QANTAS OR AIR NZ

planning trip from USA to Australia/NZ. Premium Economy, for tall husband. Trying to decide between Qantas from LAX on A380, or Air NZ from Houston on 787-9 ? And which row is preferred, as it looks like Air NZ PE seats are all on the wing?

I am tall and have flown in several PE cabins, including Qantas, all with 38 inch seat pitch. Unless I get the front row it it still tight, particularly if the seat in front is reclined. VA and Air NZ have 41 inch pitch, so perhaps more comfortable, but I haven’t tried them.

I have tended to favour Air NZ over QF. The QF A380 PE seats are getting a little long in the tooth, and at 39'' somewhat last gen. The Air NZ PE seats are new and at 41'' are certainly roomier'. Its also cheaper to select exits on Air NZ and you can frequently score very reasonable bid upgrades to business from PE. I would also say to have a look at Virgin Aus who also have 41'' pitch new PE seats and a great product.

Haven't flown AIR NZ, but you would suggest that a product that it's nearly 10 years old, would be in disadvantage with a newer aircraft... now let's wait for QF to refit A380s with the 787 seats in the next few years and that may change...

Hi. I am a Qantas Club member. I am flying domestic with 4 children (17,17,14,11) in a few days - can we all go into the qantas lounge?

If you are flexible, you can have a look at Seatguru and see that about AirNZ row 24 you can still see the ground and the outside.

For AmandaVan

I am not sure if you can bring in 4 kids, I have seen people bring in 2.

And yes, I am a QP member, but wont be flying till Jan.

I’d recommend Qantas from Dallas. It’s a long sector but:

- avoids LAX

- easy transit from which ever is your originating point ... AA have inbound to DFW from nearly everywhere on a single sector ... and there’s a great pizza restaurant upstairs at terminal D for dinner before QF8 departs

- gets you straight to SYD with no need for another sector from AKL to get to Australia

- the QF A380 PE is comfortable and good service ...(if you’re hungry during the flight between meal service, go to the galley and ask for a toasted sandwich (and a whiskey!) and they’ll happily oblige (if they have the beef and kim chi one it’s the best economy airline food I know :-).

- to my ears the A380 is quieter than the 787 so I feel (only marginally mind you) less wrecked when I get to Sydney.

And welcome to Sydney!

Why does everyone hate LAX still? I've transited through TBT eight times this year and it is great, and the tunnels connecting to the other terminals is handy too.

Anyway, I'd go Virgin Australia any day over Qantas at the moment. Qantas' PE is ok, but not great and the screens fold out from the arm rests and are small and low def. Plus I find the seats make you numb over time (I actually find the Qantas economy seat more comfortable).

Virgin Australia's is a lot better, although the options on IFE are smaller than Qantas'. Plus if you're traveling through the US, Delta is a lot better than American (Qantas) and United (Air NZ). Lounge access in LAX is terrible though, but that may not matter and there are plenty of good options in TBT (tip: head upstairs to the bar).

But down to Qantas or Air NZ, I'd go by who is the cheapest (if you're paying) and Qantas if you're not. And the only reason I'd say Qantas is the because of the transit in AKL with Air NZ. If your originating flight is delayed then you may miss your connection.

Originally Posted by Jazzop

Hey Jazzop, I agree to the extent of TBIT. In fact TBIT is great and the QF First lounge is great (and recently they even let me shower there on arrival before going to T4 and my AA connection... although I’m not sure that’s policy so maybe one shouldn’t assume one can get away with that). And compared to the dire QF “rental lounge” at DFW, TBIT QF1st wins hands down. But the remainder of LAX is an effing nightmare. I had a two hour security line into T4 IN THE AA PREMIUM QUEUE recently OMFG. I can’t imagine what the non-premium hell would have been like that day. And while sometimes you can re-enter security at TBIT instead of T4 and use the bridges, that’s dependent on friendly officers at the security checkpoints. And having to walk or bus between terminals landslide sucks. DFW airside tram is so easy.

For the OP who by the sounds of it is not OWE, lounge access will be a mute consideration hence the recommendation of DFW which for inter-terminal transfer wins hands down IMHO (and I still like the Pizza place at DFW TD too 😄)

And out of curiosity, cf Delta, I thought AA had substantially the largest number of connections out of LAX at 220 departures/day (Delta about 160)? But I might be wrong on that? Incidentally this compares to AA’s 800/day out of DFW and Delta’s 1000/day out if ATL. But of course no SYD-ATL on Delta or VA yet. With a good aircraft (and decent service) and timing that could be quite an appealing option.

Another awesome thing at DFW is the carryon-only immigration arrival line. I was out land side in <15 min from door opening on QF7 arrival earlier this month. Truly. As quick as SYD.

Yes Dallas has a good air side tram, but that's an exception. I wonder how many LAX haters transit through other similar sized US domestic terminals. Try O'Hare on a busy day, it can be hell. The scale of air travel in the US dwarfs anything in Australia, you just need to allow more time.