nigelloring

Add me to the list of the NZ Y supporters. Personally, if I had to do a TPAC and couldn't score a business-class seat on any carrier, NZ would be my first choice for Y products.

russmeyergirl

Still can't (well as of 3 weeks ago anyway) book them yet though. When they say eff 7/1 it seems they mean even to book nevermind fly so it is a bit of a crap shoot.

pallensf

I will just book my ticket on 7/1 then! crossed fingers, hopefully they will still have fares for $654...

russmeyergirl

My post was a bit confused - no reason you can't book in Y now and hope the upgrade is available- it's just whether they are going to actually provide upgrade availability is the million dollar question...

UnitedEF

Uh wouldn't flying before 6-15 be more advantageous for the DEQM or has the ticket not been purchased yet? I just got back from my MR to SYD in economy plus. Seat next to me was empty prior to check in on both flights but were filled up when everyone was seated. Slept for a little watched a lot of DVD's. My seat had malfunctioning audio and I was lucky enough to sit in 22G on the way there and back so I got two sky kits for my trouble on top of the $680 fare and DEQM! When I landed in LAX to catch a connecting flight to PHX I logged on and I had been upgraded to 2P. I am 5' 10" 170 lbs and it was doable. I would have much rather sat in business of course but who wouldn't. The UFC was $850 which I declined because that was more than the cost of my ticket!

pallensf

forgot about the DEQMs! went and looked at a 6/11-15 sfo-syd, it's roughly $750. Not bad, it's a K fare, but it still gets DEQMs plus my elite bonus.

so, that would be around a bonus of 33k in all.

sure, I can slum in coach for that!

honmani2

We're leaving for MEL this Saturday in E+ so we'll see if we survive.

Got the tkt from HNL-LAX-MEL for around $800 (after using a vdb cert) and will get 42K EQMs due to the promotion. My wife went to LAS in April so she'll be 1P after two trips and spending around $1200. ^

Right now, the middle seat is empty so let's hope it stays empty.

The_seat_Baron

I survived the LAX-SYD-LAX-(Got upgraded at the gate for the 2nd LAX-SYD)-LAX in Y!

So trust me anyone can do it and survive. Just make sure that they actually board your special meal, and if they do, make sure it is the correct one.

So now when I hear people moan, and groan, about 'Y' on UA, I just pull out my old boarding stubs, and pretend they are the smallest violin in the world.

Now ask me if I would ever do it again, like I did, and the answer would be..........

briank1973

I've done a 1-way from AUS-US about 30 times (can't say roundtrips because a number of those flights are from RTW tickets). I've flown in C twice on OP-UPs. It depends on the person and their "expected level of comfort".

If you're someone that can camp (in a tent, not a Marriot in Tahoe), then Y will be fine. Someone far back in this thread stated it perfectly. SLEEP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!! This is true whether you are in E, E+, or C. This is why I PREFER there being crappy in flight entertainment (and it really is CRAPPY in United's AUS-US service).

Bring an Ipod and sleeping pills if you need them. I happen to go the extreme way. When flying from AUS to the US, I do not go to sleep the night before. I'm ridiculously exhausted, and it results in my sleeping for as many as 10 hours (typically around 8 1/2 or 9).

It's a little trickier on the way back since the flight leaves at night from LAX/SFO. Just make sure you don't have a good nights sleep the night before. Get up early on purpose.

6am at ORD

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Downunder girl

Interesting. I have had better crews ex SFO, but crews from both ports have been mostly fabulous ^ apart from one LAX FA. So I guess its YMMV .

As marinersdave has rightly noted, the best way to cope with these flights is to SLEEP, SLEEP, SLEEP as much as you can on board and STAY awake on arrival for the day - no napping, as much as you want to . I find that generally I will need to sleep early (approx 9pm) on the night of my arrival in either USA or SYD. My daughter copes as well, we keep each other awake during the first day of our arrival. I tend to want to sleep around 4pm, so she keeps me talking .

ALAS I dont sleep well on flights and find myself lucky to do 5-6 hrs max in C class with ambien on board. I am concerned about my inability to sleep with my upcoming Y flights. I think flying Y is doable (positive thinking inserted here) and I have spare seats next to me, so far .

I am flying prepared: Ambien, neck pillow, portable DVD player, Ipod, drink chits, ear plugs, eye mask, C class amenity kit, book, own blanket (now they have limited supply on board). I hope that all works since I have to go straight to work on my arrival in SYD.

To the OP with children, I would recommend getting yourself some portable DVD players for the kids. You wont need them ex LAX or SFO as the flight leaves 11pm, but ex SYD flight leaves during the day, approx 1.45pm, depending on your destination and the kids will need some entertainment for that flight. Good luck.

Wiggums

I'm an insomniac.. and I don't like wearing masks. The bright LCD screens showing movies tend to flash a lot, interrupting my sleep.

May I suggest Netflix's 8 DVD's at a time for $47 a month?

I bought a DVD LS86 portable player that does 13 hours of movies.

This is going to work for me.

wharvey

I just returned from a 90 minute visit to Melbourne.... for the second time in a month.

I can tell you it helps when you have no one in the seat beside you.... and I agree, sleep as much as possible... it makes the time go quicker.

Of course, the inflight entertainment in coach is terrible.... so that helps the sleep.

docbert

The LCD screens are a huge negative on the new fitouts. Although they are much better than the old projectors if you actually want to watch the movie, they make it very difficult to sleep without an eye mask - and even if you do have a mask the flashing often still gets through to some extent.

At a minimum they need to fit some form of auto-brightness control so that when the cabin is dark the brightness drops down a little.

chrisw

My secret to a comfy 14 hours in Y LAX-SYD: bring lots of padding and equipment:

2" thick memory foam pad to sit on (18"x18" -- BEST $35 I've ever spent)
Full size bed pillow
Fleece blanket (prepared for lack of blankets due to flu)
Foam tube for lumbar support (actually worked better to prevent pillow from sliding between seat and window).
Eye mask
Earplugs (a MUST due to galley noise in row 45). Still wouldn't trade it for lav traffic in row 33.
Rollaboard to use as footrest (subject to crew permission)

With the above setup, the flights were surprisingly NOT terrible. Party of 2, exit row middle and window 45JK. The exit slide door was NOT a problem. (My companion gets no sleep benefit from leaning against the window so she tolerated the middle.) We both got 8 hours of sleep on each flight. Being on east coast US time made it easy to sleep on the 1:45pm departure ex-SYD.

On LAX-SYD the crew was adamant that no luggage was permitted on the floor in the exit rows during the flight (as a foot rest). I have done this several times on a 777 with no problem, and expect it was just a cranky purser. As expected on the return SYD-LAX footrests in the exit rows were no problem.

Leading up to the trip I was dreading the long flights to SYD vs. doing 4 transcon roundtrips. However now that I've done it, I am certain I made the right choice. Plus I got to spend two days in one of my favorite cities.