Best PER to LHR carrier

[tcr2]

I thought I would call upon the huge depth of knowledge on this board to answer the following:
We (myself, wife and kids age 5 and 2) are hoping to travel from Perth to London for Christmas 2006. Current options include: PER - LHR with QF/BA or Cathay Pacific, or flying QF/BA combo via either Hong Kong or Tokyo, all as QF FF award flights.
Comments for best options here greatly appreciated!!!

PS We were actually thinking of flying on Christmas Day in the hope of a less busy flight?? Worth it or not??

Any replies/input greatly appreciated.

[apaddyinuk]

Personally, I would always recommend not flying on Christmas day as your fellow passengers are often miserable!!! LOL!!! Only joking!!!
If Cathay or the BA/QF flights are your only options then I would say that Cathay have the best product down the back. Qantas I generally avoid when I can and well, I work for BA so as much as I love them I still need to be objective!!! If its Business your travelling in then I would recommend BA as I still think they have the best seat and by next xmas your flight may even have the new Club World seat!!!

HOWEVER....If other airlines were to pop into the equation....I would avoid emirates (minute seats and dropping standards all the time) but I would seriously consider SIA!!!

[Voeni]

With Europe-Australia experience from British, Qantas, Emirates and Singapore I would definitely go for Singapore Airlines!
Why? Generally speaking, asian airlines are a lot better with regard to customer service, guess it's called working mentality. Friendlier staff, better service (especially with kids). With regard to the above, Qantas and Emirates are british airlines.
Thai and Malaysian might be good choices as well, I just don't know them. As I've said, choose SIA!
just my opinion...

[tcr2]

Thanks for the replies guys!
I flew PER - LHR with Emirates in August 2005. They were OK, but the old, cramped A340-300 on the PER - DXB leg was a bit of a let down.
I flew SIA in 2001 and was pretty impressed, but because this is a FF booking, I am limited to Cathay, or the QF/BA combo as choices.
Also, we are pretty serious about Flying on or around Xmas day, so any other opinions on this (load factors etc) would be appreciated!!

Ta.

[rodondo4]

Give me Malaysian, Thai or SIA any time of day :)

[kjsaw]

Thanks for the replies guys!
I flew PER - LHR with Emirates in August 2005. They were OK, but the old, cramped A340-300 on the PER - DXB leg was a bit of a let down.
I flew SIA in 2001 and was pretty impressed, but because this is a FF booking, I am limited to Cathay, or the QF/BA combo as choices.
Also, we are pretty serious about Flying on or around Xmas day, so any other opinions on this (load factors etc) would be appreciated!!

Ta.

I cant see a CX flight on anything but the 23rd? Maybe its just not in the system yet (I also cant see any flights on this route for 26/27/28) anyway;

CX170 PER 12/23/06 12:50PM HKG 12/23/06 08:35PM 330
J9 C9 D9 I9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9
CX251 HKG 12/23/06 11:55PM LHR 12/24/06 05:05AM 744
F4 A4 J9 C9 D9 I9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9

BA and QF via SIN (22/23/24/25) are still wide open as well, though this far in advance that would be expected (I guess).

[1DC]

Friend of mine has flown to Oz from the UK twice on Christmas Day's,once with Emirates and once with Malaysian. He says the back was full both times,"probably with people like him thinking it would be empty!" (his words). He said he was lucky enough to get an upgrade with Emirates cos the back was overbooked.
My daughter flew Oz to the UK with Malaysian on New Years Eve/Day. MEL to KUL was only half full but KUL to LHR was packed.
From the choices you have Cathay have the most leg room in economy.

[ChixMukanwhalla]

Tcr2 you didnt say what class of travel you will be going but as you are redeemming FF points almost certainly Economy.

By the sounds of it you have earned your points travelling Business?
Are you stopping off enroute ?

Anyway I probably don't need to tell you the reality that flying anywhere in coach/economy class is tough going.
As a FF flyyer I know you won't be suckered in by airline advertising that tries to con you into believing that you are in for a treat ,because you are not.:*

If anyone can point out any realdiscernable difference between the carriers mentioned I would be interested to know.

The cabin crew can only assist you so far in making your flight as comfortable as possible but ultimaterly if you get off at the other end feeling like a Battery hen I guess that's the price travellers pay for cheap/ free tickets.

The reality is that flying today is best avoided unless absolutely necessary.
It is cramped , uncomfortable, boring, tiring ,frustrating , sometimes nauseating , in some instances dehumanisng , unhygenic,dehydrating and smelly.:yuk:

Airlines are subject to the same ruthless drive for increased profits taking place in all other sectors of the economy.
In many cases even more so.

To the travelling public this means that unfortunately your comfort and satisfaction is of lesser importance that the bottom line.
The spin doctors will tell you different but we all know better I think.:hmm:

The only chance you have for some relief from the opressive conditions is that your flight will have less than a full passenger load and you jag an extra spare seat or two.
If your fllight is really light you may get an entire row to yourself (possible but unlikely)
Keeping your expectations low is a good way of coping.
Whilst not wanting to encourage the use of pharmaceuticals unless absolutely necessary I think this is an appropriate time to seriously consider having a non addictive sleeping pill (such as Stillnox) on hand to ensure a period of sleep to shorten the impact of a long haul flight, should you require it..
As you are travelling with children you and your partner could take turns ,one sleep ,whilst the other keep any eye on the kids.

1/2 a pill should give you 3 hours of sleep , a full pill anywhere up to 7 or 8 hours.


This is a cheaper alternative to the extra $$ required for a premium cabin seat which is really the preferred option .

However if you are down the back in 72k cheer yourself up by thinking how much you will be able to buy at your final destination with all the money you have just saved .


This website below gives you a comparison of seats on the airlines .
It's called the "airline legroom guide".

Airlines measure legroom as seat pitch - the distance from the front of the seat to the back of the seat in front.
The minimum distance required between seats by the Civil Aviation Authority's is 26 inches. This is equivalent to a seat pitch of about 28 inches.


A quick look and all appear to be somewhere between 31" - 34"

Qantas Airways 32 (B747)
Cathay Pacific 32
Malaysian Airlines 34 (B747-400)
Emirates 32 (A330-300)
Singapore Airlines 32
British Airways 31 (WorldTraveller)

http://www.westernair.co.uk/seatpitch.html



As far as service goes , all carriers are pretty much the same as far as meal/bar schedules are concerned. Types of meal and bar services are dictated by departure times ,for example depart after 2230 and generally there is no seperate bar service prior to the meal service.
However drinks are always availble at any time . Just ask.

As far as food quality is concerned all meals come out of the same 2 or 3 catering centresat each airport,and airlines pay the same amount for each meal , maybe a couple of bucks each.
Chicken or Beef on Malaysian will be remarkably like Beef or Chicken on BA.

Lowering expectations can go along way to help here too.

Emirates may be able to pay a bit more with all that oil money but the difference in the end product is not that great.


Flight attendants are very professional on all carriers mentioned.
Discernable difference ?
Depends again on what you expect.

Attitude ? entirely dependant on who you get on the day.

There has been a big increase lately (last 2 years) in passenger numbers on the LHR / NRT (BA) NRT/PER(QF) route
This may be due to lack of seat availabilty on the traditional Europe to Australia route via BKK, SIN or even HKG or to exploit large drop off in passenger demand from japanese tourists coming to Australia due to seasonal fluctuations.

Dont be surprised if you are strongly encouraged to use your FF points
to travel to Australia via this route.

If your children were a little older I would definately recommend a 24/48 hr stopover in Narita on the way if the airlines allow it. The hotels in the area near the airport are surprisingly reasonably priced (shoparound or speak To Japanese Tourist Authority) and try and get a room deal with breakfast included for the best value.

The village of Narita is a 10 minute free bus ride from the hotels which are 5 minute bus ride from the airport.


Lots to see and do here . A microcosm of the whole Japanese experience within easy reach of your hotel.:ok:

No need to travel into Tokyo city which can take 1 1/2 - 21/2 hours by bus depending on travel conditions.

Even with young children like yours it may be still be a great experience .

As far as travelling on Christmas day is concerned ,to the airlines it is just another day however the chances of your flight being fully booked are dramatically increased.

Hope this helps and happy flying.
Chix.

[PAXboy]

I have not been to Oz (yet) so cannot comment. With regards to christmas and New year days. I agree that it is no different now. 20 years ago, then it was quieter but not now.

If the trip is to be in Y, then it would seem best to break the journey - if only for one night. Two small children must find such a journey irksome (even if you are a FFM millionaire and everyone up the front! I understand that it is easy to break the journey at differente places out and back. Make the stop over part of the holiday.

[tcr2]

Thanks for all the advice so far guys, keep it coming!!

[Nil defects]

Just out of interest, Emirates are scheduled to put the 777 back on Perth from September. From March it is increased to 11 times a week with the A343.
In September the service is increased to twice daily - one each with A343 and 777. In December both daily services are planned on 777.

It may not be the cheapest method to get to the UK, but it is definitely the quickest.

[tcr2]

Thanks for all the feedback folks!
Thought I would let you know that I have managed to book PER - SIN - LHR and return with QF. As it turns out, we will have to travel on Christmas day, as this was the only day I could get these flights. The only other options were to fly to SIN from PER either via MEL or SYD - didn't fancy that much!! So lets hope that not many other people choose to travel on Christmas day, and we have a bit of space!!
PS Does anyone know if I can book specific seats for these flights and how I would go about doing this??

Thanks once again for all your imput on this.:ok: :ok:

[ZeeDoktor]

Been flying SYD-DXB-ZRH/MUC and back numerous times in the past year or so, in fact am about to board on another one in Feb, flying Emirates, usually A340-500, Economy class. Service quality varies, food quality generally quite good, leg room *and* seat construction even in economy class excellent (footrest, adjustable thigh and back supports, reclines far enough) and generally, there's lots of room. The only really annoying thing is their luggage restriction of 20kgs per person, when travelling before xmas, from summer into winter and back, that sucks. But since becoming a silver club member (flying to europe twice a year from australia will make you eligible), that's no longer an issue: you get 12kgs extra, plus you get to use business class check in (that's the most useful feature, really) and business class lounge, even when flying economy (oh well... that doesn't really make me hot).

I did that trip once with QF, what a disaster. Swore to never fly with them again. Similar experience with BA. Sorry chaps, but you're just not up to it.

All other airlines are making rather large deviations, the shortest flight time is with Emirates. Ultimately, I want to spend as little time on a plane as possible, even if I can save 1h of flighttime only, it's worth it.

ZeeDoktor

[Globaliser]

Their 777s are configured 10-abreast (3-4-3), not the conventional 9-abreast. Unless you are slim, it is unlikely to be as comfortable as the same aircraft operated by another airline. Something to watch out for, and definitely something worth finding out before you embark on a 20-hour trip.