Advance bookings

Hi

We are looking to book tickets to fly from LDN - SYD next year over Xmas. I know we'll have to book early to ensure we get the dates were after.

When soon in advance do bookings open? When do discounted fares become available? Ideally looking for discounted premium or miles+money. If I get the available fare codes from expertflight.com, who would be the best travel agency to approach? Should I just speak to Virgin Sales directly and find out if "fare code X" is available?

Thanks for any advice & pointers!

Hi,

Most airlines release their seats 11 months in advance, at the moment VS have only released seats up and until 28th Nov 07. It is worth calling VS as some airlines do not allow you to use miles/money.

Hope this helps.

Dominic

[Scrooge]

Just to echo the above, you need to call 330 days out from the date of your return flight.If you are looking at doing a M+M fare then you will need to call VS.

I would n't expect a discounted price this early, more like closer to the time, if the planes have empty seats. If you want to go on specific dates, you may have to pay a premium to know soon that you'll be heading out on a specific date.

Thanks for all your help. I'm still trying to understand these fare class deals. The ones I would be interested in would be K,S or maybe Z. What is the best way to find out when these seats in these classes are released? Do they always allocate seats in these classes? Or is it a matter of trying to sell all seats at full fare then only opening up these discounted classes a couple of weeks before the flight?

[HighFlyer]

Seats should be available in all of those fare classes, although occassionally (and usually close to a sale, conference or other sell-out time) some fare classes get held back (like S's for PE) and released later on.

The best thing you can do is figure out how much you can spend up to, what class you want to travel in, and call Flying Club for some quotes. You can ask them to check specific fare class codes. Price up Z fares, S fares, find out if there are U's or G's showing (classes for upgrades into PE and UC) and see how that compares to your budget. I'd expect to pay about 1800-1900+tax for PE, and 2700+tax for a Z fare.

Thanks,
Sarah

Thanks. Any ideas when I should start checking for discounted fair clases - like the ones mentioned? Any basic rule of thumb when they are released - Like 60 days 90 days etc before flight. Or should I check as often as I can and hope for the best!

[HighFlyer]

Discounted fare classes such as S and Z fares *should* go on sale at the same time as all other fare classes - the standard 11 months/336 days before departure.

Thanks,
Sarah