When to book flights
 

Hiya

We will be moving to the Gold Coast in Novmeber. I have heard that in general flights should be booked early to get the cheapest price, can anyone suggest when the best time owuld be to book flights and some holiday accomodation for a few weeks until we get settled.

Also if anyone knows of any caravan parks that we could stay at, I would be very intereted to hear about them as i would have imagined they would be the most reasonable in price?:confused:

Thanks, Thereze

Re: When to book flights
 

Hi, we did our reccie a couple of years ago in November 07 and kept an eye on flights for months but the prices changed very little, I'd use the time searching out good flight comparison sites etc and get a 'feel' for prices/routes that suit you.

:)

Re: When to book flights
 

I'd say the same thing, look at the prices for the dates you want to go now, also check what the prices are for in 1 months time and 2 months time and see if there is much difference.

Main things to consider in this current climate is that exchange rates and oil prices will effect things, so prices might change for the better (or worse) over the next few months.

So look regularly and you'll get a feel for which way they appear to be going and then you'll make the right decision on time to buy.

Just for info I booked 4 x one way flights today with AirAsia who are a new budget airline flying from Stansted to Malaysia and then on to Oz and it cost me £1100. The equivalent price on Qantas, and Singapore was £2200. My price included 25KG luggage and meals etc. However if I'd wanted to travel a week exactly a week earlier it was another £400. It's definitely worth a look, you have to book each bit separately i.e. London -> Kuala Lumpur, then Kuala Lumpur -> Oz but if it can save you what was 50% in our case, it's well worth it.

Best of luck

Allan

Re: When to book flights
 

Thanks, Wow that's much cheaper than any I have seen before, thanks for the advice!

Re: When to book flights
 

Just had a look and works out £200 cheaper for us to fly with airasia, but what is on board? Are the plane kitted out with TV's etc or is it basic seat and pay for everything (such as a cup of water?). What was your experience like?

Re: When to book flights
 

Re: When to book flights
 

Suddenly doesn't look worth the hassle. Seats look awful and lots of hidden extras....

Re: When to book flights
 

Yep must admit it doesn't look the best... However I'm saving £1100 when compared to Singapore or Qantas. So gonna risk it, I'll report back after the flights 21st March and let you know. I flew the A380 in November so will have something recent to compare against.

Also re the extras, I paid for all the extras I could at booking (meals, max bagage etc) and still saved £1100 so as long as the inflight ent costs less than £100 should still do OK.

I've got a feeling I may end up regretting it but you got to try these things at that saving in order to make your mind up for next time.

Wish me luck!!! I think I may need it LOL

Allan

Re: When to book flights
 

I don't think you'll have to worry about the cost of IFE as I don't think the plane operating the flight will have it! The A340 they are using is leased and was previously operated by Air Canada - it doesn't look like Air Asia are going to be putting in their own seats and are sticking with the Air Canada config.

The good news is that you won't have to squeeze yourself into those tiny seats, the bad news is that Air Canada didn't have personal TV in these planes. So if you have kids you should definitely be looking into options to keep them entertained.

The Air Asia website doesn't point out these things - they talk about the product like all planes are the same - they're not. The airbus I travelled on from Gold Coast to KL also had more spacious (old) seats but no IFE.

And as you're travelling to Perth I wouldn't be too worried about the seating on the new aircraft.....after all it's only 4 hours or so, the east coast is a bit of a different matter though.

Re: When to book flights
 

i would look at accommodation gold coast for november first, always loads going on late october & november. look at caravan parks away from surfers in november we have a fortnight of school leavers from qld then nsw so its gets a bit noisy. They are quite well behaved but dont think you need 100s of 17yr old on the same came site good luck with the trip

Re: When to book flights
 

I'm intrigued. You bought 4 one way tickets and it cost a total of £1100, from the UK to Oz. That sounds startingly good value. Too good to be true (I guess not hence the question)?

Since that equates to £275 per person which cannot be right.

If, however, you are saying you paid £1100 per person, I would say (depending on the time) that seems about the norm or expensive, given we paid in Janaury '09 £650 per person one way from London to Melbourne, and that was via Singapore Air on the new A380 so pukka service.

Q and BA are often more expeinsive but I do think I'd stick with the normal airlines, plus get baggage changed automatically, since this way you'll need to allow plenty of changover time to handle delays, and if you are very late with AirAsia you'll lose your flight for the next leg and have no recourse to refunds.

Just making sure everyone sees the pros and cons...

Re: When to book flights
 

Air Asia can be very cheap.......for example, they currently have a sale on where the are offering flights from Melbourne to KL one way for $82 i.e. $0 + taxes.

Re: When to book flights
 

Blimey - that is cheap. You get what you pay for but if you are single traveller or do not have kids, it's goota be well worth it.

Having travalled business class to Oz in the past, it is a far more refined way to travel and you do feel bettter on arrival - but you do not get there any quicker than the plebs (as I am now) in economy.

And that makes it seem like the additional cost is not worth it - unless someone else is paying....

Re: When to book flights
 

the risk of waiting is more fuel taxes...

i booked my flights 7 weeks before we flew last june... had we waited just 1 week the flights nearly doubled!

We used netair.co.uk I think lol

Re: When to book flights
 

One Way

Sat 19 Sep 2009 - London (STN) to Kuala Lumpur LCCT (KUL)


Premium "XL" Seats
Xtra Long, Xtra Plush
We give you just what you really need - a comfortable seat for you to sleep on
long-haul flights. Enjoy the spaciousness and comfort equivalent to business class seat
on legacy carriers' without the extra frills like check-in desks and airport lounges.


Depart

London(STN) to Kuala Lumpur LCCT(KUL)
Sat 19 Sep 2009

Depart 1810

Arrive 1410

Depart Total 549.00 GBP


Anyone know who best to fly with (cheapest value for money) from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane.


http://www.airasia.com/site/gb/en/home.jsp