Long haul dilemma

[Slatterna]

Work is pretty busy but I want to go and see OH in Aus before Brexit.

I'm wondering how crazy I need to be to contemplate going back to work the morning after I return (potentially a Thursday night so back to work on the Friday morning. Gulp).

Last time I had a day to recuperate at home before going back to work. I felt pretty discombobulated but it was a Friday so it was just one day before the weekend and I could recover a bit more. Took me a week before I felt my normal self.

Either that or I come back home earlier in the week but then that leaves me with more time at work, potentially feeling very tired and weird with jet lag.

Also, I've always flown with Emirates before. Cathay are looking quite good price wise but due to the funky flight times I'm wondering if it would be safe to book through a travel website. STA? Kayak? It's been a long time since I booked flights not with the airline and I'm a little nervous about doing so.

Decisions! Any advice?

I do acupressure for jetlag now. Google it. It works for me.
Kayak, Skyscanner, etc are fine to book through

I really don't think that flights to Oz will be cancelled post brexit if that helps at all

It's more things rising in price I'm worried about.

I'll look into acupressure, thanks.

So you'd be in work the one day (Friday) then have the weekend to recover?

In my experience of flying back from Oz, I feel ok for part of the day after, then feel utterly shattered and completely spaced out. So you could probably power through some of the day, and coast through the rest, depending on your job...

Kayak, Skyscanner, Opodo all fine to book flights through - for you id say the key consideration should be decent flight times to make the most of your time / make sure you get home at a decent time to maximise your chances of sleep

Good luck!

I always prefer to book direct with the airline rather than a third party as then you have direct access to your booking and direct contact with them if needed. Otherwise you have to contact the company you made your booking with, wait for them to contact the airline, wait for the airline to get back to them and then wait for the company to get back to you with the airlines response...

Booking direct also means direct access to your booking so you can log in online for seat selection, mobile boarding pass etc.

A reputable agency with a high street presence, like STA is fine , but Skyscanner etc often direct you to obscure OTAs many of which have lots of complaints on the TripAdvisor airline forums...

Most long haul airlines you can also get up to 10%, cashback via a cashback site,.

I'm wondering how crazy I need to be to contemplate going back to work the morning after I return (potentially a Thursday night so back to work on the Friday morning. Gulp).

Yeah, you can hang by your thumbs for a day at work. Just don't sit down and stop till you get home. And if you can work to your jet lag, even better. (I regularly get flights which land back in the UK with the first batch at LHR around 5.30am, and I am good to go till mid afternoon. As long as I can get to 8pm, I'm happy)

buttermilk is right,
I look at sky scanner/other, then may, or not, book direct with airline. depends which is cheapest.
as for price comparisons you can see the whole month, which makes it easy to pick the cheapest day, if you are at all flexible.
I try & get a night flight home, as the plane is dark, & there is more chance of sleep. & use Bose travel headphones which cut out outside noise (infants) I try & avoid films & (terrible) meals, prefer eating before the flight, I always pay for a window seat, you can lean on the bulk head & the places are more spacious plus no one asks you to move.
I also get out when plane is refuelling & walk (swiftly) a circuit for that time.

Get out when a plane is refuelling? Rubbish! This isn't allowed anywhere!
I always book my flights through Dial A Flight. Prices are often better than direct through the airline. For example, we flew to Sri Lanka last year, and direct with Emirates was £250 more than via Dial A Flight. We also sent to Thailand again via DAF, flying Etihad. The flights were changed a week before we flew, which meant we would need to book an overnight hotel room in Bangkok, as the onward flights to Phuket don't fly after 8pm. DAF sorted all this out, booked the hotel, rebooked the Phuket flight and even arranged for us to be met at Bangkok, fast tracked through customs and taken to our hotel. If we had booked directly, we would have had to sort all this out ourselves.
As far as jet lag is concerned, I haven't found anything that helps! We flew back from Thailand on a Thursday and I had the Friday off but my DH went to work. He fell asleep at work! We went over Christmas and it took me a month to recover from the jet lag. We went to Sri Lanka in summer and it only took me a few days to recover. I think a lot depends on the time of year. Going from a hot country to deepest darkest winter is a nightmare!

I have done it more than once in Bangkok (not recently though, so maybe its changed)

Thinking about it however, People were getting off half way, & others joining for the 2nd haul. so maybe that is not technically refuelling

I booked my flights :) Booked direct with the airline. Will be working the day after I get back but from home, so don't need to worry about falling asleep at my desk, or worse, the wheel of my car.

Can't wait!

Also thanks for all the advice and comments!