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I am trying to get 2x tickets (Biz or first) from the UK to Oz using avios. (or from DOH to Oz).
I am flexible with dates, and happy to go on Qatar via Doh. Ideally into Brisbane and Out of Sydney, but happy to change what east cast airports we go in and out of.
Im really struggling to find anything on Qatar website, its really hard to find anything for anything under a million avios.
I can get loads of LHR to DOH flights on BA, but the rest is looking really hard.
Looking at going out in September, staying for 3-4 weeks, and returning October.
It doesn’t look great.
I can see some two stop options for the way back.
SYD-SIN around oct 4th on BA then SIN-HEL-LON on AY on the 6th. Comes in about 160500 Avios and about £250 per person.
Or Sunday 27th Oct, 2 seats showing in J on BA SYD-SIN-LON, but that’s 210k avios per person.
You’ve left it really late to book Oz with avios (unless you’ve a BAPP 241 which might unlock extra seats on BA), but this recent article might have some pointers, e.g. fly to a different airport:
I go to Australia every year in Business/First on Qatar using Avios.
You have to do a bit of hunting for seats. I usually use ba.com to search for DOH to/from MEL/SYD/ADL/BNE/PER individually and then for the matching LON to/from DOH. Then I search for the complete journey based on what I’ve found.
If you search for DOH to/from MEL/SYD/BNE/ADL ba.com will show any routings via MEL/SYD/BNE/ADL with a Qantas domestic connection. However ba.com doesn’t consider PER routings, so check PER separately; there’s often something via Perth. PER and SYD both get A380 with First Class.
ba.com will never offer anything with more than 2 sectors, so you might find LON-DOH and DOH-MEL-SYD, but it won’t show it as a complete journey. You could phone to make such a booking.
There’s always BA availability LON-DOH and DOH-LON and you can mix these with QR flights on to Australia. However, the number of Avios increases substantially as does the thieving “taxes and surcharges”!
If there’s no LON-DOH flights, ba.com will show flights from the various QR European destinations – AMS/HAM/BER/BRU/CDG/ZRH … … If you book Europe-DOH-OZ you will save the UK government’s thieving APD of £200. Then book a separate flight to/from your European city.
I’ve never quite worked out the formula used by QR to release Avios seats. They certainly release them at circa 11 months, but they also add extra seats at random times, not just for next week’s flights.
You just have to keep looking to see what pops up.
In January 2025 I’m flying into ADL as it was the earliest available big seat after the New Year rush. There was noting from London and then a connecting LGW-DOH flight magically appeared.
Another thing about QR is that they use “married segments”. This is where a LON-DOH-OZ pairing is available, but the individual LON-DOh and DOH-OZ sectors are not.
Another tip/warning – one of the flights to ADL stops overnight in MEL for 7 hours – they don’t make this clear. This flight will appear as available to/from ADL, but not MEL. If you can travel as hand luggage only, then you can just exit at MEL and not travel on to ADL next morning. This can’t be done when returning; two years ago I had to fly Qantas MEL-ADL just to get on the ADL-MEL-DOH flight!! The lunchtime stop in MEL is only 90 minutes on the way back.
Hope this all helps.AA are showing ample availability for LHR-LAX-SYD on their website, but the BA website isnt showing any of these.
If I called BA with the specific flights, would they see availability on their system?AA are showing ample availability for LHR-LAX-SYD on their website, but the BA website isnt showing any of these.
If I called BA with the specific flights, would they see availability on their system?No.
BA can only see the lower level rewards that AA make available to partners. The seats you are seeing on AA will be priced at a higher level so not available to BA.
SeatSpy is currently showing 4 dates in October with CW from SYD.
SeatSpy is currently showing 4 dates in October with CW from SYD.
SS seem like a lottery atm.
It was actually my mistake – it had somehow defaulted to SIN on my search! But OP could probably get back from there on BA.
I take SS as a rough guide but it’s always worth following up with a search via BA.
Thanks all, massive help as usual, I have it sorted and booked.
BA to Doh using Barclays upgraded voucher.
Doh to Mel on Qatar using points – Q-suite.Coming back, SYD to SIN, 3 days in SIN, then SIN to LHR, using Amex voucher.
I just keep an eye out for and first class seats coming back to avoid the horrible old club world seats.
Can I ask what that all cost?
Anyone else trying this might have more luck going via China/HKG. I’ve previously done it Cathay to HKG then Quantas to Brisbane and return via Adelaide on Qatar. IIRC this also prices on the less well-known and cheaper multiple non-BA carrier avios chart
@pappap647 Obviously your outbound LON-DOH BA and DOH-MEL QR is based on two separate PNRs/bookings. How long have you allowed for connection at DOH? If the LON-DOH is disrupted and you miss the DOH-MEL you will have no protection to be re-booked on another flight by QR. They might be kind, but you will have no right to this and could be stuck in DOH.
BAEC might be able to merge or connect the two PNRs to give you protection.BA won’t merge 2 PNRs on their own bookings, so there’s no hope with a different airline!
We have 4.5 hours in DOH, BA has another flight after us from LHR that gets into DOH on time also, so failing a major incident, we should be ok.
I paid the following – all in Business Class for 2 Pax
LHR to DOH (using Barclays upgrade voucher) – 85k avios and £350 total.
DOH to MEL – 140k avios and £198 total.SYD to LON (3 day stopover in Singapore) using BA Amex voucher) – 192k avios and £672 total.
So total cost – 417k avios, and £1,220 taxes for 2 people. Im hoping some first class seats come up as we are flexible with dates, as I really dont fancy the old club seats on the way back.
Have you got a plan for the other half of your BA 241?
I’ll probably book LHR to SIN for 2025 in the hope I can use it!
If I cancel after doing the first leg, will I still get taxes refunded?
There are rules about what you can and can’t do after flying the outbound, I can’t recall exactly what these are off the top of my head. The “booking the return leg” thread goes into this quite a bit.
However – if the inbound is a separate booking on its own PNR, BA’s IT means that it’s possible to cancel it online and get everything back bar £35 pp.
If you value your vouchers you might want to consider using the multi carrier chart.
Lhr-doh-mel
Syd-sin-lhrClocks in at 21,359 so can add in some domestic connections (you’ll need to add at least 1 anyway to hit the 2 airlines) for 480k Avios plus taxes. Worth a thought.
Looking at an open-jaw for next year London-Sydney Singapore-London. I’ll have enough Avios to book the return and call up for the 50% refund. For the outbound I’ll have a couple of days spare so will have 3 bits of the cherry when booking.
Off peak straight BA using 241 looks like 255k Avios and £1300. Is this as good as it gets or might there be some alternative options?
@strickers, if you haven’t already read the article I linked to at the top of this thread, it shows how QR pricing can be very favourable, even without a 241.
@NorthernLass Thanks, that does look good. I might go with my original plan and then if Qatar availability comes up then cancel and rebook. It should save me significantly more than the £35 x 4 fee. I do worry about Qatar changing thing especially when booking well in advance. Lots of research for me to do I think.
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