Flying to Australia - is business class a waste?

[Turnupe]

Looking at flying to Australia. Can get good flights with Qantas, extra leg room, luggage, in economy for £1,200. Premium Economy with Vietnam Airlines is £2,200. Or Business Class with China Eastern is £3,200.

Is it a waste of money? I am not rich. I could afford it, but seems better to save money.

Air China is China’s national carrier, not Taiwan’s. China Airlines is Taiwanese.

I used to live in China and have flown many, many times with China Eastern and would not contemplate flying business class with them. Perfectly fine for short haul, but no longer! Air China which is China’s national carrier is fine.

I go to Australia at least once a year and have been doing so for the last 40 years.

I now only fly Business but if it’s your first time and you don’t have much money suck up the economy discomfort It’s only 24 hours now (it used to take much longer and they allowed smoking - awful awful).

The big plus of flying Business is that you never have to queue and you’re first on and off. And you never have to wait in line for the lavatory. It makes being crammed in with all sorts of people almost bearable. You just don’t really have to deal with other people like you do in economy.

But if it’s your first time in Australia spend the money on travelling in Australia not the flight. Especially if you’re not that flush. Australia is no longer a cheap country and you can survive 24 hours on a plane.

No, no experience of China Eastern - but I'm taking from comments that it's not a super premium experience . But China Eastern have a lie flat bed which is the main draw for Business Class for me.

A shorter flight I'd be happy with Premium Economy - regularly do that to the States.

Oh and I’ve flown all sorts: Garuda Air when it existed. Usually 36 hours but super super cheap. Great in my student days!

Qantas is ok - I’ve flown business and First class with them as well as Economy. But their cabin service is shite. The staff are quite demanding and chippy - I’ve had cabin staff in Economy be quite rude

premium Economy on Singapore is nice; ditto Cathay Pacific. Cathay Pacific Business is lovely with the added advantage of easy stop overs in Hong Kong which I love. They tend to be my preferred airline but my sister will only fly Emirates Business - she says their Business is better than most first class travel on other airlines!

Singapore Premium Economy is fine UNLESS they route you on a Scoot flight - it’s Singapore Airlines’ low cost Asia offshoot company. And they are terrible. Really awful - no seat back entertainment and the food is appalling. And that was Premium Economy. God knows what Scoot economy is like!

FinnAir used to codeshare with BA and Qantas and they were lovely - a low key Business class and cheap compared to other premium carriers. But I’m not sure they fly to Australia any more.

Personally I’d rather go economy and spend the extra on something else. I don’t find the difference between economy and premium worth the extra cost. And I definitely wouldn’t fly business with China Eastern. I would pay extra for an aisle seat to be able to get up easily and move around.
I’ve flown economy to Australia a couple of times. It was fine really.

Oh and I’ve flown: Garuda Air when it existed. Usually 36 hours but super super cheap.

Qantas is ok - I’ve flown business and First class with them as well as Evonomy. But their cabin service is shite. The staff are quite demanding and chippy - I’ve had cabin staff in Economy be quite rude

premium Economy on Singapore is nice; ditto Cathay Pacific. Cathay Pacific Business is lovely with the added advantage of easy stop overs in Hong Kong which I love. They tend to be my preferred airline but my sister will only fly Emirates Business - she says their Business is better than most first class travel on other airlines!

Singapore Premium Economy is fine UNLESS they route you on a Scoot flight - it’s Singapore Airlines’ low cost Asia offshoot company. And they are terrible. Really awful - no seat back entertainment and the food is appalling. And that was Premium Economy.

Dinner used to codeshare with BA and Qantas and they were lovely- a low key Business class and cheap compared to other premium carriers. But I’m not sure they fly to Australia any more.

Would not touch china airlines with a barge pole

We go to Aus pretty much every year for Christmas, usually early to mid December to early January and go business class. It’s been worth it for us as we’re generally exhausted after a busy year and it’s a nice way to start our hols. I did look into first class but that was a bridge too far. Crazy money and I just couldn’t justify it. We only ever go with Emirates or Singapore Airlines.

I've flown economy to Australia a few times (couldn't afford anything else), it was absolutely fine, just take a good neck pillow.

This was Singapore and Quantas.

BC with china eastern is not going to be worth it imo, I think I’d rather pay for PE in bulkhead seats with Qantas/ Singapore airlines / emirates / cathay pacific

Thank you for correcting me. I had no idea SO many airlines had the work China in them! 😀

Yes, I meant China Airlines https://www.china-airlines.com/us/en

I have been tempted by business class seats before until I remind myself that kids are allowed in business class, even babies. Can you imagine having dropped over £3k to get a nice restful flight in business class and then being put next to a 2 year old. Unless the airline had a guaranteed adults-only section, I'd go premium economy and spend the difference on a nice hotel when I get there.

Depends on how much you like flying and whether that is value for money or not.

I only fly long haul business class as I am a very fearful flyer. I like to have the extra space and to lie down flat. I can relax better. I hate spending the money on it but I won’t fly otherwise.

if I was a happy flyer I’d go premium economy. You need to work out you own cost/benefit analysis.

If it is affordable then do it. I flew Singapore Airlines to Singapore, stayed a few nights and it was worth every penny. But Singapore to Perth was a waste of money as it was only a four hour flight.

I’ve always flown business class (from the UK) to Australia with either Qatar or BA but since Covid fares are easily double what they used to be Australia is off the table for me right now. But these days I’m a pampered middle-aged (and long legged) princess who is too used to travelling on business in the style which I’ve become all too accustomed to😊whereas when I was younger I wouldn’t have cared that I was in economy. These days my limit in economy is no more than 10 hours before I go completely insane. And I do sit and moan about how no-one has greeted me by name or brought me warm nuts and champagne before take-off. 😂You’ll recognise me on a flight if I’m in economy by the mutterings of “…but I don’t feel special AT ALL”. 🙄Even I feel like rolling my eyes at myself.

I used to live in Asia and would avoid all of the Chinese airlines for anything longer than a short hop. Also avoid connecting in China as military flights take priority so that can mean significant delays at times. Cathay and Singapore are good, as are Qatar and Emirates. BA is reasonable (less good if you don’t have Exec Club status). Air NZ used to be amazing (but I had top level status with them so that might have skewed my view) but I hear they’re gone a bit bonkers cost-cutting a la BA style. I’ve only flown Qantas domestically but really liked them and would be happy to give them a go internationally. Eva Air were very modern but the food was rubbish and the plane was icy cold even by Asian aircon standards.

From your options, I’d probably go economy with Qantas and break your journey with a stopover on the way there and back to give your legs and bum a break. Unless you want to go Premium Economy with Vietnam Airlines and have a few days break in Hanoi (which I love!). Vietnam were ‘functional’ when I flew with them last but that was quite a few years ago now.

ime the children in business aren’t the problem, it’s the odd super entitled adult that’s a pain. Generally the very young children will sleep for the duration of the flight. We used to wake my Dd up just before landing.

You’re talking about spending 2k on 24 hours.

It might make the first 2 or 3 days in Australia better, if you get more sleep in business class and you don’t adapt easily to a night without sleep (you’re going to be a bit messed up because of the jet lag anyway). If you have a disability or injury or something that an economy class seat will exacerbate, a business class seat might save you days or months of pain. In which case it’s a good investment.

But if you’re fairly young, no injuries and 2k will make a difference to your life, no, it’s not worth it.

Aussie in London here, who makes the trip yearly, with one of Qantas, Singapore or Emirates. We fly economy. When the kids were little we would do a day flight to Dubai, have a 14 hour stopover to sleep in the airport hotel for the night (you don’t leave the terminal or collect luggage or clear security, just go up in an elevator with your hand luggage and then back down and stroll to the gate in the morning). As PP have said, if you are worried about the long flight, that will cost you a few hundred rather than a few thousand and only delay you by half a day. Now the kids are older, our view is that being a little cramped for 24 hours isn’t a big deal. We work and watch movies.

That said, when my parents in their late 70s come to visit us, they fly business, partly paid for with points, as at their age having a flat bed and sleeping makes a real difference.

As all PP have said - do not fly a dodgy/rubbish airline. The downsides of that will outweigh the discomfort of being in a lower class with a decent airline.

In a decent business class cabin, you can get seats on their own (a lot have a 1:2:1 configuration).

The seats are also slightly staggered so you are not looking at the seat across the aisle.

Even in the middle seat, there is a divider between seats you can raise and lower depending on whether you are travelling with the person in the other middle seat.

I always fly business to Australia as I can’t sleep sitting up and don’t want to sit by a stranger for that length of time (travelling on my own) and I’ve never found children to be an issue.

No I’ve never found babies in Business class an issue. Men breaking wind is another matter though. But babies crying and children without headphones on iPads in Economy can be verrrry annoying.

Book a bulkhead seat. You'll get way more leg room and it won't cost you anything like as much money as PE or business. Book an overnight flight, get good noise cancelling headphones and an eye mask and consider taking a melatonin tablet to help you sleep away the hours! I slept a good 7hrs on the way back from vancouver in May, the woman next to me was amazed 🤣

How tall are you? If you can get enough leg room on a decent airline for a reasonable price then why pay more?

I’ve flown PE with Vietnam air and it’s worth every penny, just having the space to stretch out and be able to move your stuff around is worth it. Sleeping is far far better than economy. There’s nothing on this earth which would get me to fly to Australia economy

The other thing about business class is that you generally get extra hand luggage and extra hold luggage - always useful when flying to the other side of the world!