Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Original poster

Flying from Oz to UK - do you have a preferred airline?

53 replies

Archduke · 09/05/2015 06:43

Hi there am booking flights from Oz to UK for a 2 wk trip in Sept/Oct with 2 kids.

Have previously flown Singapore or Malaysian air, but am thinking of Emirates this time.

Has anyone flown with Emirates? Are they ok? Worth the extra $300/ticket??

OP posts:
ifink · 09/05/2015 13:19

Check out the Emirates films and you'll see why....14 hours Oz to Dubai or sing to London is a lot of time to fill for children, they need lots of film options

Pagwatch · 09/05/2015 13:23

We flew Etihad and it was brilliant. That was business class thoug.

bunnygirl80 · 09/05/2015 13:30

Dh flies Oz to singapore for work sometimes, business class because work are paying. Last trip, on the way there his seat didn't work and he had to sit bolt upright the whole time. On the way back his entertainment system didn't work!! The flights were full and he couldn't move seats so he just had to suck it up! But generally Ive heard good things about them

bunnygirl80 · 09/05/2015 13:34

Be careful with your transfer times too. We normally aim for 2-3 hrs, but last trip we got delayed out of Heathrow by 3 hours and missed our flight to Sydney because it left due to curfew. Got to spend a night in Premier Inn Abu Dhabi and got accused of child stealing on the way back out, due to a mix up with passports where they didn't stamp DS in when we arrived. They soon backed down when I said they could keep him

themummyonthebus · 09/05/2015 13:42

Yes I am in the industry.

AFR is Air France.

UAE have a clear strategy to numb the pain of the economy class passenger with the IFE system. So it has the reputation for being the (or one of the) best in the world. But the general capacity of IFE systems is increasing year on year and I wouldn't expect SIA or MAS (Malaysian) to be obviously inferior, especially on a last generation aircraft.

I've flown business with children. It was fine, you just need to harden yourself against the dirty looks from other passengers. I guess it depends on the age of the children.

And yes, if you can stretch to it Premium Economy could be a good option. Only with SIA though, and not yet on the A380.

Weebirdie · 09/05/2015 13:49

*I would be hesitant about Etihad. There is a lot online if you dig around, about how poorly they treat their staff. They took out an injunction against a Pilot forum, so no one is allowed to mention the airline at all.

That would put me right off tbh.*

People in the industry are swarming to work with Eitihad, and there is quite a story about what was said on the forum you mentioned.

And I think you'd find a lot about every airline in the world if you dig around online, and not just because once locked in a cockpit there is nothing for the crew to do expect gossip and make up rumours. Grin

I quite like Etihad.

PastPerfect · 09/05/2015 13:59

I like both etihad and emirates. I try to avoid BA for long haul as the staff are just always so miserable.

I've only ever flown business on the A380 and the extra space is fab - I especially like that you can stow your handluggage next to your seat.

I've never found an issue flying with kids in business and staff are always extra helpful

ClaudiusMinimus · 09/05/2015 14:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NK5BM3 · 09/05/2015 14:07

Bunny girl which airline was that?

GrouchyKiwi · 09/05/2015 14:09

We usually fly AirNZ but last time we ended up code sharing with BA and Virgin so have decided it's not worth the extra cost to support.

We're flying with Etihad this time so I'm glad to read they're good!

JassyRadlett · 09/05/2015 14:09

Definitely Singapore. We do the trip one a year and only did the Dubai stop once. The flight legs were so uneven and Dubai airport is just grim with kids.

We now do a longer layover in Singapore - around 12 hours - and get a room at the airport hotel (airside in each terminal) so have a comfortable sleep, a swim, a walk/run around, visit to butterfly and cactus garden, quick trip to the playground, and the second leg is much more bearable. It's nearly eliminated jetlag, too, which was awful with a small kid.

MyFriendsCallMeOh · 09/05/2015 14:12

Where are you flying to in Oz? Apparently Eva Air (Taiwanese carrier) has amazing flights, excellent service and is very reasonable. They are opening up lots of new routes but currently fly via Taipei from Heathrow to Brisbane only in Oz....

Thai is also very good....

NickiFury · 09/05/2015 14:15

themummyonthebus you may well be my new favourite MN poster Wink I love all things airlines and aircraft (not that I know much about them) and spend many happy hours sighing over the Flight Radar app Smile.

Can you tell me about Norwegian Air? In general, and specifically the 787-8 Dreamliners? I'm flying back from Orlando with them and a bit nervous about it, mixed reviews but great price. I am aware it's a budget airline but I once few with AA to New York and they can't he any worse than that!...........can they?

YorkieButtonsizeMen · 09/05/2015 14:27

Ah Weebirdie...thanks for setting me straight. All I could fathom was that there was an injunction, I have no idea what happened to precede this so I apologise if I have given anyone a misleading impression.

I'd love to know what was behind it - tbh the very fact of it looking reminiscent of the Gina Ford debacle, to an outsider, was enough to make me go Hmm but you can never judge without knowing the facts.

Not that I'll ever know them given no one's allowed to talk about it Grin

themummyonthebus · 09/05/2015 14:31

Oh Nicki don't encourage me Grin

NAX... Well, I know their short haul ops better, but they have done innovative IFE and connectivity solutions so on that side of things you should be OK.

787 economy comfort is dire (seat width is pretty tight), but that's aircraft related, although I'm guessing NAX pitch (distance between seats) is not going to be that high. You can probably find the specifics on line, but anything under 31ish inches is going to feel a bit squeezed.

The other thing I've heard about their 787 ops is that they have terrible reliability because NAX took some of the early production aircraft that Boeing were selling cheap because they are far too heavy and don't meet their performance guarantees. But those are just industry rumours and nothing to do with aircraft safety itself. I'm sure your flight will be on time and as comfortable as you can expect for the price you paid for your ticket Wink

themummyonthebus · 09/05/2015 14:40

Weebirdie that's a great article! I meant to say in my previous post that their premium economy looked like a good deal based on the product offer.

And I've had the privilege of meeting Björn Kjos and he is indeed very charming.

NickiFury · 09/05/2015 14:53

Hmm, thing is we are cruising over so it seemed sensible to budget on a one way flight back. My children have ASD so we never eat on the plane, they can't bear the sight or smell of it, also will only drink water from their own cups or Evian Hmm, so we wouldn't need drinks, also it's a night flight so we will be asleep for most of it. Oh well we will see. Reviews and their website say the planes are brand new. Can't say I am not a little worried now though.

themummyonthebus · 09/05/2015 14:58

Nicki, is it my post that's made you worry? The aircraft are brand new, there's nothing to worry about. If you haven't, read weebirdie's. It's a great article that captures the flavour os Norwegian very well Smile

themummyonthebus · 09/05/2015 14:58

And you'll be asleep most of the time so even if it's not perfect you won't notice!

NickiFury · 09/05/2015 15:06

Sorry weebirdie was just posting to say thanks for linking that article Smile.

I think reviews are more positive than negative aren't they? Sure it will all be fine Wink

Weebirdie · 09/05/2015 16:17

You're welcome Nicki.

Which cruise company are you going to the states with? I bet the kids will love it. My son is on the spectrum and until about 2 years ago when his mental health deteriorated we used to have some fabulous holidays all over the globe. Anything steam train related and come June we'd be off.

I love cruising and im away on MSC Divina next month round the med but I previously did the Caribbean from Miami with them. Then in September Im off to Alaska with Norwegian.

I hate leaving my son behind but ..........Sad

NickiFury · 09/05/2015 16:44

We are going with Disney to Miami. We have been on one before and they're just great. Basically as much Disney as you want or don't want, it's not in your face and the kids club were just amazing with my two with ASC.

Sorry to hear about your ds, I hope that things improve for him and you you. I had to take my ds out of school and now home educate as we were losing him entirely. Was a very bad time. We too love the steam trains and spend a lot of time travelling to the heritage lines.

Jealous of you going to Alaska, that's one I have been looking at but again with Disney as it's just so great for my kids.

Weebirdie · 09/05/2015 17:00

Nicki, we have met at the heritage lines. Its how we used to spend our summers and I'll never the first time we saw Thomas in Llangollen. We walked over the bridge into town the evening before the actual day and there he was in the station. I burst into tears and if I live to be a 100 I'll never be able to explain the reaction of my son who was a big boy at the time. He's 24 now and I also did home ed but sadly he know has additional mental health issues in the form of Paranoia and Delusions that have had to be medicated. He also has Tourette's and his life is sadly very different to the one we had planned for him.

The Disney Cruise sounds great and Im going on one round the Med with all of my grandchildren next august, just me and them and one of my daughters, but now you've mentioned a transatlantic one Im going to have a look. I love Disney and have been to Orlando with my brother and his wife twice - no children, just 3 middle aged people doing disney for 2 weeks at a time. Grin

As for Alaska - Im very excited.

Weebirdie · 09/05/2015 17:07

sorry, that should be Im surprised we havent met at the heritage lines