Originally Posted by
MissJ
On international flights, I always price out both economy and J or F and see what the difference is and go from there. If the trip is short, I'll be more apt to want to get good rest on the flight. And if the flight it really long, I'll look a lot more for an upgrade. Like flying to Australia. I wouldn't do it in the back. Just no. Europe, I've done plenty of each and have been fine most of the time. Economy an being expected at work the next day is a no-no though. I'm not one of those lucky people who handles jet lag well.
I've done LAX to Australia in Y before and while that wasn't the most comfortable flight ever, I did get there without issues. It also helps that I generally don't sleep well (or at all most of the time) on planes in general. I've also done transcons in Y on many occasions without issues, which aren't that much shorter than the shorter TATL flight mentioned in my OP. I imagine the answer for me would be a lot simpler if I had a lower tolerance for transcon.
Originally Posted by
pinniped
So the choice is SAN-<East Coast>-DUB vs. SAN-<European hub>-DUB?
My first question: is there F availability on the transcon? If not, then I'd eliminate that from consideration.
If so, then it would be a question of timing and duration. Would you rather give up more of your departure day or more of your arrival day? Guessing the itin with an east coast connection is shifting a few hours earlier, but maybe has the shorter total duration.
I've been looking ex-SAN and LAX. The options I've found so far:
- SAN-LHR-DUB on BA (but with something like $1200 per person in fees, so I'm trying to avoid this if possible)
- LAX-CDG-DUB on AF (half the fees of BA)
- LAX/SAN-YYZ-DUB on AC (the option with the lowest fees)
To answer your question, it looks like there is in fact J availability on at least LAX-YYZ (on an 787, no less), but it's two red-eyes in a row. There is apparently also LAX-IAD-DUB on UA/EI but the UA segment is in Y. I'll have to play around with dates some more to see if I can optimize the last option on the above list more.