AIBU to ask about flying to Australia?

[snapdragongirl]

I have never been to Australia, indeed have never even flown long-haul, but will soon be doing so with DC (2 teens and a tween). We are flying with Qatar Airways, economy, via Doha (we have a couple of hours there).

For myself, but also for DC who have (understandably) lots of questions about how it all works, what should we expect in terms of any food/drink that is provided during the flight, and what are your top tips in terms of embarking on a journey like this, eg when to try and sleep, how to manage jet lag, what in-flight facilities/entertainment are there? I don’t even know if we will be able to watch tv/films, having never done this before! Do the seats recline for sleeping? What comfort items could we take to make it more bearable? We also have neurodiversity in the mix to make things more interesting….

Any advice from more seasoned travellers is very welcome as I am clueless!

Quatar is decent, I think the best thing you can do is surrender to the process, it's what's between your ears that will help you more than what you take with you, lots of good suggestions. Lock in, watch the films, eat the food, have a snooze, repeat, and you'll get there.

I’ve been doing this journey all my life, and you’ve had loads of good advice, but one thing I will say - do not attempt to take food into Australia without declaring it at Customs.

I’ve carried sealed sweets and chocs and they’ve been fine about it, but taking anything fresh/freeze-dried etc is an absolute no and will land you in big trouble if you conceal it.

Colleague of mine just did LHR-DOH-SYD with Qatar in economy.
He said food was pretty bad - they were given chicken curry TWICE in the same flight, once for dinner and once for breakfast.
His advice is take your own food and restock with whatever you can find at DOH.

I've done that trip (or similar) a number of times.

Here are my tips
-Fill up a,water bottle to take on plane (there are usually taps after security)

• Compression socks
• pack a small bag with a few essential items you will need for easy access that you can store under a seat and put your larger bag in the storage above the seats (in mine i have a tube of mints, phone, usb charging cable, headphones, kindle, passport, toothbrush, lip salve, water bottle)
• download a few spotify play lists / audio books or netflix movies (although in flight entertainment is generally very good)
• get up and walk every couple of hours or so
• take a scarf / pashmina as it sometimes gets cold (but not always!)
• I find a neck cushion helpful but I know

they don't suit everyone.

• pack a charging block so you have power when you arrive
• sign up for the frequent flyer account-- it often gives you access to book seats in advance. I like an aisle seat so I can easily get up and move around
• go easy on the free alcohol!
• the food is edible but not great -- i take a couple of nutritious snacks (but be aware you cant take ANY fresh food into Australia)

Thank you.

I’ve done it the opposite way, Perth to Uk and it would be my preferred journey in future. Once you’ve boarded, that’s it & the few extra hours on the aircraft didn’t seem to make much difference. My top tip is, avoid looking at your watch. If you start looking and calculating how much longer you’re going to be on the aircraft, it doesn’t help!

Great, thanks!

The sliced bread podcast recently did a review of jet lag products. You can find it on the BBC sounds app it might be worth a listen for some tips. They get experts to look into the science behind products available and if any are worth their money.

more info @snapdragongirl

Oh my goodness, thank you so much to all of you - this is all so useful and not one person has made me feel stupid for not knowing this stuff! Hugely grateful for all the tips and suggestions and links - thank you!!

I bet there are a few helpful videos on Youtube that your ND passenger would find useful to watch

I'm 60, but have picked up my own hints and tips over the years. Let's start with the basics:

1. Buy some packing cubes. Swap your luggage between the 4(?) of you so that you each have a change of clothing or two if one or more suitcases doesn't accompany you. DO NOT put your house keys in the hold luggage. Ditto medication.

2. Pop a change of top and bottoms into hand luggage (had a bloke spill his juice all over me one trip). Have a spare plastic bag in case you do get end up with wet clothing

3. Scan/photo your itinerary/passports/travel insurance and upload them to a Cloud-based site (be it Outlook or a personal drive).

4. Check the "what about liquids and IT kit?" latest scanning rules for each of the airports you are visiting. Some have the new scanners, others don't. DO NOT pack batteries in your hold luggage.

5. Order "special meals" if you want them. I tend to get Asian non-vegan (and tend to get fed fairly early). [When travelling by myself I often just eat during transit and pop a blanket over my head to sleep through one or more meals].

6. Look out for emails inviting you to check in online (they usually arrive quite a while before the travel date). If you want a fighting chance of sleeping, don't select the seats near the bulkhead (where they put the babies) or near the loos. The plane is probably a 3x4x3 formation for economy. I tend to sit in the middle seats so that there is not more than one person to climb over at night, but it is a personal preference.

7. At the airports, arrange a "meeting place if we get separated" spot.

8. Security after dropping hold luggage. Scan your boarding passes (ideally on a phone each, but paper will do). You will need to remove coats and belts to walk through the scanners (and sometimes sturdy boots). Everything else goes into a tray for the luggage scanner.

9. Look for water refill locations at the airport - there are definitely quite a few at Heathrow.

10. Reclining seats - economy tends to recline about 10-15 degrees. It is polite to put them back to upright during food service. You will get a blanket and pillow

11. Reckon on two meals/flight, with a few offers of drinks from the trolley. There will be snacks and water available in the galley.

12. Ideally have a a few films/audiobooks etc on a device in case one of the at seat entertainment units is broken (this seems to be less of a problem these days). You MIGHT have wifi (didn't spot where you are flying to in Oz) The food and entertainment menus are here: https://www.qatarairways.com/en-gb/onboard/economy-class.html
    12 At Doha you are in TRANSIT. Your suitcases are taken to the next plane and you don't have to clear immigration etc.

13. Bin any fresh food in your hand luggage before you get to Oz (not allowed - they have a lot of sniffer dogs and will probably spray the cabin with insecticide before you land).

Some might choose to dose with sleeping tablets or antihistamines before flying; do not try them for the first time on a flight as they might have the reverse effect.

Don't hire a car on day 1 or at least don't drive far.

We are currently seated as a 4 in the middle seats (plane is 3/4/3 formation). I thought this was best, but DC are disappointed not to be near a window (they get that we can’t all have window seats! One does find it easier being near a window though as they have vestibular issues). I was considering booking a 3 at the side and one window seat in the row in front or behind. Eldest DC would likely sit there, if he’s happy to. Means he definitely gets a window seat! But this would mean one sitting potentially with 2 strangers, having to disturb them to use the toilet/stretch legs etc. Should we stick with 4 together?

Really useful, thank you!! 🙏🏻

You will get a meal approx 90 mins after take off assuming an afternoon/ evening flight, then they turn the cabin lights down so get your heads down for some sleep if you can. An hour before landing they put the lights back on and bring round hot drinks and a basic breakfast.

You then disembark, have to go through arrival security (annoying) before going into the cavernous terminal. Wander around like zombies (your body is saying it’s the middle of the night) and work out your next gate. 2 hours means you won’t actually get much time thankfully, we just sat on a bench until the gate was announced. Next leg is the long one for you so it will be 2 or 3 meal services, first will be 90 mins in, last an hour before landing then something in between.

Book special meals in advance, I always book Asian vegetarian as it seems the most reliable (I eat meat but plane chicken, it’s always chicken, is dried up and disgusting!)

When you get to Doha you have to go through security scanners so make sure you empty any bottles of water, juice as otherwise they will be taken off you. You can refill again once you are through.
The terminal is massive so check your next flight on the screen once through the bag scan. There is also an indoor tropical garden you can walk around depending how long you have between flights.

As others have said, dispose of all food on the plane before arriving in Australia, they are very strict and have the sniffer dogs doing checks.

The flight from UK to Doha usually passes quite quickly by the time you've watched a movie and eaten.

If you don't mind only having one window, you could book a 3 then the aisle on the 4 so you're all sitting in a line just not all in the middle 4.
That way you could also alternate who sits at the window without disturbing anyone else.

^ This is an excellent idea for any family!

When I flew to Oz we left Heathrow on a Monday morning at 10.00, we arrived in Melbourne at about 20.00 Tuesday evening, as we hadn't slept great, it just felt like a really long day. We had a quick bit of food and went to sleep. Woke up on their time, so I found the jet lag too bad. I think we had an hour or two stop over in Singapore. As another poster said, just try and get on to their time zone ASAP.

Have a great time!

Bookmark.

Fly long haul quite a bit, but mostly to Japan or the US. I’ve done Sydney once, albeit it was a work trip so had the benefit of the business class full bed, but it’s still a monster trip.

Lots of good advice on the thread. Don’t underestimate how long it takes to walk through the airport at Qatar - it’s truly massive and often quite crowded. If you have any chance of a longer stopover (a few hours) I’d strongly recommend trying to book access to a lounge where you can use the showers - it makes a huge difference.

I found the arrivals in Sydney really unpleasant. One uniformed guy took my customs declaration before I got to the checking point and basically walked off with it and threw it away, just to be a dick. Was too tired to complain, but it held me up another 15 minutes.

Don’t underestimate the jet lag when you get there. It took me 4 days to feel properly OK, and I was only there for 5 days!

I usually go with the flow when i get on and eat whatever meals are offered but after a while I set my watch to local time and sleep accordingly so that I don't feel TOO shattered when I arrive.

I did wonder about this too actually. We did this on a short haul flight and each of my older DC took a turn being across the aisle. I would rather disturb others less.

I wondered if we might get lucky and if the plane isn’t full then people might not book in the row of 4 if one seat is already booked and we could end up with some extra space. Wishful thinking perhaps!

My experience is you get more food than you can eat flying to Oz and other very long haul destinations.

I have another question! Am I ok to take medication in hand luggage, eg pill, adhd meds, inhaler? And vitamin supplements (magnesium, turmeric etc)?

My advice on jet lack is just immediately go onto local time. It may be a bit drastic but always worked for me, if you arrive at 9:00 am local time breakfast and get on with your day if it's midnight go to bed.