Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Compare LAX-SYD airlines---HELP Please!

Can you all help me sort out the pros/cons of these airlines for 6'3 handsome guy seated in economy? (my son...);)

Air Canada 777: Toronto-Sydney
Air New Zealand 777 or 747: LAX-AUCK-SYD
Qantas 747: LAX-SYD
United 747: LAX-SYD

need to know about:
Comfort (seat /leg-room), Service, Food, Entertainment,
particular area to sit?

Thanks much!

Can you all help me sort out the pros/cons of these airlines for 6'3 handsome guy seated in economy? (my son...);)

Air Canada 777: Toronto-Sydney
Air New Zealand 777 or 747: LAX-AUCK-SYD
Qantas 747: LAX-SYD
United 747: LAX-SYD

need to know about:
Comfort (seat /leg-room), Service, Food, Entertainment,
particular area to sit?

Thanks much!

Comfort in econ? at 6'3"? To Syd? For the seat/leg room and where to sit you would be best checking here....http://www.seatguru.com/ three of your choices are rated here for seating in the economy cabin http://www.airlinequality.com/Product/Yseats-entry.htm

As for the rest with difficulty would rank them this way Air New Zealand, AC, Quantas and UAL.

Good luck
Sam

I'd find some nice person who is willing to "gift" your son 3P status on United... That would allow him to sit in Economy+, which has more leg room.

One alternative that would cost slightly more would be to take Hawaiian in Business Class - that can usually be had for $3K or so from the folks at Cook American Express or any number of other travel agents who deal with consolidators.

I am 6'3 and my ratings would be.

Seat: QF,NZ,AC,UA
Service : QF, NZ & AC pretty equal then UA
Food: QF,NZ,AC,UA
Entertainment: QF,NZ,AC,UA

Check in early and request and exit seat.

Welcome to Flyer Talk grfxguru :)

hobarthoney you must be joking. NZ's seat has a couple of inches more legroom than QF (at 6-3 every inch counts). Further, NZ's AVOD is far superior to QF's (many more channels, works all the time, updated frequently with the lastest movies). Food and service is a bit more subjective but I'd rate them both better on NZ than QF.

I'd go NZ all the way. (BTW UA's E+ has about the same legroom as NZ's regular economy seat).

Another big advantage of NZ is they also use T2 at LAX, thus simple connection YYZ-LAX-AKL (no security or immigration at LAX). Not quite as easy going back, US immigration and security, but at least it is all the same terminal vs change of terminal for UA and QF.

Does NZ have AVOD on the AKL-LAX route? Most flights seem to be 747s so I thought not.

I am planning MEL-MCO so trying to work out whether to go United MEL-SYD-LAX or AirNZ MEL-AKL-LAX. Economy for now unless I get a 3P (oh how I wish!).

NZ has AVOD on all 747s and 777s, and they will soon have it on all 320s and 767s. I agree with KiwiFlyer that NZ's AVOD is far superior to QF's. UA's main screen offering is just sad...

If I had a choice between United E+ or AirNZ regular E, I'd choose AirNZ because of the superior entertainment (leg room 34" for both UA E+ and AirNZ E)

Thanks for all the great feedback. He booked with Qantas yesterday. As of now he has the entire row to himself! :D Thanks again!

Thanks for all the great feedback. He booked with Qantas yesterday. As of now he has the entire row to himself! :D Thanks again!

A 6'3" person in a 31" pitch seat? Ouch!

qf is the choice for the direct lax syd or sfo syd - when you compare to UA.

But I would always choose NZ - due to space and comfort, not to mention better service.

AC has a reputation for poor service on the pacific route, plus they appear to go technical more frequently.

The 14.5 - 16 hrs can drag - so sometimes it is nice to break it up with a little stopover in AKL.

Hope he enjoys his trip down under.

Adam

NZ has AVOD on all 747s and 777s, and they will soon have it on all 320s and 767s. I agree with KiwiFlyer that NZ's AVOD is far superior to QF's. UA's main screen offering is just sad...

If I had a choice between United E+ or AirNZ regular E, I'd choose AirNZ because of the superior entertainment (leg room 34" for both UA E+ and AirNZ E)

Thanks Vunder31, I think you just tipped me onto the AirNZ side. Looks like I'll do MEL-AKL-LAX. Probably takes a little longer, but at 6'2" the leg room helps no end. Watching a tiny TV in case I don't sleep only helps it further! ;)

A 6'3" person in a 31" pitch seat? Ouch!
It depends on the person. My husband is 6' but has short legs so fits in a 31" pitch easily.

It depends on the person. My husband is 6' but has short legs so fits in a 31" pitch easily.

Price, schedule, etc being equal - why put up with 31" when you can get 34" (and superior other aspects like IFE)?

Welcome to Flyer Talk grfxguru :)

hobarthoney you must be joking.

Not joking.. while NZ offers a good product I have enjoyed my trips on QF more and find the seats comfortable (relatively any way)

Sorry to tag onto this thread, but could anyone give me an idea of what I can expect on the following flights:

AC: YVR-HNL (763, I believe)
NZ: HNL-AKL (772, on the morning route, Friday 18/Jul)
NZ: AKL-SYD (744)

I've only taken UA across the Pacific to the South Pacific, and the above flights are all in ECONOMY (Y) and as part of a larger *A Award Ticket.

Any clue to the food (just if free food will be available), if free [alcoholic] drinks are available and of course, what the Entertainment will be (AVOD/One Big Screen/etc).

Just to confirm, I'm a *Gold, so i'll be happy to check out the lounges in YVR, HNL and AKL :)

Thanks in advance,
jeremy

NZ772 and 744 both have pretty good seats with AVOD. Food and drink are free. As noted above better option than QF which has pretty terrible seats and entertainment. I've found NZ food to be fairly average but again a step above QF.

How about Air Pacific in Business Class with a stop in Fiji ?
Don't know if they have good deals ex-LAX but the product is quite ok.

Sorry to tag onto this thread, but could anyone give me an idea of what I can expect on the following flights:

AC: YVR-HNL (763, I believe)
NZ: HNL-AKL (772, on the morning route, Friday 18/Jul)
NZ: AKL-SYD (744)

I've only taken UA across the Pacific to the South Pacific, and the above flights are all in ECONOMY (Y) and as part of a larger *A Award Ticket.

Any clue to the food (just if free food will be available), if free [alcoholic] drinks are available and of course, what the Entertainment will be (AVOD/One Big Screen/etc).

Just to confirm, I'm a *Gold, so i'll be happy to check out the lounges in YVR, HNL and AKL :)

Thanks in advance,
jeremy


HNL-AKL is normally on 767. However on 18 July only a 747 is operating NZ1011. AKL-SYD is normally 767 (with odd A320 also) but that week there are some 747 flights also.

NZ has a lounge at HNL, and a decent lounge at AKL. Free food and drink of course onboard, AVOD IFE on PTV, good service.

Just another opinion from someone whose been 'commuting' on the LAX-SYD run.

UA - No Avod, everything else mediocre at best, poor at worst. Select only if the price is substantially cheaper.

NZ - Advantages: better seat pitch, T2 in LAX has more amenities, service usually very pleasant. Food ok.

Disadvantages: Having to go through single-lane metal detector/x-ray again when connecting at AKL (sometimes with short connection times). No amenity kit onboard. Unlike others I prefer QF's AVOD. It seems like NZ's has a long lag between keystroke and something actually happening. If I pause the movie I'll usually restart it accidentally & wind up having to reselect & fast forward.

QF - Advantages: direct flight. LAX > SYD leaves/arrives through T4 instead of the Tom Bradley hellhole (LAX > MEL & BNE use TBIT :td:). Food is good but it has really gone downhill over the past two years. The Cadbury hot chocolate & ice cream bar are a civilized perq along with the snack bag they give you when they expect the pax to sleep. Amenities kit with eyemask, lanyard, toothbrush, socks IIRC... throw away the contents and keep the little zipper bag for your laptop case.

Disadvantages: Usually pricier and late night >11pm flights are a bit inconvenient. Also their stupid preparation for takeoff video sticks in my head and I'll use "each _____ is subtly different" for things in everyday life for a month. QFers, you know that's true. Oh be very very careful if you try to get QF FF miles posted to American Airlines -- SOME FARE CODES ARE INELIGIBLE or only qualify for a fraction of the miles flown and the ticket agent won't warn you. Check first!!

In any event considering your son's size it's worth trying to beg/plead your case for an exit row with the ticket agent. Exit row seats are under airport control but usually go fast to those with status. The ones by the galley, not lav, are best. In the alternative I'd recommend an aisle IN THE CENTER BLOCK OF SEATS (rows D & G), that way the worst that can happen is there's only one person who has to crawl over you to use the loo instead of two in the outer blocks.

In any event enjoy Sydney & try to sample a pie floater if there's time.

HNL-AKL is normally on 767. However on 18 July only a 747 is operating NZ1011. AKL-SYD is normally 767 (with odd A320 also) but that week there are some 747 flights also.

NZ has a lounge at HNL, and a decent lounge at AKL. Free food and drink of course onboard, AVOD IFE on PTV, good service.

Thanks so much for the update!

I must have picked a nice day to fly from HNL to AKL ... in the morning too! I'm on a 747 flight from AKL - SYD (as it's scheduled now).

I'm on AC from YVR to HNL, which i'm not expecting much from, but i'll be very happy to see NZ seats in Y. I've been impressed with LX, TG and OZ...so i'm curious to see NZ :)

Thanks again!

-jeremy