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How you can do what I did and book a £205 Economy return flight to Sydney at noon today

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Qantas turned 99 last weekend and, to celebrate its 100th year, is running a special promotion.  A select few can fly to Sydney for £205 return.

20 tickets will be sold at noon each day from Monday to Friday this week.

There is also a broader sale running although we now know it is limited to only economy fares – more on that below.

At least 50% of the seats on Monday went to Head for Points readers.  Two went to me.  I expect stiffer competition now as word will have got out.

100 London – Sydney ‘Golden Tickets’ will be sold for peanuts

The biggest discount is to be had on 100 Qantas Golden Tickets.  These are extremely discounted economy fares between London and Sydney.

20 Golden Tickets are being released at 12 noon (UK time) every day this week, Monday to Friday. They are for travel on certain Qantas flights only between London and Sydney, with different outbound dates available each day. 

On Monday, tickets were not available for booking until 12:15, so don’t give up if you see nothing at 12 on the dot.  As the week has gone, however, Qantas seems to have got more punctual.

The Golden Tickets are in theory being sold for £205 although they are actually showing up at £195.  Qantas is essentially reducing the fare component to zero, with the remaining the usual Air Passenger Duty for economy flights. £195 to Sydney return, even in economy, is obviously a steal if your body can handle the direct flight – note that there is no option to add a stopover in Singapore.

The tickets are fairly inflexible, as you would expect:

  • They are valid only on flights QF1 and QF2 from London to Sydney (these are the A380 flights via Singapore).
  • No stopover permitted
  • No changes permitted
  • Non-refundable
  • No name changes permitted
  • Qantas.com only

Interestingly, the tickets DO accrue Qantas miles and status. You will earn 140 Status Credits and 12,400 Qantas Points in fare class E. Unfortunately, it looks like you will earn ZERO Avios and tier points if you use a BA Executive Club number, so it’s best to just open a Qantas account. A quick search on wheretocredit.com suggests no other oneworld airline programs credit for ‘E’ class either.

Booking information and travel dates will be announced at noon each day on the Centenary Sale page, together with the complete terms and conditions.

The tickets aren’t as difficult to get as you might think, although word will probably have around by Tuesday.  We know a few readers picked up tickets, and I myself got two.  Signing up for the Qantas frequent flyer program speeds up the booking process and makes it less likely that someone else grabs your seat before you can click ‘Pay’.  Make sure you are logged in at noon and that your credit card details are in your profile.

Economy Sale

The accompanying Centenary Sale is economy-only, which is a bit of a bummer!  Let’s hope there will be a separate premium fare sale during the centenary year.

The lead in prices are £699+ for flights to Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. Unlike the Golden Tickets the fare rules are a little more relaxed, since you’ll be able to take one stopover in each direction. You must stay a Saturday or at least 3 days.

You will be able to see all the terms and conditions on the Centenary Sale page here.

Conclusion

Whilst flying economy for 22+ hours is not something I actively look forward to, for the exceptional price of £195 it was too tempting to miss!  Look out for my trip review in March.

The bookable dates vary every day, so if today’s outbound dates don’t suit you, you can try again another day. The best way to bag your tickets is to check the sale page here at midday and check the dates applicable for that day.  Go to the booking engine and make your date choices and keep refreshing. Qantas have said it can take up to 30 minutes for the tickets to appear in the system, although experience shows that it was more like 15 minutes on Monday and on the dot of noon on Wednesday.

You can book here.  Good luck.

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Comments (290)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Mt says:
    18 Nov18 November 19:32

    I would leap at 100 tickets at £1000 (business class). But economy, I honestly almost cried last time I had to get back on in Singapore as I was so tired, it’s not an enjoyable experience #firstworldproblems.

    • Shoestring says:
      18 Nov18 November 20:37

      Congrats to the ticket winners.

      I thoroughly recommend taking some remedy to help you sleep properly on such a long journey in Economy.

      When I was younger it was just knocking back the booze – in those days the crews were always more than willing to let you get hammered, probably less so these days – so can I mention Kirkland Sleep-Aid pills? These are OTC in USA but not yet permitted in EU, they contain Doxylamine Succinate, a common antihistamine that has the side effect of bringing on heavy drowsiness, and which, if you google it, is harmless along the lines of Aspirin, ie used sensibly, presents no likely side-effects apart from said drowsiness. Available on Ebay UK delivered from USA for a cost of a few pence per tablet, no issues with Customs are likely (though I wouldn’t advise ordering more than 2x 96 tablets in one go).

      They are a very effective sleeping pill, in the sense that you feel very drowsy after 1 hour & conk out, fall back to sleep quickly when woken subsequently in the next few hours (ie good half-life on the drowsiness), and after just 1 pill (no more needed), you get your 8 hrs’ sleep but wake up not really drowsy any more, no headaches or ‘hangover’ feeling.

      • Anna says:
        18 Nov18 November 20:57

        Or you can just buy a pack of Sominex for £4 at Boots!

        • Shoestring says:
          18 Nov18 November 21:03

          These are much more effective & cheaper – but apart from that…

        • Polly says:
          19 Nov19 November 01:31

          Or Nytol the DARK blue pkt from Boots. Works like a dream for our friends who have to use Y on the odd occasion from KUL. Sleep for 8 hrs of the journey. Our daughter swears by it on the NBO route too.
          Enjoy the ride. What a scoop getting those seats, you all.

          • Genghis says:
            19 Nov19 November 08:23

            I always use the one a night not whilst travelling but for my first few hotel nights on 3 hours+- time difference in order to get a good night’s sleep.

          • guesswho2000 says:
            19 Nov19 November 08:40

            Nytol light blue or dark blue (they’re just different strengths), both contain DPH (possible links to Alzheimers/Dementia, but who knows). Avoid the green Nytol. Anything you can get without speaking to a Pharmacist or Doctor isn’t worth bothering with imo!

          • Harry T says:
            19 Nov19 November 09:05

            @Polly – thanks, it doesn’t seem real!

      • Harry T says:
        18 Nov18 November 21:29

        Thanks, will look into them!

      • Funtime says:
        18 Nov18 November 22:08

        Never had you down as a problem sleeper Harry.

      • flyforfun says:
        18 Nov18 November 23:08

        Diphenydramine Hydrochloride or Sleepeaze at Boots do the same thing, but not at Costco prices. Nothing at Boots is cheap.

      • Gavin says:
        18 Nov18 November 23:31

        I use these on occasion but there’s some research linking prolonged / frequent use to dementia.

      • F99 says:
        19 Nov19 November 08:01

        Buying pills from eBay. What could go wrong?

        • Shoestring says:
          19 Nov19 November 08:16

          hasn’t gone wrong so far 4x – there are obvs pills & pills, I guess it helps that this is just as innocuous as as buying a multivitamin pill online not Viagra, it would probably cost some scamster more to make a convincing fake that to sell the real thing – these are 5p/ pill & presumably even less in USA pharmacy – anyway, you have the Ebay & PayPal guarantees or just read the positive feedback scores

      • guesswho2000 says:
        19 Nov19 November 08:39

        My god Doxylamine Succinate gives me the worst hangover ever, it’s OTC here as Restavit. Diphenhydramine HCl (Nytol) is available in the UK and much the same.

        But tbh just go to the Doc and ask for Zolpidem (Stilnox/Ambien), Zopiclone (Imovane) or Temazepam (Restoril), much better and zero hangover.

        • Anna says:
          19 Nov19 November 08:50

          Some doctors are now very reluctant to prescribe Zopiclone as the current wisdom is that it’s highly addictive and ideally should be avoided if possible. I have taken it but find the bitter aftertaste which lasts the whole of the following day so vile that I’d rather do without the sleep!

          • guesswho2000 says:
            19 Nov19 November 09:23

            That’s it, the metallic taste, I remember that. Funny, I remember there being a big fuss over Zolpidem, but you used to be able to order Zopiclone from pharmacies outside the UK online, as it was uncontrolled (I presume that’s no longer the case).

          • Shoestring says:
            19 Nov19 November 09:34

            @guesswho2000 – put it this way: if you got caught by Customs/ police ordering Zopiclone illicitly online/ for delivery in UK, you’d probably get a caution/ implied threat of prosecution & they’d want to check you weren’t a dealer

            no such worries (for me, anyway) with ordering DS, it’s just an OTC drug in most of the world from what I can gather but hasn’t yet been authorised for EU

          • guesswho2000 says:
            19 Nov19 November 10:30

            Lol, fair enough. FWIW, Doxy is approved and available OTC in the UK, just not in single ingredient from what I can tell. Mersyndol/Syndol contains paracetamol, codeine, doxy and caffeine https://www.boots.com/syndol-tablets-30s-10262847

        • Shoestring says:
          19 Nov19 November 08:51

          Zopiclone is extremely effective – but also extremely addictive, it’s that good! (only one step away from morphine, I reckon lol). Drs in UK won’t prescribe it for more than 2 weeks & you need to have an extremely good reason to get them to say OK in the first place.

          • Harry T says:
            19 Nov19 November 09:07

            I reckon I can talk my GP into zopiclone, seeing as I sleep terribly in planes, even in J. I’ve had it before and it works. Definitely needs to be avoided long term. Diazepam didn’t work on me when I had bad jet lag in Thailand!

          • guesswho2000 says:
            19 Nov19 November 09:24

            I used to be pretty badly hit with insomnia, and I remember being told by a Doc when I was about 18/19 that I could only have Temazepam for max 2 weeks, no such dramas with Zopiclone though (a different time maybe). I took Zopiclone for a fair while and luckily had no adverse when I stopped. I guess they’re Rx only for a reason!

          • Shoestring says:
            19 Nov19 November 13:39

            @Harry To you’ll need a better reason for the Doc than sleeping on a plane lol,he’ll just laugh at you

            you need to think of a convincing *medical* reason

          • Lady London says:
            19 Nov19 November 14:35

            Not true. I worked for someone who only did up to 8 longhauls per year for work. But very very senior in giant corporate and simply could not sleep on planes. Even booked First or bumped to First for most of them.

            He had a regular prescription for Zopi/Ambien but doc insisted on face to face examination at least once per year to cover himself and was extremely reluctant to renew more than once without a face to face visit.Circumstances to get it were told truthfully and not exaggerated. Boss had a non-addictive personality though and very sensible and not ‘driven’ which probably removed one risk factor.

          • Lady London says:
            20 Nov20 November 01:07

            It’s amazing what you learn on HfP, isn’t it 🙂

      • TripRep says:
        19 Nov19 November 08:53

        Cheap ASDA/Tesco Anti-histermine (Cetirizine Hydrochloride) works for me when I want to sleep, also stops ichy nose on stuffy flights.

        However on such a sequence of long flights in cramped quarters I’d recommend being up and about as often as possible to reduce circulation pooling in the lower legs + risk of DVT. Don’t forget your flight socks!

    • Lady London says:
      19 Nov19 November 14:16

      Been there, done that, cried too. And this was in thé days before i understood things like staying hydrates on planes. Did that a few times.

      Then I discovered this site and worked out to do it in Qatar J. Which changed my life. Thanks Rob.

  • Adam says:
    18 Nov18 November 21:48

    How far can you get on BA for 12,400 Qantas points?

    • Rob says:
      19 Nov19 November 00:42

      Not far at all! One way to Paris in Economy is 10,000 whilst Istanbul one-way in Economy is 40,000. Plus full taxes, not Reward Flight Saver taxes.

      • Lyn says:
        19 Nov19 November 03:48

        But London to Munich is also 10,000 points, and Sydney to Melbourne or Brisbane would be 8,000 points (versus 6,000 avios), or Los Angeles to Vancouver would be 12,000. The taxes wouldn’t be so bad for the latter two.

        You can transfer Qantas points between family members free. So potentially some value as an add-on to another trip, and if just a few points short these could be topped up from an SPG card if necessary. Other airlines might not give you anything for such an inexpensive ticket! You would need 300 status credits for the Qantas equivalent of BA Bronze.

    • guesswho2000 says:
      19 Nov19 November 08:46

      You’ll get a zone 1 domestic essentially – MEL-SYD is 8,000 points one way, for comparison, but ex-UK carrier charges will be the killer.

  • Mark says:
    18 Nov18 November 23:20

    I’ve done Oz in economy once (and even then one section was old ba biz and new premium economy)

    I wouldny like to do it aagain!

    • Paul says:
      19 Nov19 November 05:45

      +1 👍

    • Dawn says:
      19 Nov19 November 08:50

      I agree! Nothing would make me sit in economy for that length of flight. My husband came back on the Perth to London route a year ago in economy and he took over a week to get over the flight and said ‘never again’. We are doing the same leg next year but have booked Business class to make it bearable. If I was younger, yes, but not an more 🙂

      • Harry T says:
        19 Nov19 November 09:08

        I have actually done Y back and forth a couple of times and survived it, but I will attribute it to luck and being in my 20s! Still not looking forward to it but absolutely worth it.

      • Lucy says:
        19 Nov19 November 09:36

        I never heard\seen so much moaning about having to travel like the less entitled, hardworking chattering classes.

        Have another G&T and take all those prescription pills you all obviously need.

        • Harry T says:
          19 Nov19 November 10:35

          I just get a sore coccyx/sacrum and lower back from economy long haul. Otherwise it’s okay! For 195£, I’d cycle half of the distance to Sydney, to be honest!

        • Lady London says:
          19 Nov19 November 14:46

          “chattering classes” would be more middle class, surely?

        • Dawn says:
          19 Nov19 November 19:29

          Unfortunately I have CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) so I’m grateful to be able to travel at all. I put all my money into upgrading myself to Business and with the help of HFP info have managed to get enough Avios etc. It means I can do the long haul without having to spend a week in bed the other end. I always travelled economy before this happened.

  • Paul says:
    19 Nov19 November 05:43

    Good luck to anyone who can use these tickets but this publicity stunt isn’t get me excited. Too restrictive by half.
    I was looking at business class yesterday and also noted that QF have an interesting take on 241 deals! Almost £5000 to MEL is more than double the fare of many options from LHR and ex EU. Fine perhaps if someone else is paying but that’s a chunky premium and I don’t think QF are good enough to justify such a price.

    • Morgan says:
      19 Nov19 November 07:10

      £5K for 2 people to Oz from London? Yes, nowhere near as good as an ex ARN/OSL/CPH/MXP but for London that’s good. I’d pay it for the extra convenience.

  • Jude says:
    19 Nov19 November 08:52

    Do you need to book returns? Is it only for couples we are a family of 4

    • Rob says:
      19 Nov19 November 08:58

      Only 2 per flight yesterday I think (although we can’t be sure) and of course only 20 ticket in total each day.

      Almost certainly need a return as Qantas don’t sell discounted one-way tickets.

      • Rhys says:
        19 Nov19 November 08:59

        of course with two adults you could always try getting 4 tickets by dividing and conquering!

  • Shoestring says:
    19 Nov19 November 09:35

    Massive success for HfP yesterday – can it be repeated today?!!!

    • Harry T says:
      19 Nov19 November 10:35

      You coming to Sydney too, Harry?

      • Shoestring says:
        19 Nov19 November 10:48

        I can just about get away with 7 days extra abroad in term time – but no, will have to enjoy the trip reports from afar

        roll on 2023, my daughter finishes 6th Form

  • iamfugly says:
    19 Nov19 November 11:03

    I read Will.iam got one of these golden tickets. Allegedly he says his must have item on these economy flights to Sydney has to be noise cancelling headphones.

  • Aerotec says:
    19 Nov19 November 11:53

    Will the 20 seats be available on any dates over the departure period or will it be, for example, 4 per flight over the 5 days departure date listed? So do I need to be searching each of the days?

    • Rhys says:
      19 Nov19 November 12:02

      I assume they are just in a bucket for select dates and can be booked on any of the days, rather than allocated to specific flights.

      • Aerotec says:
        19 Nov19 November 12:17

        Thanks,
        Picked flights, added name of second pax and was moving to payment page when it crashed me out 🙁

        • Rhys says:
          19 Nov19 November 12:18

          That’s frustrating. It sounds like the website was really struggling today. Try again tomorrow!

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