Every year for the last 5 years, I have traveled internationally to a new country. While I have thought about visiting Australia previously, it seemed a bit of a pipe dream considering the cost of flights and accommodations there.
Typically, flights from Seattle to Australia are well over $1,000 USD. But then I read on a travel deals site about an United Airlines sale on flights to Australia. After doing some searching on flights online, I found an absolute bargain. A round trip flight from Seattle to Sydney for about $450 USD! While the itinerary had a couple 8 hour layovers in LA, I knew that I had to book this trip given the unheard of price. It was a now or never scenario.
I have taken some mediocre flights previously on United, so I wasn't sure how the flight experience was going to be. I was expecting the worse since the flight to Sydney from LA is over 14 hours. I did take a trip to Chicago one month before my Australia trip on United which was encouraging.
The trip started off well as the check-in process at Sea-Tac Airport was simple. My luggage was checked all the way to Sydney, so there was no need to retrieve it in LA to re-check. Note that the checked bag allowance is more generous on flights to Australia as it is 2 bags compared to 1 bag to Europe on United. My flight from Seattle to LAX was delayed, so I was glad that I had the long layover. I didn't want to miss the flight to Sydney which is the bulk of the flight travel.
Several months ago, United upgraded their flights to Sydney to use the Boeing 787 (Dreamliner). Of the five airlines (American/Delta/Qantas/United/Virgin Australia) on this route, United is the only one that uses this plane currently. I have taken this plane before on my flights on ANA and my flight experience has been mixed. It could have been the planes that ANA had though as they seemed to be overly warm.
On my flights to and from Sydney on United, I found the Boeing 787 to be a good plane though. The cabin pressurization of the flight was great as it didn't make my nasal passages dry like on other planes. While I didn't sleep on the plane, I did get some shut eye as the flight arrives into Sydney in the early morning. Upon arriving into Sydney, I didn't feel tired and I was actually able to get a full day of sightseeing done as a result. To make your flight more comfortable, I would store any carry-on bags in the overhead bins so you have additional space to stretch underneath your seat. You can take it out when the plane is close to landing.
The in-flight experience was actually pretty good. The entertainment system has a nice selection of new release Hollywood and foreign movies. I did find the music selection to be lacking as it was a radio mix and not full albums like ANA offers.
There were two meals on both trips. There was also a snack service on the return trip to LAX. The food was decent, though not on the level that I find on Asian carriers. On both flights I had a chicken meal accompanied by a salad with gelato/ice cream as a dessert. The second meal consisted of breakfast food. Beer and wine are complimentary in economy. Though the offerings are limited for beer. They only had Heineken, Budweiser and Miller Lite, so no craft beers.
As for the service on the flights, I thought the flight attendants were great and very experienced at what they do. The ground crew was fine as well and I had no issues with baggage claim as I retrieved my luggage in Sydney, in LA (to re-check) and back in Seattle without incident.
Overall, I thought my flights on United to and from Sydney were decent. Though I would be cautious about allowing for enough connection time at LAX. My return trip to LAX from Sydney was delayed over a hour. Given the long time to clear customs and re-check bags at LAX, 2 hours doesn't seem to be enough time to connect there.
There is also the concern about flights to and from Australia being cancelled. I was lucky to avoid this as the previous day's flight back to LAX was cancelled. The flight on my return trip was as a result full because of this. I would recommend visiting Sydney (and Australia in general) as it is a great place, though you should be careful in how you plan out your itinerary if you are traveling on United through LAX. read more