Qantas vs Air Canada to Australia/NZ

[Moose Tracks]

DH and I have booked a Princess cruise for Feb 2007 (Sydney to Auckland). I've been checking out seatguru and have concerns with comments made regarding a box being located under some of the aisle seats to accommodate the PTVs on the Qantas 747s and that they restrict legroom. Has anyone experienced these boxes? Are they a major concern? Air Canada flies 767s which have two seats on the sides. Would it be more comfortable to fly A/C and have a window and aisle seat? I'm leaning toward A/C, but I'd appreciate your experiences and any comments on choosing one airline over the other.

Thanks, Lynn

[MVPinBoynton]

Lynn,

I haven't been on Quantas (will be in Feb. :)) or Air Canada; but I have found that every airline that has the separate entertainment screens for each seat has the box under the seat for each section. It is quite a pain if you are unlucky enough to get that seat; but having the ability to watch whatever movie you want does make it very nice.

[stebul]

I am with Moose Tracks. The 2-3-2 seating on the 767 is preferable over the 3-4-3 seating on the 747. On Australia/NZ flights during the summer season you have to assume that any middle seats WILL be occupied. Go for the window/aisle pair.

 

However, you also might want to look into how many stops there are with the 767 (I don't think they have the range to fly non-stop from Sydney to the US/Canadian West Coast so there might be a stop in Honolulu with Air Canada that you don't have with Quantas).

 

I have not seen the entertainment boxes on Quantas, but I have seen them on other airlines. In my experience and with my preferences, these boxes really only become a problem if you are trying to store maximum size carryons underneath the seat. The entertainment boxes are mounted directly under the seat, and your feet are usually down near the floor (so your feet go underneath the entertainment box).

 

Seatguru has some good information, but some of their reviewer commets are overly picky.

[maxx]

I haven't flown on Air Canada but have travelled on Qantas quite a lot, many times from LAX to Sydney. Van't recall any problems with the box you mention. I am not a fan of Qantas for international, mainly use them for frequent flyer points. It's a reasonable airline, very safe, but in flight service depends on the crew on duty.

Have a look at this site for reviews and more info. www.airlinequality.com

[WAVTAM]

Moose, We leave next week for AU/NZ trip and picked Qantas for price and times of flight. I also use seat guru. therefore pick your seat assignment with out the box under seat. Look for green seats. We took 70AB WAVTAM

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks for the tip on Seat Guru. Very nice site. Sure wish they had Air New Zealand on it. :(

[Moose Tracks]

Thanks all for your responses/suggestions.

MAVTAM - perhaps you could let me know how the seats work out when you get back. I'll be interested to hear how you make out with the box under the aisle seat and how the ride was in the rear of the plane.

I read somewhere that Air Canada had to make a re-fuelling stop in Hawaii on the way down, but could fly non-stop on the way north. Still like the idea of sitting mid-plane with the 2-3-2 configuration, however, we don't need to start looking into flights until mid-February so any other recommendations/thoughts would be appreciated. It's mainly seat comfort I'm after...had a rough time flying home this summer from Europe and that was only 8 hours. Never been able to sleep on a plane. Need to win a lottery so we could fly first class...wouldn't that be loverly!!

Best wishes to everyone for a Happy New.

Lynn

[Moose Tracks]

Happy New Year!!

[Globaliser]

Thanks for the tip on Seat Guru. Very nice site. Sure wish they had Air New Zealand on it. :(

You can find NZ on the similar site www.seatexpert.com.

 

It's important to note that neither site is wholly accurate, nor does every frequent flyer on a particular airline agree with all the comments that the sites make about individual seats on that airline's flights. Moreover, airlines often have different configurations of a single aircraft type, and the subtleties are often not shown on these sites (and often it is impossible to know exactly which variant will be operating your flight anyway).

 

I've posted some comments about the underseat IFE boxes in the OP's other thread.

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks Globaliser. Unfortunately for ANZ it only shows the seat map that is on the ANZ website. But since we were able to get seats in the section in the back of the plane that has only two seats with some room on the side, I think we will be in great shape.

[Kaydan]

I am with Moose Tracks. The 2-3-2 seating on the 767 is preferable over the 3-4-3 seating on the 747. On Australia/NZ flights during the summer season you have to assume that any middle seats WILL be occupied. Go for the window/aisle pair.

 

However, you also might want to look into how many stops there are with the 767 (I don't think they have the range to fly non-stop from Sydney to the US/Canadian West Coast so there might be a stop in Honolulu with Air Canada that you don't have with Quantas).

 

I have not seen the entertainment boxes on Quantas, but I have seen them on other airlines. In my experience and with my preferences, these boxes really only become a problem if you are trying to store maximum size carryons underneath the seat. The entertainment boxes are mounted directly under the seat, and your feet are usually down near the floor (so your feet go underneath the entertainment box).

 

Seatguru has some good information, but some of their reviewer commets are overly picky.

 

My family and I have flown to Australia 3 times and have always flown Qantas (which partners with Air Canada). From the coast, either Los Angeles or Vancouver, it becomes Qantas. (Qantas is a great airline - good food and service.) There is always a stop in Hawaii. You have to switch planes and terminals. There is a shuttle bus that takes you to the other terminal.

 

We loved the entertainment screens on the back of the seats but noticed a considerable difference in the leg room and I'm only 5'2" and I was travelling with 2 kids. We had no problem using the under seat area for our backpacks but the rows of seats were definitely closer together.

 

Hope this helps. Have fun!

[WAVTAM]

On the ship now. Qantas was great. The entertainment box is a non-issue. Very small. WAVTAM

[Moose Tracks]

Thanks all for your input.

WAVTAM....hoping you'll give us some updates along the way. How's it been so far?

Lynn