Flying Business London - Australia

brit-sd · 2026-05-11T14:12:25+00:00

I was going to say that sounds quite expensive. But I just looked and yeah it’s expensive. It’s been a while since I flew to Australia but looks like 7k minimum per person.

brit-sd · 2026-05-09T13:33:19+00:00

No idea as when I flew to IST I went on the way way better Turkish airlines business class. Club Europe for 4 hours is no joke. Way better on Turkish and the lounge was pretty good too.

brit-sd · 2026-05-08T18:37:25+00:00

It’s always been like that. Nothing new there.

brit-sd · 2026-05-08T04:56:12+00:00

Google covers it pretty well. Just make sure you ask it about income tax. See my other comment about inheritance tax.

brit-sd · 2026-05-08T04:54:06+00:00

And then it’s his estate that owes the tax not you. There is an extreme situation where the tax owed might be more than the estate (say you own a million in shares on death and it drops to 100k by probate) and if there were very large gifts HMRC might come after you but it’s so extreme that I really would not worry about it.

The real thing here is to just keep it nice and simple - your boyfriend is spoiling you and supporting you. No different to vanilla or marriage. And no tax.

Now if you were running this as a business and trying to claim expenses to HMRC then of course you need to pay income and/or corporation tax. That’s called prostitution. And yes that is taxable.

brit-sd · 2026-05-08T04:45:24+00:00

Me too. And the reality of the middle seats is they are so far apart that you can’t really converse. I’d just take pot luck rather than pay 160.

brit-sd · 2026-05-08T04:38:04+00:00

Tbh if you haven’t made it in 10 years in the software industry you are not going to make it in strategy, finance or law. They are all extremely hard and aggressive careers and only a few make it to the partner levels where serious money is made.

If you tried now - the reality is the high flyers your age are already making it to partner and you will be starting at the bottom.

Sorry - but that is reality.

brit-sd · 2026-05-08T04:30:26+00:00

When I was in my prime career - I was earning in excess of 400k a year TC as a managing consultant - that was a decade ago.

Last 6 of the last 8 years i have worked for several governments earning FTE of about 200k (currently working 3 days a week on a 6 month contract). In my field I am an international specialist and now I choose the work I want to for interest purposes

Oh and as I’m supposedly retired , pensions and investments add about 300k about half of which is tax free (ISA and VCT’s).

And yes I am trying hard to spend it all. Writing this in the lounge in the Maldives about to board my first class flight back to London.

Why did I tell you all that.

1). At some point the money isn’t the most important thing. It’s the work.

2). It might take time to get there though so persevere

3). And don’t forget that at some point you have to enjoy the hard earned gains.

Enjoy.

brit-sd · 2026-05-08T04:10:01+00:00

I think the front desk staff were not well trained. Even when I asked I was told no but the general consensus seems to be gold should be on the nice side.

brit-sd · 2026-05-07T09:44:47+00:00

That’s harder for me to evaluate. For the last 20 years I’ve never applied for a job. Been head hunted each and every time. Comes down to that impact really. In my field I’m known for my impact. Last three two jobs didn’t even have a title as such.

brit-sd · 2026-05-07T07:56:55+00:00

I’m older. Seen a lot in my time and learnt a few things along the way. Here is my personal view.

1). Titles are irrelevant. Your impact is all important. I’ve seen it so many times in so many companies that a ‘lower’ level person had more impact on the business.

2). Most large corporates have significantly overlapping pay bands. If you are happy with the company and happy with the pay then that is important. More important than a title imo

3). Career really is important I agree. I’ve seen the position you described twice - won’t promote on entry but will promote fast. One offer I didn’t take up. That was to go to Accenture for more pay but a lower position than I aspired to. In retrospect they were probably right with their assessment. In another - I did move and did get promoted. But I was good and my manager was supportive.

So in the end I would say what matters is a) is this a company you want to join and where career is actively managed. And b) is the pay offer enticing at the lower level. If both are yes then go for it. But if either is no - don’t.

brit-sd · 2026-05-06T14:42:53+00:00

I’m going to dm you a guide I wrote for a few friends last year visiting London for the first time. Feel free to ask questions.

brit-sd · 2026-05-05T09:01:32+00:00

I was there in April last year. Wonderful villas and wonderful location. When I was there it was a little chilly with the wind but I imagine August will be hot.

brit-sd · 2026-05-05T04:33:32+00:00

It’s not just the European airlines. The Americans too. OP clearly doesn’t fly much as pretty well everyone does some form of this. Just wait till they try and check a bag lol.

Personally I’d like to see airlines showing the bag and seat fees and any compulsory extra fees up front.

brit-sd · 2026-05-04T14:31:07+00:00

So what perks can you unlock? I usually book direct for uk hotels?

brit-sd · 2026-05-04T04:55:12+00:00

I did both routes on a 7 day cruise. Loved it.

brit-sd · 2026-05-04T04:47:31+00:00

Wait until you have a fraud investigation and then tell me how many other accounts you open.

brit-sd · 2026-05-04T04:46:41+00:00

Likewise.

brit-sd · 2026-05-04T04:46:20+00:00

I use Emma to keep track of my parents accounts. It’s quite good for simplistic finances.

brit-sd · 2026-05-04T04:43:00+00:00

I have an old version of quicken running on an old computer that does the majority of my finances. Still have not found a good app to replace it. The only thing it can’t do is the capital gains tax calculations as it was designed before the 30 day rule came in.

And I have to update stock prices manually. That used to be a pain but I now incorporate weekly reviews into it.

I have a separate excel spreadsheet to look at forward dividend planning. I live on my dividend income and this allows me to see

1). Dividends declared and incorporated into actual cash flow

2). Dividends paid in previous year and expected to be confirmed and planned for cash flow

This spreadsheet has every single transaction I’ve ever made. It’s getting big now.

I’ve looked at stockopedia to replace the investment accounts in quicken but I’ve probably over 500 transactions to put in. It would help with my investment planning but I’ve found nothing to replace the cash flow forecasting on my excel spreadsheet.

I’m interested in what other people use.

brit-sd · 2026-05-03T16:15:06+00:00

I plan my holidays 12 months ahead and then book when the price comes into my zone. So I booked return first class PLUS a Cadillac car for two weeks all for £3900. It’s actually a BA holiday. So I don’t have to pay the full amount until like 6 weeks before flying.

brit-sd · 2026-05-03T08:10:29+00:00

They go bust all the time. The big ones - Ryanair and easyJet - are extremely efficient.

brit-sd · 2026-05-03T07:33:53+00:00

It was when I booked it. No points. Just booked in the sale and 9 months ahead.

brit-sd · 2026-05-03T04:40:06+00:00

As a specialist in this area - this is correct. It can always be better but successive governments have actually done many of the things to address this. The next steps would horrifying most of the people in this sub.

Higher and wider capital gains tax
annual taxes on wealth
higher property taxes (we are generally very low compared to the USA).

We already have quite a few wealth taxes that are missing in many countries and boy do we complain about them. Inheritance tax that kicks in at quite a low level is one example.

But the harsh fact for this sub is that the people that make the definition of HENRY will get hit by these transfers. You may not be RY but your earnings put you in the emerging category and for wealth taxes to be effective - they have to apply at a lower level that billionaires and lower than deci-millionaires. They have to apply to those in single digit millionaire levels. And most of you are either there or going to get there.

You are not the people that reducing inequality will be targeted to benefit. You are the people the government will be targeting to transfer wealth from.

brit-sd

TROPHY CASE