I just enrolled in the Quantas program, they let you pick from about a hundred titles, I am official Prince Robert Mack ^ ^ They also had Royal Highness and Air Marshall.

Thesib was SPECIFICALLY talking about LAX-SYD.

I have just flown the route and although I was in first I know they DID NOT have skybeds on the route in Bus
The only time they might have them is if there was a breakdown and they had to pull one off another route.
the reason I mentioned it is that it wouldnt be good for someone expecting a skybed as it was written here
It is not good to give false info here as some newbees may think we actually know what we are talking about!
My first class FA said she had not seen any on her usual 107 route.
- yet.
They are getting them but Qantas Res agents on 5 occasions told me that as they have "no competition"why should they yet.

Why is why I suggested you search the QF forum. According to this thread, Skybed should be on this route in July.

well-
we will see.
But at the moment JUNE there is NO skybed on the pond route.

Maybe when someone gets a skybed they can tell us and we can then say- that there is a skybed in business-across the pond!! ^

The older "dream time" seats in business class are just fine! I'm a large guy and had no problems spending 16 hours in one... From what I have seen, the new "skybed" is closer to BF on CO.

I used CO miles to fly to SYD & AKL on vacation last month. Used 105K miles each for 2 Bus Class seats.

Made the reservation 6 months in advance. Flights were IAH-LAX on CO; LAX-SYD on QF; SYD-AKL on QF; AKL-LAX on QF; LAX-IAH on CO. Reward includes one stopover, so no extra fee for going to both SYD & AKL.

We had an intentional 14 hour layover in LAX going out, so we could visit family & some sites. This doesn't count as a stopover.

Originally, there were no non-stops LAX-SYD available for miles. So, we had to change planes in w/4 hour layover in AKL on the outbound. 2 weeks before flight, availability opened up for the LAX-SYD non-stop. I paid $50 to change the tickets (worth it, IMHO, not to have a layover on a long trip and get in SYD at the right time of day, but of course I'd rather have the right flights to begin with).

BTW, the change fee on rewards is $50 per reservation, not per person. So the one change for the both of us was $50.

International Bus Class rewards includes FC on domestic flights based on availability. There was none for IAH-LAX & back when I booked, but this non-Elite was waitlisted and cleared 6 weeks before flight.

During vacation, we got stuck in AKL two extra days due to a medical emergency. CO rewards desk was considerate and helpful rebooking the flights. ^ We had a letter from the hospital so there were no change fees.

We didn't have the skybeds, but the QF seats were comfortable. (However, they are not as wide as CO's Bus First). I was surprised that I got a solid 8 hours sleep on the 14 hour LAX-SYD flight.

The dreamtime seats are indeed quite good: just returned from a trip on QF in J class. The skybeds are not regular on the LAX-Oz runs yet, but from my experience the dreamtime seats are similar to CO BF seats and the new skybeds are likely to be a notch better than CO's BF. QF's IFE, however, is definitely better.

But I was disappointed in the recent QF J class service, especially on the SYD-LAX return. The FA's were OK and a couple were particulalrly nice, but overall nothing to write home about. On the return, we encountered some who were aloof and downright surly. Quite disappointing.

I have tons of NW miles, but only enough CO miles to get one business class ticket to Down Under. Is it possible to use NW miles to book a CO award that includes QF?

No.

CO stopped service to Australia in the early 1990's because it was no longer profitable. The arrival of the 747-400 aircraft allowed non-stop service from LAX to SYD - more desirable for the higher rev business traveler (rather than needing to stop in HNL). CO did not have any 747-400's.

CO used to have a hub in HNL, with non-stop flights from HNL to four Australian destinations (SYD, MEL, BNE, CNS, plus AKL) with DC-10's in three class of service (then briefly with BF - 2 class). However, it's flights to HNL were only from LAX, SFO, and DEN (not its major hubs in EWR and IAH). Perhaps if CO had had non-stops from EWR and IAH to HNL like they do now, there may have been a better chance to succeed. From New York you need to stop someplace along the way - Qantas flys JFK to LAX then SYD. So CO could have gone EWR to HNL to SYD.

I believe CO still owns its routes (and landing rights) to Australia, they just do not fly them. I would guess that CO's agreement with Qantas was put in place as long as they do not fly the routes.

At this point CO only has 2 engine aircraft. I am not sure if it allowed to fly the LAX to SYD or HNL to SYD with a 2 engine aircraft (2,500 mile distances to nearest airports - midway). Flights like EWR-HKG have closer airports along the way. CO flights to CNS from GUM are 2 engine but shorter routes - and this route is likely not excluded with CO agreements (my guess).

Nevertheless, USA to Australia routes are highly desirable for FF reward travel (like USA to HNL), hence it is difficult for anyone but Qantas and United to be profitable on this route. At one time AA started HNL to SYD, but it was not profitable (using a DC-10) and did not last. Also for a brief time NW flew a 747-400 from LAX to SYD, but again it was not profitable, so it was discontinued. Even Air New Zealand stopped this route.

It will interesting to see what happens with SkyTeam. Maybe NW would start the route again with a 747-400 if the CO-Qantas arrangement goes away.

Interesting details, cova.

btw, HA has recently started HNL-SYD service with twin-engine 767s. I know the NW folks have been drooling over it, hoping they can redeem miles for that one.

In case it wasn't made clear here, you can't use miles to upgrade on the QF awards. Free Y/J/F travel only.

I'd be careful about picking one of those - Australia has considerable title legislation (well it inherited from Britain but its the law in Oz still) about use of such titles - don't be suprised if a QF staff member asks you for a letter of status from the office of the governor general (Australia or NZ) or from the relevant crown authority to prove your right to the title - in the past both QF and AN have done nasty things to people using illegal titles - a case of people taking the rules too damn seriously but sometimes people with little power like to use what they have....

Don't get me wrong, QF staff are virtually always very polite but they have very explicit rules about this sort of thing (just like there is half a column in the 6 page pamplet about becoming a US citizen about the requirement to renouce titles of nobility) - Australia is also pretty egalitarian and Australians don't tend to like non-earned titles (ie if you aren't Dr then you better be a Mr or have a local military rank - even the national order of knighthood - the Order of Australia doesn't bestow the title of Sir or Dame anymore and Australians don't receive the British and Imperial Orders that give you these either (unless dual citizens residing in the other crown nations0) as it smacks of elitism - now mind you if you do hold a title recognised by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Australia (and the UK, New Zealand and Canada ) that is a different story - QF staff may well fall all over you.... I can remember traveling with a Lord who was actually just an ex-parliamentarian from Britain with the title of Life Baron.... once the hostility of 'prove you are who you say you are (easy with a copy of Who's Who and the nice embossed status letter)' was over then the silver service flowed. That's not to say that the QF staff wern't polite and efficient to the commoners but you could notice the difference...

I have a few aquaintances with recognised titles (minor British nobility and one ex-Russian) who don't use the title on anything because it is more of a hastle than it is worth - in the US its different because bizarrely Americans seem the most impressed with titles of any western country (probably because they are the only one without any of there own - well except for the Margraves of Carolina and some former French or Spanish titles which are so ancient and pointless that I doubt anyone can even prove a claim anymore).

Elizabeth II narrowly held on to her own title as Queen of Australia in the Election of 1999 .

Hopefully this won't apply to the poster, as he/she probably just made a bogus account for the purpose of checking reward availabilty.

This would be similar to my half-dozen or so NW WorldPerks account, back from the days where they required you to have a NW account to book a ticket on their website.