Earlybird season is among us and Europe has always been the key destination for earlybird deals. Here's everything the savvy Qantas frequent flyer member needs to know to take advantage of this important booking period.
Dates: Earlybird Round 2 Update
The first key date this year was 19 November with basically every airline setting their booking deadlines on that day this year. We are now into the 2nd round of earlybird sales with these new fares now expiring 23 December adding a slight increase for the 2nd round of sales. As time goes on prices increase, time to start booking your trip!
Economy Class Deals:
The best choice for the Qantas frequent flyer is the Qantas/Emirates Europe discount economy earlybird airfare from just $1697 including taxes. The main reason is the double status credits compared to flying partner airlines on competing routes. This will offer stops in Singapore, Bangkok, Johannesburg or Dubai en route to the extensive Emirates and Qantas route network. We will assist with getting you on QF flight numbers to maxmise status credit accrual. You can also consider an economy Qantas earlybird which would accrue a higher level of status credits and be at the appropriate booking class to permit a request for frequent flyer upgrades on Qantas operated aircraft.
The other earlybird deals really depend on your stopover preferences. For a stop in China or Japan check out the BA Europe earlybird airfare. For a Hong Kong stopover try the Cathay Pacific earlybird airfare. Malaysia Airlines are the premier choice for routing via Kuala Lumpur and Finnair could be one to consider should you want to mix and match Asian stopovers in each direction. Finnair can really result in some extra status credits by using QF flight numbers to and from Asia, these are a touch more than AY codeshare flight numbers but are worth the extra cost relative to the status credits earned.
Premium Economy Deals:
Qantas' premium economy earlybird airfare is ideal to accrue over 280 status credits, you can retain silver status on just one airfare booking. This will only allow a stopover in Dubai or Johannesburg and will require routing via London, as Emirates do not have a premium economy cabin. Should you prefer a stopover in Hong Kong and want to avoid London, Cathay Pacific premium economy to Europe is a great choice to get premium economy to continental Europe. Alternatively, you could consider a Singapore stopover on British Airways' World Traveller Plus via London to many European destinations.
Business Class Deals:
With the heavy weighting to QF flight numbers, again the best value fare is the Qantas and Emirates business class earlybird from $7163 including taxes. Base pricing is from Adelaide and Perth to account for the 777-300 product on Emirates, fares are a bit more expensive from the East Coast. This is the optimum fare for status credit accrual, however, the Finnair Europe earlybird ticket from $4891 is extremely cheap and seriously worth considering to get a very low airfare but the extra business class comfort compared to premium economy. The status credit hack with the Finnair ticket is the application of QF flight numbers to/from Asia, whereas Cathay Pacific, BA, Malaysian and Qatar all suffer Qantas' lower status credit accruals for partner airlines.