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.

It’s better value if it’s a direct flight

I also agree a stop over to save you having to sit for so long.

I don’t know anything about that particular airline, but in my experience of flying to Australia, business class is definitely not a waste. This is especially true if you are tall (I’m 5ft 8) and/or not going for very long.

If you are only going for, say, 2 weeks you don’t want to spend the first few days in a fog of tiredness and jet lag. In business class you can choose when you want to sleep, undisturbed by any other passengers.

My flights were actually pleasant experiences (minor point but the food was great) and I swore I’d never do long flights in economy class again. But only you know whether you can afford it.

Do the PE with Vietnam....

How much to sail there?

We flew with Emirates. Change planes in Dubai -Glasgow Dubai Brisbane BC - great flight

Agree.

I’ve not been to Australia but have flown to the Far East a few times. We did business class with Emirates and then with Etihad a few years ago. We then went back to economy with Emirates as prices had jumped up so much. We were so much more tired when we arrived and we will not travel that far again unless we go business class .
Having said that we are both in our sixties and I would have viewed it very differently in my twenties or thirties when economy would have been fine.
Another option is to fly business on the way there and economy on the way home

I flew economy to Australia in my young, backpacking days. It was fine then. Now it would destroy me. I’d pay for BC. Mind you, I am in no rush to go back as I was really underwhelmed by Australia!

We travel to Australia every other year & fly business. We’ve done Singapore airlines & Qatar, both wonderful but have jumped in price quite significantly. We flew Turkish airlines business class to Asia earlier this year & were impressed enough to book with them for our next trip to Australia. They code share with SIA so our SIN-MEL leg is on Singapore, so might be worth a look for the op depending on their departure airport.

This. I’d be in such pain with my back in economy there wouldn’t be any point in going.

Seems lots of people are slating China Eastern before even trying them!

OP I had a fantastic Business class flight to Australia with China Eastern about 6 years ago. Food lovely, cabins with full flat bed and great service.

I am currently abroad. The flight to here was 14 hours and overnight. I paid for Premium Economy on British Airways. However, economy was overbooked by 8 people so some of us got bumped up a class for free, including me!!!! So I went Business. My seat was in a cubicle and transformed into a bed. It was wonderful! For the first time ever, I actually had quite a decent sleep on a plane and didn't arrive exhausted. The food was fun but nothing to write home about but the space was amazing,

If you can afford it, I would highly recommend it. I had a brief look on the BA website and a Business ticket for this destination is usually about £600 more than Premium each way. I personally could not afford that. The only thing I would add is that when I checked in, BA offered me an upgrade for £424. If that happens again, I would be tempted, especially if going to my holiday, not so much for going home.

If I was ever going to upgrade, it would be for that long journey. I have travelled business class, paid for via ex’s work (twice) and it really was a lovely experience. I think for long trips like this, and special occasions, why not!

“Premium Economy can be a good middle ground for long flights, but it’s still hard to get proper rest. I like planning a relaxing stopover or recovery spot after landing — for example, backyard kuwait at Argan Albida’a Resort is great for unwinding after travel. Any tips on making Premium Economy more comfortable?”

This! Would not go China Air for sure

This review of CE business class is useful. Good hard product but sounds like service and food is pretty grim and a cabin full of cigarette smoke for 13 hours while the pilots chain smoked!!

If you want business for a better seat and don’t care about food/service/entertainment or being smoked out it could be for you and is a decent price.

https://onemileatatime.com/review-china-eastern-business-class-777/

I haven’t flown with China Eastern but loping at those pictures the pods look the same as BA pods.

What do people have against them?

Having flown with Air China as said upthread I would definitely use them again.

My son flew China eastern and said the entertainment was mainly Chinese and the Chinese were very rude to them during the layover. That said he saved a lot by using them and would do it again. He’s a student though. He said basically they’re China’s Ryan air. Etihad were poor last time we used them but extra leg rooms seats are a bargain with them.

Premium economy is an absolute must for me on long haul overnight flights nowadays. I still fo economy for long haul day flights but PE is miles better than economy for a night flight .

Business class maybe not and certainly not with that airline

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Def not a waste of you can afford it. The idea of flying economy that distance fills me with horror

I happily pay for business class. But, I have a dodgy knee and even premium economy means it I'm sitting with a bended knee which would mean at least one day off pain and issues on arrival.

Also, I just can't sleep in planes. Regardless which class I fly. I need at least the option to stretch out properly and rest. We are flying next year to Asia and have a guided a tour, so if I'm not rested, I'm wasting 1-2 days. That's more expensive than the fairly expensive tickets we are investigating at the moment.

In idea world I would fly premium economy, have a two day stopover and then have another leg. Unfortunately, I'm still working and have limited annual leave so I have to make the best of the time I have off and that means paying for business class.

When I was younger, I used to fly economy several times a year to Australia and it was manageable. Now I'm a lot older, if I was going again, I'd get a direct flight PE to Asia, have an overnight stay then a daytime economy to Australia as it's 7/8 hours. Much though I would love to go business, I'd rather spend the additional money when I was there than on a flight. Never flown with them but have a look at EVA air which is Taiwan, they get good reviews

I recently flew long haul to Thailand in economy with BA and I was stunned at how little room we had. Elbow to elbow with each other and very little leg room. I’m sure I’ve had more room on a flight to Spain!

if we ever go again I’d go premium or business.