TelecomTraveler

Hi Travel Gurus!

Love this forum, but I'm still learning....I'm an AA Platinum flyer, all domestic travel and I'm starting to plan my first International trip to Sydney with my wife next Feb (2018). I have 150K miles banked so far (should I buy more miles?), and my thought was to buy Premium Econ tix, but is there a better way using my miles to upgrade into that? Or buy the Prem Econ tix and upgrade from those? Is first that much better? The flights I've been looking at were on the 787.
I will be departing LAX for SYD. I just don't know the best combo of leveraging status & miles to make the 15 hr trip a bit better than in coach and hoping that the incredible amount of experience on this forum could point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!

CloudCoder

My sincere advice is to fly it in coach. This will make all future trips seem extra-special. I flew across an ocean in coach ONE time, over 20 years ago. Ever since them, every trip across an ocean seems ultra-special.

That first trip (on KLM) was actually quite GOOD. It certainly wasn't BAD. But each trip after that (never in coach) is special. Today, 80+ transoceanic flights later, the specialness never wears off.

I do want you to have a good trip. But even more than that, I want you to have a special feeling that lasts for decades. Yep, fly your first international trip in coach. You'll be glad you did.

Austin787

The seats in front are actually business (though some may confuse them for first). They are amazing seats. I agree with CloudCoder about flying overseas in business being an ultra-special experience after many such flights in economy.

Book the premium economy seats, and get on the waitlist for miles + copay upgrades. Not sure if AA will prioritize prem econ -> biz upgrades over econ->biz, but at least you will have a nicer seat than regular economy for a 15 hour flight.

Dallas49er

I'm in agreement with CloudCoder & Austin787 with some additional thoughts:

Your signature doesn't say where you are (but guessing Chicago or thereabouts).

1. Perhaps a "practice" run to Europe for the both of you from the East coast or Japan from the West coast to see how you both about how coach really feels for extended periods of time. Reality check-15 hours is 62% of a day strapped to a seat. Why not make it a good/comfy one?

2. After 15 hours, you will be 7-10 hours different, having "lost" a day, on the the other side of the world, in a different hemisphere, with the seasons reversed. They do speak a version of English, which helps. Australia/New Zealand is AMAZING! And you will love it! Do you want to spend the 1st day looking for a massage and a nap?

3. Upgrades for Platinums can be scarce, ranking up there with unicorn sightings.

In any case have fun, whatever you decide!

DoctorORD

what city are you based out of? you have to remember AA's inane award system. say you're based in ORD, and you have to go ORD-LAX-SYD. even if there's saver space LAX-SYD, if there's no saver space available ORD-LAX, you won't get a saver award for the entire trip. (this is unlike United, where if there's space on the longhaul segment, they'll make space available on the shorthaul to make it work). if you're not finding the right award space, just keep looking at LAX-SYD flights, and you might have to buy another ticket from your home city to LAX just to make things work.

if you fly business class on this trip, yes, that will set the bar really high for every trip you go on after that.

premium economy on this plane is essentially like domestic first class - large-ish recliner la-z-boy type chairs.

since you are elite, you can probably score a MCE bulkhead free, take a sleeping pill and a neck pillow (critical for longhaul coach) and that would be fine as well.

if i were in your position i would aim for premium economy, be happy with business, but settle for coach.

have fun!

GotogoBob

I agree 15 hours in Coach will be remembered " Forever".

shimps1

Some additional advice..... LAX<>SYD saver inventory is pretty hard to come by, especially with the move from 777 to 787 on the route.

Might want to consider routing through HNL. Maybe spend a day or two in the islands.

LAX>HNL>SYD would price out to 105k if you can get it all saver. Maybe even book LAX>HNL in econ since it's shorter, but that's up to you. LAX>HNL biz saver is as open as you can get on AA, and HNL>SYD biz saver is findable, and will be flown on HA with their new lie flat A330 product. Might have a stop in BNE or AKL, but that can make for an interesting stop too.

Dallas49er

Wow! GREAT advice. NZ rocks, too.

no1cub17

Yeah.. gonna disagree there. Economy class sucks, especially for 14 hours, especially on AA. Do everything you can to upgrade. It'll still be special.

Just my two cents so feel free to totally disregard, but if this is your first int'l trip, why not make it somewhere truly int'l? Australia is amazing, don't get me wrong, but it's certainly not the most "international" place to go for your first trip.

Not sure that's true. Wife and I have upgraded multiple long-haul int'l segments this year including DFW-HKG. Takes some planning and luck (and flexibility), but definitely is still possible to upgrade as a PLT. Having said that, the switch to the 789 should make upgrades much harder on the SYD route.

OP, I'd get an EF sub and set alerts for QF awards too. They're rare but they do exist. I'm not sure if AA has fixed their website to properly display QF awards or not. Last year nailed two SYD-DFW J awards, got an EF alert but did not show up on AA.com.

axck

A trip in Y 20+ years ago won't be the same as a trip in Y today...something to take into consideration.

A few thoughts though. I disagree with a lot of this thread.

1. I flew long haul in Y (usually in a middle seat ) too many times to count as a kid (many trips between the US and India will do that to you) and also my first few years out of college; nowadays they kind of suck, but at the time I survived it back then really without a lot of trouble. They don't stick out in my memory as something I specifically remember 10-15+ years later. Nowadays I fly J or Premium Econ 95% of the time thanks to work and miles, and despite not having done quite as many trips as some of you, even international business class is becoming "normal" and has lost a lot of its luster. Every person is different.

2. Some of you are making it sound like economy is a torturous experience; I disagree that someone needs to do a "practice run" of a 7-8 hours flight in Y before making a decision for AUS/NZ, unless they have honest health concerns. First of all the experiences won't really be similar enough to draw conclusions on, and unless you have aforementioned health concerns, or fear of flying, or something equivalent, preparing for longhaul economy like it's torture is a bit much IMO. Keep in mind 70% of the plane doesn't get this choice, they fly economy, and deal with it. Some of them even manage to enjoy it. If the little kids and old people in back can deal with it without getting a test run, so can we (exceptions notwithstanding)...

3. It's US to Australia - one of the best longhaul journeys one can do! Definitely go for the premium cabin. Save the reality check, humbling economy-class experience for later and go for it now.

shimps1

Thanks... Only reason I know that is because I happened to book that myself. I wanted to get to Oz just like OP, but sAAver inventory was killing me. Thought to look to route through HNL and it was super easy. Granted instead of 7 days in Oz I have 4, but I also have 3 days in HNL, with an overnight in AKL, all while saving miles.

Austin787

Another option is route through AKL. LAX-AKL sAAver invetory is somewhat better than LAX-SYD. Maybe even visit New Zealand as well as Australia - NZ is a beautiful country with lots to see and do.

Mwenenzi

The simple 100% effective way is use your credit card. Buy the seat you want to sit in.
Or a straight out award (not upgrade). QF (AA ff partner) also fly SFO/LAX/DFW/JFK to/from SYD/MEL/BNE but not from all airports to airports.

Dedicated thread on LAX SYD upgrades. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...iscussion.html
Seats on international long haul flights are not like USA domestic aircraft. Many people still assume USA domestic first class is the same a international first .

SpudOz

Last year, I decided to do an el cheapo Y trip to Seattle flying QF. As part of their code share, I flew AA metal SYD-LAX. As a QF gold, I was able to select Main Cabin Extra at no cost and I had 3 seats to myself. Go for a low load flight and the extra seats in Y makes the journey half decent.

oysterhead43

Buy PE to ensure your don't suffer.

Use Expert Flyer to check C inventory availability (doubtful).

Use miles+copay to waitlist.

Pick days when load is typically light.

Unless there is an advanced sale, I'd wait til about 4 weeks out to buy and use Expert Flyer to pick a flight with lower loads. Before 4 weeks it's hard to gauge loads. Also set Google Flights alert to ping you if fares start to rise. <<< this part depends on your itinerary and whether you need to lock down lodging, etc in advance.