Flights to Australia

lippy11

Hey!
Booking our flights to Australia in the next week or two and I've just been checking flight prices at the moment through e-travel.
Seem to have an option of flying with Etihad, Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific.
Does anyone have any experience flying with any of these?
I've read a bit about Etihad not being up to standard? I know peoples opionion vary so maybe anybody who has flew to Aus recently would be able to give some advise.
Thanks

Kmc123

Flying to Sydney with Etihad on December 2nd, believe they are meant to be good. Try gohop.ie for flights, they seem to be the cheapest fairs by what iv seen! Where you heading to OP?

lippy11

Thanks, just checked out gohop.ie, e-travel seem to be slightly cheaper. We're heading for Sydney or Melbourne.. Still 50/50 on both, making our decision soon enough so we can get our flights booked!!
Less than 4 weeks until your travels, exciting times ahead!! Best of luck

Kmc123

lippy11 wrote: »

Thanks, just checked out gohop.ie, e-travel seem to be slightly cheaper.

must have forgot to check out that website! I know cannot wait, you too, hope you decide on a good spot!

sponge_bob

was looking at flights myself this morning for the new year and e-travel is quoting 80euros cheaper for the exact same flight cork-perth than skyscanner, which i allways had assumed was quoting the cheapest fares. and with 5 people travelling thats a handy 400euros right there.

lippy11

Yea I know the difference too sponge bob.
I was looking at flights from Dublin-Sydney for February.
Every penney counts!!

irishejit

I flew with Cathay to Brisbane in September and I can't speak highly enough of them.

Food was lovely, any amount of free drink and a huge selection of in-flight movies and music.

If i'd one small issue it's that the meal service runs 2 hours after take off, and then 2 hours before landing. On a 12 hr flight that leaves quite a space between meals although you can get snacks like small sandwiches crisps etc.

lippy11

Very helpful reply, thank you .
How you finding Brisbane?

woodzie

I flew to oz two years ago with Singapore airlines on the A380 and I can't speak highly enough of them. I was in economy and couldn't believe the service we got. Having said that emirates are starting flights from Dublin in January so if your going around then checkout their website. I'd check Etihads website too as I was looking at flights for may next year and they're both cheaper on their own website than on sites such as ebookers.

lippy11

woodzie wrote: »

Having said that emirates are starting flights from Dublin in January so if your going around then checkout their website. QUOTE]

Cheers Woodzie!
Just checked out Emirates website...
Over 300 euro dearer than e-travel :O! Needless to say I won't be booking with them!! :P

woodzie

lippy11 wrote: »

woodzie wrote: »

Having said that emirates are starting flights from Dublin in January so if your going around then checkout their website. QUOTE]

Cheers Woodzie!
Just checked out Emirates website...
Over 300 euro dearer than e-travel :O! Needless to say I won't be booking with them!! :P

That's pretty crap. Only advantage of going with etihad or emirates is that you only have one stop compared to at least two with other airlines. I checked flights for may to Sydney with etihad and they are costing €898 which is pretty good I think.

lippy11

Yes, one stop is the advantage!!
All the one's I have checked for mid February to Sydney through e-travel.ie have all been just under and just over 700 euro, really good prices I think! Here's hoping they stay at that price for another week and I'll be happy

karl bracken

One thing i didnt look into was frequent flyer points. I would definately look into it and sort it out because Ireland to Oz would get you a lot.
For Qantas you can join for free once your not Australian or from NZ.

irishejit

lippy11 wrote: »

Very helpful reply, thank you .
How you finding Brisbane?

Was only over for a holiday mores the pity! Really enjoyed the city though, very relaxed atmosphere compared to some of the cities I've been to.

If you prefer a bit of a quieter life theres some lovely medium sized towns just south of the Gold Coast, and you're not a massive drive away from Brisbane at the same time

Theimprover

I booked flights last week with ethiad, dub>brisbane with 2 stopovers in singapore and dubai on the way back, €950 all in and if you become a member with ethiad you get an extra 5kg in luggage.
I booked with heffernan travel as i have a friend that works there, if i was going direct with no stopover i could have booked it on there own site for €914, emirates was €918 on there own site, cut out the middle man and go book directly with the airlines own site.
From what i have been hearing is that ethiad on the best out there atm.

crushproof

Theimprover wrote: »

I booked flights last week with ethiad, dub>brisbane with 2 stopovers in singapore and dubai on the way back, €950 all in and if you become a member with ethiad you get an extra 5kg in luggage.
I booked with heffernan travel as i have a friend that works there, if i was going direct with no stopover i could have booked it on there own site for €914, emirates was €918 on there own site, cut out the middle man and go book directly with the airlines own site.
From what i have been hearing is that ethiad on the best out there atm.

€950 return?! Wow, nice! Roughly what dates if you don't mind me asking?
Looking at going in Feb and the best I can find ~€700 one way.

Theimprover

crushproof wrote: »

€950 return?! Wow, nice! Roughly what dates if you don't mind me asking?
Looking at going in Feb and the best I can find ~€700 one way.

Ya return, flying out in March, check out the ethiad site

jank

Mods, can we get a sticky for flights as it seems to be croping up weekly.

lippy11

Theimprover wrote: »

Ya return, flying out in March, check out the ethiad site

Wow, that is a great price for return flights, going to check out the Etihad website now.

And yea good idea Jank on the sticky, gives people a specific are to share their thoughts and experiences on flights, airlines etc!

irishh_bob

lippy11 wrote: »

Theimprover wrote: »

Ya return, flying out in March, check out the ethiad site

Wow, that is a great price for return flights, going to check out the Etihad website now.

And yea good idea Jank on the sticky, gives people a specific are to share their thoughts and experiences on flights, airlines etc!

For long haul flights, it's cheaper to book through an agent, prices on the airline sites are more expensive in general

lippy11

irishh_bob wrote: »

For long haul flights, it's cheaper to book through an agent, prices on the airline sites are more expensive in general

I think your right, I've been comparing most prices from e-travel against the airline websites this morning and e-travel seem to be cheaper by about 20-30 euro. Not much I know!

sponge_bob

irishh_bob wrote: »

For long haul flights, it's cheaper to book through an agent, prices on the airline sites are more expensive in general

lippy11 wrote: »

I think your right, I've been comparing most prices from e-travel against the airline websites this morning and e-travel seem to be cheaper by about 20-30 euro. Not much I know!

i concur.
been checking this morning and return flights for 3 adults and 2 kids from cork-perth mid march on e-travel 1,020 a noggin, while the main airline sites cheapest quote is a whopping 1,152 a noggin:eek:

schemingbohemia

Having flown with both Etihad and Cathay, i'd say they're much of a muchness, both very good. It's a good while since I flew Cathay and they've probably improved their in-flight entertainment since. Etihads in-flight entertainment was superb, so many films to choose from!

That allied to just one stop (with usually just a 2-hour break) means I'd keep chosing them, especially given their prices seem to be very competitive. Though Emirates could be good for the same reasons when they start in the New Year.

irishh_bob

im going to nz for a few weeks early in the new year , have done a lot of research based on price and customer service + flight itinerry

etihad are by far the cheapest of any airline flying to that part of the world

thier by far the most modern fleet and according to skytrax have the most modern and wide ranging entertainment system

cutomer service isnt rated as high as the likes of singapore but gets a decent score none the less

one drawback i would see however is the uneven break up of the journey , dublin to abu dhabi is only seven hours where as the second leg to australia is a mamoth fourteen hours unless your going to perth , the likes of singapore or malaysian bring you there in two more or less evenly balanced legs

lippy11

From my research I can get flights with Cathay Pacific for 664, Singapore Airlines for 678 and Etihad for 672 (dearer on their website). Both Singapre and Cathay have two stopovers and yea Etihad has one in Abu Dhabi.

I have read some great reviews about Singapore Airlines and some not so great about Eithad, mainly relating to their customer service.
I think I'm swaying more towards Singapore.

I came across a handy site earlier too, seatguru.com, it gives you a great plan of seating arrangements on each aircraft! Very handy I thought.

schemingbohemia

yeah seatguru is great, usually when I'm going to Oz I want to get there and back as quickly as possible so having 1 2-hour layover is best for me. Second leg there is always a killer but I'd rather that than hanging around for ages in Singapore (though it is a better airport than abu dhabi) just to have 2 more even length flights.

I've never had any problems with customer service on Etihad, always found the attendants fine.

lippy11

I don't think the stopovers are too bad, 1hr45 wait in Heathrow to Singapore and then I think 2hr05 in Singapore for flight to Sydney.. Not too long, although when the time comes I might find that an eternity !!

You sound like you've clocked up a fair amount of air miles, thanks for your help

Could go with Etihad yet !

CatFromHue

irishh_bob wrote: »

one drawback i would see however is the uneven break up of the journey , dublin to abu dhabi is only seven hours where as the second leg to australia is a mamoth fourteen hours unless your going to perth , the likes of singapore or malaysian bring you there in two more or less evenly balanced legs

That mighten be so bad. You could try and stay awake until the 14 hour flight and then hopefully you'd be able to have a good long sleep on that.

Diar

Kmc123 wrote: »

Flying to Sydney with Etihad on December 2nd, believe they are meant to be good. Try gohop.ie for flights, they seem to be the cheapest fairs by what iv seen! Where you heading to OP?

I went on this flight. Very good airline and was very happy with the service. you have access to a touch screen that you can have a choice of watching over 50 film or over 100 tv shows.

Mykal23

Have flown Ethiad and found them fine. Make sure you minimise the legs ie if your going to Brisbane make sure it doesn't go to Sydney and then Brisbane as this adds hours to the trip.

sponge_bob

Theimprover wrote: »

I booked flights last week with ethiad, dub>brisbane with 2 stopovers in singapore and dubai on the way back, €950 all in and if you become a member with ethiad you get an extra 5kg in luggage.
I booked with heffernan travel as i have a friend that works there, if i was going direct with no stopover i could have booked it on there own site for €914, emirates was €918 on there own site, cut out the middle man and go book directly with the airlines own site.
From what i have been hearing is that ethiad on the best out there atm.

just checked heffernans travel in cork, i presume this is the same crowd that you booked with?
flying cork-perth return on the 1/3/2012 and i can ship the whole family out for an average of 945euros a head (4 adults and 1 child).