[NorskSaint]

Afternoon all,
Am looking to tap into the knowledge of the worldly travellers on this forum. Am due to go to SYD for two weeks work in December and wondered on any advice as to airline of choice?

Will be flying Ex-OSL, which limits it to BA, AY, EK, QR. Will be booked in Biz class. Flew earlier in the year to PEK with QR ex-LHR in Q-Suites, but believe ex-OSL QR have a different layout on their 787’s. Typically collect BA Avois if thats of use.

Any advice greatly received.

Thanks, NorskSaint

[canucklad]

Hi NorskSaint
If Avios is your thing, a little bit of research should also allow you to include QF and CX through codeshare agreements
And I’d have thought potentially more chance since your journey is originating in Oslo.
Try searching through Skyscanner or similar first, before engaging direct with the airline.
You might be lucky and get a BA / CX routing under a BA flight number

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NorskSaint

[sparkyflier]

From an avios points of view, BA via LHR with the plane stopping en route at Singapore could give you many of these, especially with their double avios promotion. The aircraft used on the longer sector is 777-300 ER.

But from a tier points perspective, Qatar would give you 600 points for the return (assuming you are member of BA Exec Club)- 140 for the Oslo-Doha sectors and 160 for the SYD sectors. Given you may already have 560 point from your earlier trip, this would put you well on the way to getting BA Gold/Oneworld Emerald.

Re in flight, Qatar is formidable for both seating and inflight service. I believe the Oslo route has both 788 and A350-900, and the flight to SYD has A350-1000 (with Q Suite) and A380. I love the latter and of course on that aircraft you get the bar/lounge..

Let us know what you decide and how it turns out!

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NorskSaint, EU_Flyer

[Gold-2K]

……And on the BA 777, the BA15 is staffed by mixed (and sometimes less experienced) crew, so service on board can be the luck of the draw. Also I personally dislike the large cramped club cabin on the BA777. Your other option could be to take the BA11 as far as Singapore which is an A380 then connect to a Qantas flight?

[rodders]

Norsk Saint
If you are keen to earn Avios, then I would look at either BA (40+160+140 tier points) and they offer a number of QF flights from Singapore plus their 380 service LHR/SIN.The other option would be CX routing through London or Brussels/Frankfurt. I used them last week from Japan and they were good (as usual), the final option would be to book on the QF site but use their codeshares with Emirates, and you earn Avios and TP’s if its booked on the QF flight codes, but the BA option will get you the max Avios.
Happy flying.

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NorskSaint

[Traveller73]

Why is BA15 a ‘mixed/less experienced crew’ I ask as I wait for BA15 online check in to open…:(
There have been some great deals out of Oslo this year with Qatar and BA offering J fares circa £2k.

Good luck with your flight selection!

[cwoodward]

Probably the best deal at the moment is Cathay Pacific ex LHR perhaps coupled with BA ex OSL – one ticket and bags checked to destination if needed. Cathay offer the fastest elapsed time the best frequency with 5 flights a day ex LHR to HKG and 4 flights a day with some good connections ex HKG to Sydney. Coupled with the newish fleet including the A350 -900 and 1000 and some of the worlds best lounges in HK its a good package . Being a Oneworld airline Avios are not an issue.

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NorskSaint

[nibbler]

From Oslo I have found the best option is Qantas ticketed on Emirates (though sometimes a leg over to Stockholm can get a better price.) The price is usually the same on the Qantas ticket but you get avios / tp for baec. If you are lucky you can sometimes get the 3 stop OSL-DXB-SIN-SYD routing rather than the two stop OSL-DXB-SYD if you are after TP maximisation.

So long as nothing changes I have a delightful 1260tp flight to Sydney in May from Osl in F.

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NorskSaint

[paulkaz]

Lots of great advice already. QR probably has the best hard and soft product.The A380 flight into Syd will be offered before the A350 flight when booking.
QF only has 1 A380 aircraft updated with the new J seats so worth checking if that aligns with your travel dates.
If you take nibbler’s Emirates suggestion via Sin select the second daily QF A330 flight for the Syd leg for the newer J seats.If you have high status you can access QF’s new Sin First lounge.
CX have amazing deals ex Syd at the moment as their revenue falls with the HK problems so you may get similar ex Europe. They may codeshare with AY so you could fly via Hel as another option. An exotic oneworld option is with JL via Hnd with great stop over deals if time permits.
We’re in a significant drought so you’ll get good weather once you get here!

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NorskSaint

[NorskSaint]

Thanks everyone, incredible advice so far. As with these things, a change of plan means I’m now flying OSL-MIA-SYD-OSL. To join up with colleagues I’ll be AA through to Sydney and as intimated above also favour CX or QR – haven’t flown CX so if I can wangle it I’ll give them a try, especially on the A350 – IMHO no other aircraft comes close to it at the moment.

Anyway thanks again, whilst I’ve been a lurker for many years and posted the odd comment, its great to have such wise people available!

NorskS

[NorskSaint]

As a further update I’ve managed a good old mixed bag of carriers and aircraft all in C, so will be interesting to sample them. It’s ended up being:
SK – OSL/ARN/MIA – B737/A330
AA – MIA/DFW – A321
QF – DFW/SYD – A380
QR – SYD/DOH/OSL – A350/B787

Unfortunately it will be the old style A380 with QF which is a shame. I’ll happily post thoughts afterwards, and thanks again everyone. I’ll have to fly another day with CX….

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paulkaz

[Author]

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