skycubbie

What is the economy class experience like with United to Sydney? I'm considering flying the family there this summer and, with Continental's pending switch to *A, should I give them a shot? I know there's no AVOD on the 747-400 so I'm curious if UA tries to make up for it in other ways with their inflight service.

Any thoughts?

Also, is the flight from California into Sydney entirely through the night? Thanks!

JennyElf

The flight starts around midnight and lands in the earlyish morning in Sydney. I found it tolerable only because I happened to be on an emptyish flight and managed to score a row of 3 seats and fall asleep for the whole flight. If you can sleep the whole flight, it's fine. Otherwise, it's a long flight.

gre

Amen!

The UA experience in E to Australia is not a pleasant one. If you can score E+ you get a bit of extra room, but otherwise I'd consider a different carrier.

Welcome to FT!

drummingcraig

The first time I flew to Australia (LAX-SYD) it was on UA in E+ and it was a LONG flight. Most recently I flew LAX-MEL on UA in C (which is technically a longer flight) and it was one of the easiest long haul flights I've ever experienced.

I understand that comparing E to C is "apples to oranges", but my point is that comfort and service on a flight of that duration is very important, and UA's Y soft & hard product on the 747 is among the weakest out there...no AVOD, no personal video screens, less pitch than other UA E+ equipment and the service will be bare minimum economy service at best. It is tolerable if you wind up on an empty flight and can spread out, but there's no guarantees there. So if economy is your only option I would consider looking elsewhere.

oc1

Never, ever do that flight wide awake. I made the mistake of sleeping until noon on the day of the flight LAX-SYD with United. I was wide awake and couldn't sleep. After that, I made sure and do a full day of stuff, waking up early in the morning and then I am very tired for the flight.

Business is obviously better and one can just relax and watch movies etc. Economy is nasty. There are a few exit row seats in Economy Plus with plenty (6ft) of leg room - one batch is near restrooms, and another batch is not. If you can score these seats, they are comfortable.

kkjay77

No personal experience on routes to SYD, but I've taken ORD-HKG in Y (similarly long flight; maybe even a little bit longer?).
It was painful to sit in Y for that long.

I'd opt for QF Premium Economy if I have to fly to SYD in Y.

Frank J

I gtook this trip last February--in E+. I slept (dozed) most of the trip, so it wasn't too bad. I agree with the comment about making sure you're sleepy when you arrive at the airport--this will help the time go by better. While it is a long trip, the end destination is worth it. Sydney is a great place to visit.

Keep in mind the reveresal of seasons in the southern hemisphere.

Enjoy.

johnnybgood3

Ouch. I made the mistake of UA HKG-ORD before I knew about flyertalk and believe me it was painful. At least you have the benefit of all this knowledge!

pspnorm

I've done this run many times in E+. Skip the dinner, bring an eye mask and ear plugs, take a couple of sleep meds and wake up in Sydney. It's not that bad!

gre

Any carrier's premium economy is a pretty good compromise for long haul TPac flights.

seanp7

Ok, hands up anyone else who chuckled at this?

On UA, yes. If you must be in Y, I'd consider QF instead. The personal TV helps, the service is better and, as often mentioned, pretty much everything else is better. QF used to have a midday departure from LAX, but I think that's gone (or is seasonal) - check the QF FT forum for more info.

rosieox

I did LAX-MEL (Through SYD) 4 time from Aug to Oct last year. E+ I would say is a must, well worth the $144 they charged for the consultants I took with me. The E- section was filled to the gills and the E+ section all four times I never had a person sitting next to me and was never more than 2/3s full. On one flight I scored a center section of four seats to myself and slept flat (I'm only 5-8) for 10 of the hours. I'm not so particular about food but you get fed I believe 3 times.

If you are 1P or *G, the SYD NZ lounge is very nice. Very good food and drinks. IMO.

Good Luck.

UpstateNY

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

I've done this flight in both E+ and C. My thoughts: First, on old config. 744's there's not much difference between E- and E+, so it's probably not worth spending the $349 for the year's E+ access (unless you plan to do a lot of other UA flying anyway) or to do the buy-up if it's offered at checkin. I know many on this board disagree with this position, but I really don't see much difference between 31" and 33" of seat pitch. I'm told that the new config. 747's have 36" pitch in E+, but I've only flown those planes in C, so I don't have first-hand experience with E+. I've done a lot of trips on 772's in E+ (36" pitch) and find them tolerable. I'm 6'4" and have long legs, so pitch matters to me.

The trouble with the advice to get exit rows is that this is a flight that tends to go out full in F and C. That means elites will be in E+, and since 1P and above can reserve exit rows, it's going to be hard for someone without status to snag those seats. You can always get lucky at checkin, if someone's upgrade cleared at the last minute, but I wouldn't count on it.

Second, the advice not to do the flight awake is spot-on. IFE is dismal on these planes. Anyway, you'll want to sleep, since you arrive into SYD in the wee hours. A colleague of mine who travels frequently to Australia gave me this tip, which works great. The flight will leave about midnight, and dinner will be served as soon as possible when airborne. Have dinner and go to sleep. When you wake up, as you inevitably will, after a few hours, pop the Ambien that you've stashed closeby. Then go back to sleep and hopefully not wake up until you're arriving into SYD.

coolbeans202

A couple of Tylenol PM's (or an Ambien) and a glass of wine make this flight bearable in economy. It is a VERY long flight if you can't manage to sleep the whole way.

hobo13

Surprised not one person has mentioned DVT yet in this thread....

Not that I get too worried about this stuff normally, but my colleague did get DVT on his way back from Sydney a couple years ago. Low probability, but high consequences! If you have any history of blood clots, consider your options carefully and talk to a doctor about precautions.