quoll

Most times I have done it with an early morning arrival and could have done a 2 hour transfer but have always booked much longer intervals than that. Sometimes I have been lucky enough to have arrived early and been put on an earlier flight through to Canberra but I always book the whole journey on one ticket because then they take responsibility for you if things go pear shaped.

Family of 3

Normally it's pretty good, but my sister and husband have both had delays in the past month.

Confiscating your peas? Seems a bit strict. I try to ALWAYS bring back (packaged) food as the queue is usually shorter, and never had it confiscated (although a British woman on Customs Duty was very tempted to take my M+S chipsticks....)

sassie

If the Qantas flight is all the way through then you will be fine. Your bags will be checked right through to your destination and would have to be located and offloaded if you were not going to be on the connecting flight, so if there was a delay (within reason) they would hold the flight.

However if for whatever reason the delay was too long for the flight to be held, then Qantas would look after you - hotel accommodation, transfers, meal vouchers and usually guarantee you a seat on the next available flight.

Mazza12

I have flown Emirates Glasgow to Sydney 3 times (the last one being in August 2011) and on each occasion the wait at Dubai was 9 or 10 hours. We were given a complimentary overnight stay in a hotel which was 5 minutes away from the airport. A complimentary bus service takes you out to the hotel and brings you back to the airport in the morning. Breakfast at the hotel was also included. There is no extra cost for this and it's available to all Emirates passengers with a wait time of more than 8 (or 9 - sorry can't remember) hours in Dubai. Having booked my tickets online, I know that this service isn't explicitly advertised but I called the Emirates office in Glasgow to ask about it. Hotel vouchers were then ready for me to collect at the Emirates desk (not the check-in desk) in the airport on the day of the flight. The hotel was very good and it was a relief to get a shower and a few hours sleep prior to the long Dubai to Sydney leg of the journey. Hope this helps.

bcworld

Technically this is only supposed to be available if there is no short connection available. The OP mentioned there was a more expensive short connection.

It also only applies to specific fare buckets so check that too.

http://www.emirates.com/english/plan...stopovers.aspx

Mazza12

Oh ok - thanks. There were obviously no shorter connection options on the Glasgow - Dubai - Sydney flights when I travelled.

seat151

There is a singapore flight (LHR - SIN SIN - PER) with just a 50 minute connection and thats fine. They will hold the plane for you if the delay is not excessive

Pollyana

Going back a couple of years I remember being on a delayed LHR-SIN flight which arrived with the cabin crew asking everyone to stay seated as the Perth flight was being held for 20 people on our flight and please could they be allowed off first to run to Gate X. Its the only time I've been on a flight where people did stay in their seats and not all jump up at once when the seatbelt sign goes off!

sassie

"when the seatbelt sign goes off"!!! I can't remember the last flight I was on when people have stayed in their seats until the seatbelt sign goes off on landing. It would seem that as soon as the aircraft has come to a standstill this is the signal for everyone to get up and start moving about the cabin.

tetley86

Thanks for the replys guys, didn't realise qantas would be responsible if they were any delays, think I'll just book with them. Cheers

Pollyana

Since the Qantas A380 incident they have certainly got hot on it and on my last international flight one crew member even walked up the aisle and stood eyeballing a passenger until he sat down again! Always happens though, I just sit there longing from a BUMP that chucks them all of balance, not a serious one, just enough to make the point.

sassie

Also just be mindful that depending on what flight you might book with Qantas, the flight from LHR to Singapore will probably be operated by a British Airways aircraft as BA and Qantas now code share the route from London to Sydney. BA will fly down to Singapore and then Qantas to Sydney.

tetley86

Yeah I noticed, when booking it tells you flight numbers and who operates the flights and I've went with a package that's all qantas.

bcworld

Qantas is keeping its LHR - SIN routes though, it's pulling out of LHR - BKK and LHR - HKG soon so those will definitely be BA operated.