A Qantas Question

[eastendme]

I went to Flight Centre today and the young lady told me that we could fly from Sydney to Hong Kong with Qantas and then from Hong Kong to London with a new British Airways jumbo plane. She has to telephone me next week but the price was around $10,000 evened out. That was flying this premium service with Qantas and British Airways. I think she said there was or could be a problem connecting the flights.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I would have thought in this day and age the 2 engine v 4 engine argument is a moot point. They are both very unlikely to be involved in an accident due to the engines alone...

Of course it is a moot point but so is flying over water and going to Dubai, both of which the OP irrationally struggles with.

 

[totd]

The Qantas pilots are among the best trained pilots in the world. The likelyhood of something actually going wrong is very, very slim. There is a book that has been published recently about a Qantas A380 that had serious problems in flight. The relevant detail is that the aircraft was still able to get back to the airport and safely land because there are so many safety systems and so much redundancy;on the A380 in particular, but also generally on all modern aircraft. It takes a *lot* all going wrong at the same time to bring down an aircraft. The problem with media coverage is one aircraft crashing is a "Disaster" because of the number of people involved. Compare that with typical road statistics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate. Try not to believe everything you see on TV... those sensationalist TV air-disaster programs (as acurate as they try to be) are still a form of light entertainment aiming for mass-market appeal. As they say, There's no news like bad news http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lecHdtywAAU

 

[legroom]

........And this is a regular flight I suppose they do it a few times a week so they know the path......

Sir,

I cannot find any documented case of a commercial flight getting 'lost' due to pilots not knowing their route.

Rare events are like that.... rare.

I'd suggest that flying with Qantas - where its pilot calibre as exemplied by jb747's careful and considered thought process is simply the best - would give you the most reassurance (as your daughter had known all along).

One 'cure' for your anxiety would be aiming to become a Qantas Gold member (tongue in cheek) - by flying more often, you would be more likely weaned off / desensitised with the fear & anxiety you are harbouring.

 

[eastendme]

Well I did not mean lost as much as a safe place to divert if something did go wrong. So long flights over such vast ocean is common for most airline companies or is this just a route Qantas has decided to take. From what I was told by the assistant today, Asia is the best/most popular half way point for most companies.

 

[opusman]

Well I did not mean lost as much as a safe place to divert if something did go wrong. So long flights over such vast ocean is common for most airline companies or is this just a route Qantas has decided to take. From what I was told by the assistant today, Asia is the best/most popular half way point for most companies.

There's nothing new about long flights over water. How do you think planes get between Australia and the USA? Not much land on that route.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Well I did not mean lost as much as a safe place to divert if something did go wrong. So long flights over such vast ocean is common for most airline companies or is this just a route Qantas has decided to take. From what I was told by the assistant today, Asia is the best/most popular half way point for most companies.

It is irrelevant what is best or more popular, it is your choice whether you go via Asia or the Middle East. Base this on where/what you want to see along the way if you want to have a stop over. If you don't want to stop over, select the product you believe will best suit you.

You cam here seeking reassurance on flying Qantas to London via Dubai. I would say that has been given in spades and you have ignored this and/or it has not placated your concerns.

By the way I wouldn't be paying too much attention to what most travel agents say, they have secondary motivations of telling you what you want to hear, not what is true or what you should hear (commission rules the roost). No commission here, just knowledgeable folks...

 

[eastendme]

Yes of course you are correct the planes fly from here to America, I thought they stopped in Hawaii or somewhere along the way. You see this is what happens staying put, what I know about going abroad you could write on a match head. I just suppose I am looking at alternatives to flying over the ocean for long periods. If that is not possible with Qantas then so be it I will just need to think this out rationally, though searching the internet has not helped, rather hindered. In the wash up I may need a sedative as a crutch to get through the flight.

 

[eosphoros]

Go with Qantas. The British Airways Premium Economy product is substandard and not worth the money you pay. There is nothing to fear of flying over water. Indeed, thousands of people do this every day. The A380 that Qantas flies from Sydney and Melbourne to London is a state of the art product; a product that you will not get on British Airways.

As Must...Fly pointed out, you have been advised ad nauseum that it is safe to fly Qantas to London via Dubai.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I would have thought in this day and age the 2 engine v 4 engine argument is a moot point. They are both very unlikely to be involved in an accident due to the engines alone...

I will be flying HKG JFK HKG and will think nothing of flying in a 2 engine 777. As they say the drive to the airport is the most dangerous part of flying.

 

[wazza888]

I will be flying HKG JFK HKG and will think nothing of flying in a 2 engine 777. As they say the drive to the airport is the most dangerous part of flying.

How long is the flight from HKG to JFK? Thinking of doing SYD - JFK but the long flight times is a worry for me. I just don't seem to sleep well on planes.

 

[madrooster]

How long is the flight from HKG to JFK? Thinking of doing SYD - JFK but the long flight times is a worry for me. I just don't seem to sleep well on planes.

HKG-JFK is an arctic circle flight - about the same time as a MEL-LAX flight. JFK-HKG is of a similar duration to LAX-MEL.

 

[harvyk]

Well I did not mean lost as much as a safe place to divert if something did go wrong. So long flights over such vast ocean is common for most airline companies or is this just a route Qantas has decided to take. From what I was told by the assistant today, Asia is the best/most popular half way point for most companies.

The most likely reason they would want to divert a plane is due to someone on board getting sick, and again just been over land or over water plays no part in the amount of time the diversion would take. It's the distance from a useable airport which matters. You could take the land route but be further from a useable airport than had you taken the water route.

 

[legroom]

Driving - even on a rural interstate highway - carries more risk of dying than flying (even taking into account the Sept 2001 hijacked planes).

Los Angeles - New York flight: it is estimated to be 261 times safer with flying than driving the same distance !

The OP - with great respects - is not rational with his/her thoughts & reasoning.

However, the OP is not unique in harbouring this rather unjustified anxiety (http://www.fearofflying.com).

http://www.americanscientist.org/is...-and-driving-after-the-september-11-attacks/2

 

[AvroAnson]

Yes of course you are correct the planes fly from here to America, I thought they stopped in Hawaii or somewhere along the way. You see this is what happens staying put, what I know about going abroad you could write on a match head. I just suppose I am looking at alternatives to flying over the ocean for long periods. If that is not possible with Qantas then so be it I will just need to think this out rationally, though searching the internet has not helped, rather hindered. In the wash up I may need a sedative as a crutch to get through the flight.

You know, the worst things that's likely to happen is you'll be seated next to somebody who snores all night - which is what always happens to my beloved when we fly together. There are hundreds of long distance flights over water every day - Australia to the Middle East, Africa or the Americas, Singapore to South Africa, Europe to North and South America, and so on. Hundreds - every day.

Long distance flying can be a great adventure, and if you're going premium economy on Qantas there are few better ways to go. Once you're on board, happily ensconced in your seat, enjoy the service, food and drink, watch a movie or listen to some music. Grab a blanket and cushion and get a few hours sleep. Before you know it you'll be having breakfast and ready to land in Dubai. You won't need that sedative - you'll want to savour every part of the experience.

 

[medhead]

In case you haven't noticed in the last 40 years Australia is an island. It is surrounded by ocean. No matter what you will have to fly over open ocean.

 

[drewbles]

Go with Qantas. The British Airways Premium Economy product is substandard and not worth the money you pay.

If you get the new 777 out of HKG, not so. BA have been re-fitting their Y+ product for a while now, and it's on-par with QF's IMHO.

That said, it's still a bit of a lottery. For $10k the OP quoted, you could just do BA J all the way (via SYD), and I believe they have a 'get one way upgrade to F free' promo running at present.

 

[eastendme]

So thanks for the replies. Yes I am slowly getting my head around the trip. I was wondering yesterday that I feel a bit bad that my daughter wants to pay this trip and she has expressed that we are to go Qantas. Seeing that we would depart in mid November, is it prudent to buy the tickets now or do Qantas have sales such as we are seeing with cars and end of financial year ? My reason for asking is that maybe I can wait ubtil there is the sale and front the bill for the trip rather letting the daughter pay.

 

[comehither]

As aircraft accidents are such big news, we tend to overemphasise the potential for one to occur over all the car accidents etc. Could also be due to it being out of our control... whereas if we think we're a good driver, we won't be in accidents. Though... last night driving back at 11pm through a roundabout and I was within 5 CM of losing the back half of my car as the other guy was speeding through it. I saw him coming and kinda froze and jammed on my brakes though in hindsight I should have accelerated. Left a huge skid mark and smoke from hard braking. Scary.