regular J class Sydney to San Francisco, what options are there

[AndyflysJabirus]

Hi people
I will likely have need to travel reasonably regularly Jclass from Coffs Harbour to San Francisco for work up in the hills to the eastof San Francisco (across the bay)
Looking at the matrix search software, options for flights Sydney to SanFrancisco Bay Airports it seems I have 3 realistic options (and a bunch of other crazy ones that involve heading west before turning back east) :-

1)Syd to LAX and a quick transit after a long waitup to SFO, Oakland or SJC
2)Syd to Honolulu, as port of entry for I&C,and then domestic, probably also HA, to any of the 3 airports in the bay area
3)Syd to SFO with UA

Problems as I see it are:-

1)LAX, Im told avoid if at all possible no matterwhat
2)HA are behind the rest with regards to J classseats apparently, not as good even on the A330’s, also get into Sydney too lateto get a domestic connection to Coffs so another overnighter with the first being in H onthe way back…but fare costs even when added to car and hotel and meals is stillheaps cheaper..except in time context.
3)UA seem to have a rep as an airline you use whenthe other options for whatever reason aren’t available

Benefits as I see it

1)Im a VA FF after giving Q the flick when thestrike thing happened and I was stuck away from home….So Virgin would be good,but they seem to be more than double the price of others for the same J ticket for the times I checked (a few weeks out)
2)Hawaii as Port of entry sounds good and 2flights with a break in the middle also sounds good. I believe that I can earnstatus and points with HA for VA ff program
3)Long flight, but mostly overnight so should beable to sleep for a fair chunk of it.

What would the seasoned SFO travellers suggest?
Andy

 

[N860CR]

United in J or F is fine. Y, not so much on the 747's but that said the SYD services are now on 777s which are meant to be a bit better.

HA don't offer a proper bed product. It's just a J seat similar to what QF offer on the 767s to HNL.

Just go with UA if the price isn't too bad. It's worth it for the convenience. SFO is a decent point of entry to the US.

 

[rioter]

I do this trip a few times a year can hopefully shed some knowledge. Avoid UA it has a pretty horrible on time performance. If you are with VFF then i would highly recommend flying airnz.
This will have you transferring through AKL instead of LAX. If you are flying J you should earn status credits and points (Although no points bonus, unfortunately). Airnz are fantastic with VFF plats in Y or J. The product is just fantastic either way, they actually have service staff that want to help you, strange concept on other airlines . They seem to have sale fairs on that route a fair bit which can often mean flights for ~5500. Average with out sales is about 7000.

 

[Kolo]

I do this trip a few times a year can hopefully shed some knowledge. Avoid UA it has a pretty horrible on time performance. If you are with VFF then i would highly recommend flying airnz.
This will have you transferring through AKL instead of LAX. If you are flying J you should earn status credits and points (Although no points bonus, unfortunately). Airnz are fantastic with VFF plats in Y or J. The product is just fantastic either way, they actually have service staff that want to help you, strange concept on other airlines . They seem to have sale fairs on that route a fair bit which can often mean flights for ~5500. Average with out sales is about 7000.

Spot on Rioter. Great service in J, great beds with proper mattress, and I find that flight departure times work well to minimise jetlag. Avoids LAX, and AKL is easy to transit through.

 

[rioter]

Spot on Rioter. Great service in J, great beds with proper mattress, and I find that flight departure times work well to minimise jetlag. Avoids LAX, and AKL is easy to transit through.

Oh yes i forgot about that part. You leave around the same time as VA1 but because you are transiting through AKL, you get off 3 hours later. You then jump onto NZ8 opt for the fast dine and sleep the entire journey waking up (almost) ready to take on the day.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

United in J or F is fine. Y, not so much on the 747's but that said the SYD services are now on 777s which are meant to be a bit better.

HA don't offer a proper bed product. It's just a J seat similar to what QF offer on the 767s to HNL.

Just go with UA if the price isn't too bad. It's worth it for the convenience. SFO is a decent point of entry to the US.

HA is a zoo at the best of times so take your Bose headsets as there are hoardes of kids & babies even outside school holidays.

I recently flew on UA in J NRT/ORD on the 744 & selected seats upper deck 14A&B. Had a great flight with plenty of sleep on the full flat beds, great crew & meals so would definitely travel with them again based on that flight.

As we were travelling HLO we were able to use the One Stop Clearance at ORD which bypasses the baggage hall area altogether so it was only about 10 mins from stepping off the plane to exiting the terminal.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I do this trip a few times a year can hopefully shed some knowledge. Avoid UA it has a pretty horrible on time performance. If you are with VFF then i would highly recommend flying airnz.
This will have you transferring through AKL instead of LAX. If you are flying J you should earn status credits and points (Although no points bonus, unfortunately). Airnz are fantastic with VFF plats in Y or J. The product is just fantastic either way, they actually have service staff that want to help you, strange concept on other airlines . They seem to have sale fairs on that route a fair bit which can often mean flights for ~5500. Average with out sales is about 7000.

There are a few members here who would disagree with ANZ being fantastic with the top tiers. However things may have changed in recent times.

 

[rioter]

There are a few members here who would disagree with ANZ being fantastic with the top tiers. However things may have changed in recent times.

I don't think i have had a bad flight with them yet. Always been personally greeted. When i flew Y was given the champagne from J, noise cancelling headphones and served meals first etc.

 

[Boris spatsky]

+1 for Air NZ. Awesome J product, great service for VA FFs (SG/WP) and Steinlager onboard. Need i say more!