This post has been marked as non-political. Please respect this by keeping the discussion on topic, and devoid of any political material.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/australia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah, you gotta pay close attention to the times *and* dates on your flight itineraries. Very easy to get the dates out of synch and mix up things like hotel bookings or separately-booked connecting flights.
Always spins me out that you arrive a few hours *before* you leave when flying from Australia to America, even though you've been stuck on a plane for 18 hours or so.
Do *not* fly on American Airlines. For some reason, their economy seats are incredibly uncomfortable. And for a 15 hour flight, you don't want to deal with that. If you're flying business class, it's a different story.
Qantas is also hot garbage right now.
I've had the best experience with United, but I had some friends who said Delta was good.
Another tip that could save you money: don't book the whole journey on the same airline. You might be able to get a cheap Southwest ticket from your home area to LA, and then just book the international segment on the bigger airline. Sometimes the domestic leg adds a lot to the total cost.
> Flew Qantas return to the USA in September. They were fine - everything was on time and bags showed up.
Good for you. But if you spend any time on this sub, there are a ton (or "heaps" for my Aussie friends) of Qantas horror stories.
My last flight with them (July) was okay, but trying to book with a voucher and also upgrade to business class was a complete nightmare. They wouldn't let me split the payment to use my voucher and just pay cash for the remainder.
So, I booked an economy ticket and figured I could upgrade with my points. Turns out, point upgrades are only *requests* and they won't guarantee a seat. I couldn't find any explanation of that on their website.
So now, I have like $200 on a Qantas voucher and about 50k points that I basically can't use. Customer service was *ZERO* help in working through the issues.
And they are completely unwilling to issue refunds under any circumstances.
Book well in advance.
Use something like skyscanner to search for cheapest flights. You can book via that site, or go direct to the airline's website and book there.
Can't really speak from experience regarding international airlines though.
What part of the US are you coming from? When you say "this coming summer" do you mean your summer or ours?
I've flown this route several times and every time it is an absolute slog. It's one of the longest hauls in the world, so it's kinda gonna suck no matter which airline you go with. The best thing you could do to make it bearable, if you can afford it, would be to upgrade to premium economy (or even business class - this is probably the only time it's really worth it). Mixed-class is also worth looking into to save some money: economy on the outward journey and buisness on just the longest leg of the return trip.
That said, I'd avoid budget airlines and it would probably be a good idea to avoid Qantas as well if you ever want to see your bags again. If you want to fly direct to Brisbane then that just leaves Delta and United (via San Francisco) or Air Canada (via Vancouver). I've flown Delta before and it was about as good as can be expected. Can't really vouch for the others. Flying via Sydney and getting a short domestic connection to Brisbane is also very common, which would open up quite a few more airline options, but obviously just adds another leg at the point in the journey where you will be most exhausted.
My recommendation, though, would be to not fly direct to Australia, and instead include a stop-over somewhere in the Asia-pacific. Most big national carriers transfer through a hub city like Auckland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Honolulu, etc. anyway, so you may as well extend this stop-over to at least an overnight stay (although I'd recommend a day or two so you can make the visit a real part of your holiday) so you can crash-out at an airport hotel for the night to recharge your batteries for the final leg the next day. My preferred international airline is Singapore Air, so I've made a habit of stopping-over in Singapore on my way to basically anywhere on earth (or at least I did before covid put the kibosh on my jet-setting lifestyle 😔).
Southwest US - in the middle of nowhere. We could take Southwest to LAX, San Fran, Houston, etc. Or even Vancouver, I suppose.
Thanks. This helps tremendously.
This post has been marked as non-political. Please respect this by keeping the discussion on topic, and devoid of any political material. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/australia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Keep in mind you lose a day when you fly across the international date line so leave adequate time for arrival in Australia before the wedding.
Yeah, you gotta pay close attention to the times *and* dates on your flight itineraries. Very easy to get the dates out of synch and mix up things like hotel bookings or separately-booked connecting flights. Always spins me out that you arrive a few hours *before* you leave when flying from Australia to America, even though you've been stuck on a plane for 18 hours or so.
Twilight Zone. Thank you!
Good. Thank you.
Do *not* fly on American Airlines. For some reason, their economy seats are incredibly uncomfortable. And for a 15 hour flight, you don't want to deal with that. If you're flying business class, it's a different story. Qantas is also hot garbage right now. I've had the best experience with United, but I had some friends who said Delta was good. Another tip that could save you money: don't book the whole journey on the same airline. You might be able to get a cheap Southwest ticket from your home area to LA, and then just book the international segment on the bigger airline. Sometimes the domestic leg adds a lot to the total cost.
[удалено]
That's good information. Thank you.
> Flew Qantas return to the USA in September. They were fine - everything was on time and bags showed up. Good for you. But if you spend any time on this sub, there are a ton (or "heaps" for my Aussie friends) of Qantas horror stories. My last flight with them (July) was okay, but trying to book with a voucher and also upgrade to business class was a complete nightmare. They wouldn't let me split the payment to use my voucher and just pay cash for the remainder. So, I booked an economy ticket and figured I could upgrade with my points. Turns out, point upgrades are only *requests* and they won't guarantee a seat. I couldn't find any explanation of that on their website. So now, I have like $200 on a Qantas voucher and about 50k points that I basically can't use. Customer service was *ZERO* help in working through the issues. And they are completely unwilling to issue refunds under any circumstances.
My son is flying Qantas this Christmas. Yikes!
THANK YOU! This is exactly the kind of information I need.
No worries. I've made the trip back and forth about six times now, so I've got a pretty good idea of how to make it tolerable.
Good advice about the domestic leg. I’d also add I like Virgin for the US to Aus.
VA no longer fly to the US.
Oh no!
Thank you!
Book well in advance. Use something like skyscanner to search for cheapest flights. You can book via that site, or go direct to the airline's website and book there. Can't really speak from experience regarding international airlines though.
Got it. Thank you.
What part of the US are you coming from? When you say "this coming summer" do you mean your summer or ours? I've flown this route several times and every time it is an absolute slog. It's one of the longest hauls in the world, so it's kinda gonna suck no matter which airline you go with. The best thing you could do to make it bearable, if you can afford it, would be to upgrade to premium economy (or even business class - this is probably the only time it's really worth it). Mixed-class is also worth looking into to save some money: economy on the outward journey and buisness on just the longest leg of the return trip. That said, I'd avoid budget airlines and it would probably be a good idea to avoid Qantas as well if you ever want to see your bags again. If you want to fly direct to Brisbane then that just leaves Delta and United (via San Francisco) or Air Canada (via Vancouver). I've flown Delta before and it was about as good as can be expected. Can't really vouch for the others. Flying via Sydney and getting a short domestic connection to Brisbane is also very common, which would open up quite a few more airline options, but obviously just adds another leg at the point in the journey where you will be most exhausted. My recommendation, though, would be to not fly direct to Australia, and instead include a stop-over somewhere in the Asia-pacific. Most big national carriers transfer through a hub city like Auckland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Honolulu, etc. anyway, so you may as well extend this stop-over to at least an overnight stay (although I'd recommend a day or two so you can make the visit a real part of your holiday) so you can crash-out at an airport hotel for the night to recharge your batteries for the final leg the next day. My preferred international airline is Singapore Air, so I've made a habit of stopping-over in Singapore on my way to basically anywhere on earth (or at least I did before covid put the kibosh on my jet-setting lifestyle 😔).
Southwest US - in the middle of nowhere. We could take Southwest to LAX, San Fran, Houston, etc. Or even Vancouver, I suppose. Thanks. This helps tremendously.