Flights to Sydney help

[Muncha]

We're planning on going to Sydney in November 25 and I wondered if anyone could help advise on flights please?

We've never flown longer than 11 hours before and feeling a bit out of my depth with best way to do it.

Would you seasoned travellers recommend a short stop, in say Doha, for a few hours then powering on, or stopping off for a day or two to break it up? Where is good to stop?

Also when is the best time to book for November 25?

Any other tips would be great too.

DD has moved there for 5 years and we want to go but can't before then as we need to save.

We will need accommodation in Sydney too which I'm guessing will not be cheap.

Thanks

It depends how good you are at sleeping in economy. I can't.
When flying economy, I prefer to land on the evening and go to bed straight.
Not so much for jet lag but for lack of sleep, especially if the flight departed in the evening, live the BA from London at 10pm
I have been awake since 6 am (so 16 or so hours before flight) then the 20 something hours, means, I haven't slept for 36-38 hours, and I am dead on my feet not for the jet lag, but because of sleep depravation.
When flying business, I don't care, I have my flat bed.

For jetlag, there are products which are meant to alter circadian cycles, like the FlyKitt.

Accomodation around Christmas will be tricky so yes November is a better choice. AirBnb is something to look at. As others have said, you will be shocked by the price of eating and drinking.

Airlines wise, BA is always ALWAYS packed no matter the time of year. Singapore, Etihad, Emirates, Cathay, ... all fine. If going through Hong Kong, there is a second bag check right before the plane doors and all bottles are taken, so don't buy a drink for the flight.

Instead of buying multiple plug converters, just buy 1 and take a multi socket, so you can charge several things with just one. Look for an universal one, so no matter the country you are having a stopover , you can charge phone, iPad, ...

We are always short on time, so we never break the trip, even if for me, it is 3 flights to go home (Monaco) and the trip gets close to 27 hours. Consider that you lose days travelling. If you leave UK on the Wednesday night, you land on the Friday morning in Sydney. On the way back, it is just one day, say you leave Friday, you land Saturday.

Take a book or download movies on iPad, because once, my DD's tv was broken, so we swapped seat, and it was the BA12 so the same aircraft and same seat after refuelling in Singapore.

Yes to travel insurance. Medicare covers reciprocal health, but ambulance is not included, would you need one.

Australia is very different for heat. Even on the hottest day, temperature will go down very quickly once it is dark. And one day can be 40, the next 12.

November is a great time of the year. However, the water will still be freezing!!!! Sydney is a gorgeous city, You will love it. Make sure to come my way, the Northern Beaches. Very little to no tourists in Freshwater,

Would you pick Cathy pacific or Ethiad?

I've found flights for March and I'm very tempted to book them. Thank you

Sorry also have BA (taking heed of previous warnings so ruling them out) and Qatar.

Singapore is £150 more pp.

I would be equally fine with Cathay or Etihad - I’ve flown with both and both were great. I’d probably go on length of stop, what time they leave and arrive and base it on that.

Book the one that allows you to have a seat in an emergency exit or row in front of section separation wall. Makes massive difference.
In the off peak season, the chances of a less crowded flight (and free seats to lie down) is higher in Etihad.
In March, the water temperature is DIVINE!!!

We tend to 'power through' but then give our selves the first 24hrs in Sydney to decompress and only meet up with family thereafter.

Oh, and business class. Flatbed makes all the difference.

Plan to arrive in the morning, then stay awake until 9PM.

I'd say he opposite. I've always found that flights that arrive 8pm ish are ideal. Normally knackered enough that I go straight to bed. Can normally sleep until 5am ISH and then I'm just about on local time.

Arriving early morning is a day of torture trying to stay awake and I waste the whole day feeling grotty.

This. A flatbed is a game changer. Be careful when looking for Business Class deals. Scoot, the Singapore Airlines low cost airline, has no flat bed. Their business class means you get a free meal, but the seat doesn't recline any more than economy class.

Thank you all, business class is out of our reach but a less busy Ethiad sounds okay.

School holidays dates for NSW https://www.nsw.gov.au/about-nsw/school-holidays scroll down for the 2025.
March is right in the middle of term, so perfect low peak.

Thank you it sounds like March is a winner for us

I would not voluntarily through the middle east: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/21/australian-women-sue-qatar-airways-over-forced-examinations-at-doha-airport

Millions of people transit through Middle East airports everyday.
It's a bloody awful incident but the OP is unlikely to experience something similar.

It's not the only incident I know of--none of the others quite so serious, but many anti-women. The women to whom that happened have not been able to get any redress. And it has NEVER happened in Singapore or Hong Kong. I specifically will never fly Qatar, because I refuse to give my money to a company that treats women that way.

Sorry I have another question, is it much longer going via HK?

For some reason I feel pretty anxious about booking. I do this a lot. Overthink things

Also someone said book a flight where I can get seats on an exit row, how will I be able to check that before paying? On TUI short haul you book seats after paying.

If you go onto skyscanner OP you can compare various routes.

Stop overthinking. Compare flight times, cost and routes on skyscanner. Buy the one that's quickest and cheapest from your preferred airport.

I fly between NZ and UK multiple times a year. I've never bothered getting an exit row (sometimes they are more uncomfortable if they have quirks that mean they are worse than standard seats and it's not worth worrying about.

You won't be able to check seat availability before you buy unless you sign up to something like seatguru or expert flyer for a high cost.

Seriously just book and go!

Hong Kong pure flight time is actually 1 hour shorter (20 hours) compared to 21 for Dubai and Singapore. Then you need to add the stop over time.
I always select the seat before the final paying page, since different seats have different price.
Not having someone reclining their seat on you if you are at separation wall or have a lot more leg space in an exit row makes a difference in my view.

Why don't you ask your daughter to help you book. Make a FaceTime call and let her guide you through the steps as you book on your compute.

DD is going to call at the weekend and I'm going to book then.

Qatar/BA are the cheapest (ruled out BA on feedback here) but not much difference they start at about £870 -£1000 for Ethiad, Singapore Cathay. Haven't seen any Qantas so I assume they're £££

Thanks again everyone.

BA are perfectly fine. I've flown thousands of miles with them. You will get feedback from infrequent flyers who have experienced a flight delay or a substandard breakfast and declare them useless. Having said that they have less Aus flights than the Middle East carriers so one canx can throw you out.

I've flown Singapore, Cathay, Qantas and BA to Australia in the past. There's not really much between them tbh. I might choose Singapore over BA if all other things are equal but suitable flight times, total length of journey, price etc are much more important over carrier to me.

We flew Qatar airlines to NZ economy and I found the seating room and service to be far superior to BA long haul. This was pre covid though so it may have declined.

All planes are different too 747s v a380s v b777 v Dreamliner sometimes the seat comfort and pitch isn't the airline it's the aircraft.

Often the food is down to the provider. Ex Dubai, Emirates have more control over food content and quality than BA or Qantas. And same for any other airline.

I don’t agree. I’ve travelled a lot on a lot of different airlines. Compared to the other options, I found BA cabins shabby and not very comfortable and the cabin crew were grumpy. I wouldn’t choose them again.

I wouldn't worry about BA, honestly, I've done the flight a handful of times (and travelled to other places with them) and it's always been fine. Polite staff and pleasant flights.