If airports REALLY don't matter then you night consider my preferred routing

ORD-NRT-PER :rolleyes:

Though you might need to end-on-end the trip as two tickets......
Sold as a through ticket from OZ though....

Happy wandering

Fred

Be careful of Aisle seats in QF Y - every couple of rows there is a big box under the seat due to the entertainment system so even less leg room. Seatguru.com can help but you have to know exactly which config of 744 you are on.

Re: comments on UA delays - my last QF flight on this route had a 5 hour delay so it's not just limited to United by any stretch of the imagination.

Personally I think NZ is a good choice if you can get a miles accrueing fare class for a decent price and you don't mind changing planes in AKL, failing that UA in E+ is good space wise if you can get one of those seats, and then QF is ok if you are short and can get a window. I have no experience of AC or HI transpac products so can't advise on that.

2 other oddball suggestions that are the equivalent of NZ time wise and may have good prices or nice products are Air Pacific (Change in Fiji) and Air Tahiti Nui (Change in Tahiti) both from LAX-SYD - haven't tried either but might be worth a look for something a little different without wasting too much time.

Well, that's one data point. The overall UA track record compared to QF is atrocious. Any airline can have a bad day; UA is having a rough century.

QF industrial action from Thursday
 

True - one data point but not the only one. I have no doubt that UA is experiencing a higher percentage of delays on this route than QF but QF also does have delays from time to time - sometimes minor like the 20-30 minute delay almost all the QF flights to the US had yesterday, sometimes 5 hours like I experienced.

Also - don't forget that QF is under threat of strikes / industrial action from Thursday this week :mad: and since the OP is traveling next week it is highly possible that there may be some more significant QF delays or even cancellations.

That's good to know as having the flight cancel would create quite a bit of trouble with it.

Also, regarding Air Tahiti, I did fly with them last time I was going to NZ and I was quite satisfied with the experience. Only problem this time is that since the LAX-OZ portion of the trip is is not technically a return trip I'm not sure I could actually get a decent fare.

As an example ORD-LAX-SYD-HKG-NRT-ORD is under 22000miles so USD5500 + tax (6600 for 26000 miles)on oneworld. It's 6500 CDN so a coach flight to a US hub and a circle pac from there seems pretty good to me.

I hope you guys are right and NZ is really worth it because I just booked a NZ fare TPAC.

6 am departure and 8h layover in LAX here I come!

Ah the joys of flying out of a small airport, this should be an interesting trip...

edit: Would it be possible to upgrade at check-in for a fare that actually earns me miles (I'm on a S fare currently)? How much could I expect that to cost me?

Max

I had a 10 hour layover in LAX and decided to stay in a hotel (LAX Hilton) and relax because of how long the subsequent flight was going to be. I know someone who spent the entire time in the terminal and they were miserable.

Funny you should mention that, I was just thinking about doing the same thing. Hotwire show sub-80$ 3.5 star hotels in the airport neigborhood, that sounds like it would fit the bill just fine. Either that or buying a day pass at a lounge.

The other reason I pick the NZ flight besides feedback I got here is that I'll be travelling at the same time (but on the second NZ flight out of LAX) than one of the VPs and I figured that would be a good move career-wise :D

Max

It will cost fare difference plus change fees. Depending on loads it may be impossible at check in - quite often the flights are 100% full.