Archive for the ‘Deals’ Category

Malaysia Airlines – Airfare Deals London to Asia

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Malaysia 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.

Malaysia’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. Malaysia’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 Malaysia 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.

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.

How Far Can You Fly From London For Under £400

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

January is usually a good month for special offers when it comes to airfares. Prices in 2011 are a little higher than over the last few years. However, let’s take a fun look at how far from London (UK) you can fly return for £400 or less.  The fares are valid at time of writing for various travel dates in 2011.

Amman, Jordan
Easyjet will fly from London Gatwick to Amman from 27th March 2011. Return prices can be as low as £120, with another £18 for a checked bag. This is an excellent deal.

Tel Aviv, Israel
British Airways has a sale fare from London Heathrow for £282 return, book by Jan 25th. Easyjet flies to TLV from London Luton and its cheapest return fare is around £220 including luggage.

New York, USA
Kuwait Airways can fly you non-stop from London Heathrow to New York JFK using a Boeing 777. The cheapest return economy fare comes in at £269 all in. KLM (via Opodo) offers a price of £279 return via Amsterdam. BA and Virgin Atlantic sale fares are at £315.

Toronto, Canada
Thomas Cook Airlines flies with an Airbus A330 and has fares from £278 return all in. In comparison, Air Canada comes in at £384 and BA at £379.

Cairo, Egypt
bmi has a current sale fare of £298 return for this route. Codeshare partner Egyptair has similar prices.

Abu Dhabi, UAE
Turkish Airlines has a promo fare available to the Emirate for £314 return – with a connection in Istanbul.

Los Angeles, USA
US Airways has a competitive £342 fare to LA – however you need to make a connection in Charlotte, North Carolina. Or take a non-stop flight: Air New Zealand (£389), BA and Virgin (both £394).

Lagos, Nigeria
Opodo has a special KLM return fare to Lagos for £381.

Mumbai, India
Swiss has a reasonable return airfare of £390 from London Heathrow with a stop in Zurich.

swiss air

Nairobi, Kenya
Kenya Airways has a fare of £391 return for its B777 flight. Netflights has limited availability of the same flights at £371.

San Diego, USA
American Airlines has fares to San Diego for £396 which can include London to Los Angeles with BA plus a hop with American Eagle to SAN. Other connections are also possible.

No current flights to south-east Asia or south America are available for under £400.

Business Class Airfare Offers from London

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

British Airways have today started their ex-UK Club and First Class sale for destinations worldwide along with their extended economy sale which has been running for some time. Bookings must be made by Feb 9th 2010.

Fare levels are not as low as some previous sale offers, but here’s a look at some standout fares. You might also check with Virgin Atlantic who normally match BA sale fares on overlapping routes.

BA Club World Offers – note, various travel dates apply.

Montego Bay £1,099
Doha £1,199
Muscat £1,199
Male £1,299
Bangalore £1,299
Delhi £1,299
Mumbai £1,399
Tampa £1,349
Orlando £1,349
Antigua £1,399
Barbados £1,399
Tobago £1,399
St Lucia £1,399
Montreal £1,549
Sydney £2,799

For completeness let’s take a quick look at current business class offers from various airlines for ex-London long-haul flights.

Lufthansa offers a business class trip deal to Johannesburg (via Frankfurt) for £1,419 for early April. If you are up for a trip to Cairo then fellow Star Alliance member EgyptAir will get you to Jo’burg for £1,215 in business  – fare bookable on Netflights.

Oneworld’s Finnair can get you to Beijing and Shanghai in business class from London via Helsinki for £1,685. Hong Kong is also available, at £1,689.

Etihad has a few decent Pearl Business Class offers from London Heathrow via Abu Dhabi – bookable by Feb 1st:

Delhi £1,199
Bangkok £1,329 (£1,281 on Netflights)
Jakarta £1,679
Sydney £2,899

Emirates has the following companion fare business class deals available (2 people must book together) via Dubai – available until Feb 1st:

Johannesburg  £1,648
Mauritius £1,649
Seychelles £1,653
Christchurch £2,739

You can fly with China Airlines business class via Taipei to Sydney from London from £1,713 via Netflights. China Airlines use Airbus A340 and A330s for this route.