Or the BA Galleries lounge with a single malt whiskey(:

Isn't CE basically economy? They're even not bothering with food in some cases...

Well I think you've said it all. It's about time these young uns man up!!

Personally speaking, I now avoid flying long haul in economy class.

A sector in Y is a guaranteed cure for any J ennui! :cool:

17 years? and it was impossible this flight? often in premium economy rather than only J/F?

As someone that regularly flies long (medium) haul, i have never gone the booze route (and i dont know how young your children are, but if there is one next to you then you are going to have to stay up maybe or be woken up a bunch if they dont fall asleep.

But the following are my tips-
- try and have a proper meal in the terminal beforehand - if you are doing LHR then get some wagamamas or Giraffe.. while the food is ok in economy, its not great and depending on how fussy you are (like me), i tend to only have half
- Bring snacks. They tend to only give you the one meal
- Bring water- i would suggest purchasing a steel double insulated water bottle from TK Maxx/ Amazon as these keep the water super cold for the longest time.
- if you are one that needs eye shades to sleep, you must bring your own as they no longer provide these, nor a toothbrush and toothpaste, nor socks. You pretty much get nothing other than your seat (which sucks as they all used to be provided in economy).
- Bring your own headphones/Ear phones - the ones they supply are terrible (and im pretty sure they will start charging for these soon haha).
- Try and bring an ipad with stuff downloaded on it. if its a full flight and your IFE doesnt work, then you basically have to lump it.
- Its actually not that long to NYC. Make sure you get up and walk a bit as the seats are cramped.

To be fair, the highest class i have ever flown in WT+ and that was on one flight which i was given a complimentary upgrade for so i dont really know much better but i do know the product has declined in the past two years where its only just "bearable". I plan on going to AA next (yes yes i know BA still get the money) because i hear the economy offering is a bit better.

Well well well. for the first time ever the OpUp gods have smiled on me and all four of us are now in W. I noticed the seats had changed as we were on the pod. Our paper boarding passes say WT+ but the app still says WT with the PE seat numbers. I fully expect our WT meals, especially as Youngest BerksFlyer has a child's meal ordered.

Sadly the WT trip report I had planned will have to wait, hopefully for another 17 years!

Congratulations - however in the interests of research you should flatly refuse the upgrade!

I'll spend the next seven or eight hours giving that some thought then get back to you!

The App is behaving normally here. If you get an upgrade to First, for example, it will quite often say "1A Club World". Even if you clear the cache and download again, it tends to stick to the original cabin name even when the seating makes it impossible. Has caught me out a few times when upgraded after boarding.

And how does one go about getting one of those boarding passes?! :D

Nice to hear you got 'upped'. Can't say it's a huge surprise, but then again I guess they would have turn down the chance to upsell those seats so good on BA.

Lucky you, especially for four of you, quite a lucky star!! :)

Ahh, now that is heroic. Am familiar with the LON - AKL journey, racking up 5 of these last year. Various routes, not always direct but always with an F lounge at halfway.

Will be particularly interested in how the DOH-AKL leg goes in Y. Hope there will be a 'war-story' follow up in due course....

As others have remarked, travelling LH in Y is mostly a matter of adjusting one's expectations. Also I've found that removing the temptation to address boredom via the drinks trolley has a significant and positive effect on one's arrival and post-arrival condition.

But only 48 hours in AKL before turning around. Much respect!

Cruise plus flight booking?