Richard Berg

I'm new to TPAC long hauls; don't yet have a feel for my personal tolerance level. Time to poll the audience! How far out of your way have you gone to avoid being stuck in cattle class?

My options, for the sake of argument...

Economy: SFO-AKL = 13hr nonstop on a NZ 772, for $594 cash. Pro: spend the most time in New Zealand, maybe switch seats with companion halfway? (she's flying J on her employer's dime) Con: gotta spend that "saved" time recuperating. May become homicidal.

Domestic-style F (recliners): SJC-HNL-AKL = 15hr of flying on an AS 738 + quick connection to a HA 332, for 62.5K AA miles. Pro: almost as fast as nonstop (or possible stopover at the beach?). Con: lots of miles for a decidedly non-premium product.

True international J (flat beds): SFO-ICN-BKK-AKL = 30hr of flying on OZ/TG 772's + a TG 787, for 80K UA miles. Requires an 18hr layover in either ICN or BKK. Pro: travel in style, quick side tour of a cool city, arrive refreshed. Con: lose a whole day of NZ vacation.

Ultra-lux F (personal suite): for people obsessed with high end cabins on the likes of EK/CX/SQ, there are probably 48hr+ routes via DXB or SIN or somesuch. I'm not that crazy -- but if you are, please share your story

s0ssos

Depends on who pays the bill. I've flown from Tokyo back to California via Emirates in F.

The benefit of flying first is that it isn't as tiring flying. So I'd rather spend more time in comfort than spend less hours in discomfort.

Annalisa12

I've flown via another country to get a nice cabin or rather a different premium cabin I haven't travelled in.

From the examples you state I think the worst flight is the shortest one. 13 hours non stop is a nightmare, even in F. I don't think I'd go the 48 hour route but if the choice was 13 in economy or 20 in a fully flat bed I'd go the 20. I travel for holidays and for me the plane trip is part of the holiday so I don't mind extra hours on a plane so long as it is reasonable.

nkedel

Forget "to avoid being stuck in cattle class" - I divert as far as cost-effective, to get miles. My best ever was a weird fare (possibly a mistake) on AA that connected SFO-LAX via Paris, on order to connect to a CX flight HKG (continuing to Bangkok.) About $150 extra, compared to SFO-LAX-HKG-BKK, something on the order of 12,000 extra miles. (Sadly, could not do that both coming and going.)

Didn't get to fly it, as I got laid up in a surgery. I've ended up paying a bit more to go the long way (SFO-LHR-HKG/SIN-LHR-SFO, with a couple of other stops) that fall.

My wife did talk me out of doing SFO-HKG by way of Buenos Aires this year. Wasn't really that cost effective (about $2100 for 42,000 EQM) but would have been incredibly time efficient for the amount of flying. All coach.

ysolde

I'm on this bench -- or flatbed seat. I am too old to spend part of my trip in major discomfort (i.e. Y) in order to save either time or money. If it is at all reasonable, I find a way to fly in a flatbed J, and arrive at my destination rested. OTOH, I wouldn't divert by 48 hours or head in the opposite direction, nor would I break the bank to do it. 20 in a fully-flat bed sounds reasonable to me, though, especially if you have the miles.

LeviFlight

Tricky one. If the journey was part of the joy of the travel experience and have time on hand I would go with a 20 or so hour flight. It is a nice experience to do if have not done before. If just want to journey to be over (i.e ready to be home) I might be tempted with the economy direct, especially if only one segment.

Worcester

I have started heading west when I return from trips to the US so when I get on a east bound plane I can get more sleep time. I have found that I really can't sleep very well on flights and JFK > LHR I might only get an hour or so of sleep, DFW > LHR works much better especially on UD J and cost a trivial amount extra.

Spending an extra day in the air strikes me as rather bonkers, but hardly the weirdest thing I have heard on FT. Each to their own I suppose.

gpia

Out of the options given, I would always choose this one. Can't afford F anyhow, so that's not an option. Domestic F for essentially the same miles wouldn't do it for me. Use the layover for a trip to the city (I'd choose BKK over ICN, but OZ over TG) and it balances out your day "lost" in NZ :-:

pinniped

Is this a one-way trip or a round-trip? Is it a business trip or a vacation? I'm confused, as there seems to be references to both business and pleasure, as well as discussion of "losing a day", but no mention of a return option. Those mileage rates are, I assume, one-way. The cash fare in Y is, I assume, round-trip (?).

Long story short: if I had a reasonable option to avoid a 32" Y seat on a TPAC, I'd take it every time.

For a time-pressed trip, the relatively-direct routing with a less-premium product would suffice. I wouldn't love it, but it would do. 36" to Hawaii, 45" to NZ...like you, my only hesitation would be that 62.5k feels like a *lot* of miles.

For a longer trip, I'd consider a day in BKK as part of the fun. I'd book the UA trip and not think of it as losing a day in NZ, but rather gaining a day in an interesting city. (Of course, I'd also enjoy the proper international J experience.)

And FWIW, most airlines don't like it when people switch cabins in the middle of a flight. I've had two-segment flights, one ticket in F and one in Y, where my wife and I swapped at the connecting point. But never a seat-swap in the air...

STBCypriot

I backtrack to fly Etihad to the US. I fly LCA-AUH, then overnight in AUH and fly to JFK the next day. Flying either business or first on EY. Overall, EY is the best option for me.

nkedel

I'd choose ICN over BKK, but then again, I've yet to be in Seoul and I'm in Bangkok occasionally anyway. For someone who's never seen either, I think it's kind of a "you win either way" decision.

BenA

Let me put it this way - we're flying KE on HNL-ICN-NAN in business for our honeymoon instead of buying tickets on the Fiji Airways direct HNL-NAN in economy. Two 10 hour flights instead of one 6.5 hour direct flight

I admit it's a little irrational, but dangit, business class!

Richard Berg

Half of a ~9 day round-trip. My companion has business in NZ; I'm tagging along for fun. Her schedule requires a nonstop outbound, but she'll be free to join me for tourist-y stuff during the latter half of our time down under, perhaps including a "creative" route back to JFK.

All prices are one-way. (The Y fare is not really "Y", but some special discount rate that doesn't earn miles. If I bought the full fare Y via codeshare, it would be at least double that, at least from my amateur sleuthing.)

edit: actually you were right to question my quoted one-way Y fare. $594, not $694. Fixed!

I like the way you think!

However, if we consider the extra adventure, we also have to consider the opportunity cost. Would I rather do a whirlwind side trip now -- alone -- or save the miles for some future vacation when we could do a longer stopover, together? With UA miles in particular, if I don't take advantage of their routing flexibility, some part of the award goes to waste, relative to an "ideal" Asian redemption.

That's why I'm kind of glossing over the "fun in BKK" aspect and focusing on comfort per hour.

Richard Berg

I would expect nothing less from FT regulars

edit: funny you'd mention detours in KE's J - I'm actually considering something similar for my return leg

Richard Berg

I booked the $594 tix (nonstop coach).

Note: E+ was like $2500, yikes! (Maybe the same-day upgrade offer will be more reasonable?) Luckily my legs aren't too long -- should be ok so long as I bring good books and stand up every few hours.

East Asian adventure will have to wait for another day. Thanks for the ideas! Now to shop for the return legs...