One of the biggest decisions you'll make before heading to the UK is who to buy your Airline tickets through and what kind of fare to go for.
Not all companies are the same, and even though most of us will want to get the UK as cheap as possible, sometimes you pay for it later.
I'll tell you what I mean;
All airlines do have to stop over somewhere half way to London (from Australia). Most in Asia, but some can be in remote Middle-Eastern countries.
One thing to check is the approximate flight times. I.E total time of the flight to London. On average you should be looking at flights that are 21-24 hours long, from say Sydney or Melbourne to London Heathrow. Cheaper tickets sometimes have flight times of 28-30+ hours as you'll be spending hours in transit, stopped over somewhere halfway to your destination. Adding 4, 5 or 6 more hours to your travel times can be a real killer and even more so on your potential jet lag saga.
Some cheaper airlines also bite you on Excess luggage and total weight limit of your kit.
The average weight limit for flying economy is about 20-24KG per person. If you go over this your flight costs could skyrocket! Sometimes 100's of dollars per extra Kilo you are over your limit.
Tip:
(Always try and weigh your final bags before you leave for the airport, or what I do, is if you are going with family/friends, pack some of the clothes/gear you are willing to not take on the top of your bags, in plastic bags, for when you get weighed and if you're over the limit you can quickly and easily ditch the excess weight with your family and get your bags under the limit.)
Cheaper fares sometimes have lower limits, 18kgs etc, so you have to watch out for that too.
Cheap fares can also be restricted and the convenience that other fares have you will waver. Like, checking in online or automatically at the terminals. You will not have the luxury of checking in before you queue up and more often than not you'll be the ones hanging in the queue at the check in counter, while others just dump their bags. This also hinders your freedom of choice when it comes to window or aisle seats.
You also don't have the freedom of changing your flight times or dates without some penalties, so if anything goes wrong and you want to change something, leave later/earlier, you won't have much leeway with these cheap fares.
Getting a package deal on flights it not such a bad thing either, especially if you can get together some essential aspects of your travel needs. I.E Travel insurance, airport transfers or accommodation once in London. I know that STA Travel offer great package deals when it comes to getting people over to London with minimal hassle.
Check them out here; STA TRAVEL
Cost:
Certain things will dictate how much you pay when going over. The main one, the time of year you fly. Stick away from weeks leading up to Christmas or big holidays and unfortunately the most expensive is heading in to English summer holidays, and when you usually want to travel around say Europe.
Also the quality of the Airline. There are different levels of quality when it comes to airlines, up top with 5***** are the likes of Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore airlines, Cathay Pacific, 4*** like Qantas, Thai, Air New Zealand, Japan, Virgin Atlantic and lower down 3*** Air Canada, Philippines, United Airlines and the majority of the Airlines in the world.
You can check out the whole list here. AIRLINE RANKINGS
My advice, is fly over around March/April. Get everything sorted in London, like a place to stay, your bank accounts, mobiles, a job if you want to work first as then you will be settled for when London/ European summer hits in June-July-August. If you are travelling first then perhaps come over in May, crash on a mates couch or what you can get, or hostel, leave your excess kit with a friend or in storage and then hit Europe late May to early June. It's still hot and there will be half the tourists for the first parts. Plus you will get all of summer if you continue on through to August - September.
Bottom line with airline tickets is that the cheapest is not the best. You have to weigh up your comfort level (flight times), potential excess charges and lack of freedom in changing dates etc. But in saying that, top airlines have sales and deals etc, so you can find yourself on a 5**** airline with a cheap fare, and be laughing.
Nick & Belle
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