Considering going from Brisbane to Rome.

Considering going from Brisbane to Rome. Choices time wise appear to be much the same for Emirates, Singapore, and Cathay. I need to get some sleep and as a 6'4", does anyone have a view on a better bed. As far as beds go, it seems Emirates or Cathay have the better.

Hi LindsayA. Do you mean choices timewise, as in the routes with the shortest total times. Are you restricted to Business or could you get a suite, as I guess these would be the best option. Etihad also flies to Rome via Singapore  - AUH - Rome(Abu Dhabi -Rome codeshare Alitalia so no suite but short flight in comparison) and not that I have sampled one of their suites, but reviews seem to rate them  and the Review on the Degustation menu sounded great! Check out both reviews on Austbt!

Salty, my concern is that I get a good sleep on the main flight.  Emirates seem to only have angled lie-flat beds, Cathy appear to have fully flat beds.  There are two of us so my budget would not extend to a suite.

Go with Cathay. Your business class seat will be fully flat on both flights; the Brisbane to Hong Kong leg will be fully flat on the new reverse herringbone seat (A330-300), while the Hong Kong to Rome leg will be fully flat on the old herringbone seat (A340-300). 

Singapore Airlines is angled flat (New Regional Business) on the shorter Brisbane to Singapore leg (A330-300), and also angled flat on the longer Singapore to Rome leg (B777-200ER).

Emirates is angled flat on the longer Brisbane to Dubai leg (B777-300ER), and fully flat (A380-800) or angled flat (B777-300ER) on the shorter Dubai to Rome leg.

If your goal is simply to get the best sleep for sleeping, then the best choice is the flattest, and that's Cathay.

If you are considering SQ be careful as they use the 777-200 on their Singapore to Rome flights and unless retrofitted do not have a full flat bed. Their flights ex BNE also are not flat bed.  You would need to take them to Milan to get the flatbed

Cathay would be your best option as you will have flat bed all the way, although it is the old business class product on their Rome flights.

Etihad is another option but it becomes a two stop flight and flights Abu Dhabi to Rome are not daily.  The Abu Dhabi to Rome is operated by Alitalia but with their brand new flat bed product and relaunched long haul service which is meant to be very good

Emirates use the A380 into Rome on one of their double daily services - so flat bed there, not guaranteed on the long legs from Brisbane

It may also be worth considering a fare with Swiss via Asia/Zurich. They have some excellent fares from Australia - and their longhaul aircraft all feature their very good flatbed business class seat

Guys, thanks so much for your input.  I have looked at going to Sydney to get the A380 and Cathay direct from Bne (though also Swiss & Ethiad).  Looks like Cathay might be the better option, though longer transit in Hong Kong.  I assume the CP club in HK will be an acceptable for the 6hr transit.  Again, thanks for your comments.

LindsayA. You may want to consider flying to Sydney and have an all the way Emirates A380 service to Rome! I am a business traveller, and travel more than 150 days a year - mostly to Europe, I am currently based in Brisbane, and I always fly to Sydney from Brisbane, so I have an A380 service all the way. I highly recommend you consider flying to Sydney with Emirates as you will have a really great experience. And now with the Qantas-Emirates Alliance it is easier to get to Sydney from Brisbane. I fly to Rome often from Brisbane via Sydney and these are the flights I usually take when I can:

Qantas Flight QF545 from Brisbane to Sydney. Leaves Brisbane at 17:25 and arrives in Sydney at 19:00. Duration 1 Hr 35 Min. (Business class on the new Qantas 737-800 with the Sky Interior and inflight entertainment)

2 Hour Transfer in Sydney - (Both Emirates and Qantas have world class Business class lounges in Sydney to enjoy. You could get an earlier flight from Brisbane if you wanted to enjoy these facilities.)

Emirates Flight EK413 from Sydney to Dubai. Leaves Sydney at 21:10 and arrives in Dubai at 05:40. Duration 14Hr 30Min. (This flight is operated by the award winning Emirates A380. You have a fully flat 2m bed, world class service, the best inflight entertainment in the world and an inflight lounge/bar to enjoy).

3 Hr and 30MIn Transfer in Dubai - (Your flight will arrive in the brand new concourse for Emirates A380s in Dubai. There you will have access to a brand new, world class lounge. The lounge is truly amazing - you will enjoy it. Not to mention that you have fantastic shopping available and that you can board your next flight to Rome directly from the lounge, this is something that I really enjoyed as I didn't have to push ahd shove with everyone else on the lower level!).

Emirates Flight EK0097 from Dubai to Rome.Leaves Dubai at 09:10 and arrives in Rome at 13:15. Duration is 6Hr and 5Min (This flight is also operated with the A380, so you can enjoy the fully flat bed, the lounge/bar, etc.)

The return flights are pretty much the same. 

I really hope you consider this, as I think you will enjoy the amazing Emirates serivce as much as I did!

Regards, 

LindsayA, one last thing to note if you were to fly Singapore, their A380 beds are not ideal for your height. I am about 178cm and their extra wide seats mean not as much length which I feel is quite important to really be able to stretch out.

Brad, very informative and thank you very much.  I have found the Bne-Rome on the A380 both legs, but can't firn the return with two A380s (without a 10:55hr transit in Dubai).  Maybe there is a specific day(s) from Rome to get both legs on A380s to Sydney with a shorter stopover in Dubai?  Do you have any suggestions? 

Thanks. On the way back, i decided to have a one night stop over in Dubai as it is an amazing city and so I could split my journey up a bit. Maybe you should do the same because I am sure you will enjoy it! On the other hand, you could maybe take the 777-300ER flight from Rome, as it would be a day flight, it may not be as important to get sleep as it would be on the overnight Dubai-Sydney leg. It is also a very quick flight from Rome to Dubai! It is important to get the A380 on the longer leg though.

EK A380 BNE to Rome? never knew!

mb68, when i referred to bne to rome, i meant bne to sydney(A380) to rome.  Apologies if that was misleading.

Any thoughts on Etihad - pretty sharp pricing.  Bne-Mel-AUH-FCO in 27hrs:15mins.   Seems like Etihad and the Aliitalia flight they use, both show fully flat beds.  Anyone got any thoughts on that combination?  Also a bit concerned that there is only a 1hr:10min layover in AUH which is unlikely to be enough for a freshen up shower before heading off to Rome.  Any thoughts would be most appreciated. 

HI Lindsay! I recently travelled with Etihad to Germany, and there service OK, but I still think Emirates was better. As for Alitalia, they have only started renovating their business class offering so you are not guaranteed that you will be flying from AUH to FCO in their new business class offering. They also don't offer AVOD entertainment and it is only loop. I also had a short layover in AUH for my connecting flight to FRA, I just got there in time, and I didn't have enough time to use the Business class lounge on the way there. The 1:10 layover may be a bit too short, as Etihad usually start boarding their flights 40-60min before departure and boarding closes 20min before departure. If your inbound flight to AUH was even a bit late, you would have to wait for the next flight, which would be in 24 hours as Alitalia only operates a daily service from AUH to FCO. Those are my thougts...if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask! :)

Thanks Brad.  Yes I thought the transit looked a bit rushed.  If I had pushed the button on Friday morning, I would have gone Emirates out of Sydney on the A380, but in the space of about 3hrs between my first investigation and the second, the price jumped by aobut just over 1.5k each.  Given I am paying for two tickets, it is just beyond what I am prepared to pay.  Looks like I will be going Cathay, about $4.5k cheaper than Emirates for thetwo of us.  Thanks again.