Australia travellers - help

I'd say it's fairly reasonable. Last time we went it was £850 pp and that was with Royal Brunei who were fairly basic, don't serve alcohol and had to make two stops (Dubai and Brunei). I flew Etihad the other time we went and their service was fab - similar price level. Have you used skyscanner website to compare flight times and prices? Hope you have a great time out there.

Royal Brunei are quoting £685 pp, two stops and...yes, groan...no alcohol (but you can take your own on board?).

Am scanning the skies as we speak

I recommend giving flight centre a call, they've always been highly competitive for prices whenever myself or family have gone long haul

I think they did my dad flights to Singapore, Australia and then South Africa for £900pp last year

I don't think you can take your own alcohol on board. I'd certainly double-check it because people who bought duty free in Dubai then had it removed when they had to go through security again in Brunei. Food wasn't as good or served as often as Etihad - but I think with you being vegetarian you'd fare better than the meat eaters - and there was a more limited choice of films but I'd probably still fly with them again if I felt it was a significant saving. Be warned there's not much to Brunei airport at all ( a coffee shop and newsagent and that's about it) and you will probably have to kill 2 or 3 hours there.

We flew Etihad from Manchester. It was good as we didn't have to go via heathrow. Straight to Abu Dhabi then on to Sydney.

Oh, only a 2 hour stopover in Abu Dhabi too.

Am looking at Etihad now. Being able to fly from Manchester would be a massive advantage for us, cutting several hours, if not an overnight stay off the journey.

I would recommend them. You're fed constantly! ?

Been to KL, so if looking for a cheeky couple of nights somewhere, HK would suit! Very nice airline though (and yes! Alcohol!).

Etihad £1803, from Manchester, short stops in Abu Dhabi. Extra £40 got to be worth the decreased hassle of flying from Manchester...

Oooh, book with Virgin as codeshare on the Etihad flights and it drops to £1734.

And the decreased cost of flying from Manchester. We paid a bit more for Etihad but once we took into account the cost of travel to heathrow and the prices of the hotels down there - we ended up saving money. The decreased hassle and time was the main point for us, though.

The arab airlines are the best IMC and that comes from somebody naturally uncomfortable because they literally take Israel of the (in-flight) map ;o)

We flew etihad to maldives last year - their economy class is equivalent to BA premium economy. Would definitely fly again.

Yep, agree.

Friend's wedding is in Melbourne. We have another set of friends in Melbourne. I have two separate arms of the family there too (one of whom Boy knows, one he doesn't). So Melbourne the main target.

Kharv, how long could you reasonably stay in Sydney for, as a city traveller type thing? A couple of nights?

Would like to fly up to Cairns too (reef reef reef) and spend a bit of time there.

I flew with Singapore airlines from Manchester back in '07 and paid £800 and something.. and then did internal flights Sydney-cairns- Brisbane-Fiji-Brisbane-Melbourne .. I loved cairns- one of my fave places .

Well we had 6 nights but that included a bit of factored in 'jet lag recovery time'. We also did a day in Manly and a day at Toronga Zoo within that 6. We loved it though and could have happily stayed longer if it wasn't so expensive. We liked to end most nights at Darling Harbour drinking mojitos. We went to a few little free museums which were fab, too.

Melbourne was brilliant - we loved it there too. I loved the little side streets that are full of little delis. We went to an Aussie Rules game at the MBC as well which was really fun.

This! We went to Sydney for a bit less than that but we would have loved to have stayed for longer. Manly is lovely so is China Town, the aquarium etc. We stayed in Darling Harbour which was great especially as we were there for New Year. My favourite place we went to in Australia was Sydney.

IF we want to do some reef trips, is Cairns the right place to stay? Or should we go out to one of the islands?

Hamilton Island (in the Whitsundays) is the most stunning place I've ever stayed - and really quirky too - you get around the island by renting golf buggies. I've got terrible sea legs so we didn't do reef trips but I have a friend who will be doing one from there next month so may be worth a look. I also could never get bored of Sydney. Definately go to Manly and the Zoo is well worth a visit - especially for the amazing views over the harbour.

Check out Qatar airlines they usually fly via Doha and are one of the best,I am signed up to their newletters and they are always sending me offers for Oz.

I wanted to do the whitsundays but didn't have enough time.. but we used Cairns as a base for 5 days and did the barrier reef/cape trib/port douglas /daintree rainforest and we did a croc river cruise..

Sydney again as the others have said Manly and walk along the prom and you end up in a little cove called shelley beach.. are you going to the bridge climb?

Melbourne - you have to go down to st Kilda lovely cake shops and cafes nr the beach.. i'm a saddo and did the neighbours tour and missed out on the vineyards ( was staying with a friend and she was going to take me, but again ran out of time) How long are you going to have in Oz?

I have loads of suggestions of things to do in Sydney if you need any ideas. Il dig out the brochure I made for our wedding guests!

Highly recommend Qatar Airlines, they'd be my first choice followed by BA. I'm a travel agent, not back in work until Monday now but if you haven't booked anything before then I don't mind checking to see if we have any specials on if you wanted to message me dates.

I used Qatar Airways and they were easily the cheapest then by far, but they hadn't been going long so they may have more mainstream prices now. Great service and flight timings though.

Have you tried using the skyscanner website? I've used these a couple of times to find the cheapest flights. To Vegas and Europe.

I can't say much about Melbourne I'm afraid but Cairns is beautiful. Would really recommend staying in Port Douglas as it's really close to the reef and you also have the Daintree Rainforest nearby. If you can fit in a hot air balloon ride do that. Sydney is fun and you have to have a day trip to Manly on the ferry, it's lovely, way better than Bondi which just looks like Llandudno IMO. Sunshine Coast is lovely too And my favourite place in Oz.

This ^. I flew to Melbourne with Qatar and it was great service, food every couple of hours including an ice lolly at one point. Also they DO serve alcohol!

If you are looking for Reef and Rainforest then Cairns is THE place, I was sorta back-packing and it was fantastic.

I would alos really reccomend trying to get out to Uluru, there are 3/4 day tours with a company called Adventure tours that will take you from Alice springs (you can fly there) ad back again. If you dont mind pitching in and very basic accomodation they are great fun. there are more "up market" trips but i loved the Adventure tours trip (I did 10 days with them from Melbourne all the ay to the rock)

Thanks for all the lovely suggestions. Boy has vetoed the trip. This was somewhat unexpected. Will have to consider my next move (if there is one).

Oh.

why?