London to Perth - Direct flight experiences

[FormerlySpeckledyHen]

Looking for any experience of the direct flight please if you have done it.
Who did you fly with, which class, was is ok or dreadful?

Thank you

Anyone?

Done it before; economy ( I think Qantas) - it's a long flight as you're aware but I liked that there was no stop over and you get the journey out of the way. I fly back and forth to Aus regularly ( I live in London, but am Aussie) - I have a method to get thru it. Divide your time into 2 hr slots. One slot is a film. One slot is reading a book or magazine ; one slot is eating and so on. It helps :-)

Thank you 🙏 Great advice re the time slots. Trying to persuade husband it’s better than a stop over.

Did it once. It’s only Qantas that operate it. It’s fine. I was in economy so not the most space but it’s a new plane so the air quality is pretty good, which is the main thing. On long flights like that I just watch a couple of movies, eat the meal and then have a melatonin tablet and try to sleep at roughly the right time for The destination. No problems. Just note that the flights sell out more quickly than others so book early.
On this occasion, I was continuing to the east coast and had a couple of hours to wait in Perth airport, which bears Dubai any day.

I was told, by someone who did it, that 17 hours really didn't feel any longer than a 12 hour flight to them.

‘Beats’ Dubai! Talking of bookings, I always try to book a seat as far forward as possible, this means you get fed first, cleared away first and can get a head start on sleeping (or visiting the loo). Other preference of mine is for an aisle seat on flights of 7hr+ (so I can get out several times without troubling anyone) and for a window seat on less than 7hr (when I won’t be up and down as much). I always bring extra water, toothbrush and paste, moisturiser etc on long hauls.

It's far better than a stopover especially if you're planning to end the journey in Perth!

I’m having to do this flight, I wasn’t sure, but then with points a business class seat ended up only being £850 more (return, not each way), so I decided to go for it as I’m only going to be there for three days. You could always try economy there and premium on the way back, that way if you dislike the flight, you’ll know the journey back will be more pleasant.

Yes with Quantas (don't think any other airline offers it?), Premium economy. Was a great experience and would do it again.

especially if you're planning to end the journey in Perth!

^^

Australia is bigger than a lot of people think.

If you take the QF non-stop but your final destination is in the east it's worth looking how long is needed on the ground in Perth to make the connection and then the flight time between Perth and say Sydney or Brisbane.

Certainly if in the specific case of London-Sydney the fastest option would still probably be the BA or Qantas (no u😉) London-Sydney direct flights that don't require a stopover, they just have a 90'ish minute tech stop (for crew change and refuel) in Singapore....

But why wouldn't you want to get out at Singapore!?

That's the best airport ever. We can't afford flights back to Oz at the moment (never mind the "additional "only" 850 above 😮)

But when we do go we really want to go via Singapore and stop there properly!

But why wouldn't you want to get out at Singapore!?

Been to Singapore a lot with work, agree it's a wonderful place.

That said some people have maybe only a limited amount of time available to be away from home in the UK and maybe want to maximise that time in Aus, maybe because they want to spend time in there with relatives or maybe they are travelling for work.

I used to be involved with the BA direct a lot, it was always a very full flight....the majority of passengers didn't get off for a layover in Singapore, they'd get off for a quick leg stretch in the terminal then get back on for the continuation...I suspect it would be much the same for the parallel QF flight - so there's certainly high demand for a London-Sydney "bullet" that minimises time between the two cities.

The QF non-stop rightly gets a lot of discussion, also connecting via Dubai is popular, ad I'm well aware both those make a lot of sense if your destination in Aus isn't SYD), but the old fashioned way, with a quick transit stop somewhere in the Far East, is still available.

Thanks everyone for your help.

We did it one way in October, coming home via Singapore. It was fine, even in economy. We watched lots of inflight movies, ate the meals and slept. Don't get me wrong, it was long, but doable. DH and I had one aisle and the next seat in in the middle section so we didn't have to disturb our fellow passengers for a wee trip.

I’ve done it, in economy and it was fine. It didn’t feel any longer than flying from London to Singapore. I find that the trick is not to look at the time. If you click watch, then the journey seems to take forever.

We'd love to go next year with a big stop at Singapore (say 12-18 hours) o. The way and a direct flight back.

I cant seem to get bookings with the long stop wothout booking a "multi trip" booking. I'm sure I did last time (pre covid!)

Anyone know how early flights come out? Is it rolling days or in months at a time. Its only showing to Jan 24 at the moment.