Flying to Australia

Flying to Australia from the US is not a pleasant experience. It takes a long time. For me, it was a five-hour flight from Atlanta to San Francisco, then a fourteen-hour flight from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand, then another five-hour flight from Auckland to Adelaide, South Australia. Including the layovers, the trip took over thirty hours. It will be the same on the way back, but of course, I'll be a lot happier when I reach my destination then.

It's expensive, too. My business-class round-trip ticket was $15,000.

Lucky for me, I flew Air New Zealand. This is very nice, because their Business Premier-class travel is about as good as you can get without buying your own personal aircraft. I was expecting a typical business-class seat, which gives you a few extra inches of legroom, but Air New Zealand gives each business-class passenger a very comfortable recliner, an ottoman, and in-flight entertainment system. With the push of a button, the seat folds down forward and joins the ottoman to form a bed, so it's actually possible to get some restful sleep.

My colleagues who flew United were very jealous.

© 2003-2023 Kristopher Johnson