First Time MEL-LONDON

[MrMickeyg]

Hi Guys,

Im about to book my first trip to London from Melbourne.

Any tips on preferred flights for booking? Im QF GOLD.

Also, Ive never been on a flight longer than 5 hours, so what should I expect and how crazy will I get stuck on a plane for 12 hours??

Any travel tips from the experienced would be great and yes, I'm flying cattle class...

Thanks!

Michael

 

[Evan]

Your choices are if flying OW usually MEL-SIN-LHR, MEL-HKG-LHR, MEL-BKK-LHR, i usually choose Singapore or Hong Kong myself as the airports are more interesting.

All are on 747's so the expereince is more or less the same....

MEL-SIN is the easy part, once your on the long leg you do tend to go crazy ! just have a few drinks and relax and try and sleep.

You may also consider a day (over night) in Singapore / Hong Kong / Bangkok.

For whY i think most people would stick to QF and avoid BA as the Y in BA does not seem as good, via HKG i would also consider CX (Cathay Pacific) but at the end of the day i think QF will price out cheaper than CX.

E

 

[NM]

Consider the departure and arrival times in your plans. Can you afford the time for an overnight (or longer) stop enroute.

In economy, I always look for daytime flights where they exist. But going to London, that would mean taking a daytime flight to either SIN, HKG or BKK and then staying overnight (in a hotel room so assume a flat bed ). Then a daytime flight to London which would mean a mid to late afternoon arrival into London (such as QF29 HKG-LHR). I find this much better than the early morning arrival of flights like QF9 where you arrive long before most hotels are willing to accept check-in.

The trip back is more challenging to avoid overnight flights. From London to Asia you are almost certainly going to be taking an evening departure. For a straight-through return flight I would probably aim for QF30 which leaves London arounf midday allowing for a reasonable amount of daytime flight, then the HKG-MEL segment is all daytime. But by then your body clock is so screwed it probably does not make much difference.

And of course there are lots of other options with other airlines like SQ, TG, MH, NZ, CX, EK etc. And if willing to head via SYD you have even more airline choices including BA and VS.

 

[serfty]

As an SG, you will have access to "Reserved" WHY seating (not exit rows).

So, after booking, check the seating sites such as Welcome to SeatGuru! Your Guide to Airplane Seats and In-flight Amenities / SeatExpert - Expert in Airline Seat Selection and look for you preferred seat.

Use www.checkmytrip.com after booking to check you initial seat allocation, then, if you wish to change, call Qantas and ask for this.

 

[Anna]

Why do you have to be a gold FF to have access to premium Y seating? Can't anyone book into premium Y?

 

[simongr]

I think serfty is referring to good whY seats rather the Premium Economy/whY+ which is as yet not available.
S

 

[serfty]

Why do you have to be a gold FF to have access to premium Y seating? Can't anyone book into premium Y?

As simongr posted, I was not referring to the new Y+ seating.

Internationally, Qantas reserve the first few rows of Economy for their elite passengers and oneworld elites. This includes CL, WP, SG, PS, QP, ruby, sapphire and emerald passengers.

 

[Evan]

Internationally, Qantas reserve the first few rows of Economy for their elite passengers and oneworld elites. This includes CL, WP, SG, PS, QP, ruby, sapphire and emerald passengers.

And i am very grateful for such a setup ! the next best thing is a row of 3 or 4 to yourself. But thats usually right down the back.

As somebody mentioned i find comming back from Europe the hardest, seems easy to adjust to the time when you arrive no matter when it is, morning or evening, but coming back i already feel like it takes days to adjust !

E

 

[Commuter]

As everyone's already made their useful input about the flight selection, I won't really go into it, except to say that I LOVE night flights - I find it easier to sleep on them and the more I sleep, the less bored I get.

Anyway, as for whether you'll go batty through boredom for 12 hours, you'll be right, as long as the IFE is working OK and also if you get a bit of sleep. Honestly it is nowhere near as bad as some people tend to think.

(Writing from Qantas Club on my way to London myself)

 

[Evan]

Commuter, i think your in for the worst leg now
I never find it boring to the middle point, then that last 12 hours kills me... but i travel enough to have read sometimes 3 or 4 airlines in flight mag in a month ans watched any movie i am remotly interested in.
Irregular travelers i am sure will be more than fine
E

 

[docjames]

I find usually if you do it in one hit without stopover, I usually try and stay awake to SIN and whilst at SIN until about 1hr after takeoff (have a couple of drinks with the meal service post-takeoff) and by then you've been awake for so long, have a full stomach, it's dark and almost impossible not to sleep!

Also, arriving early London time, try and stay awake until at least 6 or 7pm, have an early night, and you're pretty much over the jet lag by the next day.

At least, this is the method i've used most and it works well for me.


Coming home is a lot harder - again, try and get up early London time, have a full day, then the 10pm or so flight home, have the meal service and stay up for a bit (movie) then try to sleep for a few hours prior to arrival in SIN. You'll then get a few more hours before arriving early morning in MEL. Again, try and stay wake in MEL for the dya until early evening.


Agian, it's brutal, but it seems to work for me. Of course, i do shift work, so i probably find lack of sleep easier than most.

 

[JohnK]

It is never easy but you will get through it. Just have a few drinks in the lounge before the flight and see if you can sleep for some part of the trip.

Also I find it useful to break up the trip into shorter segments. First there is the meal service, then watch a movie, then play games for a little while, then watch another movie, then play games for a little while, then watch another movie and finally pass the rest of the time with games. It works with me and occassionally I fall asleep through the movie.

 

[thegurio]

This is very exciting as i can put some info in from my experiences (there short but theyre recent!)

We did HBA-SYD(5 hr stopover, very frustrating with a 3 year old!) SIN-LHR-FCO. Now that was fine, like others said, if you plan to sleep after SIN by that time your body is tired and your full of food and drink so its quite easy to sleep. Lets face it, your not going to sleep all that well anyway but its "fairly" pleasent. In Rome we hit the ground running and none of us seemed to suffer from the flight. The interesting thing is the fact that i am a night owl and 1 - 2am morning are not uncommon but buggered if i could stay up much past 10pm!

Coming back however was a different matter. We went FCO-HKK-SYD then ON in SYD then off to HBA. For some reason the flight to HKK was nice and short lived. From HKK to SYD was a looooong flight. It might have been due to the fact that we were coming home but they shut the blinds about 15 mins after take-off and then you were wide awake but as there was no light your body was saying go to sleep.

Lets face it - with a full tummy your going to be forced to sleep !

 

[kpc]

As an SG, you will have access to "Reserved" WHY seating (not exit rows).

I think you can reserve an exit row seat as a SG. I requested (and was allocated) exit row seats for my gf and self on QF from Syd-Lhr, and Lax -Syd next year....just ring QF and ask nicely

 

[serfty]

"One swallow does not a summer make ..."

There's a big YMMV on this, perhaps it has changed since I was refused as an SG back in '05, I would doubt it however. Spiff from FT reported he was unable to do this as an SG LAX-AKL earlier this year.

 

[kpc]

"One swallow does not a summer make ..."

There's a big YMMV on this, perhaps it has changed since I was refused as an SG back in '05, I would doubt it however. Spiff from FT reported he was unable to do this as an SG LAX-AKL earlier this year.

The point being that the OP should definitely ring QF and ask for this seat, if that is what he wants:idea:; he should not be put off just because he's "only" SG, and the worse thing that can happen is that the request is declined but he may be surprised with a positive response

 

[straitman]

The point being that the OP should definitely ring QF and ask for this seat, if that is what he wants:idea:; he should not be put off just because he's "only" SG, and the worse thing that can happen is that the request is declined but he may be surprised with a positive response

kpc,

I agree entirely however the OP should expect rejection and accept a yes as a bonus.

 

[littl_flier]

I highly reccommend trying to have shower at the Asian transit point as well. I always feel so much more human after a quick shower and a change of underwear.

I have mixed feelings about the alcohol, it might help you sleep but if you can't sleep then it's no fun at all. But then again, you feel just as "hungover" when you arrive in LHR whether you've been drinking or not.

Enjoy the trip! whY is really not that bad. (can you tell I haven't experienced international J)

 

[Dave Noble]

The point being that the OP should definitely ring QF and ask for this seat, if that is what he wants:idea:; he should not be put off just because he's "only" SG, and the worse thing that can happen is that the request is declined but he may be surprised with a positive response

The request will almost certainly be refused. Normally the exit seats are blocked and can only be unblocked for a Platinum or higher member. What does happen from time to time is that an exit seat can inadvertently be unblocked e.g. was reserved by a Platinum member but then cancelled off of the flight and the seat doesn't reblock; if this occurs then there is open season on the seat ( and I have seen the seat be shown as free on EF seat map or similar )

I doubt v much indeed that the normal QF desk will contact seating to get it unblocked for a Gold member

Dave

 

[kpc]

The request will almost certainly be refused. Normally the exit seats are blocked and can only be unblocked for a Platinum or higher member. What does happen from time to time is that an exit seat can inadvertently be unblocked e.g. was reserved by a Platinum member but then cancelled off of the flight and the seat doesn't reblock; if this occurs then there is open season on the seat ( and I have seen the seat be shown as free on EF seat map or similar )

I doubt v much indeed that the normal QF desk will contact seating to get it unblocked for a Gold member

Dave

Well, I managed to get them to unblock it for me and gf (who is QF NB and she's on a separate booking to boot as well). Initially QF res said that the seats were blocked so I asked her to put in a request....by the time I put the phone down, and checked my QF account, the request was already fulfilled. I'm only stating what happened to me so that others may benefit from my experience. It's fine for all you WPs telling me it can't be done but it can...the only thing I can think of that may have made a difference to my request is my salutation but I doubt that really...

I think you can reserve an exit row seat as a SG. I requested (and was allocated) exit row seats for my gf and self on QF from Syd-Lhr, and Lax -Syd next year....just ring QF and ask nicely