RachelH

I know that Emirates will let you do a stopover in Maldives but am confused - do you fly back to Dubai after your stopover to go on to Aus - seems a bit odd to go back to go forward if that makes sense!

Me and OH STILL so confused about where to go - three kids, will be 2 3 year olds and a 1 year old so will need big room or suite!

Anyone want to suggest somewhere.........kid friendly but great for adults???

medwaymark

Emma went to Dubai this month, said it was good.

Are they charging you much for a stopover?

RachelH

I know but it will be January and OH thinks it will be "too cold" in Dubai!! Not looked into costs yet.......just putting feelers out!

medwaymark

I'm no expert, but I think Dubai will be warm in January

medwaymark

This page gives the averages for Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Not as warm as I expected, so I take that back!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/c...ml?tt=TT002910

sals

Look at booking one way flights individually. That's what I've done. Manchester to Bali with Qatar airlines (£370 ea). Booked 1 week in Bali (£300 for 2 B&B 5* Ocean view). Then Bali to Brisbane with Jetstar(£200 ea). Going begining Jan. Cheapest I could find one way was £712 ea without stopover.

medwaymark

Blimey, that looks like a good way to do it....

h2oskineil

Not trying to be the person with the cheapest flight... but I recently looked at London to Perth January 2008 for £260.00 one way....

Oasis Hong Kong are flying to HK for as little as £165.00 (feb 2008)
Then a Jet Star flight to Singapore for £32.00 (feb 2008)
Then a Tiger Air flight to get me home to Perth £63.00 (feb 2008)
So I make that £260.00 one way, which I didn't think was too bad. You have to have a stop over in Singapore to catch the Tiger Airways flight.

I'm sure there are many restrictions on the flights, but it was a quick reference check..... would welcome any feedback from anyone who has done the route?

sals

And I thought I was a bargain hunter lol

karenvirginia

have just returned from trip to uk and we used oasis hong kong for that half of the journey (cathay pacific for the brisbane to hk)
could'nt fault them, on time, good service, etc. we did pay in advance for extra legroom seats which was worth it and you do pay if you want alcoholic drinks, worst thing is having to travel from gatwick up to birmingham? we took a one way car rental to save having to ask a rellie to come and fetch us as trains and buses would have been difficult.
we had a night in hong kong either way, in hindsight a bit longer could have been better... our first time in hk, we stayed in wan chai on way out, it was raining all the time and two cabs we took had non english speaking drivers, we never found two pubs we wanted to visit run by friends, it all seemed too big, too busy, too hot... enjoyed the star ferry though. so, on the way back we stayed at a resort in castle peak, beatiful hotel which we never left really. relaxed and swam and walked on the beach away from the crowds.
somehow we missed so much, maybe next time, if we have a bit longer....

Bobcat

Haven't done Maldives Mauritius......................... but we did do the Seychelles enroute down-under and that was just magic

wardy2

I am thinking of the maldives stopover, a big big dream of mine, on route to Australia this could be my last chance to go .

I would suspect you have to go back to Dubai the airport would be to small at Male to go as far as Singapore I would suspect.

Dubai I suspect would be quite cold I know Bahrain fairly well and its just accross the water and believe me it can get pretty cold.

We also have been advised to try booking flights seperately can get good discounts.

alipally

When we were in Dubai in August.. .ALL the locals said that the best time of year to visit Dubai is between December and February! That's the time of year most tourists go as it's high twenties/early 30's most days.

The heat was unbearable in August, it was like somebody had a blowtorch going next you all the time!

I fancied going to Mauritius as a stop over but I think it's going to end up like this;

Florida, LA, hawaii(possibly!) then on to Australia... but it's not set in stone, haven't even got the visa yet!

I'm already worrying about shipping the dog and the contents of the house!

Up To Late

Mauritius is fabulous for kids! We had a holiday there a few years ago.

You might be able to get a package deal for flight and hotel and then book another separate flight to Oz??? Not sure but could work out well. Accomodation in Mauritius is hard to get unless you book a package - there is a limit on the number of flights and hotels - which is why it is magical!

gedge

i'd reckon you'd have to return to Dubai to make the onward flight as someone said already
the Maldives to me is more of a couples location, you might find the islands a little small to hold enough entertainment for kids, but maybe not
and as for the price of accommodation, it seemed expensive when we were kid free and on two wages

i don't reckon you'd find Dubai all that cold - perhaps not beach weather and the night time temp drops significantly