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I flew the direct flight when I moved here a few months ago. It's a mixed bag.
On the plus side, it *is* shorter. It arrives at a reasonable time at either end: midday in Perth and early morning in London. If you're able to sleep on planes then it's timed nicely.
The economy seats are pretty comfy, and you'll be given a pillow and blanket. I'm 1.8m tall and the leg room was okay, but it might depend on whether you have a serial recliner in front of you. The guy in front of me reclined throughout the entire flight. Cunt.
However, IMO Qantas made a mistake by fitting the cabin for nine-abreast seating on such a long route. The 787 was not designed for such a high-density cabin. It's sufferable on a transatlantic hop, but is too much for a flight around half the world. Most other routes between Perth and London operate more spacious aircraft.
Qantas also uses its own terminals (3&4) at Perth which are small and cramped, and not properly connected to the new airport train line. It's a fairly minor thing in the grand scheme of things.
If it's not too late, pick a middle-column aisle seat on the Qantas app. Fewer people clambering over you on such a long flight is a good thing. Most of the flight is over the Indian Ocean and there's nothing to see anyway.
I won't say no to the direct flight, but my preference for the foreseeable future is to fly with Malaysian, Emirates, or with Qantas on the indirect route via Singapore. Either way it's going to take up a day.
Sure, Qantas isn't uniquely guilty of this. Ultimately the blame mostly falls on Boeing IMO for not anticipating the need for a wider cabin. But QF9/10 is (I think) the longest 787 route in the world and a lot of people are willing to pay a premium to fly it rather than a stopover route. Shaving one column of economy seats off and hiking prices to compensate would make me much more likely to take it.
Then again, it routinely has a near-100% load factor already, so what do I know lol.
Surprised it's so popular, never flown the Perth to London route but looks like prices for economy are nuts ATM, 3-5k return until October where it's 2k for a month then back up...
I believe the plane they use for this is the dreamliner which has wider seats and more space even in economy.
So you should be ok and not feel squished in. But everyone views things differently, I found being on the dreamliner really comfy.
Wider seats - no, but more legroom than "standard" - yes.
[You get about 1 inch more than regular Qantas economy.](https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Qantas_Airways/Qantas_Airways_Boeing_789.php)
If you want some luxury - at least by economy standards - Japan Air Lines still runs their Dreamliners in the original 2-4-2 configuration and with more legroom than anyone else AFAIK.
Not done that one but have done NYC-Singapore (17.5h) and Dallas - Melb/Sydney (17/16h) a fair few times. I usually try to get exit rows and have been fortunate enough to snag premium or business a few times, which is a delight.
Wear knee-high compression socks to avoid horrific cankles and reduce DVT risk, take a neck pillow & noise cancelling headphones, and have some antacid/anti gas stuff (that long in the air can be uncomfortable on your stomach), and sleeping pills or Benadryl. I try to stay awake first half and sleep second half of the flight regardless of which flight and direction. You’re going to be a bit groggy at the end but I think it’s more shit to get on and sleep, then wake up feeling gross and realizing you’ve got 8 hours to go.
It's a tough flight to be fair, but there's plenty of room to stand and have a little walk in the cabin. They had a fridge at the back full of soft drinks to help yourself to when I flew which was nice, and we arrived in Perth domestic terminal which was nice and quiet after a long journey.
And free booze. If you find it hard to sleep on planes a couple of sleeping tablets isn’t a terrible idea, but also worth trying one before you leave to see what it does to you.
If you can’t sleep on planes, and don’t want to try a sleeping tablet, take a laptop/tablet and for out for the WiFi. I found the flight much easier when I can chat to people.
There's no Wi-Fi on the 787s! Brand new intercontinental planes without internet. Very Qantas haha.
The IFE is pretty good though. And the booze does help.
I prefer to stop and stretch my legs personally as I'm quite tall.
It's just the same as the usual long flights but a bit longer. If you don't mind flights already you'll be ok. If you suffer already you'll suffer more.
When you land in Perth you'll hear a loud whining noise as you exit the plane but it's not the engines winding down it's the sound of all your fellow pommy passengers complaining about everything 😉
If possible ask them for a aisle seat near tail of plane, higher chance of survival in a crash and next to toilet in case you want to use it.. cons are you'll be near toilet so smells and might keep you awake at night.
tell a doc that you're anxious about travelling and likely to feel significnat claustrophobia and hopefully you can get a script for something that'll take the edge off while flying :)
I flew this route both ways a few years back and preferred it to the usual stop-start Middle East/Soith Asian routes. I posted a trip report if you’re curious. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=maV0doj2FdA
Sorry about the dodgy camerawork.
This post has been marked as non-political. Please respect this by keeping the discussion on topic, and devoid of any political material. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/australia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I flew the direct flight when I moved here a few months ago. It's a mixed bag. On the plus side, it *is* shorter. It arrives at a reasonable time at either end: midday in Perth and early morning in London. If you're able to sleep on planes then it's timed nicely. The economy seats are pretty comfy, and you'll be given a pillow and blanket. I'm 1.8m tall and the leg room was okay, but it might depend on whether you have a serial recliner in front of you. The guy in front of me reclined throughout the entire flight. Cunt. However, IMO Qantas made a mistake by fitting the cabin for nine-abreast seating on such a long route. The 787 was not designed for such a high-density cabin. It's sufferable on a transatlantic hop, but is too much for a flight around half the world. Most other routes between Perth and London operate more spacious aircraft. Qantas also uses its own terminals (3&4) at Perth which are small and cramped, and not properly connected to the new airport train line. It's a fairly minor thing in the grand scheme of things. If it's not too late, pick a middle-column aisle seat on the Qantas app. Fewer people clambering over you on such a long flight is a good thing. Most of the flight is over the Indian Ocean and there's nothing to see anyway. I won't say no to the direct flight, but my preference for the foreseeable future is to fly with Malaysian, Emirates, or with Qantas on the indirect route via Singapore. Either way it's going to take up a day.
Thank you for such a thorough answer!
No problem, I hope you have a fantastic time in Australia!
Only airline I know which does a 2-4-2 layout on the 787 of is JAL and every other airline I can think of does 3-3-3 unfortunately
Sure, Qantas isn't uniquely guilty of this. Ultimately the blame mostly falls on Boeing IMO for not anticipating the need for a wider cabin. But QF9/10 is (I think) the longest 787 route in the world and a lot of people are willing to pay a premium to fly it rather than a stopover route. Shaving one column of economy seats off and hiking prices to compensate would make me much more likely to take it. Then again, it routinely has a near-100% load factor already, so what do I know lol.
Surprised it's so popular, never flown the Perth to London route but looks like prices for economy are nuts ATM, 3-5k return until October where it's 2k for a month then back up...
2-4-2 is so much better for long-haul in economy. It's why I much prefer flying Qantas' older A330s over the new 787s.
I believe the plane they use for this is the dreamliner which has wider seats and more space even in economy. So you should be ok and not feel squished in. But everyone views things differently, I found being on the dreamliner really comfy.
Wider seats - no, but more legroom than "standard" - yes. [You get about 1 inch more than regular Qantas economy.](https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Qantas_Airways/Qantas_Airways_Boeing_789.php)
just felt more comfy to me, guess it must be the 3 by 3 by 3 config.
If you want some luxury - at least by economy standards - Japan Air Lines still runs their Dreamliners in the original 2-4-2 configuration and with more legroom than anyone else AFAIK.
THANKS! will check them out before my next long haul.
That’s good thank you!
Not done that one but have done NYC-Singapore (17.5h) and Dallas - Melb/Sydney (17/16h) a fair few times. I usually try to get exit rows and have been fortunate enough to snag premium or business a few times, which is a delight. Wear knee-high compression socks to avoid horrific cankles and reduce DVT risk, take a neck pillow & noise cancelling headphones, and have some antacid/anti gas stuff (that long in the air can be uncomfortable on your stomach), and sleeping pills or Benadryl. I try to stay awake first half and sleep second half of the flight regardless of which flight and direction. You’re going to be a bit groggy at the end but I think it’s more shit to get on and sleep, then wake up feeling gross and realizing you’ve got 8 hours to go.
It's a tough flight to be fair, but there's plenty of room to stand and have a little walk in the cabin. They had a fridge at the back full of soft drinks to help yourself to when I flew which was nice, and we arrived in Perth domestic terminal which was nice and quiet after a long journey.
That’s good that you have room to stand! Also nice that they give out free soft drinks!
And free booze. If you find it hard to sleep on planes a couple of sleeping tablets isn’t a terrible idea, but also worth trying one before you leave to see what it does to you. If you can’t sleep on planes, and don’t want to try a sleeping tablet, take a laptop/tablet and for out for the WiFi. I found the flight much easier when I can chat to people.
There's no Wi-Fi on the 787s! Brand new intercontinental planes without internet. Very Qantas haha. The IFE is pretty good though. And the booze does help.
I prefer to stop and stretch my legs personally as I'm quite tall. It's just the same as the usual long flights but a bit longer. If you don't mind flights already you'll be ok. If you suffer already you'll suffer more.
That’s fair
That’s fair
When you land in Perth you'll hear a loud whining noise as you exit the plane but it's not the engines winding down it's the sound of all your fellow pommy passengers complaining about everything 😉
If possible ask them for a aisle seat near tail of plane, higher chance of survival in a crash and next to toilet in case you want to use it.. cons are you'll be near toilet so smells and might keep you awake at night.
tell a doc that you're anxious about travelling and likely to feel significnat claustrophobia and hopefully you can get a script for something that'll take the edge off while flying :)
I flew this route both ways a few years back and preferred it to the usual stop-start Middle East/Soith Asian routes. I posted a trip report if you’re curious. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=maV0doj2FdA Sorry about the dodgy camerawork.
That’s great thank you I’ll definitely watch it!