Great Escapade....again!

Hi Guys,

Well 2006 is going to be the year we move to Auckland.

I've been looking again at different fares, costs, mile upgrades etc, but I keep coming back to the Great Escapade fare. It's just such goo value for money. I'd been looking at the cost of return business flights to Auckland and thought about stop-overs each way, but they seem to come in at around £2500-£2800. The problem with these types of tickets are that travel seems to be limited to a 6 month period and the dates of travel arn't flexible.

My thinking is this.... If we do another GE we can easlily notch up the 21 teir points we need to go Gold, and if we go Gold, we'll both get a companion fare voucher each. The GE allows you to change dates (subject to availability) for a small fee, and travel can be over a 12 month period. As we will always need a ticket that we can easily change the dates on, thinking ahead for future trips, we can buy the cheapest flexible fare compatible with the companion voucher. The problem with the companion voucher is that we'd be booking flights to Sydney (VS) and then having to get another flight to Auckland. I take it that I wouldn't be able to use the companion ticket on a VS flight to LAX and then onto Auckland with Air NZ ?? That would make like a lot easier.

Oh decisions decisions. If I tell you what we need and what our plans are, can I have your opinion on what the best fare/route to get.

We are travelling to Auckland in Nov and need to return to the UK in July 07. We will only be in the UK for a couple of weeks and will need to have return ticket back to Auckland. We hope to be able to visit the UK quite often and may need to return at short notice.

We are both Silver and need 21 TP to get to Gold. OH has approx 110k miles and I have approx 55k.

What do you think? Would I be able to book any reward flights while we're based in Auckland?

Confused again [:I]

Milliemoo

Forgot to ask..... Does anyone know how much the GE fare is in PE ?

Thanks

Milliemoo

Millie,

I think that you only get the companion voucher for renewing gold, not for obtaining it. I don't know whether this changes your calculations?

Gareth.

oooooooohhhhhhhhhh [:I]

Boo hiss, that's no fun. Defo can't really justify another GE in UC then [:#]

I think I'll phone FC and ask about one way tickets using miles.

Milliemoo

hummmmmm the plot thickens.....

just spoken to FC, and did you know that it doesn't matter what fare class your in if you by a one way econommy ticket (they're always classed as Y) you can upgrade it to UC for 30k miles.

Now I know one-ways are more expensive on the whole, but it may also be worth looking out for cheap Y returns and upgrading for 60k.

Apologies if everyone is already aware of this... I'm still trying to get my head around it all. [:I]

Milliemoo

p.s Off to look at the VS sale

[:p]

Hi
You can get a Great Excapde ticket that last longer than a year- unless they have recently changed the small print. I lived in Christchurch for the year and use a GE to get to CHC and back. The great thing is that it allows you to have travel around Oz and the South Pacific as well.

My routing was: LHR-SIN-AKL-CHC which was done in Aug
Then CHC-aKL-CNS done in dec
then SYD-AKL done in Jan (had to buy cheap ticket back to CHC)
then AKL-NAN-LAXin July.
BOS-LHR in Aug

Worked fantastically. You can book reward flights in NZ via the Flying Club/VS reservations in Sydney- also worth noting you can change your flight dates/flights as many times as u want. Well worth doing.

My trip in Y was a little over £1000- the people i moved out to CHCH with decided to just buy a return regular ticket with QF for same price but then found they spent loads of money buying tickets to Oz/Fiji when in NZ.

ooohhh I know, I love the GE fare.... I just couldn't do it in Y.

Now if you could just upgrade the GE using miles, I'd be a happy bunny indeed

Thanks for the info about booking rewards flights via the Sydney FC. [y]

I was quoted £528 rtn to LAX with the option to upgrade to UC for 60k miles. Sounds like a bargain to me....but I can't find any decent business class offers from LAX to Auckland [:?]

Milliemoo

Just had a look at one way prices to Sydney....

£915 + 60k miles (I'm guessing it wouldn't be 30k to Sydney).

More choices

Milliemoo

Well I flew the whole way with NZ pretty much when I went and Y wasnt that bad with a massive 34inches and plus i was a poor student back then!

Hvae you tried getting into the Kiwi version of the NZ website- http://www.airnz.co.nz- you can still book flights using a UK credit card- although u may need a Kiwi address- but i guess u will have one in AKL- often much cheaper.

For trips across the ditch- remember Pacific Blue and Jetstar now both operate to NZ- plus Freedom Air and Air NZ and qf.

Good tip that... a lot of people don't realise you can book NZ flights via the co.nz site with a UK credit card.

We saved heaps on our last trip with internal flights. The e-ticket option worked best for us.

BTW, I'm onto a new plan now...... I'm going to phone up FC and ask waht the cheapest upgradable fare is to Sydney. I bet it comes in less than £900. If it does, I'm going to ask if we can just upgrade one-way, and then we'll still have a return Y ticket to the UK.

Milliemoo

[HighFlyer]

Some people aye .... jet off around the world, come back barely a few weeks and are already planning the next [:p][:p]

Im guessing that if you can get a low Y fare to SYD and use miles to U/G then that will be your best bet .... although im sure the idea of planning the next RTW is very appealing!

Best of luck to you and Duncan this year with your move

Of course the only downside with using the Kiwi site is that you will often buy the cheapest internet fares and these wont earn u FC miles- although at something like 200miles AKL-CHC its not really worth it. But i guess every little bit of mile earning helps!

Right....decison made.....

We're going to buy a one-way in Y (currently £920) and upgrade to UC with 60k miles.


Now, only one tiny pprob...I'm 3500 miles short [:(!] So I've sent an email to FC to ask if I can use 30k for the first sector and then get Duncan to use 90k miles for his first sector and both our final sectors.

fingers crossed

Now all I need to do is look at baggage allowance from Sydney to Auckland. As we're emigrating, we need mucho mucho baggage allowance.

Milliemoo

[HighFlyer]

Nice one Milliemoo!

Im sure FC will give you the thumbs up, there should be no issue in doing a 75/25 miles split if Duncan has enough miles in his account.

Are you flying SYD-AKL in Business? If so, IIRC, the allowance is 30kg
per person - athough you could always contact them and beg if you explain your situation?

Yes, I think a few begging emails will be needed all round.

Emails are better as well, so I have something on paper to take to the airport and say "but you said I could have 60kg pp" LOL

The other good thing about the one-way is that it's a fully flexible ticket. Obviously we haven't sold the house yet, or booked shippers etc so we really are taking a stab in the dark at the date we want to travel. Mind you, it might be easier having a date to work to. Obviously we'll want to try and stick to it aswell, so we don't loose our UC upgrades

Don't think we'll be able to stop-over for a night at the Pen though, which is a bit disappointing. But hey....23hrs in the UCS...

Bring it on baby! [y]

Milliemoo

Right, just got an email back from FC

"Thank you for your email.

Miles can be used from a maximum of 2 Flying Club accounts, though only
providing equal amounts of miles are being redeemed from each. For
example, a reward requiring 40,000 miles can be obtained (subject to reward
seat availability) by redeeming 20,000 miles from each account.

It isn't possible to transfer miles between Flying Club accounts, or
from another frequent flyer programme to Flying Club.

We are unable to advise about upgrades using airmiles at this address
via email.

If you require further assistance please speak with your Flying Club
helpline. "

So if I'd read that right I can do what I want, but it'll be a 75/45 split?

Milliemoo

Sorry, confused again...

Just spoken to FC and they say that there are 2 seats in UC available to upgrade to from London - Hong Kong but only 1 seat from Hong Kong to Sydney. She's checked lots of dates and they're all the same. So it looks like they've only released 1 x upgrade seat for the Sydney leg [n]

She said I'd be best booking what there is, and keep phoning back to see if they've released another seat. Sounds a bit risky and now I don't know what to do [:#]

Milliemoo

Forget everything, this isn't worth the hassle [:(!]

I can get o/s fares with Cathy to Auckland for £1100 !

Or we could go with Air NZ (to get the suite and FF miles) for £1600.

Milliemoo

[HighFlyer]

Sorry to hear of your woes with all this [:(]

Are these the one way flights you were taking to emigrate? If so, could be worth trying to speak to someone more senior at Flying Club and begging, explaining that it is only one way and you therefore very much need the extra seat opening up - or you will have to book elsewhere. Its worth a try.

Otherwise, i would be tempted to book with ANZ, you will get the suite, the miles and the TPS! (Whats the routing on that? Are you going through LAX? - just out of curiosity you see)

Best of luck, let us know how it goes

Hi,

Yes, it's o/w we're really looking for. I've pretty much decided that we'd go Air NZ for the suite TPs etc. That's through LAX so we get 64kg pp luggage allowance, so that's another worry crossed off the list.

They did quote £720 +tax for PE (or whatever NZ call it) which is tempting at that price. With UC though you get the lounges and I think it's a lot easier to transit through, although this wasn't the case when we were on the GE.

I think we'll just keep saving miles until we have enough for a reward flight in upper back to the UK, which would come in at 180k miles. A few more years saving yet.

I think with all the stresses of moving we deserve to go UC

Milliemoo

[HighFlyer]

I think with all the stresses of moving we deserve to go UC

Absolutely, I wouldnt do it any other way considering the journey length! I would find it very hard - yes i know Upper is lovely, but spending a whole day in a suite isnt that appealing. )Just helping you confirm the fact that you need to do it in Bus and not their PE product!! )

TBH, I think you should go with ANZ, you dont have to worry about the SYD-AKL element which you were thinking about before, so as you say, thats the luggage taken care of, and its only the one stop inbetween (LHR-LAX-AKL as opposed to LHR-HKG-SYD-AKL) and as you earn miles and TPs i think its a no brainer.

Get it booked girl!!

Now you see that's what I needed...

Thanks Chick! [oo]

Milliemoo

[HighFlyer]

Glad to be of service!

You'll certainly have to fill us in on that flight - with lots of piccies as we havent seen or heard much on here of the ANZ suites ... so i do have an ulterior motive ... plus i know you'll thank me when your sat in your suite, sipping your Champagne and contemplating that you could have been a bit further down the back

I wonder if we could start a GE thread. We're planning one for January '07 and I have LOTS of questions to ask those who have done this.
First off is of course tips in purchasing the cheapestPE/UC ticket ...how, with whom, etc.

Cheers,
RR

Hi Roadrunner,

The GE fare prices are fixed, so it doesn't matter who you book through. They went up in about March last year (only by a couple of hundred £) so the business class GE (UC) is £3500 + tax, which varies depending on your route, but budget for £200 max.

Have you seen Highflyer's thread in the travel section? I've also started my trip report, but I've only got half way through [:I]

Do a search for 'Great Escapade' and you'll get heaps of info.

Just shout if you have any questions.

Milliemoo