How to get there?

Hi guys,

I'm planning on going from Europe to Australia (stop in BKK is good), and then to a couple of countries in the pacific, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa would be cool. Going with my wife and mostly beach and chillout.

I'd like to go for a couple months, November/December OR March/April. When is it better?

What should I do concerning flights? Buy a RTW? Get a return ticket to Australia (or BKK) and go from there? Which would be cheaper?
Thanks for your help guys. After some answers I'll know where to start my web searches :)

I couldn't say which time frame is better, but think about the options. Summer in Australia is November/December. March/April will be their fall and it might be a bit colder - it well depends on where you'll be going in Australia.

I'd definitely suggest getting a round trip ticket over a round the world ticket since those are usually very expensive - if you still want to do a rtw buy one-way tickets and look for cheap flights and be open for destinations that otherwise wouldn't have crossed your mind :)

Fly return to AU, then buy a ticket to Tonga and back from Samoa with with Virgin Australia. From Tonga, buy tickets to Fiji and on to Samoa with Fiji Airways. This is likely to be the cheapest way, but do also check costs of doing it all with Fiji Airways.

March-April is likely to have better weather in the Pacific islands.

It would help your planning if you researched travel options and costs first. Of course it is up to you, but if your main purpose is beach time, it doesn't seem cost-effective to visit 2-3 island nations.

A RTW ticket is not a good practical/financial option. Those are tied to specific airline consortiums, and so you're limited to where they fly, plus a pile of other conditions (direction of travel, number of stops, number of sectors, etc). A return ticket to Australia would be cheaper than a RTW for starters (also return via Singapore, then to e.g., Brisbane, for other destination options), and you'd likely still be cheaper than the cheapest RTW ticket when you start adding in extra flights to destinations -- some of which you may have to pay extra anyway with a RTW.

Another competitive option (regarding time and cost)is to fly to Hong Kong then to Fiji, return Fiji/some other island nation, back to Europe via HK. But this only depends on whether Australia is a must on the itinerary.

If you're still curious about RTW possibilities, check Star Alliance - members include Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and Air New Zealand, only the last giving you access to island nations as part of ticket (and that may be limited to Fiji).

March-April better, for Fiji at any rate.

North of the Tropic of Capricorn is the tropics.
Stay south of that during October to March unless you like hot and humid weather and the possibility of cyclones anywhere near the coast.
A great time for southern coastal Australia, but give it a miss for the South Pacific islands and northern Australia, if you have the choice.

Cheers,
Peter

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