US to Aus... people's recommendations for which way to book
Sep 16, 2018, 9:01 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 115
US to Aus... people's recommendations for which way to book
Been doing US- AUS about 1-2 times per year. Just got some discount business seats last round on United 787 LAX-MEL.
Going back to the back of the bus will suck if i have to do it. not sure what our new company will cover. If your company won't cover 6k usd for round trip business... What would you guys recommend? ANZ premium economy? Virgin/Delta economy comfort?
Thanks in advance. Flying from FAR... so you can recommend the routign off of any good international portal :LAX/IAH/SFO/etc.
Cheers,
Going back to the back of the bus will suck if i have to do it. not sure what our new company will cover. If your company won't cover 6k usd for round trip business... What would you guys recommend? ANZ premium economy? Virgin/Delta economy comfort?
Thanks in advance. Flying from FAR... so you can recommend the routign off of any good international portal :LAX/IAH/SFO/etc.
Cheers,
Sep 17, 2018, 4:51 am
#2
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
QF premium economy is pretty good, basically J food/wine.service with domestic F non-sleeper seats. ANZ is similarly good, and both are a big notch above the US products. FJ often has cheap J LAX-NAN-SYD/MEL but best done on separate tickets with a stop in NAN ofr a day or 2. HA via HNL is also another possibility.
Sep 17, 2018, 8:43 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,633
here is my take on J products:
QF and VA are both good, and the nonstops make life lots better versus connecting in NZ/NAN/HNL
I prefer NZ J over QF and VA, but wouldn't add the AKL stop to secure it versus a nonstop option on the above. against UA/AA/DL maybe it's a coin flip, but I'd probably still take the nonstop because the last thing you want to do after getting off a 13 hour LAX-AKL is have to fly trans-Tasman.
i only have experience with NZ and VA PE. both are good enough, again here I favor VA if going to AUS because of the nonstop factor. AA PE product looks decent, from a hard product perspective, and probably sufficient if the choice is between that on a nonstop versus via AKL.
of course with all of the above I am assuming your AUS destination is one that is served nonstop from the USA.
NZ Couch Seat is another thing to consider in a budgeted situation, but certainly not equal to PE.
QF and VA are both good, and the nonstops make life lots better versus connecting in NZ/NAN/HNL
I prefer NZ J over QF and VA, but wouldn't add the AKL stop to secure it versus a nonstop option on the above. against UA/AA/DL maybe it's a coin flip, but I'd probably still take the nonstop because the last thing you want to do after getting off a 13 hour LAX-AKL is have to fly trans-Tasman.
i only have experience with NZ and VA PE. both are good enough, again here I favor VA if going to AUS because of the nonstop factor. AA PE product looks decent, from a hard product perspective, and probably sufficient if the choice is between that on a nonstop versus via AKL.
of course with all of the above I am assuming your AUS destination is one that is served nonstop from the USA.
NZ Couch Seat is another thing to consider in a budgeted situation, but certainly not equal to PE.
Sep 17, 2018, 10:55 pm
#4
Join Date: May 2006
Location: GA
Programs: VA-PLT, QF-GLD, DL-GM, UA-ex1K, AA-exPLT, HH-DM, IHG-PLT, MR-GLD
Posts: 8,242
VA PE is quite good, particularly food, beverage, and service. It seems to be amongst the best PE in this market, although just going off reviews; I haven't sampled any other airlines PE.
If you end up in the back, VA EconomyX is going to be far and away the best. VA and DL are the only 777s with 9-wide seating on this route (instead of 10 wide). Delta is getting rid of Economy Comfort on this route, replacing it with a PE product. UA's 787 has narrow seats similar to the 10-wide 777. The only other reasonable option in Y would be the QF A380, but I'm not up to speed on what routes it flies these days.
If you end up in the back, VA EconomyX is going to be far and away the best. VA and DL are the only 777s with 9-wide seating on this route (instead of 10 wide). Delta is getting rid of Economy Comfort on this route, replacing it with a PE product. UA's 787 has narrow seats similar to the 10-wide 777. The only other reasonable option in Y would be the QF A380, but I'm not up to speed on what routes it flies these days.