Advice Needed - Christmas Flights Home

WopTittyPop

Hello backpacking boardsies! :pac:

So me and my friend are over in Oz at the moment, and we were thinking it'd be a nice surprise for the friends and family if we came home for like 2-3 weeks for Christmas! We're not telling any of them, literally just gonna show up randomly and be like, "Suuup!"

Anyways, I was wondering have any of you any advice for the best time to book flights home? Do flights get cheaper or more expensive around a certain month/closer to Christmas? Money is really the main factor in our decision to come home or not, so the best flight deals would work extremely in our advantage!

Cheers!

Xavi6

They certainly won't get cheaper so buy them asap.

The cheapest I can find from Perth to Dublin is just over $2000 leaving Dec 22 and coming back Jan 11.

My advice would be to fly with Air Asia or some budget airline as far as you can then look for something to get to Ireland.

WopTittyPop

Damn...

I was chatting with a housemate the other day about it, and she said that they can get cheaper at the start of December due to everyone having their flights booked already. Last minute flights kinda deals. But I had an iffy feeling about it..

Any idea of how expensive they can get? The general peak prices etc..?

Xavi6

You may get a cancellation but is it worth the risk? Not for me anyway but if you're tight for cash then might be no harm.

I just looked on cheaptickets.com which is where I usually start to get an idea of prices and the best is $2250 from Sydney to Dublin.

Jetstar will get you to Singapore and back for $1100 and KLM then to Dublin and back for $1200.

Not many specials going on.

WopTittyPop

Yeah I wouldn't really want to risk it and wait to see for cancellations I suppose..

I was really just trying to see if any people have heard of Christmas flight specials or anything like that!

Thanks for the advice and the link though :pac:

uglyjohn

i have only booked as far as london so far but i think perth-london is costing me about $1400. im going with air asia and qatar and have a ten hour stopover in KL. i know its crap but the cheapest other alternatives were $1000 more expensive for a slightly shorter stopover and i think i'd rather keep the money myself.

book soon and check different dates. october/november is the cheapest time so you might get a cheap flight in early December. They get more expensive as you get closer to christmas and new years.

enda_4

Royal Brunei usually hold a good sale around october/december. link

WopTittyPop

Just to keep this updated, and in case anyone else is looking to book flights home, I booked with Air China and from Sydney to London cost me $2100. I had been looking at flight differences for quite a while and, to me, this is a definite steal compared to other prices! Most of the flights I was looking at were $3000+. All I need to do now is book a flight/ferry from London to Dublin and back, and I'm sorted

ballooba

I have mine booked in for the dates I want at a price that's 'manageable'. The cancellation fee is just over 150 I think, so if something better comes up I'll cancel and take it.

WopTittyPop

How much did you bag em for?

ballooba

WopTittyPop wrote: »

How much did you bag em for?

You honestly don't want to know and I don't want to say either. I'm using 'manageable' in the Brian Lenihan sense of the word. If I can save money closer to the date I will change my booking.

WopTittyPop

ballooba wrote: »

You honestly don't want to know and I don't want to say either. I'm using 'manageable' in the Brian Lenihan sense of the word. If I can save money closer to the date I will change my booking.

Ah, I see..

Well, if you want to have a browse around the site I got mine from just to have a check at prices, here's a link http://www.airchina.com.au/en/index.html

Hope that's of some use to you!

ballooba

WopTittyPop wrote: »

Hope that's of some use to you!

Thanks, I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. I'm flying ex Brisbane with Etihad at the moment. I console my self that it's at least cheaper than mates are paying from Sydney. You can't beat Christmas at home though in my opinion, even if it is cold. For the moment I'm prepared to pay for the convenience and comfort of a familiar airline. If I revise my plans I might look into that Air China option.

Vorsprung

ballooba wrote: »

Thanks, I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. I'm flying ex Brisbane with Etihad at the moment. I console my self that it's at least cheaper than mates are paying from Sydney. You can't beat Christmas at home though in my opinion, even if it is cold.

I've booked my flights home for Xmas with Etihad from Brisbane too. I've got a fari few frequent flier miles with them at this stage so that's why I stick with them, even though it's a little bit more expensive.

And yea, pricey doesn't describe it (flights were almost double what I paid for a short trip home last February).

ballooba

I had been sticking with Singapore because of my frequent flyer points but the Etihad flight was almost 20% cheaper than Singapore. Their recent linkup with Virgin Blue was icing on the cake, I'm a Virgin Blue silver member.

The Aussie

Just a reminder, if your heading home (Ireland), make sure your Visa is in order, i would not be surprised if they have another blitz at the airport with a channel 7 camera crew in tow looking for cheap ratings tabloid style.