Thoughts on our travel route

[LisaAJ]

Hi everyone I'd love your thoughts on our two main options for our trip to the US in December. I've never done a long haul flight with kids so I'm really torn!! We're flying Perth to NY over Christmas which is expensive anyway but I always said I would be prepared to pay more for more direct flights. These options are making me doubt that statement!

Anyway, so far our options are;

Option 1- Fly Virgin Australia Perth - Brisbane. Leave morning and arrive early evening. 15 hour layover, Brisbane to LAX the next day at 10am. 2 hr layover in LA then to NY arriving at 5pm. So essentially 1 long and 2 short flights.

Option 2- Fly Emirates or Qatar. Perth to Doha or Dubai, 3-5 hour layover then Doha/Dubai to NY. Both flights between 12-15 hrs I think. At this stage Option 1 is about $1500 cheaper but we would have to factor in accommodation etc in Brisbane (which would obviously not be $1500!).

My questions are; Would you suggest two long flights or 1 long and two short flights for travelling with 2 kids? They will be 7 and 9 but a long car drive can sometimes be a mission. Should we just plow through and not drag it out? Also, what are your preferences between VA, Qatar and Emirates? I've never flown any of them internationally.

I won't be buying tkts for a bit yet as I want to wait until all airlines release these dates to compare prices, but considering option 1 would have us leaving a day earlier I'd need to get DH on board. Thanks

 

[PrincessInOz]

ooh Lisa. Tough call. Particularly if you've never done the long haul with kids. It makes it hard to know how they will cope and which is best for the family.

With Option 1, are you flying VAust all the way? 2 hours is a short time to have at LAX; particularly as you have to clear customs there.


I suspect you're going to get some varied responses on this one.

Me? I'm going to take the OTHER option and wish you all the best with the decision making. Having said that, $1500 is a lot of money to save.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

I'd recommend getting a flight through Sydney the flights through Asia are so much longer I don't recommend a stop over on the east coast and this is why the only time we have had dreadful jet lag was the time we flew Perth to Sydney stayed overnight and then flew to Lax the next day, we now always make sure we catch the 5:55am ish flight to Sydney and then the connecting flight to Lax we usually have just enough time to go through customs in Sydney and catch our flight and then once the kids are on the plane to Lax they are entertained by the movies and then sleep they are exhausted from leaving home to get to the airport so early we live 2 hours South to the airport.
The other thing to consider is having your whole trip on one ticket to and from Perth to make sure you get international luggage the whole way.

I just realised your flying to New York so maybe Asia is the better way to go but another option could be to break your trip in LA and then fly to New York the next day.

 

[AustralianJetsetter]

Hi Lisa, being a Brisbanite and having flown from here to US a few times i would opt for option 1. If your kids are not seasoned long haul fliers I think giving them two long flights coyld be pushing the luck. After the first long flight getting off knowing you have another long flight a few hours later might create some meltdowns (& not only from the kids)

The flight from Bris to LAX is actually not too bad. The planes have the entertainment screens in the seats and your kiddies are at good ages to use them. They will prob sleep some as it is such a long flight and then there's the meals too I think you'll be surprised how fast the flight goes.

You could get a nice hotel room at the Novotel airport hotel for about $200-$250 I would say.

Let us know what you decide and more importantly have a great trip

 

[dabecs]

Tough call, I would go with Option 1 if those two end up being your only options. 2 long flights would kill me and I know my girls (they are currently 6 and 7, so they were 5 and 6 last time we went) would cope better with the first option.

Is there a third option, maybe the one WAmum mentioned?

 

[LisaAJ]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your comments

WAMUMOF4, so you think we would be better not stopping overnight? There is an option to catch the midnight horror to Bris and then only have a 3 hr layover before flying to LAX. Honestly that sounds terrible to me, lol! I've caught the horror with the kids before and they don't come out the other end well!! I'd hate to think about putting them on a long flight straight after! This is exactly why I am so worried about the flights!! Can't avoid the length of them unfortunately!
There wouldn't be much of a difference between flying through Brisbane rather than Sydney surely?


I'm going to contact a couple of travel agents soon to see what they can suggest/come up with but I think I might be leaning towards option 1. I really want to wake up in NY on Christmas Day which makes the Asia route much more expensive. For some reason flying via the east coast is cheaper.

Hmmmmm, some more thinking to do!!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Do, do some research into some less obvious routes as this is often where the bargains are e.g. Hawaiian Airlines with a stopover in Hawaii, or check out the route Zanzibar is taking through NY as it got her first class seats for the cost of economy.

I personally swear by stopovers. After long flights, I can't sit in an airport for 3+ hours waiting to jump on another plane. It drives both my husband and I insane. Also, what time I would save by charging on through to my destination, I would lose by feeling like a walking zombie at the other end. Plus, a stopover can give you a few days to explore a new location that you may not ever consider visiting as a sole destination.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

In answer to your question, I would probably go for the LAX route since it's so much cheaper. However, if price was comparable, I might opt for the Asia route with a few nights stopover in Dubai to enjoy the lovely hotels, shopping, and waterparks. After a cold holiday in NY, a few days in the sun might feel like a blessing.

just know that a travel agent is unlikely to find you the best airfare as they rarely take the time to play around with multiple options. To do that you can use the multi-city options on websites such as Expedia, programming in stopovers at at a whole range of destinations. Sometimes adding a stopover of a few days or more at an airline's hub can bring the cost of the flight down.

As for flight distance, if my maths is correct, the flight time is about the same. While the US route may be an hour or two shorter, you'll spend less time sitting in airports by picking option 2. Tough call.

 

[gogo65]

Have alook at Cathay, they fly Perth to HK then HK to NYC, first flight 7.5 hours then 15 hours, where as emirates is 11 hours then 14 hours.
All the Qatar flights seem to be Perth-Doha-heathrow-NYC.

I would definetely compare the actual time on planes as well as the time spent in airports.
I think a stop over in Sydney or Brisbane, would be a good idea just to break it up a bit, it is a long flight

 

[zanzibar138]

Have you looked at Etihad? That's who we've got our amazing deal through. Similar to Emirates/Qatar, but they fly through Abu Dhabi instead. Their planes look really nice, even for economy, and they have fantastic entertainment options for kids (LOTS of Disney movies ). You could break the trip up with a night in Abu Dhabi on the way over, maybe a few on the way back. Just be aware that it is still a long flight from Abu Dhabi to NY.

Our ridiculous deal was removed about an hour after we got it (and was going via Sri Lanka anyway), but I think it would definitely be worth pricing up.

I don't have any flying experience with kids, so can't really help out with which option would be best. Just to give you some things to think about though...

If you think your kids will sleep on the flight, it could be worth looking at doing 2 longer overnight flights (ie going through the middle east). If you don't think you or your kids will sleep, I would definitely try to minimise overnight flights as much as possible.

I personally HATE wasting time hanging around in airports between flights. I'd rather have longer flights for fewer transfers (I also used to experience terrible ear pain on flights, so wanted to minimise my take off and landing). For this reason, if I was doing the first option, I'd definitely spend the night in Brisbane. But there are people who would argue that several shorter flights is better. It's such a personal thing really.

I would also do research on other options like Wanderlust has suggested. ANZ can be a good option from Perth as it is more of a 'halfway' point, and might be somewhere you'd like to spend a few days on the way back too. Fiji are very reasonably priced, but not sure what their connections are like from Perth - might require too many transfers. Also look into the Asia options. Cathay have some good fares, and you could visit HKDL on the way back

 

[dollarmite]

If the only options available were the ones listed in the OP, I'd go with number 1, via Brisbane. I'm finding that as I get older I'm losing my tolerance for 12+ hour flights, as they just seem to drag on forever, but that's just me. If I had 2 x 12-15 hour flights in a row I think I'd lose my mind. But other people are the opposite and just want to get it all over with ASAP, so it really comes down to personal preference.

That said, I'd not be thrilled with a 15 hour stopover either.

But in this case, option 1 is $1500 cheaper, so I'd just suck up the 15 hour stopover. I figure that money is better off in my pocket for spending on the holiday than in an airlines' bank account.

If you do stop in Brisbane, there's a Formula 1 hotel about 5 minutes from the airport. It's extremely basic but rooms start at about $90/night. There's also the Toombul shopping centre a further 5 minutes away, where you can kill some time.

 

[LisaAJ]

Thanks everyone, you've given me lots to think about!

They are obviously not the only options but were the main options in our price range. I really want to keep the airfares under $10k if possible (which option 1 is) but will go a bit higher if I think it's a better route/airline.

Zanzibar, I actually haven't looked at Ethihad and I have no idea why!! I will definitely add that to my watch list.

I think it will all come down to price in the end. I really have no idea how the kids will go on a long haul flight but they still occasionally sleep in their boosters in the car so maybe they will sleep?

AAAARRRGH!!! So many things to think about!!

 

[LisaAJ]

Oh and thanks Dollarmite, the Formula 1 could be a good option. We would be arriving at 5pm and have to be back at the airport by 7am so it really would just be somewhere to sleep.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Hi, we flew from Sydney last September, 2 kids 13 & 15 with Virgin.
First off there was a problem with the plane and we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours before takeoff. Was such a long day, getting to the airport, checking in and then sitting on the plane for 2 and half hours going no where.
We had 3 nights in Hollywood before catching our flight to NY.
In my opinion if you could even have at least 1 night in LA before flying on to NY it would be better.
The flight is long and then when you arrive , immigration ect takes a while when you arrive in LAX, because we were late in , a whole lot of others planes landed as well, took about 2 hrs to get out of the airport.
When we got our flight to NY , it took ages to go through security ect and then waiting to board and then the flight. If you do it all in one hit from Aus to NY you will be totally shattered, know people who have done the straight through with kids and they said never again.
On our way home, we flew from Orlando, had to change planes in Atlanta and then stayed the night in a cheap but good Travelodge near LAX before getting the VA flight the next night. This was the best idea, felt fresh for our long haul home.
None of ussuffered from jet lag and we did a lot flying.
Going straight through sounds good, but in theory it wrecks you.

 

[LisaAJ]

Thanks Living for Disney. I'm beginning to think similarly. We don't really want to stay in LA for a night as it would mean we wouldn't wake up in NY for Chrissy (something I really want for our trip).

I am starting to think flying through the middle east would be better as we would have less stops.

So many things to think about!!!