on 11/07/2018 - 11:53

  +6

  Plane is best suited for a human travelling by flight

• 

  retiredfeline on 11/07/2018 - 12:14

  Stick around and watch some of the bargains posted often.

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  Wampus on 11/07/2018 - 13:08

  +1

  The best I was able to come up with was to get a return business flight from Colombo to London, was about $1500 a couple of years ago. Then get the low cost carriers to get you to Colombo, like Scoot, Air Asia or Malindo. Even if you get their 'business class' which is more like PE, you're still getting return for about $2500. YMMV over Xmas break though. Start doing some searches on I Want That Flight etc

• 

  boomramada on 11/07/2018 - 13:31

  +1

  Try Singapore, Malaysian, Thai, Cathay Pacific, etc .. Airlines to Europe then add few days stop over at the time of your bookings. Or Talk to a travel agent (since you are a travel noob)

  • 

    pinkwick on 11/07/2018 - 14:31

    How do I get rid of my noob status if I don't try by myself? :)

    • 

      boomramada on 11/07/2018 - 15:04

      +1

      Do it through a pro, watch and learn. (why not get a quotation from flightenter and try to beat that by your self?)
      But if you want to stop over in HK, most convenient would be Cathay Pacific, or any airline that hope through HK to Europe deals.
      Tip
      - you need to organised your stop over at the time of the booking, else usually cost money.
      - make sure booking through one airline (inc code sharing), multiple airline, missing connecting would be expensive.
      - avoid third party booking site if possible.
      - check for sites like iwantthatflight for deals.
      - xmas is peak time, better book now?

      • 

        pinkwick on 11/07/2018 - 15:29

        I did get a quote through filightcenter, it was already more expensive than what I had found.
        Thanks for the tips, I appreciate it. I've been looking at deals for a few weeks now, and I know I need to book soon for peak time, so I'm ready to pull the trigger as I find a deal. I almost booked with KLM, but they wouldn't let me stopover in Asia, so I thought I was doing something wrong. Probably Korean Air would let me do it (the connection was in Seoul), but it's more expensive.

• 

  onevstheworld on 11/07/2018 - 13:38

  +1

  If you want a no-stress stop-over; Hong Kong or Singapore. Both are easy to get around on public transport, plenty of things to see and English is wide-spread. Bangkok if you're more adventurous. Dubai also an option, but never been there so cannot comment on the experience.

  You should also check what attractions are open during X'mas. Never been there during that season so not sure if those cities shut down the same way as Aussie cities do.

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  Ryanek on 11/07/2018 - 13:54

  +1

  Consider going with Korean Airlines. We went to Europe via Seoul and the ticket came with complimentary over night stay at a 5 star hotel. It's a good way to break up the long flight.

  On the way back we stayed several more nights and explored the city.

  • 

    pinkwick on 11/07/2018 - 14:29

    Thanks, that's a good idea. Did you book directly with the airline or did you use an agent/website?

    • 

      Ryanek on 11/07/2018 - 14:55

      +1

      An agent handled all the flights and hotel stays. It even came with free a free dinner at the hotel :)

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  JoyVee on 16/07/2018 - 23:10

  Gulf Air have AU$2000 business class return air fare BKK to LHR London. There is 11 p.m flight from main International Suwanabhumi airport
  Thai airways have direct flights from Eastern states. The minimum connection time at airport is 1 hr 15 mins. Thai airlines will transfer luggage from their aircraft to certain other airlines which makes changing very efficient.
  The aircraft from Muscat to LHR is a new 787 with wonderful window seats that also have direct aisle access. Plenty videos on Youtube. Maybe you could take daytime economy flights with Thai ? I know they do transfer luggage to Turkish airlines. Use skyscanner or Iwantthatflight.com.au. Flying mid week is sometimes cheapet. Xmas is high season.and prices can escalate. Cathay have some good economy flights to Europe. China airlines have good.Premium Economy and Business class with long stopover in Taipei sometimes
  Certain flights from Sydney have short stop overs.

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  branners on 17/07/2018 - 19:52

  HK and Singapore are quite easy to get into and around but the ground costs there can be quite expensive, unless you are able to snare a deal from one of the airlines.
  I have seen $1 stopovers in Singapore, but only with Singapore Airlines, and I am not sure whether they are currently available.
  Thai Airways has excellent fares atm but BKK traffic can be a nightmare, particularly at holiday time.
  The Middle East can be quite expensive too, as many of the hotels are new and IME, charge appropriately.
  My recommendation for a value stopover is KL. No visa costs, easy and cheap transfers by train from KLIA2 to the Sentral station and good value hotels. I have spent the last 2 Christmas days there and because of the wide array of faiths, there is a lot to do, including hitting the Dec 25 sales.
  Plenty of museums (the Islamic museum near the National Mosque is amazing) and Malaysian street food is cheap and brilliant!