Budget Travel

[sue78]

What do people here think of long haul travel on budget airlines?

I was a bit apprensive about flying JetStar to Osaka but it was great. We bought food from the airport, bought drinks and snacks on board and it's $10 to hire a dvd player.

It was a bit annoying that Oz was so remote and travelling was so pricey unlike Europe or Asia, where you can get flights that you only have to pay for the tax component, but now with these budget airlines making it so affordable....it's just perfect.

We just booked flights with AirAsia from GC to KL for $909 rtn for 3 people! The special is valid from May to Oct. Will probably head to Langkawi and Hanoi for another $250! so cheap

Air Asia plans to fly KL to Manchester on possible Stanstead or Gatwick next year so in future it will be possible to go to UK for less than $800k pp inc taxes. We paid $4k for 2 adults and an infant last year...soo expensive.

Has anyone scored some great deals recently?

My friends got tickets Sydney to GC with Jetstar for $3 one way in their recent special...cost $24 all up for a family of 4!!!

A colleague spent just over $2kpp for flights to Phuket and 10 nights accommodation twine share so over $4k all up for her and her bf....with budget you could do it for less than half the price.

Air Asia's GC to KL $300 KL to Phuket $100 10 nights 4 start hotel $800 =$1200 and plenty of $$ left over for shopping and tours and even another holiday. Could also stop in KL for a few days.

 

[geoffw]

10 nights accommodation twine share

Bondage sessions where you share the rope?

 

[battle on]

Hi Sue,

As a one off they may be fine and nice and cheap but I probably fly overseas about 10 times a year and theres no way I would consider budget airlines. Just my opinion.
I'm sure they would be great for family holidays especially if there were a few people.

 

[sue78]

I think work and holiday is different and can't really be compared. Flying overseas 10x a year for holiday purposes...you would have to be very rich...not just the cost of travel but not having to work aswell.

I have flown with a variety of airlines and I don't see a big difference really. One in partcular which everyone seems to love, Singapore Airlines, I try to avoid unless everyone else is full. The plane is always full because it code- shares with many other airlines and there are loads of kids usually making it very noisy.

But Jet Star Int was excellent. When we were checking in, the girl told us after she had given us our boarding passes that she gave us 4 seats in the middle and the last seat is empty...but she couldn't guarantee that it may be allocated to someone else eventhough she put in a request not to. So we did end up with 4 seats.

Same thing happened on the return flight...the check in girl told us that she had requested to move someone to another seat so that we could have 4 seats in the middle. I said it wasn't necessary but she had already done it. I guess the other person probably wouldn't want to sit next to a 2y.o anyway.

This meant that my 2yo slept 4 hrs on the way there, across 2 seats, and 8 hrs on a 9 hr flight back! It was great for us and everyone else.

Furthermore, what surprised me was that the flights were full.

Virgin Blue is a bit disappointing....they aren't really truly a budget airline. They plan to fly to US next year but I doubt it will be cheap. I sold off my VBA shares.

 

[The Y-man]

What do people here think of long haul travel on budget airlines?

I am always more worried about whether the planes have had budget maintenance as well..... perhaps I have watched too many episodes of Air Crash Investigations....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[GreatPig]

I travelled Jetstar to Christchurch NZ some months ago very cheap (about $270 return from memory) and it was fine. My wife also travelled with them to Saigon for just over $400 return, including food and blankets (which cost something like $60 extra). That was a ticket advertised as $39+tax each way, from memory.

Her flight back was postponed one day, and they were put up in a good hotel for the night with about US$35 of credits for food and telephone calls, plus she got another A$200 of discount vouchers for any later flights, valid until March 2008. Jetstar can't have made any profit from her, given the ticket was $39 each way (assuming Jetstar don't get any of the money paid as "taxes").

So now, to use those flight vouchers and because we want a holiday anyway, we've just booked flights for early March to Japan (Osaka). The Internet had them as $168 and $289 plus taxes, which came to something like $1530 in total for both of us. However, on phoning them (as my wife had two $100 vouchers and I could only see how to enter one on the Internet) I was told the flight over was slightly more expensive, but the return flight was much cheaper (around $190). The total then came to just over $1400. By the time we added meals and comfort pack (ie. blankets & pillow), and subtracted the $200 of vouchers, we paid $1357 for both of us. The first time I went to Tokyo in '93, I paid around that just for myself - and that was the milk run with Garuda (Syd-Mlb-Bali-Jakarta-Tokyo) taking about 24 hours, whereas these Jetstar flights are direct. And we've preselected our seats already, about half-way back in the plane when we asked for as far forward as possible, so they must be starting to fill up.

Cheers,
GP

 

[sue78]

We paid approx $600 rtn each for 3 of us to Osaka...such a bargain. But I don't rat ethe meals on jetstar....we bought our own food. On the rtn leg, it's a night flight dept 9:20pm so we had dinner first. We didn't buy comfort pack....just used jackets. You could have bought a bento box from the station for the rtn journey!! On the rtn journey, you do have to stop in Brisbane.

That's a pretty good price considering it's peak season travel...hope you guys will be bale to see the cherry blossoms!

The autumn leaves were breath taking.

 

[GreatPig]

Sue,

Yeah, we did consider other food options, but I thought it would be less to carry around (particularly through airport security) if we just paid for the airline food. We're splurging a bit on this trip, staying in mid-range accommodation rather than budget. We went for a couple of weeks last year staying in budget accommodation, and my wife complained a bit about the quality of the places and how far they mostly were from railway stations . Admittedly we are getting on a bit now , and even my knees were feeling it after all the walking we did (so much up and down stairs!). This time I'm trying for hotels within spitting distance of the main railway stations. In Osaka that means right on top of the station! We're even staying in the airport Nikko hotel at Kansai the first night, since we want to fly down to the islands first thing the next morning (given up on taking the ferry - not because it's too hard to book, but it doesn't fit our itinerary any more).

The Internet showed the return flight as being via Brisbane, but the woman assured me it was direct (I asked if she was sure a few times, as it had the same flight number). However, it also has the same departure time but gets to Sydney about 45 minutes before the one showing through Brisbane. Don't ask me why it doesn't show on the Internet though, and I won't be too surprised if I do find myself at Brisbane on the way back (the flight itinerary doesn't mention Brisbane though).

The day we come back is the last day at that cheap price. It jumps up to over $400 after that (excl tax). And we have to go to the islands first because the discount domestic air pass I want to buy can't be used from March 7th onwards. So we're taking all the last cheap flights out.

It might be a little early for the blossoms. We saw heaps of them last time though (we were there in early April) and were getting a bit blossomed out by the end. The first time I was there in '93 I saw quite a bit of autumn colour too.

Cheers,
GP

 

[BoatBoy]

Just started booking my next Asia trip starting at KL with Air Asia.

Woo Hoo, tickets for $39 one way.

Then the +++++++++ comeing in at a total $359 return each. Still cheap.

Spoke to Bloss before finalising and then put a stop on the booking and will have to wait until I have a contract on my place before makeing a firm booking.

She's so bloody sensible.

Dave

 

[sue78]

GP...no don't go budget. I didn't like any of the budget places we stayed in. The rooms smelled stale, toilets shared and far away, stairs, bathroom shared and very cold. Also, not a big fan of futons and especially the pillows! In tokyo we stayed at Nishi Shinjuku - a business class hotel...it had lovely views of a cemetary! but the location was good.

Dave - there are still plenty of seats left!

 

[Pushka]

Having just returned from HK with Singapore Airlines, they are by far the preferred airline for me - no problems with kids either! And they fly direct to Adelaide, something that no-one else, especially Qantas, does.

I think kids would be more likely on the budget airlines. The issue with budget airlines is that in the fine print, if your flight is delayed (even if it is their fault) then they do not provide accommodation for the duration - hence the recent stories about Jetstar.

 

[suzieq]

I have used Air Asia a couple of times and found them to be great....just means your dollar stretches further when holidaying and for us that means more holidays

sq

 

[Spectre]

Hullo

If it helps...
I flew to canada end of oct for 2 weeks. 2 adults, 2 kids <6

Went into flight centre a week before I bought the ticket - how much, ok thanks... see you in a week. Cost was @$13k

Then was mucking around online and found www.zuji.com (maybe.au)
same flights, same fares, $10,500 or something like that.

Re-rang flight centre, they beat the fare and threw in travel insurance.

 

[Minx]

Budget travel such as Jetstar is great for shortish flights say to S.E Asia that may take 7 or so hours.

Once when I went to Europe I was flying from Melb to Kuala Lumpar and that was no problem. However Kuala Lumpar to Zurich was something like 16 hours. It was the worst flight that I had been on especially the last 5 hours of it. I had been traveling for well over 24 hours with no more than a 2 hour stop over. From that point on I was turned off economy for long haul for life.

 

[sue78]

Hullo

If it helps...
I flew to canada end of oct for 2 weeks. 2 adults, 2 kids <6

Went into flight centre a week before I bought the ticket - how much, ok thanks... see you in a week. Cost was @$13k

Then was mucking around online and found www.zuji.com (maybe.au)
same flights, same fares, $10,500 or something like that.

Re-rang flight centre, they beat the fare and threw in travel insurance.

I did that for our UK trip. Wow, what an expensive holiday!

 

[sue78]

Having just returned from HK with Singapore Airlines, they are by far the preferred airline for me - no problems with kids either! And they fly direct to Adelaide, something that no-one else, especially Qantas, does.

I think kids would be more likely on the budget airlines. The issue with budget airlines is that in the fine print, if your flight is delayed (even if it is their fault) then they do not provide accommodation for the duration - hence the recent stories about Jetstar.

If you read GreatPigs's post Jetstar provided accommodation for his wife.

Doesn't Cathay fly direct from Adelaide to HK? hmmm, Adelaide misses out on the long haul budget flights anyway. It's only from Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Darwin.

My sil has been to UK twice with SIA in 2 yrs and flights were full each time so she basically had to have her toddler on her lap the whole flight...it's only about 22 hrs!! We went with Malaysian Airlines to UK when baby was under 2and got the 4 middle seats each way. To me, that's even better than business class....getting two extra seats for the baby to sleep. I just don't get how my sil can still rave on about SIA...well they do give out nappies pack and baby food. Singapore is good but flights are always full.

Suzieq - yes I agree! or you can spend it towards nicer hotels....I remember one flight on Air Asia...it was bizarre. The plane was really empty and everyone spread out and had 2/3 seat sto themselves. Hubby and I split up so we could have a kip.

The worst budget airlines has to be RyanAir....Stanstead is busier than Heathrow...it's just madness. Your flight is 99% guaranteed to be delayed too. Once you get on the plane it's ok.

 

[Pushka]

If you read GreatPigs's post Jetstar provided accommodation for his wife..

GP was lucky. Didnt you hear about the people travelling from Hawaii with Jetstar who, when their plane had engine problems, Jetstar refused to put them into accomodation and the people spent two days camping at the airport? It was in the media and people were interviewed saying they would never fly jetstar again. It is in the fine print which no-one bothers to read until it is too late.

Doesn't Cathay fly direct from Adelaide to HK? ..

No, I checked for my recent trip. Cathay lands in Adelaide but spends the next few hours touring eastern states. It adds about 4 hours to a 6 hour flight - who can be bothered with that.

Adelaide misses out on the long haul budget flights anyway. It's only from Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Darwin...

Which is another reason why I prefer to patronise those airlines who do. And that isnt Qantas, Jetstar and the like.

I just don't get how my sil can still rave on about SIA

Maybe SIA are always full because they are good and reliable? Not the cheapest but they do provide the best customer service and get there on time

 

[GreatPig]

Didnt you hear about the people travelling from Hawaii with Jetstar who, when their plane had engine problems

My wife's trip wasn't long after that incident, so maybe they were trying to recover some PR.

GP

 

[GreatPig]

The issue with budget airlines is that in the fine print, if your flight is delayed (even if it is their fault) then they do not provide accommodation for the duration

Just out of interest, I took a look at the full terms and conditions of carriage for both Jetstar and Singapore Airlines, and neither state they will do that.

Jetstar specifically says that it won't be responsible for any costs involved with delays or cancellations, but Singapore states that the only things it will do in those cases is either try to get you to your destination on some other flight or by some other method, or give you a refund - and that's the extent of their liability. No mention of covering costs involved with delays.

I'm no lawyer, but that's how I read it anyway.

GP

 

[Pushka]

Just out of interest, I took a look at the full terms and conditions of carriage for both Jetstar and Singapore Airlines, and neither state they will do that.
Jetstar specifically says that it won't be responsible for any costs involved with delays or cancellations, but Singapore states that the only things it will do in those cases is either try to get you to your destination on some other flight or by some other method, or give you a refund - and that's the extent of their liability. No mention of covering costs involved with delays.

GP

So what SIA is saying is that it will get you there and back, or give you back your money; Jetstar says, well, we dont guarantee to do anything for you even if THEY mess up? That is a huge difference in admission of liability. And knowing how good their customer service is, I think SIA would cover any accommodation charges, or would ensure that they got you on to another flight within a few hours anyway. On one of those empty flights that others are talking about.....