Flying first time
 

I humbly bow before all you veterens of airtravel and seek your advice and any tips on how to handle a long haul flights.

I have never flown before and am flying out to LAX from Sydney in June traveling premium economy.

Firstly is premium economy worth it? I am 6 ft 6 (199cm tall) and don't think I can even fit in standard economy and don't have enough money for business class.

When checking in with Qantas, if I arrive early do I get to pick a seat or do they just allocate anything? Being my height I want to try and get an exit row PE seat (oh and I am flying the a380)

How do you stay sane on a flight for 14 hours plus the hours spent in the airport.

Is LAX airport really that bad, in terms of chaos, long lines and nasty immigration and custom staff?

Patches or nicotine gum :) ?

Premium Economy on the Qantas A380 is a major step up from regular economy for a long-haul. Instead of a 3-4-3 seat configuration, you get 2-3-2. The seats have 7-11 inches more depth and 1 1/2 more width. The exit row has even more room, though you lose some seat width because the tray and TV fold down on the side. You may, however, be bothered by people using the bathrooms while you're trying to sleep.

As to how to spend the time - 1) take a book, 2) watch TV, 3) get some sleep. You have AC power and your own personal TV.

Oh, and LAX? Yep, it's bad, particularly for international entry. Someone here will outline the sequence and provide some directions.

Patch or gum? Better bring both.

I'm partial to the Commit lozenges.

zebidos, welcome to FT and enjoy your first flight!

Since your question involves Qantas and OMNI is not a forum where we generally discuss travel issues (it's meant to be a break from travel issues ;) ), we'll transfer this thread to the Qantas forum for further response.


________________________

Cholula
OMNI Co-Moderator

Welcome to FT and the friendly QF forum, zebidos!

Time will fly on that flight (pun intended). You will be able to watch the latest movies, QF will feed you properly and there is always the open bar. So don't worry.
Have a look at the QF Meeting threads in this forum. Maybe someone flies on the same day as you can can guest you into a lounge at the airport.

Make sure you have your electronic travel authorization for the US before boarding the plane. Otherwise, the process is pretty straight forward in LA. You will be directed to immigration first where you will be fingerprinted and photographed. After that, you will wait for your bags before clearing customs.
My advice is that once you are off the plane, try to go quickly to immigration. Try to pass as many people as you can so reduce the queue at immigration.

Enjoy your first flight!

Welcome to FT. :)

Pick your seat now! Here's how ...

See if you have allocation using www.checkmytrip.com , if so, then you should be able to pull up a seat map.

Then check this thread:
Pick your preferred seat, then call Qantas and request pre-allocation.

Good point, I missed this question from the OP. Seat allocation will only work however if the flight is not too full yet.

I believe Premium cabins have higher limits before pre-allocation is blocked. Given the flight is showing T9 W9 (and the flight is 5 months away) there should be no problem.

Here's Qantas's pitch (no pun intended) on Premium Economy. Might be useful to you as a bit of a preface.

Try to get some sleep. If you can sleep on a moving bus or train you should have little trouble at all getting sleep on a plane. Taking advantage of the free alcohol in PE also helps some people sleep. :D

Once you take a 14 hour flight and subtract time required for take-off and landing, then subtract meal times, then factor in a good deal of sleep, that's probably close to half of the time of the flight knocked off.

Next, it'll be up to what kind of leisure you're into.

• Watch the inflight entertainment. TV is on-demand, so you simply pick what you want to watch or listen to. I believe they also have video games you can play.
• Bring a book to read. Might also help you fall asleep.
• Make sure you go for a stretch once in a bit. I guess as a consequence this may mean your sleep sessions will be short (e.g. 2-4 hours at a time), but it will do your legs well as well.
• Drop by the self-serve bar and grab a snack and a drink/water.
• In-seat power means you can use your laptop on board. Make sure you bring earphones if you want to use sound.

I think you'll have little chance of falling bored on board. I guess if you can read your seat mates, you might be able to strike up a conversation. Nothing passes time better than a good chat. Or you can try the flight attendants (when they aren't busy, of course).


Patches or gum? Can't say on that one - I don't smoke.


Either way, welcome to FlyerTalk, and enjoy your first flight! You'll be fine. :) ^^^