Are there any night flights from any Australian airport to LAX anymore??

[jordan85]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie..

Just arrived home from LA today and I just had a question...

On long-haul flights, I cope WAY better on night flights. Back in August last year, I flew ADL-MEL-LAX on Virgin Blue / V Australia... The V Australia flight was a night flight.

I'm looking at going back to LA in early June and would prefer to fly at night, but I can't seem to find any airlines that offer this! It seems to have been dropped from V Australia's schedule, and the only comparable flight I can find is ADL-AKL-LAX with Air New Zealand (baa!! ). I'd prefer to fly out of an Aussie airport, as I'm guessing flying through Auckland I'd have to claim my baggage and re-check etc etc...

Sitting on a plane for 15 hours straight during the day when my body is not tired absolutely kills me!!

Thanks so much!!

 

[Blackadder]

Latest flights from Sydney are
QF SYD-DFW dep 1335,
UA SYD-SFO dep 1445
DL SYD-LAX dep 1025
VA SYD-LAX dep 1045
NZ SYD-AKL dep 1530, AKL-LAX 2130

 

[Mal]

I'd prefer to fly out of an Aussie airport, as I'm guessing flying through Auckland I'd have to claim my baggage and re-check etc etc...

Shouldn't have to recheck etc. Should be seamless for NZ.

 

[Heleigh]

Not quite sure what you mean by night but I fly QF11 (A380) from SYD - LAX leaving 13.05 (1.05pm) the flight is into the night so you have meal, a little IFE and then sleep arriving approx 9.45am.

Don't know if this helps.

 

[FuzzyAUS]

Not quite sure what you mean by night but I fly QF11 (A380) from SYD - LAX leaving 13.05 (1.05pm) the flight is into the night so you have meal, a little IFE and then sleep arriving approx 9.45am.

Same flight i take generally, ill be taking it in about 3 weeks now. I find it works really well, get on board, watch a movie or do some work for a few hours, but then you start getting a bit tired, have some dinner, and instead of fighting through the first stages of tiredness you do most nights, just go with it and get some sleep.. i dint sleep much/well on planes (just cant get comfortable) but it seems to work OK.

 

[jordan85]

Same flight i take generally, ill be taking it in about 3 weeks now. I find it works really well, get on board, watch a movie or do some work for a few hours, but then you start getting a bit tired, have some dinner, and instead of fighting through the first stages of tiredness you do most nights, just go with it and get some sleep.. i dint sleep much/well on planes (just cant get comfortable) but it seems to work OK.

Yeah, I flew in to LA on QF11 last month. I can't fault the service (I had the back economy cabin practically to myself!), but something about flying during most part of the day messes with my body (I'm prone to neck pain and headaches).

We landed in LAX dead on time at 945am, but I did not clear the Tom Bradley terminal until 1230! (I think half of Asia was fleeing the nuclear meltdown and landed at LAX that morning)

Might give Air NZ a shot next time bro!

 

[trooper]

Both of NZ's LAX flights depart AKL in the evening and fly overnight. (1915/2130 at this time of year)

I actually prefer the short break in AKL... of course having lounge access makes a difference there!! It's one of the reasons I fly with NZ...

..and no, you don't have to recheck your bags......

 

[markis10]

Latest flights from Sydney are
QF SYD-DFW dep 1335,
UA SYD-SFO dep 1445
DL SYD-LAX dep 1025
VA SYD-LAX dep 1045
NZ SYD-AKL dep 1530, AKL-LAX 2130

You forgot UA to LAX at 1350 ex SYD, considering they are all flying against the sun you are going to get the same amount of darkness just at the wrong time.

 

[medhead]

but something about flying during most part of the day messes with my body

Sorry to hear. Still the fact remains that these flights will take place mostly in the dark, at night. It takes off in the pm and lands in the am. In between is night time not day time.

 

[Timba-Jet]

Sorry to hear. Still the fact remains that these flights will take place mostly in the dark, at night. It takes off in the pm and lands in the am. In between is night time not day time.

Though it may be night when you look out the plane, the majority of the flight is during awake time based on origin.

If you dept Syd at 1pm, it's another 8-10 hrs til bedtime, and you arrive in US at around 3am Syd/Mel time.

Particularly tough in Y.

 

[markis10]

If you dept Syd at 1pm, it's another 8-10 hrs til bedtime, and you arrive in US at around 3am Syd/Mel time.

Particularly tough in Y.

Especially as the recommend you stay up and go to bed on local time to get over it!

 

[Fnordish]

For a while I experimented with sleep patterns around the SYD-LAX run to see if anything helped with the transition.

I found the best plan, at least for myself, was to have a long day with little sleep the night before the flight (not hard with an 0600 to catch) and push through until about 2-3 hours out of SYD. Then I'd be bloody tired and at least get 6-8 hours of admittedly fragmented sleep (damn cattle class) and wake up with only a few hours to kill until landing.
The timing means it's not unlike having an early morning wakeup before landing in LAX.
Sure I felt a little rough, but It was a great crash into another time zone with no real lag.

It probably helped that I work a rather random schedule and am used to odd sleeping patterns, so YMMV.
Also not too great if you have to be productive the day you hit LAX. I had a whole day of cross country commute after that so was rather moot.

It can also backfire if you have . . . . . distractions . . . . . on the flight.
3x screaming poop factories + 2 seats away + 48hrs no sleep = tired wired traveller visiting secondary immigration at LAX (sorry sir, you looked like a junkie).

I guess the best solution would be to get a J seat and just flow with it!