Archive for the ‘Deals’ Category

British Airways Worldwide Flight Sale from London

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

British Airways has started its late summer flight sale today which runs until 20th September. Prices are not as cheap as previous sales – nevertheless lets take a look at the airfares on offer. Travel dates vary but apply mainly to autumn/early winter period.

Economy (World Traveller) / premium economy (World Traveller Plus with 38″ seats) / business class (Club World) selected return fares from London are as follow:

Boston £360 / £638 / £1,740
Abu Dhabi £378 / £608 / £1,540
Miami £378 / £816 / £1,940
New York £396 / £674 / £1,752
Los Angeles £458 / £896 / £2,319
Barbados £499 / £814 / £1,629
Tokyo £547 / £959 / £2,400
Hong Kong £617 / £1,029 / £2,449
Singapore £669 / £1,091 / £2,697
Bangkok £685 / £1,097 / £2,650
Buenos Aires £738 / £1,087 / £2,899
Perth £899 / £1,418 / £3,261
Sydney £979 / £1,494 / £3,261
Melbourne £979 / £1,494 / £3,267

Some of the premium economy fares are reasonable (especially east coast US) and upgrading with miles to Club World – subject to availability – would be a good deal. However, the Club fares are not particularly outstanding.

british airways sale

As always, Virgin Atlantic are immediately matching most of BA’s sale fares on routes which they both serve.

Qantas has its own sale (also ends 20th September) – and has matched BA’s economy and business class prices to Asia and Australia. Its premium economy fares are higher than BA’s (example Hong Kong £1,399, Sydney £2,311) highlighting its superior product, which is more of a “business lite”.

Note that Etihad currently has sub-£3k Pearl business class return fares to Australia. London to Sydney (£2,996) and Melbourne (£2,998). We found some availability on Expedia in November for £2,917. Other good Etihad biz deals are Bangkok (£1,420), Kuala Lumpur (£1,590) and Manila (£1,709).

Air New Zealand also has sale fares available. Fly in their excellent premium economy or business cabins to Hong Kong for £1,011 / £2,330 or Los Angeles £1,082 / £2,199. Book by Sep 20th (business) or Sep 29th (premium).

Remember that NZ also has the “SkyCouch” option in economy to Los Angeles where you can book a row of 3 economy seats which fold into a sort of couch bed.

Tags: british airways, london
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Etihad Business Class Deals Paris to Asia

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Etihad has a number of reasonable business class fares out of Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG) to various Asian destinations. The flights are via Etihad’s hub in Abu Dhabi. Return fares all-in:

Mumbai €1,512
Singapore €1,522
Bangkok €1,572
Kuala Lumpur €1,618

Note, departures must be made in August. Book before 31st July.

The Singapore fare is the standout here, though nothing spectacular. We do recall an Etihad Pearl business class fare from Brussels to Sydney for €1,575 in 2009.

Alternative: Air Asia X flies out of Paris Orly to Kuala Lumpur non-stop using an Airbus A340. It sells business class seats from around €1,450 return – although you don’t get the lounge access, premium catering and service etc.

Tags: etihad
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Malaysian Airlines – Airfare Deals London to Asia

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Malaysian Airlines have some excellent deals out of London to Malaysia and south-east Asia with prices as low as £305 return to Kuala Lumpur. This is probably the best long-haul economy sale out of London since 2009 when we had Singapore Airlines fares to Australia and New Zealand below £400.

Malaysian’s sale fares are bookable until 17th May for travel between 15th August 2011 and 11th December 2011, or 16th January 2012 to 31st March 2012. The fares include a 20kg luggage allowance. Maximum stay is 3 months and stopovers in Kuala Lumpur are permitted. Malaysian’s Enrich points can be accrued on these fares.

Return fares are as follows:

Kuala Lumpur (KUL) £305
Penang (PEN) £333
Langkawi (LGK) £333
Kuantan (KCH) £333
Kuala Terengganu (TGG) £333
Denpasar-Bali (DPS) £342
Jakarta (CGK) £342
Hanoi (HAN) £343
Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) £343
Manila (MNL) £345
Kota Kinabalu (BKI) £347
Kuching (KCH) £347
Singapore (SIN) £352
Bangkok (BKK) £352
Phuket (HKT) £352

malaysian airlines

Business class fares from London to the above destinations are priced at £1,999 return. (Note, if you fly from Rome, Italy the biz class fares are a bit cheaper – ranging from €1,966-€1,991).

Last week we discussed Lufthansa’s £349 deal to China (£439 to Singapore) – and hoped that better deals would enter the market. These Malaysian fares are significantly better with a good range of cities and wide travel date period.

With long-haul travel to Asia/Australia having been sluggish recently, these aggressive fares should stimulate some extra demand. It will be interesting to see if other airlines react with their own price cuts.

Cathay Pacific has also reduced its sale fares to Australia (which we also mentioned in the previous post). Return fares to Sydney are now £699 and to Melbourne £679 – book until 12th May. The £699 fare to Brisbane remains bookable to 25th May. Outbound travel by 15th June, max stay 1 year.

Tags: cathay pacific, london, malaysian airlines
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London Flight Deals to Asia / Australia

Friday, April 29th, 2011

A quick look at some economy flight deals available out of London for various destinations in Asia and Australia. Flight prices to Australia tend to be at their cheapest between April and mid-June – which corresponds to the Australian autumn. However, one must also account for the relatively high oil prices and the hefty UK air passenger duty charges for long-haul flights. In addition the very strong Australian dollar means the country is significantly more expensive for visitors.

Asia Deals: An excellent Asian deal on the market is from Lufthansa (Star Alliance) which has flights from London to Beijing from £349, flying on the Airbus A380. Other deals include:

Nanjing £349
Singapore £439
Shanghai £489

If flying to China it is usually cheaper to fly to Beijing rather than the business capital Shanghai, as seen from the above prices.  These Lufthansa deals are available until 3rd May for departures between 15th May and 30th June, maximum stay permitted is 3 months. The Singapore fare (operated using a 747) look quite good as well.

Australia Deals: Royal Brunei always has competitive fares to Australia/NZ in the off-season and the following deals are available through NetFlights:

Perth £619
Melbourne £630
Auckland £669

These are bookable until 14th June for travel up to 22nd June. If booking be aware of the length of stopovers at Brunei airport and also note the fuel stop in Dubai.

perth australia flights

Cathay Pacific (Oneworld) has some reasonable fares to Australia including a sub-£700 fare to Brisbane:

Adelaide £779
Brisbane £699
Cairns £779
Melbourne £779
Perth £729
Sydney £779

These are bookable until 25th May for outbound travel until 15th June. You can stay up to 1 year – good for backpackers with working holiday visas.

Qantas (Oneworld) has almost matched the Perth fare, offering £731 for travel between 18th April and 20th June. Book by 3rd May.

Hopefully we will see some more competitive fares to Australia coming onto the market in the next month or two.

Tags: airbus a380, cathay pacific, london, sydney
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