Poppy

Hi

Just thought I would let you know the quote we got from IOM (International Orgranisation for Migration) for 2 adults and 3 children over 2 from Heathrow to Melbourne one way, it was $3249USD which works out to be about £1700 at the moment and that is with Quantas flying in November (they don't need a date for a quote, just the month of travel). They do say that because of interest rates, that the price can change slightly, but they also give you the 40kg of luggage allowance. Only drawback is, you don't get a voluntary stopover which is a shame, so don't know if we are going to take advantage of it or not as we would like a stopover which brings me to the next question:

Can you tell me, what stopovers you did, if any, how long for and a rough cost of the airfare if you remember, just thought it would be good to get see where people went and any advice from anybody who did the Sri Lanka stopover would be greatly appreciated.

We have had a quote from Trailfinders to go:

Heathrow - Sri Lanka - Singapore (all Sri Lanka Air) - Melbourne (Emirates)

one way for 2 adults and 3 kids £2550 one way! That is with 10 days in Sri Lanka and 2 days in Singapore, only thing is, I feel I haven't got time to sort the accomodation out as it is coming up quite pricey in Sri Lanka and the car journey to take us to the best parts is around 4 hours which I'm not sure I could handle with the kids, but we have always wanted to visit the country so maybe we'll just go for it, but we didn't want a hotel, more a kind of bungalow to get the real feel for the place but with everything else I've got to do, it is so time consuming!

Anyway, would love to hear where you stopped off and for how long if you don't mind and a rough cost of the flights.

My head is so full of everything we have to do, I think it's going to explode, but for those of you already there, you'll know exactly where I'm coming from, it is very stressful and I wish it was all sorted.

Thanks in advance and good luck to all those waiting.

datamile

Looking at expedia. Travelling mid november ( it will get more expensive each week until xmas)

Cathay Pacific via HK £1805
Malaysia visa Kuala lumpur £1951
United via LA 1974
Quantas £2032
Singapore via singapore 2067

opodo was more expensive

deckchair.com slight cheaper £50

Poppy

Hi

Thanks for that, its really useful and looks like you've been doing your research.

We are leaving beginning of November and I daren't book the flights yet until we get somebody confirmed to rent our house, otherwise we'll be in a big mess!

Good luck with your move.

nickyblonde

Hi Poppy

When I flew to Oz it was a few years ago (2002) but here are the details :

Singapore Airlines
Manchester (UK) - Sydney
On the return Journey we did a stop off for 6 weeks.
Took advantage of the Singapore Airlines hotel offer (£20 per person / per night) and used the courtesy bus they have running around Singapore to see all of the sights. Then headed up to Malaysia and Thailand for some sightseeing. Flew back from Kho Samui to Singapore to catch connecting flight back to Manchester (UK).
Cost £620
Agent - http://www.leestravel.com/holiday/
This is a great site to use to keep any eye on the offers that the different airlines have.
The flights tend to be return tickets though, which are valid for up to 1 year.

PATB

[QUOTE=Poppy]Hi

i am also booked to fly out in early November (to Brisbane)with Singapore airlines. i dont have any stopovers, just straight through. Singapore airlines are allowing us all, inc. children 40kg each. we had to send a copy of our visas to them before being allowed the extra baggage. 2500 euros one way
so much to do, so little time.

Poppy

nickyblonde - Lees website is great for seeing the offers from the airlines, thank you I'll call them tomorrow to see if they do stopovers or one way included in those.

PATB, thanks for your reply too, know what you mean about so much to do, such little time, what a nightmare, wish I'd started months ago!