V-Flyer

I'm currently living in Hong Kong, and at some point next spring will probably be going to a family wedding in Sydney, so I decided to do a little online window-shopping this morning. I'm not really interested in indirect flights, I picked a pair of random dates since I'm not quite sure when the wedding is, and I'm somewhat flexible on travel class, depending on costs...

There only seem to be three airlines which do direct HKG->SYD - VS, Cathay and Quantas, and the dates I picked were out on 10/3 and back on 20/3.

Virgin will charge me HK$6617 (470 GBP) for economy, HK$9617 (682 GBP) for PE, or HK$18517 (1313 GBP) for UC.

Cathay say HK$14425 for economy, HK$32305 for business class and, well, more than that for first.

Quantas don't say anything themselves, because they don't seem to be able to handle online bookings starting in Hong Kong, but Travelocity suggests GBP 1060, GBP 2357 and GBP 3005...

So the Quantas and Cathay prices are very similar, but the Virgin prices are far far lower. I'm not complaining - really! - but I'd be interested to know if there's any obvious reason why. For those prices, I'm tempted to pay the UC rate and collect the miles and TPs - one return to maintain my silver sounds nice - for upgrades on future HKG-LHR flights

If it helps, I've pulled up the expertflyer page of HKG-SYD fares for those 3 airlines in March 06. There are clearly some bargains to be had, if you can find the availability.

Fare Basis Airline Booking Class Trip Type Fare

30 Fares Returned

XLHK VS X Round-Trip 5333 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
QLHK VS Q Round-Trip 6253 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
MLHK VS M Round-Trip 7533 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
LLHK VS L Round-Trip 7933 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
KLHK VS K Round-Trip 8333 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
BLHK VS B Round-Trip 8413 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
YLHK VS Y Round-Trip 10861 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
SLHK VS S Round-Trip 12333 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
KLEE60 CX K Round-Trip 13143 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
KLEE60C QF K Round-Trip 13143 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
BLEE1Y1 QF B Round-Trip 15103 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
WLHK VS W Round-Trip 16333 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
YLEEOW CX Y One-Way 8553 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
YLEEOW QF Y One-Way 8553 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
ZRHK VS Z Round-Trip 17233 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
YRT QF Y Round-Trip 20093 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
YRHK VS Y Round-Trip 20093 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
YOW QF Y One-Way 10573 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
YHK VS Y One-Way 10573 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
WRHK VS W Round-Trip 21503 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
WHK VS W One-Way 11989 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
DRHK VS D Round-Trip 26933 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
J CX J Round-Trip 31023 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
JRT QF J Round-Trip 31023 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
JRHK VS J Round-Trip 31023 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
J CX J One-Way 16313 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
JOW QF J One-Way 16313 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
JHK VS J One-Way 16313 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
FRT QF F Round-Trip 39963 (HKD) View Rules View Routing
FOW QF F One-Way 21013 (HKD) View Rules

View Routing
30 Fares Returned

Best wishes

David

Shame it's next spring as this offer would get you there for < $4000

Whilst the HKG-SYD fares are good value, unfortunately for us in the UK, the LHR-SYD Z class fares (diiscounted upper class) are coming out £500 more expensive than BA (via Singapore or Bangkok) and Singapore airways - and I have tried many different dates.

Y class seems to be competitive however.