Possibly Australia Bound: Advice Sought

Number One son has decided to spend a year travelling the world and he and his mother are cooking up a plan to meet up in Sydney. I know that any three V-Flyers may produce four answers to the question I am about to ask, but I am going to ask it anyway....

Leaving aside price, and assuming it will be a paid for fare, what would the V-Flyer recommendation be for the top three airlines for a business class offering Australia? I realise that routing may be important in this, so advice on this would also be appreciated, though we wouldn't have much time for stopovers.

As always, thanks in advance for any and all guidance.

Paul

Having recently looked at flights to NZ Emirates had some very attractive business class deals a couple of months ago LHR-AKL around 3K.

HVWlover has been to Oz the last two years and he has flown on Emirates and has done trip reports too.

I think he flew via DXB in J.

I also believe their champers stocks have just about recovered !

My top three in J (in no order):

- Qantas (on the A380)
- VS
- Cathay Pacific (but only the new business class, the old one was awful)

However this may not have any parallel to the top three by lowest cost. While EK probably always tops that list, and it's J is a solid offering (especially the single outside seats in business on the upper deck of an A380) I find the experience akin to a cattle market at times.

My top three in J (in no order):

- Qantas (on the A380)
- VS
- Cathay Pacific (but only the new business class, the old one was awful)

However this may not have any parallel to the top three by lowest cost. While EK probably always tops that list, and it's J is a solid offering (especially the single outside seats in business on the upper deck of an A380) I find the experience akin to a cattle market at times.

Thanks for the advice. As this would be truly a once in a lifetime trip I'm not yet at the penny counting stage. Nor am I ruling VS out, it's more that I get the (possibly misplaced) feeling that some see the carriers heading east as offering consistently better product and I might be tempted to give someone else a go this time around.

How would I tell if the Cathay Pacific offering was to be the "new" offering?

HVWlover has been to Oz the last two years and he has flown on Emirates and has done trip reports too.

I also believe their champers stocks have just about recovered !

Just in time for him to be off again in February 2013, I think...

No votes for SQ?

(Just wondering - never flown with them in J but have always thought they were good on the few occasions I've flown with them in Y)

You can only judge on what you find.

I have made two trips to OZ in the last eight months and am going back in late January. All these flights have been and are in J on EK, a combination of 380s and 777s.

However I am not an EK fan boy, I make my choice based on price. And I cannot justify spending nearly £1500 more to travel on VS, this is MY money I am spending and that represents quite a few bottles of Limestone Ridge. And, quite frankly, VS cannot offer me that extra value. For a start the food and the booze are better, if not in a different league, on Emirates. See the photos in my TRs.

Regarding other contenders. I would also look at Cathay providing you get the new business class rather than the old regional variant offered on a lot of the A330 flights down from Hong Kong.

Qantas I am unsure about, friends who have flown recently have found the service disappointing. With the link with Emirates coming you could still end up on EK metal anyway. Singapore I rule out on price too. Other options include Malaysia of which I have heard good things.

As you know Paul, I am happy to answer any questions you have , either here or on Facebook.

Regards,
David

PS And I did indeed receive confirmation from EK that all champagne stocks have been replenished..how very silly of them!!! Bring on the vintage Veuve Clicquot and the Dom Perignon.

You can only judge on what you find.

I have made two trips to OZ in the last eight months and am going back in late January. All these flights have been and are in J on EK, a combination of 380s and 777s.

However I am not an EK fan boy, I make my choice based on price. And I cannot justify spending nearly £1500 more to travel on VS, this is MY money I am spending and that represents quite a few bottles of Limestone Ridge. And, quite frankly, VS cannot offer me that extra value. For a start the food and the booze are better, if not in a different league, on Emirates. See the photos in my TRs.

Regarding other contenders. I would also look at Cathay providing you get the new business class rather than the old regional version offered on a lot of the flights down from Hong Hong.

Qantas I am unsure about, friends who have flown recently have found the service disappointing. With the link with Emirates coming you could still end up on EK metal anyway. Singapore I rule out on price too. Other options include Malaysia of which I have heard good things.

As you know Paul, I am happy to answer any questions you have , either here or on Facebook.

Regards,
David

PS And I did indeed receive confirmation from EK that all champagne stocks have been replenished..how very silly of them!!! Bring on the vintage Veuve Clicquot and the Dom Perignon.

As I said in my PM, David is the Emirates Guru y)

[honey lamb]

No votes for SQ?

(Just wondering - never flown with them in J but have always thought they were good on the few occasions I've flown with them in Y)

I flew SQ to Singapore just over twelve months ago and quite frankly the experience wasn't as mind-blowing as I had been led to believe. OK, so I was addressed by name but from a manifest that the cabin crew held in her hand. Everything was seamless but lacking warmth and as if done by rote. A friend who had also travelled on an A380, albeit with another airline, summoned it up perfectly by calling it "mechanised"

No votes for SQ?

(Just wondering - never flown with them in J but have always thought they were good on the few occasions I've flown with them in Y)

I flew SQ to Singapore just over twelve months ago and quite frankly the experience wasn't as mind-blowing as I had been led to believe. OK, so I was addressed by name but from a manifest that the cabin crew held in her hand. Everything was seamless but lacking warmth and as if done by rote. A friend who had also travelled on an A380, albeit with another airline, summoned it up perfectly by calling it "mechanised"

Couldn't agree more, the seat was lovely, but the cabin was soulless, the crew were perfunctary and following your advise HL I tried both the chef and non-chef options, but didn't think any were particularly good. Lounges were poor too. I wouldn't do it again.

As for others I've flown Jet, Cathay, EK, Singapore, BA, VS and Qantas to the Far East or Australia. Some of my EK TRs are in the log and while I find EK strong and the offering on the A380s good to very good (and try to upgrade using Skywards miles if you can, even on board which is a really good option to have), I find the whole EK experience like a crowd and the bar on the A380s can get very rowdy and unpleasant, and the crews vary between great to shite.

Re. Cathay, there's a long thread on FT about the refits to the business cabin here. It seems at the moment you have to choose B777 operated flights.

and the crews vary between great to shite.

And that is probably applicable to nearly every airline flying.

Also worthy of consideration IMHO because of friends recent experience and/or other reviews are Qatar and Thai, both of whom seem to be delivering a quality product CONSISTENTLY.

Re routing, you choose either the Middle or Far East. Three hours in a location between flights to have a shower and stretch legs is ample and means that you don't lose too much "being there" time.