Grand Australia and New Zealand Tour - Oct 6-25, 2014

joe P

We are taking the reference Tauck tour and are looking to book premiunm economy seats on Qantus from NY
Am interested if anyone has done this on a long flight and if so to compare it to Business Class on a comfort basis. The seats are wider and recline more than economy but do not lay flat as in business class The price differential to Business class is about $4,000. On such a long flight is it worth the extra money to go business class?

Also for this tour Tauck is saying to restrict baggage to 50# each, due to the many interior flights. Do people adhere to this? Not many changes of clothes for 21 days. Will need lots of laundry service

crackers54

If you can afford it take business class. I did economy and was miserable, especially, on flight home. The pull curtains and restrict movement. You will appreciate being able to stretch out, especially, on the flight over. Yes for the flights in Australia you will pay extra if over the 50lbs. You can do it easily with washing underclothes out several times on trip and in Sydney reasonable laundry very short walk from hotel to drop off in morning and pick up when back to hotel that evening. Much more reasonable than hotel laundry. If wanting to wash yourself there is laundry in Cairns and several hotels in New Zealand.

British

We did premium economy for this trip and it was a big improvement on economy seating for a much more reasonable price. We thought it made more sense to fly there 2 days early costing us a few hundred dollars more for a hotel room and have some time to relax, get used to the time zone and check out Melbourne than pay extra for business class that we cannot really afford on top of the cost of the trip price.
Luggage allowance. I already posted my opinion on people complaining About lack of luggage allowance today. Chose wisely and you will be able to take lots of clothing and still be under the weight allowance. The first tip is to make sure your suitcase weighs very little when empty, some are really heavy before you even put clothes into them. Lightweight none iron clothing that you can layer for colder temps. These tours are not fashion trips. I have been on Tauck trips to. Africa where people are dripping in diamonds on safari and visiting Masai villages-- so inappropriate, no wonder we Americans get such a reputation.

txnonnie

Hi, Joe. Just introducing myself because my husband and I are on the same tour. We are Ed and Judy from Texas. Incidentally, we are flying business class. Ed is 6'4" and even flying to Europe in coach is uncomfortable. The LAX to Melbourne leg is even longer. See you in October!

sherry_schare

joe P wrote:

We are taking the reference Tauck tour and are looking to book premiunm economy seats on Qantus from NY
Am interested if anyone has done this on a long flight and if so to compare it to Business Class on a comfort basis. The seats are wider and recline more than economy but do not lay flat as in business class The price differential to Business class is about $4,000. On such a long flight is it worth the extra money to go business class?

Also for this tour Tauck is saying to restrict baggage to 50# each, due to the many interior flights. Do people adhere to this? Not many changes of clothes for 21 days. Will need lots of laundry service

We flew business class on frequent flyer mileage and it was definitely a really pleasant experience ( if you can afford it, or can use mileage to upgrade or redeem) We slept in comfort while people in economy were awake and cramped into their seats. Sometimes Tauck or other travel agents are able to secure business class and somewhat reasonable prices because of their frequent bulk purchases. Ask.

Luggage was definitely weighed (even hand luggage) but it was mainly on the interior Qantas flights through Alice Springs and Ayers Rock. Most of us were prepared to pay the overweight charges, but somehow our Tauck group managed to get all the luggage checked through with a group check-in and no one was charged. Good luck.

VA2Aussie

Hi Shescha good info you are putting on these post. I hope you add something to my Uluru thoughts. I will be posting Sydney thoughts shortly. I have already planned my new trip, rather taking someone else's place who had to drop off. Anyway, back to this post.


Joe P
I flew Virgin Australia business and unlike my travel mate Shescha had to pay dearly. :-)
I think you should use these guidelines: age, health, normal sleep patterns, and of course money when deciding. In my case the first three guidelines outweighed the money. I opted for the flatbed and did not regret my decision.

If you can't do business definitely do the upgrade. Any extra room is better than none.

Hopefully you are flying direct. I think a 14 hr flight with a layover in Sydney will be harder on you then you think. You will be tired and grumpy while waiting for the next hop. At least I know I would have been. You might as well get it all out of the way.

Also without a layover you have a better chance of all your luggage getting there with you. Remember to have your first flight book your luggage all the way. When in doubt have a luggage scale with you. Keep the dimensions in mind. I don't think I saw anyone breaking the luggage rules on size. Most women can get away with a carry on and a purse. I used a normal size backpack instead of a purse, this gave me a little extra for camera and reader.

My sister and I also went in two days early. By the time the Tauck tour started we were good to go. At least give yourself one extra day. Due to the cost of the Langham, an earlier tripper booked 2 days in another hotel.