Hello Fellow oz-bargainers
I would like to ask a few questions about Euro Trip, flights, Flyer points and redeeming.
We have bought tickets to Tomorrowland 2018 in Belgium, July 21 -23rd! our ticket includes a return train from Paris to Belgium for the event!
We want to fly anytime from 8th 9th and 10th from PERTH, to LONDON. returning on the 1st August (must be home by Friday).
Our first time flying this far and to Europe and UK. No idea yet on what we will be doing while travelling.
I have searched flights and QATAR have that PayPal promo (thanks Ozbargain) which totals $3400~ for 2 return from Perth. Stopping at Doha. is this reasonable price for the airline? QANTAS have the similar return flights for $3480,operated by Emirates stopping in Dubai. this in points is 426000. A lot of points which we don't have.
I'd rather have comfort and convenience on a flight than to go really cheap, after all it's almost a whole 24hrs before we even get to our destination, it wouldn't hurt to know the quotes of cheaper airlines.
I currently have only 147000 QFF points, which is not enough to redeem flights, I am thinking whether to get my partner to sign up for CC to get points as well and pool them together. But given the time frame we have, we might have to look at paying for the flights in currency rather than points.
I have ANZ Black earning QFF
I have AMEX Rewards points 60k~
I have Flybuys 40k~
Both can be transferred to Virgin Velocity, which I think allows to pay with a mix of cash and points. I haven't Looked into that or flights yet.
Are these the average prices for flights to London for that time of year?
Is there a better way to fly, such as flying to a different city and flying into London from there? Just worried about Visa and immigration for this method.
Or fly across to Melbourne or Sydney and take a flight from there? can access Qantas Lounge or Amex lounge too :)
Are stopovers in Dubai and Doha any good, such as facilities and resting areas, charging, etc.
I'll be bringing my Mavic Pro Drone, will this cause an issue for airlines and customs?
No visa required to enter London, how about entering other Euro countries?
While overseas Places we will visit so far:
London (maybe a week here) (Cup of tea, Pubs)
Paris (Food, Architecture, Romance)
Belgium (Tomorrowland)(although being here is only for the event we could skip the return train to paris and stay for longer)
we might add these depending if there's enough time:
Spain (Real Madrid Soccer Club)
Greece (beaches)
Switzerland (mountains)
… and maybe more
We wanted to do a contiki tour but for the cost, we could probably come up with our own as I hear transport is quite easy (Train) and you get to spend as much time as you want at each place instead of being rushed or stuck on a bus. We are the sightseeing type and love to explore foods and landscape which doesn't involve to intense or adventurous locations.
Are Oyster Cards the transport method for London? Wouldn't bother hiring a car right? traffic?
Any good links to food bloggers for the places we visit?
Looking for places to be able to fly my drone and take videos of landscape, Rules, restrictions, culture?
To pack lightly or not? One of us can check a bag in and on our return trip we most likely will be bringing home gifts. cost for extra baggage.
And Anything else that you might feel will be worth the visit during this time that you personally have liked. (I like gathering other people's interests)
Any info on any of the above will be of great help to me and my partner, I do try and read up as much as I can but I like having the reassurance of other bargainers haha also I do shift work so little time to research, I'll keep track and reply as much as I can in return for your inputs/suggestions.
Thank you!!
Dave
Wow, so much content / so many questions. May I suggest you break this down into separate forums, for example:
- Flight related
- London
- Paris
- Belgium
etc.
You will probably get more focussed responses that way.
Whatever you do, have fun.