Here comes the sun

Ive been looking at flights and legroom etc. is it worth the money going business class to be able to lie down. Im a bit worried about taking an active 4 year old on such a long flight. Plus which is the better airline?

Or i should say which airline gives you the most legroom in economy? My husband doesnt agree with paying for business class so as long as he's happy in economy with my daughter i will struggle in business class!

Vicky88

This is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. If you have the money I always think it is worth paying for business class on long haul. However, if I had the choice of paying an extra $10k off my mortgage or suffering in economy class for 24 hours I would probably suffer in economy class.

elmtree

If you are wealthy, go business class. But for you and your hubbie, not for the nipper. If kids are tired they will fall asleep in economy just as readily as in business class ! I've done Aus twice in economy and, being over 6 feet tall, I've found it uncomfortable. However, as the previous poster said, business class costs a fortune and I couldn't easily justify paying thousands more for the added comfort. I think it'd be like hiring a chauffeur-driven limo to go to work every day just because the Ford Fiesta isn't that comfy.

Mind you, if I was loaded I'd do it.

shiels

Malaysian are meant to have the most legroom, we flew with them last year and found the room sufficient, but the food was dire!!!!!!!! C x

struth

we found emirates slightly more roomy and certainly a more enjoyable flight than BA/Quantas, a wee bit more expensive but worth it. Saying that i am toying with the idea of business class when we emigrate, i reckon i'll be stressed to the hilt and a wee bit of pampering would be called for

oddsinoz

Hi There
As a previous post said: if you've got cash to spare then go for it, however for kids it isn't worth the extra money at all, as they will sleep quite happily in economy.
Perhaps what you could do as a compromise is to go "world traveller plus" which I think BA and possibly Virgin and some others do. Basically you pay a few hundred extra for slightly larger seats with a bigger pitch. They obviously aren't as luxurious as Business class but they are a darn sight more comfortable than cattle class!
We did it last year, return to Sydney via KL & then HK on the return leg. The only problem with BA is that Qantas, as their "world partner" doesn't have this facility (or certainly not when we went) so, if you end up with Qantas on the second leg you will be flying economy again, although we didn't find it that bad as it is a much shorter journey.

have a look at a few airline sights on the web.

Hope this helps.

Sarah

Here comes the sun

I thought Premium economy would be just a couple of hundred pounds more than economy but is just as expensive as business class, to be honest i dont think i could justify that amount of money unless by magic there was a cheaper way of doing it. Ive even looked in to getting a cruise to Aus but they dont seem to do one way as most include flight back gone are the days of the ten pound pom!

Ill definately have a look at the world traveller plus a few inches make all the difference!

carmele

Is breaking the journey up into 3 manageable chunks an option?

I am an active 33 year old......! kidding aside I am thinking of Manchester - Dubai - Singapore - Sydney to break the journey up for our two boys and me!

Something to think about...........?

Carmel

TruBrit

yep especially for longhaul flights....if you can afford it then no question.

Centurion

I've always been in a position to fly business or first, mainly thanks to a lot of business travel. If you are flying business please remember that not all business class products are equal. Some simply are not worth the money given the poor seating etc.

Airlines to travel with in business class on Australian routing : Virgin Atlantic, BA, Qantas, Air NZ, Singapore, Malaysian - all operate flat bed seats to Oz.

Do not fly with : Emirates, Cathay, Thai etc. The reason being that although with some of these carriers they do have flat bed seats they do not operate on all aircraft. In particular Emirates advertise flat bed seats but thats only on thier A500 which means 99% of all other flights have seating from the 80's and its shows in terms of comfort with thier business class seat is the worst in the sky. Cathay's ok but you only get a flat bed into HK and then you get a nasty old plane which does the HK to Australia bit.

astonmartinv8

I have flown BA, Qantas, Cathay and Emirates business and first. I'm 6' 3" and not that skinny.

For business, I would say BA is best with a reasonable flat bed and the others are similiar, slightly tilted forward and not excellent.

For First, BA, Qantas and Cathay all great with long flat beds type seats (BA and Qantas with a Duvet and mini-matress on most routes) and Emirates is like BA business.

If you really want to ponce it up, I'd go first and try to find a good deal. I recently went London - Hong kong BA first, then Hong kong - Melbourne Qantas First and although I slept a lot (and enjoyed the service a lot), it was as if we hadn't really travelled at all. Believe me I have had some awful trips in economy and business, so I do have something to compare it with. If you are stopping over, check out the country specific website for the carrier you choose as you might find a good deal, we did.

If you are going to Perth, all of the second legs except Emirates are business only, so you have to compromise. For Syndey and melbourne, you can usually find first all the way.

Remember there are lots of good ways to build up air miles to get a good deal on business flights. Try http://www.flyertalk.com/ and look at the forum for the airline you want to use. BA executive club do a good deal with Amex vouchers and the like, as well as Tesco point conversions. Check the website out.

Best regards,

Marcus.

datamile

Its just 23 hours.. a decent airline will help you with the kid.. and save the money for rent/car deposit... or even a couple of nights in a decent hotel at the other end.

Mally Lass

I agree. I travelled with Emirates on my own with 3 children (2 x 3 year olds and a 5 year old). They were all fine and being small, the Economy class is fine space wise for them Mine slept in shifts (never at the same time) so 2 of the female air stewardesses offered to read them stories and entertain the 'awake' ones whilst I slept for an hour, and they were Brilliant Save your Money and spend it elsewhere.

carmele

I've never had the privelege to go business so i wouldn't know.

Alls I can say is that if you can afford it, do it!

If you can't don't?

I can afford economy and am more than happy to travel this way. I would only travel business class, upper (co choice!) if the business was paying!

We are travelling with two boys under 6 and I'm doing 3 lots of 6hr flights to keep it simple!

I worked for a no frills airline though. It's about getting from A to B for me...

C

Wol

Of course if money is no object go first or business - that's a no-brainer. There is little difference now between first and business except that it tends to be more feral in the latter if you get a bad crowd <g>. You all arrive at the same time unless the thing crashes, in which case first arrives well, first <g>.