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Crikey, some of the length of flights you guys do are incredible.
longest ive been is (i think)7:45 lhr to ottawa, and tbh, even though it was a holiday and i was excited, that’s long enough for me.
<p>I lost count how many hours it took on a multi flight ticket, think I was in the air for about 26 hours? Glasgow - Heathrow - Frankfurt - Incheon, transfer to Gimpo - Busan. That was utter hell.</p><p>So was flying Buenos Aires to Heathrow with a stop so ground crew could vaccum round our feet in Rio, had already caught a stupidly early flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires that morning.</p><p>If I had to do that I'd rather do it in one go TBH.</p>
I used to think LHR-AKL was tedious. Then had two kids with a kiwi wife who insists on visiting every couple of years. Even the worst flights solo are massively better than trying to get kids to shut up / sit still / eat / sleep for 28 hours. As a bonus, she insists on going via LAX so we get grumpy immigration and TSA staff to deal with too.
Every time I get on a long haul flight I swear it's my last time. Have not had to do so for work for over two years. 20 hr sounds truly horrible.
Neilco, I did SYD-HKG-LHR recently with a deliberate five hour stopover in HKG. Get out, stretch legs, have a bath, a proper meal and a drink. Made it more relaxing. 9.5hrs, break then 13hrs.
Next up is 11.5hrs, but my first 787 flight!
When I go to that part of the world I make sure I transfer through singapore, with enough time to at least visit the butterfly garden, food court and showers.
If you get a long neough transfer you can leave the airport and have a mooch about the city too.
I’ve done (just counted) 10 trips this year over 10hrs and with the longest being New York to Taipei (16hrs15mins) . All a bit tedious but not exactly hassling when work is paying and I’m sitting in the comfy seats. Is actually prefer the London-Perth direct flight. Transfers are often a hassle and a risk of missing connections is a pain on short trips.
Next up is 11.5hrs, but my first 787 flight!
Done the last 3 on the virgin 787 premium economy. Flew out for the 7’s this year and as it was purely a jolly it was economy on the old favourite BA31. Not a patch on it - the dreamliner is so much nicer and smoother. Seating is better all round, and assuming you’re up front you dont have the weird hop over each other layout of BA, and a proper matress style bed, though ive yet to try it. Done 20+ return flights on the BA A380 and I wouldnt do another.
assuming you’re up front you dont have the weird hop over each other layout of BA,
I always get the window seat/exit row option. 😎 Always sleep better in BA Club than almost any other seat.
For HKG I now use Cathay. Their seats face the window, not coffin class as on Virgin. Better lounges (as the have a First lounge, unlike the Virgin Zoo), better food and wine, and as they have First, again unlike Virgin, the occasional upgrade!
I seem to be becoming a regular on trips to Portland and/or San Francisco. 11 hours is just about as mush as I can manage.
Got to say, though, my motorbike moulded earbuds are way better than any noise cancelling headphones
Rachel
Once I had kids, doing any long haul flight in any class became a luxury (without them!).
I live in New Zealand so long haul everywhere, used to it now so the thought of 18hr is no big issue. Bring on a direct LON to AKL.
Done lots of trips from Sydney to the UK, with and without a toddler. My finding is that going via HKG is the best - 10ish hours per flight is the optimum. Flying via the middle east results in a too-long first leg, and the airport in abu-dhabi in particular is an absolute arse crevice of a place.
Flying United SYD-SFO next week in economy...... bleugh. But no toddler, so should be restful!
Had an overnight flight on a BA 787 back from the states last year - emergency exit but in economy. Was ok, but don't recall it being anything great. Although it was big step up from the way out - American from Manchester to JFK on an old 737 - like a timewarp!
Trying out the new LHR to Nashville route in a few weeks - BA Club - yay! First time I've ever done long haul business class. And it will guarantee me silver status for next year - phew! Those priority pass lounges really are a bit shit 😉
Dashed, 7A or K if it's a 787-9, 3A or K if it's a 787-8.
😎
Lounge access make a world of difference if you travel a lot, as does access to fast track security/immigration.
I'm traveling on Grand Central Trains, Brighouse to Kings Cross next week. I know<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> you're all jealous!</span>
I recently went on BA to Dallas in Premium Economy. For £3k it was rubbish (work paid). It was one of the old 747s that they haven't refurbished. Poor quality trim, crap seat and the in-flight entertainment system was truly awful. They rebooted it 2 or 3 times midflight. My cheap Huawei phone was so much better quality.
There was a problem with the aircon on both legs too. Harumph
"ad an overnight flight on a BA 787 back from the states last year – emergency exit but in economy. Was ok, but don’t recall it being anything great"
Agree, I'm underwhelmed but the 787 too. I find it very noisy. Boeing go for adding seats in the width that means they need to make the sound deadening very thin against the fuselage to squeeze that extra seat in vs. Airbus cabin configurations which is noticeable. They also have alot of air pumps in the fuselage as the cabin air is not supplied by the engines and they are dispersed along the length of the aircraft and can be noisy depending on how close you are sat to one. Not necessarily noticeable if you only fly once in a blue moon, but if you fly frequently you pick up on these finer details. I find the A380 by far provides the best and most comfortable passenger experience. The A350 a close second. Airbus seem to have the edge over Being at the moment in terms of the passenger experience I think.