Originally Posted by macfadsj

I have flown both airlines to Auckland in the last year and there are clear tradeoffs that you might want to consider in advance by examining the schedule on each airline's website.

If your time is valuable and you can get a J seat on the QF nonstop from LAX to AKL, it will save quite a bit of time over the circuitous route on CX through HKG, which could entail a very long layover of up to 10 hours on the way back.

In my mind, for a trip this long, it is worth it to spend the extra miles and go First, knowing that on CX, there is only J between HKG and AKL.

It is almost impossible to find F seats on the QF nonstop LAX-AKL, and difficult at best to find F seats through SYD to the other QF destinations in NZ: Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown. F seats are much easier to find on CX, particularly within 1 week of departure when they load in lots of inventory.

If you elect to go F, the other key difference is that QF will be full and on CX you are quite likely to share the F cabin with only 1 or two other people.

If after you make your choice you have difficulty finding seats on your dates of choice, PM me and I will give you a hand.