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How do you plan a flight?

Discussion in 'Holidays & Travel' started by hsvguy, Jun 18, 2017.

  1. hsvguy

    hsvguy Member

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    As mentioned in another thread, will be headed to Vietnam next year from Adelaide.

    currently keeping an eye on flights, and finding it overwhelming trying to plan the best way about it. We really want to leave late on the 6th so we can arrive early on the 7th flying overnight, to maximise our time there.

    It looks like it will be best to micromanage the flights rather than try and bung ADL>SGN into a flight search engine, however that will mean I need to make 2 stops (ADL to MELB OR SYD, then KL/HKG then to SGN), where as if I go from ADL can usually stop in KL or Singapore, but the timing isn't great.

    Then I started thinking book straight from ADL to somewhere in Asia and then book a connecting flight to SGN.

    Not sure if it's this overwhelming for everyone, but i'm struggling to find the best way to do it without breaking my sanity.
     
  2. broccoli

    broccoli Member

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    This is where travel agents are useful. They live and breathe this stuff.
     
  3. Gibbon

    Gibbon grumpy old man

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    Yep, for sure. My personal recommendation:

    https://www.travelmanagers.com.au/ptm/AliciaClark/

    Alicia is f#cking awesome. I have no connection with her other that knowing she's excellent. See what she can do for you - she'll do it all over email/phone.
     
  4. archie

    archie Member

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    google flights? https://www.google.com.au/flights/

    I'm the type who wants to decide where I transit and for how long etc so just can't leave it to a travel agent.

    I would personally go SQ via Changi, very easy to spend 3-4hrs in transit just walking around & eating, watching a movie, swimming, butterfly garden, sun flower gardens etc. Or spend a few more and train it into the city for some nice food :D I've done that plenty of times.
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2017
  5. BluBoy

    BluBoy Member

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    For this, I would use ITA Matrix (it powers a bunch of other online tools, like google flights mentioned here, but still gives you advanced control).
    The only downside, is these flight aggregators often miss the short sales (Jetstar Friday Frenzy etc), and don't include the ultra budgets (Air Asia etc).

    Depart from: ADL
    Destination: CXR, HAN, SGN (Don't click on the name, leave it as the airport code).
    Outbound: 04/06/2018 (Plus/Minus 1 day)
    Return: 04/14/2018 (Plus/Minus 2 days)
    (I'm guessing these are your dates)

    Prices shown will be package price (so if you select Vietnam Airways out, and they offer a discounted return package, then it'll only you the price for both legs).

    Current prices seem to be $885 departing Friday morning (with Qantas or Virgin, then Vietnam Air), or and extra $100 to go via SIN with SQ.

    What dates and prices have you been looking at? Do you have status or points with any alliance? (SQ currently have a promo on the silk air redemptions. Darwin to Singapore is 10k(eco)/16k(bus) in points, which is insanely good value. Would be easy enough to combine with an ADL-DRW leg and SIN-SGN as well).


    EDIT: Whoops. Link:
    https://matrix.itasoftware.com/#view-flights:research=ADLCXR-CXRADL
    (I doubt I can direct link to the search, so use my search parameters above)
     
  6. OP
    OP
    hsvguy

    hsvguy Member

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    Very true!

    Thanks for the advice, do you know the fee involved for using a service like hers?

    Thanks, i'll look into this.


    Thanks for the info, our actual holiday dates are 7th-18th April 2016, hence wanting to fly out on the 6th so we don't lose a day (as we will only get 3 1/2 days in HCM.

    no points to speak of unfortunately, and we'd probably look at a premium carrier over Air Asia (though they have cheap flights on from the eastern states quite periodically).
     
  7. Gibbon

    Gibbon grumpy old man

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    Not off the top of my head - can't hurt to ask though (and you may find that she can access different pricing which may offset it)
     
  8. broccoli

    broccoli Member

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    Back in the "olden days" when people needed travel agents, I think they got their money from the airlines/accommodation people, not from the people they booked (you'd pay "whatever", but they'd be getting a bulk discount from the airlines and hotels and they'd keep the difference between retail and what they were being charged). I never paid the travel agent I used when I went away. Another thing that used to apply was that a lot of seats and hotel rooms were reserved for "those in the trade", so they could get you on flights that would seem to be booked up when you went direct to the airline.
     
  9. timsarg

    timsarg Member

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    a travel agent is incapable of doing that for you ?

    When i cbf booking flights i give it to my agent and tell them i want a stopover in x for y days and they sort it .
     
  10. broccoli

    broccoli Member

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    Yes. Also the one I used figured out all the possibilities and said "you could do this, or this" or whatever. It wasn't just imposed on me, you talk to them about what you would like and they do the logistics of it.
     
  11. doug81

    doug81 Member

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    figure out likely connection points or direct flights - flight maps on airline sites are really handy
    spreadsheet comparing flight and wait times against cost
    pick 5 airlines and do the numbers - for vietnam I'd be looking at Singapore Airlines, Royal Brunei, Air Asia, Vietnam Airlines & Jetstar - add in Scoot if you want a 6th for fun
    add in variables like day either side, same cost with 1 night stop over, flight inclusions etc
    Don't forget to split the flight sectors too as you may find it works better to fly to hub and take short leg on alternate airline

    I like analysing options though - wish travel agents could do the same but nothing but trouble when I've used them and I can always find better options (partly because I know what works best for how I like to travel)
     
  12. archie

    archie Member

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    I'm sure they can but as Doug just did I want to do the analysis and I'm anal like that :p

    Anyway these days I'm flying 99% on points anyway so have to do it myself
     
  13. hawpinghaxbag

    hawpinghaxbag Member

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    Just approach it like any other problem, step by step, you allready have a set date and want to fly overnight, thats a start

    Only flights going to SEA from adelaide leave in the morning so that takes care of not using another au airport unless u want to fly to ME or east asia
    Find out if any flights from other airports like sydney, perth, melbourne go direct to SGN in the late pm and if do, does a flight from adelaide link up nicely to it.
    If not, you got to start considering 3 flights
    Eg adelaide to sydney, sydney to KL or singapore then onto vietnam, fly out of adelaide around 4pm, arrive vietnam in the am the next day
     
  14. OP
    OP
    hsvguy

    hsvguy Member

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    Yep looking like I have a choice of an overnight stopover in Singapore with Singapore Airlinges(9 hours), or an early flight (1am) out of Melbourne with Thai Airways, which is probably the best bet, but not the cheapest.


    I'm probably going to hang for a sale for a few months and work around that (ie saving 2 or 300 pp on flights and staying a night in Melbourne/Singapore)
     
  15. Zee

    Zee Member

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    A night in BKK is much more fun...

    Z...
     
  16. OP
    OP
    hsvguy

    hsvguy Member

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    So I can get a Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh with Thai Airways for around $830, with times that suit us pretty well (Leave Mel 23:30, arrive SGN 09:00).

    What's the odds we'd get a full service airline for much less than that?

    Does $1700 in flights seem excessive for two people (given I'd still need to get flights from ADL>MEL and back (though i'd wait for a budget sale to grab these).
     
  17. hawpinghaxbag

    hawpinghaxbag Member

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    Id go with that, thai airways is the best full service economy flight ive had in recent years
    Id be putting the adl->mel trip on the same ticket though if i was travelling with family and baggage
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2017
  18. OP
    OP
    hsvguy

    hsvguy Member

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    Is that purely so we dont have to re-check baggage?
     
  19. Scarpetta

    Scarpetta Member

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    It really depends how tight your budget is.

    I'd happily pay extra for a direct flight rather than spending time and effort in organising two flights to save $50.

    How much are you saving by not going direct? Will you spend money on accommodation, because of it? And the cost? Food and Drink while waiting for a connection flight? How much is your time worth to search for them?
     
  20. OP
    OP
    hsvguy

    hsvguy Member

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    It was more about arrival time than anything.... we were hoping to arrive as early as possible on the first day as not to lose a day travelling.

    However, if I plug ADL>SGN in to a couple of search engines, we can save about $300 in flights arriving later in the afternoon, which is loads more than an extra night at the hotel, so seriously going a day earlier and booking an extra night.

    In fact the more I think about this the more sense it makes.....
     

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