Qantas to Launch SYD-AKL-JFK (June 2023)

[justinbrett]

I've done AKL transit a few times through to SCL and it's been absolutely seamless, one of the better airports in the world to transit - and like PF said, the transit on QF3 was much better. I know quite a few people who fly NZ to USA from Australia and like the AKL transit.

Clearly with QF4 this is a NZ government issue with staffing/scheduling that I would hope is sorted out soon.

Talk of going via SIN is ridiculous - sure if you really want and like SQ it's an option, but the distance from SIN-JFK is almost the exact same as AKL-JFK, and obviously AKL is a lot closer than SIN.

 

[BNEFlyer]

I've done AKL transit a few times through to SCL and it's been absolutely seamless, one of the better airports in the world to transit - and like PF said, the transit on QF3 was much better. I know quite a few people who fly NZ to USA from Australia and like the AKL transit.

Clearly with QF4 this is a NZ government issue with staffing/scheduling that I would hope is sorted out soon.

Talk of going via SIN is ridiculous - sure if you really want and like SQ it's an option, but the distance from SIN-JFK is almost the exact same as AKL-JFK, and obviously AKL is a lot closer than SIN.

It's not ridiculous, it depends on preferences. I'd rather fly BNE-SIN/DOH/DXB-JFK than BNE-AKL-JFK.

 

[justinbrett]

It's not ridiculous, it depends on preferences. I'd rather fly BNE-SIN/DOH/DXB-JFK than BNE-AKL-JFK.

DOH/DXB adds 12 hours to the trip.

You're free to do it of course, and it is your preference, but I still think that's ridiculous.

 

[Kangol]

DOH/DXB adds 12 hours to the trip.

You're free to do it of course, and it is your preference, but I still think that's ridiculous.

Depending on what you're doing, eg working, giving a presentation etc, jet lag recovery is usually better if you go from East coast Australia to East Coast USA via HKG/HND or the Middle East. As opposed to LAX/DFW. I can imagine AKL would be similar.
By doing so, you save time by not allowing an extra day (or more) to adjust upon arrival.
YMMV

The most significant downside to SYD-AKL-JFK is no F

 

[jase05]

Much better off going to NY via SIN or HND/NRT or MNL or IAH/DFW etc. Or even LAX from the looks of AKL transit!

There is absolutely no way AKL even at its worst can be as bad as a MNL transit
I love Manila but a transit through MNL is the absolute pits

 

[justinbrett]

Depending on what you're doing, eg working, giving a presentation etc, jet lag recovery is usually better if you go from East coast Australia to East Coast USA via HKG/HND or the Middle East. As opposed to LAX/DFW. I can imagine AKL would be similar.
By doing so, you save time by not allowing an extra day (or more) to adjust upon arrival.
YMMV

The most significant downside to SYD-AKL-JFK is no F

I'm not sure it makes much difference, the times for HND/HKG are pretty similar to AKL - and it has to be said HND/HKG are much more reasonable than SIN/DOH (I never said HND was ridiculous).



Domestic connections are similar to above - and actually slightly quicker (though at risk of misconnecting)



Middle East however has similar arrival times but leaving the night before, so can't see how that's anything but much worse for jetlag (the dreaded +1s on flights to the US is a red flag for me). SIN has morning arrivals which I find much more difficult for jetlag (you're effectively leaving the same time as QF to DFW, but that option gets you into LGA around 10pm, the SQ option gets you in the following morning).

 

[Melburnian1]

There is absolutely no way AKL even at its worst can be as bad as a MNL transit
I love Manila but a transit through MNL is the absolute pits

Agree re the past, but given all PR international flights now arrive and depart from Terminal 1 at MNL NAIA (not shocking T2), it "may" be a bit better. Change occurred in June 2023 so haven't seen any reviews of how the transfer process occurs at the new location. I have never immediately transited in Philippines, always preferring to spend an overnight at an hotel instead.

You'd only have to endure that on the way to JFK, as the flight from MNL departs at 1900 hours, connecting with all PR flights from BNE/MEL/PER/SYD.

Returning to Oz, given the JFK-MNL flight arrives at 0635 local time and all-Oz bound flights depart at night, if PR won't provide an hotel, find one at say T3 (Belmont, Marriott, Hilton, Savoy plus others) or near Mall of Asia (Conrad, Wyndham and also many others apart from those along that major boulevard and the casino ones) and chill for the day.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Mattg's article was a good summary, but why is he still using inches when Australia's been metricated for 50 years?

There are cheaper alternatives to QFi between SYD and JFK, such as Philippine Airlines via MNL, while Singapore Airlines offers a popular alternative via SIN.

I guess because ‘inches’ is the industry standard?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm not sure it makes much difference, the times for HND/HKG are pretty similar to AKL - and it has to be said HND/HKG are much more reasonable than SIN/DOH (I never said HND was ridiculous).

View attachment 338863

Domestic connections are similar to above - and actually slightly quicker (though at risk of misconnecting)



Middle East however has similar arrival times but leaving the night before, so can't see how that's anything but much worse for jetlag (the dreaded +1s on flights to the US is a red flag for me). SIN has morning arrivals which I find much more difficult for jetlag (you're effectively leaving the same time as QF to DFW, but that option gets you into LGA around 10pm, the SQ option gets you in the following morning).

allegedly… the effects of jetlag should be less going westbound than eastbound.

I don’t like coming home from Europe, but don’t have a problem coming home from the US.

Of course, YMMV

 

[justinbrett]

allegedly… the effects of jetlag should be less going westbound than eastbound.

I don’t like coming home from Europe, but don’t have a problem coming home from the US.

Of course, YMMV

Well, when you're getting to the +/- 10s, that not that far off +/-14s so it all tends to blur

For me, more to do with being able to sleep at night time when I get off the plane. I generally don't sleep well (even in J unless I take a Stilnox) so arriving at night is the way to go for me. I find the 6am arrival into SYD pretty difficult.

 

[stm1sydney]

There is absolutely no way AKL even at its worst can be as bad as a MNL transit
I love Manila but a transit through MNL is the absolute pits

LOL, yeah fair enough, but otherwise PR is a decent airline at a decent price.

 

[I love to travel]

I wouldn't risk going out and trying to get back through immigration and border security in time to make the Auckland to Sydney leg - way too many potential delays

The transit in Auckland is not a great experience at all and just introduces delays - on the way over on QF3 we got through reasonably quickly but on the return QF4 we saw huge delays - fortunately and totally out of the blue we were escorted from the aircraft door to the lounge by a lovely Qantas ground staffer - who even asked what coffee my wife wanted and that was waiting for her by the time we got to the lounge. We jumped the line at the security checkpoint with her navigating us through - it was amazing service - no idea why we got selected for the VIP treatment - maybe I looked old and confused and she took pity on us?

Still no idea why that occurred as all I asked was what way to the lounge? We certainly enjoyed that experience - but clearly they can’t do that for everyone

Speaking of New York to Sydney next month we’re trying the Singapore Airlines Newark to Singapore to Sydney route on the “longest commercial flight” at just over 19 hours for the Newark leg so that will be interesting to see how Singapore Airlines handle the long flight - of course we’ll be wearing our special QF3/4 Qantas pyjamas given they don’t provide any!

Would love some feedback on the SQ flight as I too am considering it.

 

[Melburnian1]

This is how rusted-on long-suffering QF pax justify to themselves why they keep putting up with the rubbish product that QF delivers, by getting all excited about some cheap PJs. See above re shambles through AKL and all the other QF issues. Not to mention the super-expensive pricing. Much better off going to NY via SIN or HND/NRT or MNL or IAH/DFW etc. Or even LAX from the looks of AKL transit!

For interest, I did a search on ITA Matrix for forward journey SYD-JFK on Wednesday 7 February 2024, returning ex JFK exactly three weeks later on 28 Feb.

In J, cheapest was OZ at an amazing A$6476 return, then PR $7049, JL $7211, NH $7255 and SQ $9137 return. I've omitted AI and AY

AA was $13,737, DL $15,356, and (wait for it) QF $19,185. Only UA at $22,951 was more expensive.

NZ didn't feature as I restricted the search to a Wednesday: NZ flies SYD or other Australian airports-AKL-JFK on different days of the week.

Some of the less expensive carriers are competitive time wise (JL probably the standout in that regard) and others suitable for leisure travellers (PR for instance) with a pleasant stopover at the intermediate airport to break up the monotony of the journey.

Why would anyone paying for their own ticket choose QFi at almost three times the price of better, or very acceptable carriers? QFi is renowned for having poor service. It only offers a minimal time saving, yet charges far more than most.

More and more, one obtains the impression that a very sizeable percentage of QFi travellers in J have their tickets paid for by someone else (such as accumulating FF points through a company or a government agency/department) and sadly don't know the joys of using competitors where service, meals and onboard amenities are first class and the staff never, or extremely rarely, grump at passengers.

No wonder Mattg didn't feature a typical (eye watering) fare estimate!

 

[Princess Fiona]

For interest, I did a search on ITA Matrix for forward journey SYD-JFK on Wednesday 7 February 2024, returning ex JFK exactly three weeks later on 28 Feb.

In J, cheapest was OZ at an amazing A$6476 return, then PR $7049, JL $7211, NH $7255 and SQ $9137 return. I've omitted AI and AY

AA was $13,737, DL $15,356, and (wait for it) QF $19,185. Only UA at $22,951 was more expensive.

Some of the less expensive carriers are competitive time wise (JL probably the standout in that regard) and others suitable for leisure travellers (PR for instance) with a pleasant stopover at the intermediate airport to break up the monotony of the journey.

Why would anyone paying for their own ticket choose QFi at almost three times the price of better, or very acceptable carriers? QFi is renowned for having poor service. It only offers a minimal time saving, yet charges far more than most.

No wonder Mattg didn't feature a typical (eye watering) fare estimate!

You do realize that there are far less expensive ways of using QF3/4 and AA/UA etc than booking return fares directly with the carriers ?

These fares do not come up on ITA Matrix.
Eg LH RTW

 

[bodog]

Would love some feedback on the SQ flight as I too am considering it.

Will do - doing it at the end of September. Interestingly although my wife and I are confirmed on the flight in J only one seat was available to select - Singapore say no worries as some seats will be released for selection close to departure

But I think the message there is that flights out of NYC to Asia and Australia are flying at close to capacity hence pricing is up. The SQ flight is the one that only has PE and Business seats - no Economy on the flight at all

 

[Melburnian1]

You do realize that there are far less expensive ways of using QF3/4 and AA/UA etc than booking return fares directly with the carriers ?

These fares do not come up on ITA Matrix.
Eg LH RTW

Why don't you quote a return J fare for 7 Feb, returning 28 Feb using that method and let us know how many hours the complete journey is in each direction?

Unfortunately though, won't remove the poor service QFi offers (and the higher chance of poor punctuality or reliability) compared with rivals.

But your choice if you want to continue to patronise this mediocre airline that loves to trade on past glories.

 

[justinbrett]

For interest, I did a search on ITA Matrix for forward journey SYD-JFK on Wednesday 7 February 2024, returning ex JFK exactly three weeks later on 28 Feb.

In J, cheapest was OZ at an amazing A$6476 return, then PR $7049, JL $7211, NH $7255 and SQ $9137 return. I've omitted AI and AY

AA was $13,737, DL $15,356, and (wait for it) QF $19,185. Only UA at $22,951 was more expensive.

NZ didn't feature as I restricted the search to a Wednesday: NZ flies SYD or other Australian airports-AKL-JFK on different days of the week.

Some of the less expensive carriers are competitive time wise (JL probably the standout in that regard) and others suitable for leisure travellers (PR for instance) with a pleasant stopover at the intermediate airport to break up the monotony of the journey.

Why would anyone paying for their own ticket choose QFi at almost three times the price of better, or very acceptable carriers? QFi is renowned for having poor service. It only offers a minimal time saving, yet charges far more than most.

More and more, one obtains the impression that a very sizeable percentage of QFi travellers in J have their tickets paid for by someone else (such as accumulating FF points through a company or a government agency/department) and sadly don't know the joys of using competitors where service, meals and onboard amenities are first class and the staff never, or extremely rarely, grump at passengers.

No wonder Mattg didn't feature a typical (eye watering) fare estimate!

A bit of fake news there...



or via domestic connection:

 

[jase05]

A bit of fake news there...

View attachment 338943

or via domestic connection:
View attachment 338944

$15k is still pretty steep but I doubt too many people are actually paying anywhere near that and if they are it’s not out of their own pocket I’d imagine

 

[justinbrett]

$15k is still pretty steep but I doubt too many people are actually paying anywhere near that and if they are it’s not out of their own pocket I’d imagine

Well for the exact dates above, just book SYD-AKL on a separate booking, and then these will cost less than 7K:

 

[jase05]

Well for the exact dates above, just book SYD-AKL on a separate booking, and then these will cost less than 7K:

View attachment 338947

Gee, that’s a fair “Australia Tax”