Any suggestions as to what online travel companies offer the most competitive rates for the following

Business Class

Cathay Pacific / Qantas / Singapore Airlines


Cheers

Anth

Try TNT magazine or web site for their advertisements and also Travelmoood, Travelbag, Austravel and trailfinders

Don't know about Business Class specifically - spent all my cash on shipping the books, not much left for myself! However, I finally ended up booking with Cathay through Austravel - they have lost a lot of bookings due to SARS so were doing cheap deals. If you are lucky they may still be cheap.

we found a good deal through http://www.bridgetheworld.co.uk/
flying with ba and quantas

Check your baggage allowances though - Austravel tried to book me with Qantas, but were told I'd only get migrant baggage allowance if I booked direct with Qantas. So if you're banking on that extra 20 kilos, remember to ask whoever you book with to check for you.

Singapore Airlines are offering deals in Business Class at the moment.

My father in law has booked 2 tickets to Auckland for 1720 pounds each (normal fare is 2500) return.

Its the same to Perth.

Great to fly Business Class but between the two of you you'll pay the best part of 2500 pounds more.

Convert this into Oz dollars and you've got yourself a nice holiday.

Fly economy and check into a swanky spa for 5 days to recuperate.

Good luck

I was just thinking the same regarding economy. Being a tight git as the first & present wife would vouch. rolleyes:

Make sure you also think about getting a return ticket.
1 they usually are ok for 12 month's, well you never know, sod's law & all that.
2 dearer to book from Oz
3 peace of mind, & if there is a panick you don't have to react irrationally OR pay through the nose as with all emmergencies.
4 You may only save £100 if you book 1 way in any case
5 If you do have to go back within the 12 months, you can book again from the uk & have the people you are over there to support, know you are only a day away again if a follow up is required.

I for one would sleep with mystic meg if it helped, well she may be right one day.
It would also be just my luck to sort my life out nice & dandy when some inconsiderate relative decides to go on there travels to a different world. :

My fiance was distraught when I suggested getting a return ticket!!! Poor boy! However, once again the deciding factor was the baggage allowance, which usually only goes with a one-way ticket. Have to live for 3 weeks here and a possible 3 months there on what I take with me..... arghh!!! panic!

When I first emmigrated I had a return ticket and the extra baggage allowance.

Singapore Airlines

Got 2 x 33kg bags via the States (and free stop-over in New York) with BA/Quanta for £594 + taxes. This was to Wellington. See Travelmoods Specials.

Also see www.leestravel.co.uk. They do via Far East trips and sometimes have amazing prices. Go on their e-mail list.

Roger

We came with Emirates. http://www.emirates.com/
Their Business Class was quite reasonable, and a stopover in Dubai is fantastic.

....unless you are a white woman travelling on her own. In which case you get the slowest service on board, appalling treatment by (male) ground staff during delays, and are made to feel you really ARE the lowest of the low. Its a culture thing, I know that, and I'm not being racist - different cultures have different "pecking orders" and priorities, but although most people say Emirates are brilliant, personally I would never fly with them - or any Arabic ariline - again.

Intersting that you say this.

I've flown Emirates 5 times and have only seen Western cabin crew.

Maybe its a female thing rather than an Arabic thing.

No, I'm a very "un-girlie" female, but also not an outrageous feminist! The only place I have felt "unsafe" in 39 years was Dubai. I have lots of friends on the airlines, know how to treat the crew with respect, all that kind of thing, and I don't expect special treatment. The crew on my six sectors were a mix of western/arabic, when there was a man in my seat row he always got precedence. On 2 occasions, DXB-SIN, the men got served in our section of seating, then 15 minutes later they came back and offered drinks to the women! Lots of "tutting" by the crew if they were called for drinks between service runs, that kind of thing. I've had lousy service from Qantas but this lot beat them hands down.
Then stuck in Dubai, going to miss my connections in Singapore & Melbourne, myself and 2 other women were repeatedly told that they could not get messages through, nothing could be done, "you sit and wait". when we finally got called to the gate, after a 10 hour overnight delay, we heard that certain people on the flight - all blokes - had been called to the desk,then got a free meal, free phone calls, we had nothing cos it was overnight and the shops all shut! Thats life I guess, but i would avoid them again.
The scariest bit though - which you blokes will laugh at, but I think the women will understand - was dozing off on an airport seat, with your luggage tied to your ankle, then waking up with a start to find two Arabic-looking men eyeing you from each side with that "seedy" look in their eyes. Not much actually frightens me, but that flight/transit stop did. And I'm quite surprised too that 3 years later, I still won't even consider going through the Middle East; even the thought of it scares me.

I suppose different people have different experiences and perspectives. Travelling with a young child, we found Dubai an ideal location both for a stopover and a holiday. We have never experienced any problems with cabin crew or the people in Dubai. In fact, we have found everyone genuinely very friendly towards us.

There is certainly a cultural bias towards both the locals and males in general, which I in no way condone, and there are certainly a few other negatives. Western females travelling alone can certainly expect to be leered at. I would not go to the public beaches, for example, and stick to one of the hotels and pay to use their private beaches. It also does get very hot.

The positives for us were that the beaches are fantastic. Very clean and safe for toddlers – no surf. Bars and restaurants are good and the quality of service and food is excellent. Again, every bar and restaurant is very child friendly. Fantastic water park (Wild Waddie?). Quad bike riding and 4 wheel drive trips on the desert sand dunes for the adults.

For a family stop over or short holiday destination, I would certainly rate it higher than the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok.