1st Time International Flyer

[Franky]

For your train travel in Europe, make friends with the Man in Seat 61: The Man in Seat Sixty-One - the train travel guide....

Don't consider a Eurail pass until you've looked at the options.

Couldn't agree more. Have a good read of the first page, and go from there.

 

[Skyring]

3. YES they take 2 crews. Believe it or not, they have sleeping/rest areas for crew aboard long haul flights.

I was aboard a Qantas 744 somewhere in the middle of a very long flight. At the back of the bus, waiting in line for the facilities, a flight attendant brushed past, opened a door and entered a tiny space with a ladder.

"Wow, stairway to heaven," I murmured, but she didn't smile.

For the rest of the flight I listened intently to the ceiling, hoping to hear sounds of relaxation, gentle voices, clinking of glasses, sighs of rapture…

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Skyring:

"At altitude in the cruise. it's not quite sleepytime on the flight deck, but nothing much is happening except that fuel and champagne are being consumed at steady rates."

LOL. I think I'd rephrase that, particularly the last part - I'm not too sure much champagne is being consumed on the flight deck!\

I thought you were going to say rephrase it because 'at altitude in cruise it is sleepytime'!!: 'More than half' of pilots have slept while flying - BBC News

29% of pilots report waking up to find the other pilot already asleep.

 

[Deleted member]

I thought you were going to say rephrase it because 'at altitude in cruise it is sleepytime'!!: 'More than half' of pilots have slept while flying - BBC News

29% of pilots report waking up to find the other pilot already asleep.

This information must be filling the OP with confidence

 

[WAR]

Look at flying CX SYD-HK with stopover or day visit (24mins on the Airport Express train to Central) then into Rome. This route has shorter flights than direct into London. You could then do the train journey to London. This would work well with a OneWorld Explorer ticket. QF do a couple A380 flights a week SYD-HK which could be done with the Explorer ticket.
CX are very good, although they don't offer mattress pads so the seats are a bit hard, although I've started asking for a spare duna to use as one!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

CX are very good, although they don't offer mattress pads so the seats are a bit hard, although I've started asking for a spare duna to use as one!

Yeah, but the Qantas A80 and 747 seats droop, so what's the point? Using the doona as a mattress works well on CX. Even a light blanket from economy is usually enough to keep warm (if they don't have any spare doonas).

 

[opusman]

"Wow, stairway to heaven," I murmured, but she didn't smile.

You have to be in at least J for them to smile at your jokes I'm afraid.

 

[Skyring]

You have to be in at least J for them to smile at your jokes I'm afraid.

What, my jokes in particular?

 

[RAM]

Train travel in Europe is dirt cheap compared with Australia.

As with any worthwhile decision in life - do plenty of research before you push the button!

In Germany for example the DBahn has regular sales with fares to/from Germany to other countries as low as 19 Euros with the trains (for the bulk of the journey) be the 180+km/hour rockets for example.

Eurail passes can be good for some but it really does depend. For our family, they would have been a waste of money. For others they're great and people use them as a free 'hotel' - taking an over night trip so they don't pay for a hotel.

As for business class on the airlines - Singapore Airlines, Etihad both will earn you Velocity Frequent Flyer points, while the Oneworld airlines will earn you Qantas points. So perhaps its time to join Velocity frequent Flyer (if you have not already). Many AFFers have multiple frequent flyer accounts across airlines - gives you a wider choice and often better seat availability when looking to redeem some of your points for flights.

For example First or Business class to Europe on Singapore Airlines can be purchased by transferring Velocity FF points to your soon-to-exist Singapore Airlines program account (called KrisFlyer).

So many options and so much fun gaming them!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

In Germany for example the DBahn has regular sales with fares to/from Germany to other countries as low as 19 Euros with the trains (for the bulk of the journey) be the 180+km/hour rockets for example.

And first class can be equally good value... my folks paid something like 60 euro 1st class from Berlin to Amsterdam.

 

[Franky]

And first class can be equally good value... my folks paid something like 60 euro 1st class from Berlin to Amsterdam.

I'd second that, makes things much easier as far as luggage is concerned as well.