Originally Posted by
cz4ever
Thank you all (og, Mwenenzi, and Dave Noble)! I very much appreciate the quick, clear responses! They clear up a lot of mysteries, especially with regard to what qualifies as "preferred seating" (pretty unappealing on QF) and the reason why I could not select seats (that policy is odd, Mwenenzi).
I'll take a look at the other options, especially an Air New Zealand triangle route (IAH-AKL-SYD-IAH), since we would want to visit NZ. SYD seems to be the cheapest option for Australia proper, but I'll definitely keep an eye on MEL and BNE.
There isn't really anything odd about having to have a ticket in order to be able to select seats - it seems to make sense to me. There are tools such as expert flyer which can enable you to see what seats are available or can phone and ask whether there are exit seats available
It is a long journey - I really recommend picking the best schedules / shortest journey times and it is worth paying for the extra legroom options. Qantas vs UA do not look like that they are too different price wise
If doing AU and NZ , a triangle is definitely the way to go - or US-NZ-AU -- just don't do US-NZ via AU