Your Favourite Airline to USA

[OzCath]

Hi All. Looking at booking our trip for next March. Delta has a great fare at the moment for our dates. Has anyone flown with them? I've always been a bit of a Qantas snob, but can't really justify the huge difference in price. I know a lot have also flown with V. Have heard both good and bad reviews. Give me your opinions. Also flying with a 2 year old and 5 year old.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Hi All. Looking at booking our trip for next March. Delta has a great fare at the moment for our dates. Has anyone flown with them? I've always been a bit of a Qantas snob, but can't really justify the huge difference in price. I know a lot have also flown with V. Have heard both good and bad reviews. Give me your opinions. Also flying with a 2 year old and 5 year old.

Hi OzCath, we flew with Delta last September and they were great. We also did some domestic flights with them. All of the planes left on time, were clean and the staff were helpful. The food was nice too.

We are flying with them to the US again next month.

They have an amazing safety record too, much better than Qantas.

 

[aussiegirls]

I fly V. It would take something pretty major to get me to fly anyone else now. I paid extra to fly V this time around, and it doesn't bother me at all. I would rather pay extra to go with who I like

xxx

 

[aussietravellers]

We are flying Qantas on our upcoming trip and they are the airline we usually fly with. We have flown with them a majority of the time as we are frequent flyers with them, also for this trip we had a $900 Qantas travel voucher to put towards flights that we received from an earlier flight to Europe and there was a minor problem so we got a $900 voucher from Qantas They told us of the problem at checkin for the flight and we were offered the voucher or to fly another day. So for this upcoming trip there was a buy one get one free so we took that and used our voucher.


But in December we flew with VAustralia. We absolutely loved it. The staff were so nice, the seats were comfortable, the food was good. The only problem for us was on the way home in premium economy they serve peanuts and with a severe airbourne peanut allergy they were thinking of not letting us fly and this was all being decided when we were on the plane, in our seats and held the plane up for half an hour whilst the head cabin crew guy and the captain decided wether we could go or not (why they didn't think about all of this before as the allergy was noted in the booking I will never know ) After they decided not to serve the peanuts and just all of the other snacks (chips, biscuits etc) was the best solution and off we went.

So due to this drama, we may not fly with them again. Although they were great aside from that hickup, but it's a bit of a concern if we can be on the plane and they will remove us due to an allergy and then we are stuck in another country and have to find another airline to fly home with. So flying Qantas is easier for us, they don't serve peanuts so it has never been an issue with them.

In the US we like to fly AA.

 

[DizOz]

I am also a confessed Qantas snob, mainly due to Qantas Club access. So in the states I tend to fly AA as well again for the lounge access.

Due to the airlines all having different hubs sometimes getting a direct flight is impossible. That is always my first choice no matter the airline. For example a few months ago I had to go to LA and Sacramento. AA did not have any direct flights in fact had to go on 3 flights to get there compared to a 50 minute direct flight with United's feeder service United Express.

I have found the reliability of the US airlines for puntuality has really improved over the years whilst the onboard service has declined (as a result of cost reductions). Whilst I tend to stick with AA I have also flown United, continental and Southwest and all were OK.

I would suggest using the one that best suites your timetable and offers direct services when deciding.

 

[DizOz]

Hi OzCath, we flew with Delta last September and they were great. We also did some domestic flights with them. All of the planes left on time, were clean and the staff were helpful. The food was nice too.

We are flying with them to the US again next month.

They have an amazing safety record too, much better than Qantas.

Ms Shuttergirl,

Just curious as I always thought Qantas had the best safety record in the world for years in operation, distance travelled compared to fatalities or injuries from accidents? Or was "Rain Man" lying to me???

 

[shan08]

Anyone flown to the US with Air New Zealand? They were our cheapest option at time of booking, with the must do stop over in Hawaii for 5nights on the way home. We are from Adelaide, so flying with most of the big airlines we would of had to do an overnight stopover in Sydney on way home, By then we would all be over it!! Most of our domestic whilst in the states are with Delta, so hope all goes well.

 

[1rocky]

I am flying Hawaiian airlines in Jan. Has anyone flown with them thanks
I have flown with Qantas and the huge problems we had before flying it was like a comedy of errors All up resulting in an 8 hour delay.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Ms Shuttergirl,

Just curious as I always thought Qantas had the best safety record in the world for years in operation, distance travelled compared to fatalities or injuries from accidents? Or was "Rain Man" lying to me???

Hahaha, Rainman wasn't lying to you, but it was a few "air incidents" ago . Qantas is still one of the safest airlines, however in the last year or two there have been a few maintenance/safety issues that I believe have made them drop a few places from no. 1. I believe Delta ranks higher for safety on an "amount of flights" per incident ratio.

Sorry if I mislead you. I was typing my reply quickly before running out the door.

 

[ehsmum]

Hi OzCath, we flew with Delta last September and they were great. We also did some domestic flights with them. All of the planes left on time, were clean and the staff were helpful. The food was nice too.

We are flying with them to the US again next month.

They have an amazing safety record too, much better than Qantas.

What did I miss? Last I heard you were planning for Christmas 2011, and now you're going next month?? Details please!

 

[Kiwianna]

Anyone flown to the US with Air New Zealand? They were our cheapest option at time of booking, with the must do stop over in Hawaii for 5nights on the way home. We are from Adelaide, so flying with most of the big airlines we would of had to do an overnight stopover in Sydney on way home, By then we would all be over it!! Most of our domestic whilst in the states are with Delta, so hope all goes well.

Are you travelling via Auckland or does Air NZ codeshare with a flight direct from Adelaide to Hawaii?

 

[darren123]

Have flown with Qantas, Air New Zealand , Air Pacific and VAustralia.
VAustralia is our favourite for value and service.

 

[shan08]

Are you travelling via Auckland or does Air NZ codeshare with a flight direct from Adelaide to Hawaii?

Kiwianna - yes we are going via Auckland, 1 and half hour stop over then onto San Fran. On the way home, depart LA, 5nights in Hawaii, then via Auckland again for a couple of hours then home. What are your thoughts on the Airline. Is the inflight ent ok?? Have to sons 14 & 11.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

What did I miss? Last I heard you were planning for Christmas 2011, and now you're going next month?? Details please!

You've missed heaps luv. More details here"- http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2406582&page=6

But the gist is we leave 52 sleeps for 2 1/2 weeks in the US. YAY.

But now miss, where is your little trip report and all the pictures you promised???

 

[Kiwianna]

Kiwianna - yes we are going via Auckland, 1 and half hour stop over then onto San Fran. On the way home, depart LA, 5nights in Hawaii, then via Auckland again for a couple of hours then home. What are your thoughts on the Airline. Is the inflight ent ok?? Have to sons 14 & 11.

I think you will be on a United Airline flight between L.A. and Honolulu and I have no idea what entertainment options you will have, but your Air NZ flights should all have personal screens. You will be on several different types of aircraft, so you could have a look at the Air NZ website.
If you click on the tab "Travelling" then choose International Travel from the
drop-down box, the list on the left-hand side includes Inflight Entertainment.
Although the listings may not be the same as when you are travelling it might give you some idea of what they offer.
Whenever I have travelled on Air NZ I have had no problems but I am always happy when any flight is over, regardless of the airline.

 

[OzCath]

Kiwianna - yes we are going via Auckland, 1 and half hour stop over then onto San Fran. On the way home, depart LA, 5nights in Hawaii, then via Auckland again for a couple of hours then home. What are your thoughts on the Airline. Is the inflight ent ok?? Have to sons 14 & 11.

Shan08, have heard many positive reviews of Air NZ. Can I ask what you paid for your airfare? I am also from Adelaide and wanted to do the Hawaii stopover on the way home but found it was so expensive. With Qantas it added an extra $1,000 to the airfare. I thought that was pretty crazy.

 

[Oz-kateer]

Take care on Air NZ with their baggage allowances. They are very restricted.

Any savings you may be able to make may be eaten by excess baggage fees.

I have flown Air NZ, United, Qantas, Air Pacific and and Delta to the US (and Continental and Northwest.... though they no longer fly....have done them all pretty much except V Australia). Was generally a Qantas snob.

I flew Delta last year to try them out and they were great, so good in fact we're using them again next month.

Only reason we didn't give V Australia a shot was the crummy schedule getting you into Orlando at the crack of dawn. They were a little cheaper than Delta, but I'd have had to book an extra night's accomodation on our WDW package if we wanted to check in to the hotel at 6am, which sort of evened out the saving.

 

[shan08]

Shan08, have heard many positive reviews of Air NZ. Can I ask what you paid for your airfare? I am also from Adelaide and wanted to do the Hawaii stopover on the way home but found it was so expensive. With Qantas it added an extra $1,000 to the airfare. I thought that was pretty crazy.

OzCath, It was a pain in the bum getting quotes for the stopover in Hawaii, but was something we really wanted. Our Air New Zealand fare comprised of Adelaide to San Fran with 3 night stopover, then onto New York. On the way home we depart from LA then to Hawaii for 5 night stopover then home, ( via Auckland of course). $2567 per adult, $1963 for child. We have Delta flights from NY/Buffalo/Orlando/Vegas for $319 pp. All up we paid $12,000 including all taxes. We probably could of got it a bit cheaper with a cheap fare in and out of LA, and a return to Hawaii from LA, but didnt want to stuff around.

 

[kwonyong]

Hi OzCath, we flew with Delta last September and they were great. We also did some domestic flights with them. All of the planes left on time, were clean and the staff were helpful. The food was nice too.

We are flying with them to the US again next month.

They have an amazing safety record too, much better than Qantas.

I think QANTAS's safety record is great. The main thing I consider when deciding who is "safe"to fly with is how many people have died. All airlines have maintenance/safety incidents, its how the airline runs their maintenance, servicings of aircraft and how well their pilots are trained/handle the aircraft when something does go wrong that counts in my opinion. QANTAS have a great safety record. I do get very tired of seeing the news report every incident (most of which are routine) that QANTAS has, but they ignore the vast majority of incidents that the other airlines encounter.

Having said that if all tickets prices were even I would prefer to fly QANTAS, but would also be happy to fly DELTA.

 

[Willow25]

I am flying Hawaiian airlines in Jan. Has anyone flown with them thanks

Hello Rocky

We flew with Hawaiian Airlines a few years back. They are okay but their planes seemed a lot older than Qantas.