IKnowNothing

I need to go back to the UK for a week in January 2020, then I'm seeing my mates who run a resort in Palawan (Philippines Island) for a couple of weeks for a holiday, then back to Dubai.

So, dates are as follows:-

DXB-LON 14 Jan
LON-MAN 22 Jan
MAN-DXB 5 Feb

Emirates Economy - AED30,000
Emirates Business - AED56,000

So I went on Skyscanner

GulfAir flights (admittedly via Bahrain but....)

Economy AED3,100
Business AED12,100

Which do think I'm going to be choosing?

Can anyone else find a more crazy pricing structure? 9x the cost for economy? 4.5x the cost for Business.

OK the flights do take around 7 hours longer overall, 40Hr 30mins v 33Hrs 10mins, but come on.

Yes I know that the DXB BAH and the BAH-MAN flights aren't brand new but still.

What would you choose (you're paying yourself)?

Pongo

Millhouse

Or just buy a London return and a Manila return. You have to go via Dubai anyway.

IKnowNothing

OK, I may be stoopid here but.....

I'm not going back to London (Pongo post), so on way back what do I do? Just get off the plane and hope my luggage is there?

Millhouse, there is that, DXB-LON 2,405 (Cheapest), DXB-MNL 1905.
Business it's DXB-LON 12,105 and DXB-MNL 6995

So that's 4,310 or 19,110.

I'm still thinking GulfAir for 12k - who's flown them recently?

Why does EK make it so massively expensive on their website?

spouse of scouse

If you don't mind flying one leg in economy (London to Amsterdam, about one and a half hours), you can get business flights for your itinerary for AED 10,776 on Kayak.com Too many stops and layovers for me, but I'm an old fart. Airlines are Oman Air, EasyJet and China Airlines.

jam25mack

Try expedia (or similars) and do multistop option. I've used this apprach in the past and have had a few decent bargains.

Last time I got a weekend in Amsterdam for only 100 AED extra.

UKCityGent

Seriously you would have a flight journey for 40 hours ??

I would go crazy !!

scrubbedexpat141

Keep playing with the flights. If it's a lay over in Dubai of longer than 24 hours I think they automatically take your bags off and give you. Maybe that works on the way back? Keep juggling and you'll find some bargains.

nonthaburi

Been flying Gulf regularly the past couple of years as since Qatar went they're the best option for me from the provincial airport nearby .

For long haul flights like London or Manilla they will be using the brand new 787-9 dreamliner, which are very nice. I find the CC friendly and the service good. They're not stingy with booze either.

Bahrain airport is small and basic and does get busy, but there are a couple of decent lounges.

They're not the best airline out there, but they're not the worst either.