Best J class to Sydney

January 5th, 2009

Hello,

I will be flying soon from YUL to Sydney Australia in J class. I was wondering which airline offers the best service on this route.The choices, as part of the air canada alliance, are Air canada, Air New-Zeland or United.

Thank you !

clement lowe: I know that but I was talking about the flights that have beds in club world http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Angeline,

Having recently flown NZ J-Class LAX-PPT & SYD-LAX (Feb 2001 with spouse; 10 Yr Anniversary celebration cruise in South Pacific) having researched the Boards extensively before booking I can definitely attest to the fact that we *highly* recommend them. The service was fabulous, space excelent, seats very comfortable, & lounges appealing.

If you can request the upper deck on the 744 as you seem to get more personal space with a side-storage cabinet next to the window seat, feel less cramped, & enjoy a "private flying lounge" feeling.

Enjoy! We did!!!

Cheers. Dogstar.

Don't take 5A, it is great as it reclines all the way but It's reserved for the relief pilot on 10+ hr flight and it will be curtained off for the HNL-SYD segment.

The first time I flew YYZ-HNL-SYD on CP J, I reserved 5A all the way and when I boarded at HNL for the SYD flight, I saw 5A curtained off then I immediately thought "oh no...", the flight was 100% full as a NZ flight went mechanical and they are taking all passengers and I was using upgrade stickers so i thought my upgrades were gone. However, thanks to my EP status with CP back then, they moved an employee back to Y and gave me another J seat which I had a seatmate but it was fine. However, I think AC's reservation system won't let you book that seat now, it's simply marked as unavailable.

IMHO Air New Zealand has a better class of service in J. The drawback is you have to connect in LAX.
Welcome to the board. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by airbus320 (edited 05-31-2001).]

Having flown to SYD on AC/CP twice in J, I found that the seat comfort is very good. This route is still operated by CP aircraft which mean 1-2-2 config in J class and if you manage to get a single J seat by yourself, it will be as close to F class as you can get. However, food on AC is not exactly the best when compared to other airlines. Crew attitudes could be a problem on this route as it is served by some senior crews who really don't care about their job (I don't mean all the crews are like that, just the ones that served my flights to/from SYD).

I second what Terenz said, if you want seat comfort, go for AC. For all other aspects, go for others.

[This message has been edited by Empress (edited 06-02-2001).]

Terenz: According to British Airways' website BA 15/16 have the new beds on tue/wed/thur/fri/sun and tue/thu/fri/sat/sun respectively.

Regards http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

How about BA? You'll be guaranteed a bed on the LHR-SYD run. That is of course if it isn't above your budget.

Regards http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

having flown on all three airlines operating this route in all three classes many times, though not UA since they introduced there new seats. I would highly recommend NZ over the red rat as there new seats I found extremely uncomfortable. The NZ Customer Service is by far the best, The wine list is debatable and largely dependent on your preference between NZ and Australian wines, though NZ does a better job of keeping the your glass full, well at least upstairs. One other positive point is that AC and NZ both operate out of Terminal 2 at LAX so on your outbound you won't have to change terminals, however on the return NZ 15 from SYD arrives into T7. With regards to UA I would do my best to avoid them, the FA's are generally obnoxious, and when your spending 14 hours with these people, its not plesent, I find there new seats average, nothing spectacular. So to sum it up I would fly NZ, and thats not because of National bias. I would however suggest not arriving late at the airport in SYD, as check-in can be slow, and the QF staff who run check-in never seem to be able to work the NZ computers properly, so if you cut it close, you will almost certianlly lose your seat assignment, or will be bumped down to Y, which isn't pleasent on this long sector.

HI all !

Thanks for the replies !
Like TravelTil, said, I have to fly star aliance, well...I dont have to have to ! but..I already have 45 000 qualifying miles this year..so I tought i might make a run for SE...and you guys confirmed what I though...Air New-Zeland it will be !

Thanks !

It's hit or miss with the flight crews to Sydney. Many are still former CPers and generally I've had good service, but there are other times that it's not been great. Still, I'd put up with brusque service for the comfy seats. Go for 5A if you can

Good idea to ask about the single (CP config) 5A (it reclines all the way back to a horizontal position), but its highly likely that it will be blocked (complete with curtains) for crew on this run, as its used for sleeping...

Actually, not sure if its a relief pilot or regular crew.

Last time I took this the crew person snored!

Originally posted by Marco:
How about BA? You'll be guaranteed a bed on the LHR-SYD run.

Sorry, but not all BA flights to SYD have beds. They're not on BA 9/10 to SYD but seem to be for the flights to MEL.

Let me add a comment. My GF (BC novice) flew NZ in J (on a 744) LAX-SYD-LAX a few weeks back. The food and service, IHO, were great. Wines on the menu were pretty good stuff too. However, when she flew in US J class (Envoy on a 333), she thought the seats on the US 333s were much better (more recline and leg rests rise up more). Personally, I don't think the US 333 BC seats are as comfortable as the CP ones so iff AC is using CP 763s for the SYD run, I'd say go for AC.

So it seems, for seat comfort go with CP (operating as AC). For food, wine and service, go with NZ. No opinions on UA. As to a previous comment, UA Suites are only in F class.

Hi Angeline,

I take it that you have to fly star alliance, so would definitely suggest Air New Zealand or United (not Air Canada) on such a long route. I prefered Air New Zealand, because I found the service was very good, and I loved the cushy sheepskin, but I'm not sure what J class is like in United. I do recall they have the United 'suite' which would mean 'beds'. That would be luxury on that flight - I've done YYZ to SYD a number of times - it's a killer.

Have you tried posting the same question in the Air NZ and United forums?

Trudy

[This message has been edited by TravelTil (edited 06-01-2001).]

Marco,

there are more than 5 flights a week on BA from LHR-SYD.

There's the daily BA 9/10 as well as BA 15/16.

BA by far. AirNZ business is nothing at all to write home about: I would argue their coach is much better bang-for-buck. AC is OK but not in BA's class. My last BA LHR-SYD in J was the best business-class flying experience I've ever, ever had. I am now spoiled, and it makes intra-NA flights very difficult indeed.

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Best J class to Sydney

January 5th, 2009