Air Flight Time US to Australia?

[PudgiPoo]

I really would love to cruise Australia, but one thing is stopping me, the time to get to Australia. I have done some math looking at air travel time and it looks like over 20 hours on the airplane. This is way too long for a person my age to sit on a plane or any were for that matter. Has anyone done this flight? How taxing is it on an older body? What does the airline do to help?

[GreenValleyDogWalker]

I really would love to cruise Australia, but one thing is stopping me, the time to get to Australia. I have done some math looking at air travel time and it looks like over 20 hours on the airplane. This is way too long for a person my age to sit on a plane or any were for that matter. Has anyone done this flight? How taxing is it on an older body? What does the airline do to help?

 

The direct flight from Los Angeles, California to Sydney Australia is

14 hours, 35 minutes (Qantas airlines) There are, of course, many ways to get from the US to Australia where you can have stops or lay-overs - in Hawaii, in Tahiti, in Fiji, etc. to break up the trip.

As far a sitting for that long - don't !! - Get up - walk around - stretch, etc.

[TenerifeSharon]

We just flew to Australia in January for our cruise on Celebrity's Mercury and a bit of extended pre and post cruise travelling. We are both retired and both over 60 and "survived" the flights with no ill effects. AND, I should say that the flights were not "just" over 20 hours for us ... they were close to 40 hours altogether (each way). We flew from northern Germany to Frankfurt to San Francisco to Sydney to Auckland. The return was from Sydney to San Francisco and back to Germany. Why did we choose this route and spend so much time flying ? -- frequent flyer mile hoarding. Each of us got over 27,000 miles for this jaunt which will enable us free flights coast to coast US or to continue saving up. We chose United (not for the great service, although it was o.k.:rolleyes:) because we were able to upgrade to Economy Plus for a total of $299 for both of us for a entire year's travel. (and because we nove have over 25,000 miles on UA, we'll have another free year of economy plus.) Then, I very carefully chose our seats by checking at www.seatguru.com to get the most legroom possible. We were quite comfortable and had a fantastic trip! Don't miss going down under because of the long flights. Do it before you get any older!!

As ccliff5 says, break up the trip with a stopover. Then you'll have an extra vacation out of the longer flights!

[Rickey 88]

If you are adding in the flight time from your home to the West Coast to connect, perhaps it could be 20 hours. However, perhaps you should consider a stop over in LA, and continue on the next day.

 

In any event, any one who has made this flight will tell you the same thing - don't just sit there! Get up and move around from time to time.

 

No, the airlines won't "do" anything to help - this is something you need to do for yourself!

[ldog]

We flew Toronto-Vancouver-Sydney in February. Travel time was over 20 hours. We only had an hour to walk around in Vancouver. We booked two aisle seats so were able to get up and down at will. I moved more often than DH.

 

We left Vancouver at midnight. The airline (Air Canada) served a small meal and then turned out the lights and went into sleep mode for over 12 hours. Flight attendants walked up and down with water fairly frequently. Then an hour before landing they served a breakfast.

 

Our seats had individual tv's with a huge assortment of movies, television and music.

 

It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Australia and New Zealand were wonderful. It was well worth the long flight to see it. We'll be going back!

[MMDown Under]

Agree with all the good advice given.

 

If you have time, try to break your journey, preferably somewhere where the immigration people are nice, like Hawaii. That way the journey becomes a delightful part of the holiday, instead of just flights, which have to be endured to get from A to B.

 

If immigration process is unpleasant, like LA, it is better to stay on the plane and allow at least a couple of days on arrival to relax, before you start your travels.

[shining gem]

Good advice there from the land down under.

 

I am not a good flyer but was persuaded to fly Sydney to LA last year. It was not as bad as I imagined but I would also say it is a good idea to stop over on the way rather than do it in one go.

 

We sailed Sydney to San Francisco in 2006 and flew home from London via Dubai and Singapore and that was much better. A few days in each place to rest and have a little break was great.

 

Don't forget your flight socks! Meg

[mochuck]

I agree with the previous posters. Have a stop in Honolulu. It really helps to be able to lie down in a proper bed and have a shower.

[pcur]

I just booked a b2b for next year, and I had a crazy challenge for air:

 

U.S. airport is LAX

Leave on first cruise from Hawaii

End second cruise in Perth, Australia

 

So, I started researching air costs, using the same month this year as my "samples" for costs.

 

DH and I cannot handle extra long flights for separate health reasons, so after I also saw the length of time in the air and in uncomfortable airports for layovers, I got creative.

 

Well, the air total was actually CHEAPER doing it this way:

 

Roundtrip LAX/HNL was $281

 

Perth to Sydney was $295, so we could stop over and spend a night or two there. Perth to Sydney is about 2,500 miles, so that's a long flight by itself. By the way, Perth to HNL had to go through Sydney anyway, so I decided to just do a Perth/Sydney only leg.

 

Sydney to HNL was $945, and we could hang out there for a day, also.

 

Then back to LAX on the return for our HNL ticket.

 

Total was $1,521 per person, roundtrip LAX/HNL/PERTH/SYDNEY/HNL/LAX