Tips for flying from USA to Australia

[Carmic]

This is our first flight to Australia.........know it is a long one. Just wondering if any of you who have done the flight have any great tips for us.

 

Thanks

[paul929207]

I assume you mean how to survive.

 

Wear loose clothes.

Bring things to entertain you. For me that means a good book and my MP3 player.

Get up and walk around every hour or two (if you are awake).

[cb at sea]

If I were to do that trip, I'd have to break it up over a week or so....there's simply no way I could be in a plane for 20+ hours...no way! Good luck to you!

[Shorex]

LAX-SYD on DL is listed for 15 hours, it's actually less time wheels up to wheels down. The flight leaves LAX at about 10:30 pm. There's a beverage and meal service shortly after reaching altitude. Then most people settle in to try to sleep (small pillow and thin blanket in coach, big pillow and duvet in business).

 

Check seatguru and get the best seats you can -- aisles are highly desirable. Power for computers is only in the first ten rows of coach. Some bulkhead seats are held back for airport control, you might be able to improve your seats at the gate. Ask. Bring some comfy light slippers or slipper socks.

 

Find out if your flight is oversold in coach and volunteer for the op-up. Flights this summer were so full that even some non-DL status flyers were bumped up front.

 

If you're in coach, I recommend bringing eyeshades and your own headphones for AVOD (over two hundred movies, many tv shows and games available). Bring some lotion and chapstick, planes are very dry. Bring toothpaste and brush.

 

FA's bring water around once an hour, and serve the second meal to those awake about half way through the flight. Breakfast is about an hour before landing.

 

Have your landing card filled out before touchdown. If you have status with DL you'll get a premium pass for the fast line at immigration.

 

Other airlines will be slightly different, but not too much so.

[kitty9]

One thing I cannot stress enough is when you fill out the landing card, where it asks about drugs, make sure you list every drug you have with you, including over the counter, vitamins and prescription. I've seen too many unsuspecting passengers get into trouble with their Customs agents over this issue. Also, keep all your pills in their original containers and NOT in those days of the week containers.

[paulred]

We are taking our fifth trip from Toronto to Australia and we have learned a lot. In no particluar order I suggest the following:

 

1) Price wise, In some cases you can get a better deal by booking your flight to LAX or SFO separately from your trans Pacific journey. There is now a lot of competition on the LAX to SYD route. This also impacts SFO/SYD.

 

2) If your plane is a 747 and you are in coach, seats around row 50 at the side are good. The fuselage bends in and the three row seating becomes 2.5. so there is a little extra room.

 

3) If the seating on your plane has three seats at the side, and you can select your seat ahead of time (United allows this) choose a window and an aisle. The airline will fill that middle seat last, so if the plane is not full, you'll have an empty seat between you.

 

4) United appears to be the price leader right now. Their planes are a little older, and some don't have the fancy seat back on demand videos. ( This may be changing as they upgrade). Many airlines have a premium economy section which is better than regular economy but not quite business class. In some cases, the price is almost double economy. The main benefit is more leg room. On United, their premium section is called economy plus. The only real benefits are quicker boarding, and an extra 4 inches of seat pitch. Its one of those other few times when 4 inches can make a big difference. You can buy this upgrade at the check in counter, if its available, for a reasonable sum. Here's the big tip. If you do this on a per flight basis, you pay for each seat per flight section, and you only get what is not already assigned. United has an Economy Plus pass. Its around $400. It allows the flier, and the flier's companion, to book at the coach fare and get an economy plus seat on every United flight they take for an entire year. You need to do this soon after you book, if not before. We combined this tip and the last when we flew from Buffalo to Melbourne and had the empty seat all the way to and from.

 

5) Be nice to the cabin attendents. On most airlines, drinks on Pan Pacific flights are free. If you are nice, they'll serve you the better scotch.

 

Have a nice flight.

 

Paul

[Hlitner]

Mortgage your home and fly first class! Anything else is a minor hell although flying a real good airline like Quantas does help soften the pain. Imagine trying to get comfortable in a coach seat, looking at your watch after the first 6 hours, and realizing that you are only about half-way!

 

Hank

[happy trailer]

Mortgage your home and fly first class! Anything else is a minor hell although flying a real good airline like Quantas does help soften the pain. Imagine trying to get comfortable in a coach seat, looking at your watch after the first 6 hours, and realizing that you are only about half-way!

 

Hank

 

This is what I posted on a thread on the HAL forum regarding long distance flying:

 

'Guess that's one advantage of being short :D. I fly at least twice a year r/t to Los Angeles from Tel Aviv, and never have a problem when flying in coach, even if I'm in a middle seat (which I actually prefer- no one grabbing the back of my seat as they try to walk down the aisle mid-flight). I even prefer flying coach to Continental's old business/first seats- I used to find myself sliding down them, and could never get comfortable!

 

Same with the trip I took to Australia last year. Almost 15 hours from LAX to SYD, and easy.

 

I do get up to stretch and walk several times during the flight, and stand, stretching, for a half hour at least twice during the longer flights. One great tip I learned from flight crews is to drink plenty of water during the flight. In addition to the benefits to your skin and digestion of keeping hydrated, it also really helps with jet lag- and having to get up every now and then to use the restroom ensures you move around.

 

BTW- I rarely eat airline food. I bring my own, bought either on the way to the airport or at the airport, and eat lightly during the flight. After almost 20 hours in flight, and a 10 hour time difference, I find that within a couple of days of my arrival in LA I'm almost completely over my jet lag.

 

But, then again, your experience may vary- especially depending on your height! :p

 

One thing I suggest you check is whether your flight has a seat-back video system, and especially if it's video on demand. It makes the long flights so much easier to handle! If the answer is no, then I'd suggest loading your itouch, ipad, laptop, etc with several hours worth of tv shows or movies (check also to see if your row has outlets). I'm an avid reader, but find that on flights I much prefer watching to reading.'

 

 

Adding this, regarding flying to Australia:

 

I was amazed that I barely suffered from jet lag in Sydney. I took the Delta overnight flight from LAX, and my friend and I hit the ground running- our hotel room wasn't ready, so we stored our luggage, and started touring. We were in Sydney for a week, slept soundly and woke up refreshed and ready to go each morning. By 8 or 9 AM we were out the door, and kept going until around 10pm. What a delightful surprise!

One thing to pay attention to when entering Australia: On your flight, they will make repeated announcements on how strict Australian immigration and customs is regarding bringing food or plants into the country. They mean it! If you are bringing anything edible- no matter how small, even if it's sealed in its original package- make sure to declare it on your customs form. There are food sniffing dogs roaming the luggage area, and your declaration form will be checked. As long as you declare it, you will be OK (and most likely will be able to keep it; we declared and were able to keep the unopened packages of nuts, protein bars, and chocolate that we had brought for the plane), but make sure you declare it, or toss it into one of the highly visible bins that you'll see when you get off the plane.

 

HTH, and enjoy!

 

Ruth

[APDMOM]

A couple more tips:

 

Find out if your airplane has upper level seating (literally upstairs). There is more leg room on the upper level. Otherwise I like to fly in the last row of the plane. That way I can get up and stand in the open space in the back as much as I want to, without bothering other passengers.

 

Our doctor recommends taking baby aspirin a few days before the flight -for about three days. This will prevent blood clots and potential health risks.

 

I bring my iPad when I fly - battery lasts for up to 11 hours and it affords lots of entertainment.:)

[PennyAgain]

It is far from an easy flight, but I always arrive plenty early at LAX so I can walk around in the terminal and get my circulation going. Sometimes I arrive the night before my flight to Australia and stay overnight in an airport hotel. Starting over fresh really helps.

 

I have my own eye shades and blanket no matter what class of service I have bought. Really good eye shades can make a huge difference in your comfort level.

[nanook21]

I've flown to SYD from US/Canada 3 times (Business, thankfully!) and would never survive that long flight in Coach. I'm not a short person, nor small, so coach seats are hideous on anything more than a 3-hour flight. I can only suggest, if the budget allows and you haven't booked flights yet, to check out the many online Discount Air consolidators who have great deals on Business Class fares to Australia from the US. Often their fares aren't that much more than the Coach fares advertised by the airlines.

 

Or, if you've already booked and have some frequent flier miles piled up somewhere, inquire about using some of your points to upgrade to Business. Believe me, it's worth it. Flights from LAX are approx 14 hours to SYD.

[K-Roo-Zers]

 

One thing to pay attention to when entering Australia: On your flight, they will make repeated announcements on how strict Australian immigration and customs is regarding bringing food or plants into the country. They mean it! If you are bringing anything edible- no matter how small, even if it's sealed in its original package- make sure to declare it on your customs form. There are food sniffing dogs roaming the luggage area, and your declaration form will be checked. As long as you declare it, you will be OK (and most likely will be able to keep it; we declared and were able to keep the unopened packages of nuts, protein bars, and chocolate that we had brought for the plane), but make sure you declare it, or toss it into one of the highly visible bins that you'll see when you get off the plane.

 

As an Aussie, I would second the above. Customs and Quarantine are very strict, but fair. Please ensure you declare all "food", nomatter who insignificant it may seem to you. When I travel to Asia, I bring food, including Asian tea, chocolates, nuts and rice crackers. I declare them all, and have never had a problem.

 

If you are caught lying, you could face a large fine. The Inspectors don't consider "ignorance" an excuse, so please read your form properly, and answer honestly.

 

The officers are pleasant to deal with - treat them with respect and courtesy and they will offer you the same.

 

It is nothing to worry about, just make sure you do the right thing. Common sense prevails.

 

If in doubt, declare, that way you can't go wrong.

 

Have a fabulous time in Australia.

 

Nicki

[Carmic]

Thank you all for your great suggestions. I did not know about declaring all the meds and foods. Will do that and make a list of everything before we go.

 

Carol

[PennyAgain]

Yup, one of those sniffer dogs found a granola bar in my bag. I hadn't forgotten about it, just was too tired to think. We all agreed it was a granola bar and I wasn't fined.

[JLC@SD]

This is our first flight to Australia.........know it is a long one. Just wondering if any of you who have done the flight have any great tips for us.

 

Thanks

 

Our LAX to Sydney flight.......I watched 5 movies.....;)

[kitty9]

I was in line behind an elderly couple who did not list all their drugs on the landing card, and the officer was absolutely brutal to them. The poor lady was sobbing and trying to explain that she didn't realize that they had to list legal drugs and vitamins. The officer tore through their luggage and checked everything. Australia doesn't mess around with anything and they are strict.

[Grannycb]

Try to sleep. The time change is difficult with sleep, much worse without.

[flamomo]

I will be flying Qantas to Sydney in January, and will be returning on Air New Zealand. I am little nervous about it. Not the flight itself, as I did a flight from LA to Papeete a couple of years ago, and I realize that these flights will be about 4 hours longer.

I would love to know from people that have flown with Qantas and/or ANZ, what they offer.

For example, Air Tahiti Nui served a hot meal early in the flight, offered beverages and snacks throughout the flight, and another hot meal near the end of the flight.

There were those seatback entertainment units, which were very nice for helping fill the hours. The flight attendants were very accomodating and pleasant, even in coach.

They provided everyone with a "comfort package" of "footies", eye mask, earphones, hand sanitizer packets, and a set of stickers for telling them if you wanted to be left alone to sleep at meal times or awakened for food service,that you placed on the top of the seatback to show your preference.

It all served to make my first ever long flight across the Pacific pleasant.

I am hoping Qantas and ANZ offer similar niceties.

[leagle]

As the air in an airplane is so dry, I find that both reading and watching the video makes my eyes uncomfortable. For me the solution is talking books on CD or on an MP3 player. It makes the time go more quickly, although the best solution for me was to stop in Singapore for 4 days on the way.

I suppose from the US, you could stop on one of the islands or even a couple of days in LA would help.

[happy trailer]

I flew Air New Zealand r/t between Sydney and Christchurch, and the service on those flights was so terrific that I'll be looking to book Air New Zealand whenever possible from now on.

 

Luggage check in was a pleasure- I checked in early, and when I told the attendant that I was concerned about making my connection to Queenstown, he gave me a complementary upgrade to a seat with more legroom, closer to the front of the plane :) . (On my return flight, I asked if I could get a similar seat, and the were happy to reassign my seat again.)

 

All the flight attendants were friendly and helpful- no one had to lift their carry on; the flight attendants took it from you and put it in the overhead, accompanied by a big smile.

 

The flights were only a little longer than 3 hours, but we were served a snack, a hot meal, and then a selection of packaged ice cream. When they noticed I wasn't eating much of my meal, they asked what I liked to eat, and then said they would give me one of their meals. I insisted it wasn't at all necessary, that I was fine, but sure enough, a short while later, I was handed a tray with not only a full meal, but with all sorts of snacks and treats added on.

 

I'm hoping some one will tell us that the service is just as great on longer ANZ flights- I'm hoping to return to Australia and New Zealand as soon as I can!

[Stelladoro]

We flew Air New Zealand one-way from LA to Auckland last March and also experienced great service. This was a 12 hour flight for us and believe it or not, time went by more quickly than I expected. We watched for a seat sale and chose the seats towards the back of the plane ( last 3 rows), as they offer a bit more space and it's easier to get up and stretch in the back, without disturbing others.

We certainly wouldn't hesitate flying Air NZ in future. Also, had good flights Downunder with VAustralia.

Once we completed our land trip of New Zealand and Australia, we chose to cruise back from Sydney to Hawaii and fly home from there.

[flamomo]

I have to stay with the Qantas flight that is already booked from LA to Sydney.

I hope someone can tell me what good things to expect on Qantas.

[kenish]

All aircraft have good and bad seats. Are you on an A380 or a 747-400? Go to www.seatguru.com , figure out which seats are good, then call Qantas and make a seat request. Like most non-US airlines Qantas allows seat requests to/from the USA but not on other routes.

 

Qantas has an excellent video/audio system so don't worry about being "entertained". We were lucky to score frequent flyer seats in first class so I can't comment on their other cabins, though they will be far and away better than anything a US airline offers. One nice feature on the A380's...there are self-service snack centers with beverages and small snacks. You help yourself if you get hungry or thirsty between regular food service.

 

If you have a long layover at LAX, check www.flyertalk.com Find the LA message board which is a sub-forum of the California board. There's a sticky thread on things to do during a long LAX layover. Definitely consider checking your baggage from home all the way to SYD. Otherwise you will have to deal with it at LAX, which doesn't have luggage storage.

 

On arrival at SYD you can take the train or a taxi into the city. Not knowing any better we used the train, which departs from the lower level of the terminal. It was fast and cost about $15 per person....I found out later a taxi was similar in cost. If you're arriving at morning rush hour the train may be crowded since it's part of a regular commuter line.

 

Last tip- check into your hotel (or store your luggage if your room isn't ready). Then go out and explore the city...do *not* make the mistake of taking a "quick nap"! Keep going like the Energizer Bunny, you will be surprised at your staying power. Have an early dinner and a good night's rest and you will be fine the next morning.

 

Have a great cruise!

[FlyerTalker]

The time change is either 7 hours or 5 hours, depending on the season. Not much, considering the distance flown.

 

Most flights leave LAX late in the evening. Change your watch backwards (then add the day) and you're boarding in the afternoon Sydney-time. I try to stay awake for a while (say 4 hours) to at least get towards evening Sydney-time, then hit the hay. Sleep for 8+ hours and you are waking up about 3-4 am Sydney time. A couple of hours later, you're landing.

 

Yes, forcing that "stay-awake" time takes an effort. But the result is that when you do go to sleep, you're really in need of sleep, so you will sleep. And you'll do a semi-sync of time zones.

 

Of course, these are my techniques that work for me. YMMV.

 

As for immigration and customs: Everyone must fill out a form - no family declarations. Declare ALL food, drugs or other items - you don't want one of the beagles to take an interest in you if you mark "NO" on the form. Also, if you do have an express pass for immigration and customs, you must have nothing to declare on the form. If you have items to declare, you must use the regular lines. Again, if the beagle likes you......

 

In addition to the train and taxis, there are also several shuttle companies that do door-to-door shared ride service to hotels in Sydney.

 

Finally, the currency exchanges at the airport arrival area (especially Travelex) have VERY bad rates. (Even worse than most airport exchanges) Better to find an ATM, or change just the minimum you'll need until you can get to a bank or currency exchange in the city.

[kenish]

There's two periods of a few weeks where the time difference between SYD and LAX is 6 hours or 8 hours. That's due to the US starting daylight time earlier in March and ending it later in November. It's a "don't care" in the context of your jet lag comments, but makes things crazy when I'm trying to follow Aussie sports events or online programming real-time. :)