Darling, here's the difference between us and them, They, because of his points accumulated by flying round the world in business class, can afford executive class with beds!!!!!! So they wouldn't have to slog away in economy as we would. They're staying at the Hilton in Sidney which I assume is a nice hotel and already have tickets to the opera . Gheesh.

quote:

Originally posted by BrendaC:
Darling, here's the difference between us and them, They, because of his points accumulated by flying round the world in business class, can afford executive class with beds!!!!!! So they wouldn't have to slog away in economy as we would. They're staying at the Hilton in Sidney which I assume is a nice hotel and already have tickets to the opera . Gheesh.

Bren ~ I will accept that excuse, that flight in cattle class is a killer. I think the Hilton has just undergone a complete makeover, so it should be good.

Sydney is a beautiful city, if anyone coming to our beautiful country could only see one capital city then Sydney with its harbour is the one I would recommend, I hope your friends have a great time here and in NZ

Brenda,

C'mon - the flight from Canada to Australia is a doddle - 14 hrs to LA and then (what??) 3 or so to wherever in Canada - EASY !!!
(It took me 28 hours to get the Spain).

I got a Business Class upgrade when I flew home from LA in June - settled down in my nice flat "Sky Bed" and woke up with back pain that had me to 2 doctors visits and thee Physio visits over the following 5 days. I've never ended up like that in Economy !!

Get on down here girl !!!!

Colleen Anne, I think it is 5 hours from LA to Toronto which is near where Brenda lives, plus the time at the airport.
My husband refused to come with me to Turkey since he doesn't like and is uncomfortable flying. It takes about 10 hours to Heathrow from Calgary, then 4.5 hours at Heathrow and then 3 or 4 hours to Istanbul. I am not looking forward to the flight.

I admire all the Aussies and Kiwis who travel to Europe, I think if I lived there I would only make the trip once.

quote:

Originally posted by Marie56:

I admire all the Aussies and Kiwis who travel to Europe, I think if I lived there I would only make the trip once.

Marie: That is what we all think until we start travelling and get the bug. Everytime I arrive home after that lonnnnnng trip I think never again, then two weeks later I am looking to plan my next trip.

quote:

Originally posted by Marie56:

I admire all the Aussies and Kiwis who travel to Europe, I think if I lived there I would only make the trip once.

Marie ~ I think it may be a case of ignorance is bliss. We don't know any different, so we keep on travelling the long distances. I loathe the long flight & the only thing that makes them bearable is the thought of the great sights waiting at the end.

I've learned to sleep on the plane for 6, 7 or 8 hours at a time - that really is the secret to coping with the long flights.

I slept for 9 hours on the way home from LA this year - ie. I had around 2.5 hours awake when I got on around 11pm and they served supper, then I awoke for breakfast around 2.5 hours before we landed in Melbourne. The trip went in an absolute flash!!!!!

Colleen: You are very lucky, I don't seem to be able to sleep on planes although I seem to cope better on European flights than North American flights, and if I do get any sleep it is mainly on the return flight.

quote:

I slept for 9 hours on the way home from LA this year - ie. I had around 2.5 hours awake when I got on around 11pm and they served supper, then I awoke for breakfast around 2.5 hours before we landed in Melbourne. The trip went in an absolute flash!!!!!

Wow. I'm jealous Colleen. What's your secret?

If I get even 3 hours of sleep on my LA to Melbourne flight, I will consider myself very lucky.

Even sleeping pills don't seem to get me to sleep soundly on a long flight. It's probably a combination of the excitement plus the fact that I'm not a sound sleeper.

I sat next to a man on a domestic flight some time ago and he was asleep almost before we even took off. When we were about to land in Sydney he woke up and apologised for the "lack of scintilating conversation" and explained that he frequently travelled internationally with his job and had taught himself to sleep on planes - to the extent that whenever he gets on a plane, he now immediately goes to sleep.

To my surprise, I have since become a bit the same way. After forcing myself over a number of years to go to sleep on long-haul trips, I now get on a plane (to anywhere) and immediately start to nod-off. I used to read three books per return overseas trip and see a couple of in-flight movies - now I am lucky to get through one book and I havn't even turned the movies on for the last couple of years.

I don't like the idea of sleeping pills so have never tried them.

Gosh. I wish that I could do that Colleen. But since I normally have a difficult time falling asleep at home, I find it even more difficult on an airplane. (The only times that I have taken sleeping pills are on flights of over 10 hours. I never use them at home.)

I envy you!

Colleen your so very lucky, i just cannot sleep on a plane. I do try but it is impossible & besides I never know when the pilot might need me

Cheers
Spooks

Looks like I could be spending a lot of time on planes. One of the tours I am looking at appears to have 13 flights.

quote:

I agree Missie it does look like a more comprehensive tour but phew it is a heck of a lot of travelling.

Thanks for the advice. I findly opted for a more comprehensive tour. I will get to see more of Australia, but it looks to be much more rushed than the Trafalgar tours.

Well done joe! at least you will get to see more of Australia, its a bl**dy long flight for a quick look, please PM me if you need any extra advice.