Buying Flights from the UK for Oz to UK?
Discussion
Pommygranite said:
Has anyone done this? bought their flight from Australia to the UK return but through a UK site and in doing so saving on the cost?
If so any site recommendations/tips?
Tired of paying top whack fares from here to get back...
In my experience it doesn't work like that. It's tickets that start in the UK and return here that are cheaper than ones that start in Australia and return there, not which country you buy them from.If so any site recommendations/tips?
Tired of paying top whack fares from here to get back...
One I have heard is not to fly into or out of London/UK to avoid the airport charges. ie fly into one of the other European capitals and get the train or a local flight; ie separate tickets. Of course if you have family with you, this is probably not convenient as it probably involves a bit of time doing it and dragging luggage everywhere.
Edited by motomk on Monday 4th August 11:01
I've also tried this, using a friend with their own travel agency business in the UK, and basically you're charged by the location of the start of your journey. Start in Oz? Get the lube and bend over. If you think you'll be going back every 12 months or earlier, then get a one-way from here, and by the LHR-Australia-LHR ticket in the UK. As others have pointed out, there's not as much difference now as there was 10-20 years ago.
However, you can save by landing in Brum or Manchester, rather than London. Even Paris (CDG) is cheaper than LHR. Also going indirect is, a little strangely, sometimes cheaper. Try a flight that has an additional European touch/go before the UK. I've done this going to the US, using AirNZ from Sydney - stops in AKL before LAX, at the time was $500 cheaper each way.
However, you can save by landing in Brum or Manchester, rather than London. Even Paris (CDG) is cheaper than LHR. Also going indirect is, a little strangely, sometimes cheaper. Try a flight that has an additional European touch/go before the UK. I've done this going to the US, using AirNZ from Sydney - stops in AKL before LAX, at the time was $500 cheaper each way.
WeirdNeville said:
You basically can't do it. It's the ticketing that is expensive, despite the attempts to identify you as an Australian customer by where you browse from. My Laptop can pretend to be in the UK or indeed nowhere at all, and yet the Airline sites still identified me as Australian and gave Australian pricing.
We got Returns off peak in an advanced sale for $1,600 a seat, BA+Cathay, on decent aircraft (A380+777) and with decent flight times. Best UK pricing is around £800, so we weren't too far off that given the exchange rate.
We used a travel agent who were bloody awful. I'll give you the name face to face so you can avoid them. Never has so much been so f
ked up by so few. THEY HAD ONE JOB! ONE JOB!!!! (Sorry, it still hurts).
I can get round the geolocation of my ip I just need the right place to buy We got Returns off peak in an advanced sale for $1,600 a seat, BA+Cathay, on decent aircraft (A380+777) and with decent flight times. Best UK pricing is around £800, so we weren't too far off that given the exchange rate.
We used a travel agent who were bloody awful. I'll give you the name face to face so you can avoid them. Never has so much been so f
ked up by so few. THEY HAD ONE JOB! ONE JOB!!!! (Sorry, it still hurts).
Awesome - tell me Saturday!
I bought tickets for an Adelaide to London trip in from the UK two years ago come August.
I called the travel agents (via skype) directly and I managed to save around $500 AUS at that time. My flight came in at $1550 according to my credit card. The cheapest agent for me at that time was STA travel, who were very helpful throughout.
I called the travel agents (via skype) directly and I managed to save around $500 AUS at that time. My flight came in at $1550 according to my credit card. The cheapest agent for me at that time was STA travel, who were very helpful throughout.
How about using one of the budget airline like Tiger/AirAsia to fly to KL or Singapore then get separate tickets from their to Europe.
You can get Tiger / AirAsia return for under $300 when on sale and I'm pretty sure that you can get return KL / Singapore to Europe for under $1000 return.
This needs organising but not a lot really and this could give you a stopover either way if you want. I've flown with both budget airline loads of times and never ever had a problem.
I'd been trying to buy tickets for my mum and sister to visit me in the UK using sights like skyscanner, expedia UK and Ireland etc as well as Qantas website directly. You can save a small amount maybe a $100 or so but that could all be eaten up by exchange and credit card charges.
If you really want to save and are flexible then return budget airline to Asia then separate ticket to Europe is you best bet.
You can get Tiger / AirAsia return for under $300 when on sale and I'm pretty sure that you can get return KL / Singapore to Europe for under $1000 return.
This needs organising but not a lot really and this could give you a stopover either way if you want. I've flown with both budget airline loads of times and never ever had a problem.
I'd been trying to buy tickets for my mum and sister to visit me in the UK using sights like skyscanner, expedia UK and Ireland etc as well as Qantas website directly. You can save a small amount maybe a $100 or so but that could all be eaten up by exchange and credit card charges.
If you really want to save and are flexible then return budget airline to Asia then separate ticket to Europe is you best bet.
Edited by onny on Tuesday 5th August 23:24
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