London to Perth with free Singapore stopover | Emirates & Tiger Airlines flights | September 2010
Travellers can make savings on flights to Australia and get a free stopover on the way by booking flights separately. And a classic example comes on London to Perth flights via Singapore with Emirates and Tiger Airways.
Free stopovers on way from UK to Australia
As I have explained previously, one of the best ways to get a free stopover when flying to Australia is to book a flight from the UK to Asia, then do the Asia to Australia leg on another airline – preferably one of the increasing number of budget airlines offering connections.
London to Perth | September 2010 flights
I discovered a classic example of this method whilst looking at London to Perth flights in September 2010. Using Travelsupermarket to search for flights, I discovered flights from London to Perth for from £774. This was with Cathay Pacific, booked through Major Travel, and with a short layover in Hong Kong but without a proper stopover.
This isn’t a bad deal, but it isn’t great either, so using the same set of dates (31 August 2010 departure and 25 September return, with three days flexibility either side), I decided to do a bit of investigating.
Gatwick to Singapore with Emirates
What I found was very interesting indeed. Departing on 31 August and returning on 25 September, it is possible to fly to Singapore from London Gatwick with Emirates (booked through Holiday Genie) for just £468.95.
Singapore to Perth with Tiger Airways
That’s a good price – but it all depends on how much it costs to get from Singapore to Perth from there. Well, with Tiger Airways, departing on 03 September and returning on 19 September, a return costs S$452 (£215). This is including credit card payment fees and checking in luggage – pay with an Australian-issued Mastercard and go hand-luggage only and it’s only S$410 (approx £195)
Budget airline destinations from Singapore
Add it together, and that’s £683.95 for to fly from London to Perth, with a few days in Singapore either side. It’s a substantial saving, and also opens up the possibility of doing another short trip from Singapore to somewhere else in Asia before going home. Singapore is a major hub for budget airlines in South East Asia, and flights to the likes of Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam can be incredibly cheap.
Exploring Asia AND Australia
Obviously, this is just what one person found for one set of dates. But it’s the principle that’s important. If you’re wanting to explore some of Asia on the way to or on the way back from Australia, look into the budget airline options from Asia to Oz.
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