The wife had clear instructions from the outset for her first trip from Australia to Italy – “Book me in business class or I’m not coming”.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m right there in spirit with on-demand fine dining, washed down with a glass or three of bubbles before changing into my free PJs and catching 7-8 hours of sleep in a lie-flat bed.
Trust me, the pointy end of the plane is even more appealing when you can stretch out every last millimetre of a 193cm frame.
But can we both fly like rock stars to Europe at 39,000 feet without the eye-watering price tag, or relying on swag of airline points earned from maxing out the credit card(s)? in the build-up?
Luckily for me – and you, if you’re prepared to get there via a less conventional route – the answer is a resounding yes.
The key is to simply throw the age-old practice of booking tickets from your usual departure point out the window – in our case Sydney – and consider a launching pad from south-east Asia.
You’ll save a small fortune, trust me, and still have enough in the travel kitty for endless Hugo Spritzers, generous servings of the finest gelato and gondola rides in Venice, even all three at the same time if the urge should hit you.
The main caveat is you’ll have to get yourself to south-east first, preferably in economy, or via the points you have saved up, otherwise the savings are negated by the over-inflated prices all the carriers are charging for business class flights out of Australia.
After exploring a few options using Google Flights, we settled on Jakarta as our business class gateway to Milan. Manila especially and Singapore to a lesser extent also offer similar price points to Italy, and beyond. But Jakarta, I’m here to tell you, offers a veritable treasure chest for a business class ticket to Europe at a fraction of the usual angina-inducing price.
So how much did we spend on airfares, layovers and visas?
We lucked into an economy sale return fare from Sydney to Jakarta aboard Qantas, paying $812 each, and another $80 each for a front-of-bulkhead seat upgrade.
Not bad for a seven-hour flight each way.
You aren’t spoilt for choice on this leg from Sydney but Qantas, we’re reliably informed by our friendly flight crew, flies to Jakarta four times a week, surprisingly, and the food and service were top-notch on both of our two flights.
The Qantas flight departs at 2pm and lands at 7pm (local time) meaning you could then just transit at the modern and cavernous Soekarno–Hatta International Airport for a few hours before boarding any number of overnight business class options to a Middle Eastern or European hub.
We built in a layover contingency for flight delays and the chance to take the next leg during the day by taking an overnight layover at Anara Airport International Hotel located in the same terminal as the one we arrived in (no.3).
A short ride up an escalator and you’re at check-in. Couldn’t be easier or more convenient.
It’s also probably the best value four-star airport you’re going to find almost anywhere in the world with friendly accommodating staff and a spectacular array of options at the inclusive breakfast buffet.
The next morning we’re at the Qatar business class check-in five minutes after handing in the room key.
Why did we opt for Qatar? We’d never flown the carrier before but if it’s reputation was to be believed, it seemed to offer unbeatable value for money.
For a return business class seat to Milan with a 2.5 hour transit in Doha, on each leg, we paid $3774 each. Etihad fans will get a similar experience for $400 or so cheaper.
So, to recap, to fly to Milan from Sydney, with around 28 hours of our 42 hours in the air in business class, we paid less than $4800 each, just by being more flexible with the way we got there.
Although not exactly a like-for-like comparison, to give you an idea of the saving, at the time of writing, a return business class Qatar fare from Sydney to Milan in October 2026 was $10,080.
That’s a combined saving of more than $10,000 by sucking it up and flying economy into southeast Asia.
It’s important, however, to highlight some other concessions and costs.
For one, unlike the planes used from Sydney on this route, there is no Q-Suite on offer out of Jakarta into Europe.
On both our out and back routes, we flew the wide-body Airbus A350-900, in a 1-2-1 configuration. It’s not the newest plane in the fleet, but far from the oldest.
Some reviews highlight a lack of privacy compared to some layouts, but I found the view out the window as we flew over India, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Oman, among other exotic locales, far more interesting than what my neighbour my have been watching or eating.
You also get the same all-flight, fine dining, amenity kits and PJs, with some of the best flight crews in the world.
The other point to note is that the reason we got his fare so cheap is that we opted for Qatar’s Business Lite fare, rather than the Business Classic, which was around $1000 more in total.
There are a couple of big conditions attached with this fare that might dissuade you from following suit, namely you don’t get access to Qatar’s business class lounges, or get to pick a free seat online.
By all accounts, Qatar’s flagship lounge in Doha is something to behold and well worth a visit. But with a few exceptions, I generally find lounges to be overcrowded and largely over-rated.
After all, why sit on your arse eating food you don’t really need ahead of doing the same thing on the flight you’re waiting for?
Maybe that’s just me. If you must visit a lounge, there are always third-party options like those offered by Priority Pass memberships.
Qatar also tries to up-sell you with a seat selection prompt – $180, or discounted to $150 if you sign up to its Avios loyalty program. The hack here is to wait until online check is open from 48 hours before the flight and you get the seat choice for free.
Other costs to consider and was it really worth it?
Like we said earlier, it is possible to stay in transit in Jakarta and push on into Doha, or an array of other starting points into Europe, without entering Indonesia.
If you are having a night in an airport hotel, you will need to stump up for visitor visas, which you can do online, or upon arrival. We opted for the former at allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id, although there never seemed to be any queues at the airport if you’d prefer to do it that way, or forget. It costs about $48 per person and only takes a few minutes before the paperwork is in your email inbox.
We decided on another layover before the evening Qantas return leg in economy to Sydney with an overnight stay at the excellent Sheraton Jakarta Soekarno Hatta Airport.
Rooms start as low as A$158 for a delux double room with garden view and you can pay US$100 for an early, or later checkout to coincide with your next flight.
They also provide a free seven-minute shuttle to and from the airport.
Rather than brave the notorious traffic into the city, we chose to stay put for two relaxing days here, swimming in the large, mostly empty pool with ice-cold mocktails always close at hand.
The only thing that lured us away were the 90-minute massages for just $90 apiece in the hotel spa – rock stars right to the end.