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Connecting flight or stopover?


2910car
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We live in Florida and are taking a Celebrity Solstice cruise from Sydney to Auckland. We will be taking a land tour first to Cairns, Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and Sydney. After the cruise we will fly home from Auckland.

 

I think it would be better to break up the flights by stopping for a night in LAX each way. My husband thinks it wouldn't be worth the hassle of going to a hotel with all the luggage and then back the next day.

 

We will be traveling with a group of 10 and we are all young seniors. What would you recommend?

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Your husband is right.

 

I have made several trips to Australia from the U.S. East Coast and on one of those trips, I also thought it might be a good idea to break it up with a stopover in LA. It was more trouble than it was worth to get our luggage, go to an airport hotel, have a not-so-great sleep and then get ourselves and our luggage back to the airport for departure. We felt no more rested when we got to Sydney than we had on any of our direct flights. I will never make that mistake again.

 

You end up wasting a lot of time (and money) that could be better spent in Australia. I'll admit that the flight from the East Coast to Sydney is LONG, but the reward is so great. You really want to get to Australia as soon as you can.

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In our experience on numerous similar itineraries, we don't really need to stop on the West Coast on the outbound trip after the initial flight, as that is just a simple medium-length (approx 5 hr) daytime flight westward to Calif.

 

On the return trip, one normally gets to Calif in the early morning after sleeping poorly (if in an Economy seat) on the 13+ hr overnight flight. In that case, there is arguably some merit in stopping in Calif., but only if one can stop for at least 24 hours. Stopping there for only a few hours would just prolong the misery. Stopping for approx 12 hours (i.e., for the day) would probably be even worse, as for many people it would be difficult to get to sleep in daytime, and then you would be flying (this time Calif to east coast) for the 2nd night in a row.

 

John

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I'm looking at the same thing.

 

If I can find a flight that gets me home before 9:00 PM (and doesn't involve a second red eye) I'll head straight home. Some of the routings I am looking at won't get me home until after 1:00 AM local time or are on a red eye getting me home at 7:00 AM.

 

So, I'd prefer to just get it over with and get home, but only if we can make it early enough to try and get readjusted to our home time.

 

Given the cruise ends in Auckland which has more limited flights, we are looking at spending the day in Auckland and seeing the sights and hearing out early the next day connecting in Sydney and then home.

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I fly from New Orleans to Melbourne often. I like to break it up with a stop-over in San Francisco. I absolutely refuse to fly through LAX.

 

Even though the westbound trans-Pacific flights leave late night California time, I find it's nice to have the hotel the night before on the way to Melbourne because then I do not have to worry about short connections/delayed flights. And I have cut it much too close for my comfort a couple of times.

 

On the way from Melbourne to New Orleans, I will get a room if the connecting flight/s will not get me into to New Orleans before midnight. It's just easier to spend the afternoon/night in SF and then head home in the morning after a good night's sleep, rather than get in at 2 or 3 in the morning and try to sleep for 4-5 hours and have to be useful.

 

Plus, SF is a nice place and BART makes it so easy to get from the airport into the tourist center. But even if I took leave of my senses and flew through LA, I would get a hotel room the night before the westbound flight.

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Our cruise ended in Auckland. We spent the day touring there, Jim Archer picked us up at the ship. After our tour of Auckland he took us to the airport for (most of us) a flight to Sydney.

 

We spent the night close to the airport in Sydney and had a morning flight out to LAX where we had a couple of hour layover before a flight to Atlanta. We got to Atlanta about 3:50pm. It was a long, tiring flight, but I would do it again over stopping overnight in LA.

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Our cruise ended in Auckland. We spent the day touring there, Jim Archer picked us up at the ship. After our tour of Auckland he took us to the airport for (most of us) a flight to Sydney.

 

We spent the night close to the airport in Sydney and had a morning flight out to LAX where we had a couple of hour layover before a flight to Atlanta. We got to Atlanta about 3:50pm. It was a long, tiring flight, but I would do it again over stopping overnight in LA.

 

I have a question for you about Jim Archer. We have him booked for our visit to Auckland. How did you find his service?

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We live in Florida and are taking a Celebrity Solstice cruise from Sydney to Auckland. We will be taking a land tour first to Cairns, Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and Sydney. After the cruise we will fly home from Auckland.

 

I think it would be better to break up the flights by stopping for a night in LAX each way. My husband thinks it wouldn't be worth the hassle of going to a hotel with all the luggage and then back the next day.

 

We will be traveling with a group of 10 and we are all young seniors. What would you recommend?

progress.gif

 

I am of the opposite opinion. Sorry folk I think some of you are mad to say 'push thro'. At what point do you give your poor body's rest......

 

I do the same whether travelling to the US or Europe. To Europe, which can be from 20 hours to 24, I will fly to Singapore ( 7hrs) , stay in a hotel so my body gets a full nights sleep in a horizontal position then a 13-14 hr flight onto Europe ( ideally around 10am) so fooling the body it's flying during its natural daytime cycle. As for the US, I would never think of flying from Australia thro to the East Coast in one flight - same concept - 13-14 flight - land west coast break rest/sleep- flight next morning onwards for 4-5 hours to east coast.

 

Helps body adjustment, sanity, your not getting home driving around doing chores that first day light headed (so therefore some of you are saying you drive your autos not having 100% faculties - sleep deprivation IS the equivalent of driving under the influence of alcohol in reaction time and concentration).

 

Nope..ease into a flight..break it up into its parts...arrive very much less jet lagged.

Edited by 6andy6
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I have a question for you about Jim Archer. We have him booked for our visit to Auckland. How did you find his service?

 

We had heard about Jim on cruise critic and emailed him about a tour in Rotarua, but he was booked for the day we were to be there. He offered the Auckland tour with pickup at the ship and transfer to the airport which worked great for us. We had a group of 8 and he took us all around Auckland with stops for coffee and lunch. We had a great time with him.

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I am of the opposite opinion. Sorry folk I think some of you are mad to say 'push thro'. At what point do you give your poor body's rest...

 

Yet another case of "each to his own". Different people react differently to the stresses of long flights, and cope in different ways. And the experience differs from person to person, e.g., cramped economy seats are worse if you are tall; connections (and baggage transfer times) in the U.S. are slower if one is not a U.S. citizen; frequent fliers on the airline in question may be better treated. We can probably all agree that long-distance multi-stage flights are very tiring & stressful, and it is well worth doing whatever is most effective for the people in question in reducing the fatigue & stress. The best solution will vary among people. Perhaps this thread will at least give the OP some ideas regarding what to consider and what might be best in their particular case.

 

John

Edited by J-D
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I am of the opposite opinion. Sorry folk I think some of you are mad to say 'push thro'. At what point do you give your poor body's rest......

 

I do the same whether travelling to the US or Europe. To Europe, which can be from 20 hours to 24, I will fly to Singapore ( 7hrs) , stay in a hotel so my body gets a full nights sleep in a horizontal position then a 13-14 hr flight onto Europe ( ideally around 10am) so fooling the body it's flying during its natural daytime cycle. As for the US, I would never think of flying from Australia thro to the East Coast in one flight - same concept - 13-14 flight - land west coast break rest/sleep- flight next morning onwards for 4-5 hours to east coast.

 

Helps body adjustment, sanity, your not getting home driving around doing chores that first day light headed (so therefore some of you are saying you drive your autos not having 100% faculties - sleep deprivation IS the equivalent of driving under the influence of alcohol in reaction time and concentration).

 

Nope..ease into a flight..break it up into its parts...arrive very much less jet lagged.

 

Everyone is different. We flew home to the US from Africa, got home that night, and I went back to work the next day with no problem.

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Yet another case of "each to his own". Different people react differently to the stresses of long flights, and cope in different ways. And the experience differs from person to person, e.g., cramped economy seats are worse if you are tall; connections (and baggage transfer times) in the U.S. are slower if one is not a U.S. citizen; frequent fliers on the airline in question may be better treated. We can probably all agree that long-distance multi-stage flights are very tiring & stressful, and it is well worth doing whatever is most effective for the people in question in reducing the fatigue & stress. The best solution will vary among people. Perhaps this thread will at least give the OP some ideas regarding what to consider and what might be best in their particular case.

 

John

 

Well said, John.

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We are flying from Washington DC area and are just about ready to purchase a flight from JFK to HNL Honolulu break for day and half to get to day that flights to AKL (T TH S only) roundtrip. This is actually cheaper than west coast. For some odd reason it is more to travel on the non-stop from Washington DC than the one 150 miles away in NJ (EWR) though same airline. It is much cheaper to do a trip to HNL and a separate ticket to AKL since Hawaiian is not in the same alliances and Air NZ also does not show up. Essentially try finding your way to LAX *most flights*, SFO (watch you don't just end up going to LAX from other cities), HNL, You can also go through PPT (Pappette French Polynesia) or Nadi (Fiji) but those are through LAX. Air Tahiti Nui has some decent fares. Australia does not give you a break because the long flight is LAX to SYD and why do customs/etc for another country?

 

I will do most anything to avoid LAX! I love Hawaii because I can snorkel 2 times in 24 -36 hours and that is :D. PPT is so expensive for hotels it makes Hawaii look cheap and NAD don't go for a hotel more than a few miles from the airport -- nice but roads are very very slow.

 

Consider your health. If you have problems with legs and wear compression stockings -- I need relief every 12 -15 hours! Dehydration of long flights give me leg cramps.

Consider your marriage or friendship. After a 30 hour flight I can't stand myself let alone anyone else. I am past cranky, maybe past stinky, and definitely you would not want to be dealing with me in any way. Others maybe have a different opinion but for me (especially going) I need to break it up. :rolleyes: GOOD LUCK wish there was the choice of instant getting to the starting point like they do it in Harry Potter or Wrinkle in Time

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We live in Florida and are taking a Celebrity Solstice cruise from Sydney to Auckland. We will be taking a land tour first to Cairns, Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and Sydney. After the cruise we will fly home from Auckland. I think it would be better to break up the flights by stopping for a night in LAX each way. My husband thinks it wouldn't be worth the hassle of going to a hotel with all the luggage and then back the next day. We will be traveling with a group of 10 and we are all young seniors. What would you recommend?

 

As noted by others, there are "trade-offs" and pro/con factors to consider. As folks from Ohio, we understand that it is a long ways to the west coast and then ALL of the way on down to Australia and back from NZ.

 

We are looking forward to our first “down under” visit, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, going from Australia to Auckland/NZ doing 14 days on this ship we loved in the Med in June 2011. Plus, doing some pre-cruise options for Cairns/Port Douglas, the Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef, then Kangaroo Island near Adelaide before departing from Sidney’s scenic harbor. And, doing the mid-cruise ship over-night trip to and in Queenstown and then stopping in Hawaii with four nights on the Big Island on the way home to break up that long, long flight back. On the way down, we will do two nights and one full day in Honolulu to break up that long travel distance.

 

American Airlines is flexible with Hawaiian Air in allowing such stop-overs without added costs when using Frequent Flyer miles. Maybe on purchased ticket, too. As we have not yet been to Hawaii, these stop-overs are a nice "bonus".

 

We have a nice and super active roll call for our early 2010 cruise going at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1614754

Welcome to any who want to join us for this trip and/or travel along via the web as we get prepared for that "adventure". Lots of details and pictures posted on this roll call for options to consider and do while being down there.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 5,348 views for this shorter version of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

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We are going the opposite direction in March, LAX to Sydney but our cruises will eventually lead to the 12 day Hawaii back to Vancouver so only a 2.5 hour flight home. We live 120 miles E of LAX, have our own International airport and will refuse to use LAX but traveling to Sydney we had no choice. We got beautiful fares thru Choice Air direct. it was as much as $800 less then the Web prices are showing for our total cost. We will be flying Qantus. I hope we survive the 15 hour flight.:)

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We live in Florida and are taking a Celebrity Solstice cruise from Sydney to Auckland. We will be taking a land tour first to Cairns, Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and Sydney. After the cruise we will fly home from Auckland.

 

I think it would be better to break up the flights by stopping for a night in LAX each way. My husband thinks it wouldn't be worth the hassle of going to a hotel with all the luggage and then back the next day.

 

We will be traveling with a group of 10 and we are all young seniors. What would you recommend?

progress.gif

 

Have you considered a stopover on the way home longer than overnight? For example, if you stop at a hotel with free shuttle for a couple of nights, you could visit Santa Monica to relax before you fly back to the East Coast.

 

Or you could visit the wonderful J Paul Getty Museum.

 

If you are flying Air NZ you can select one of the beautiful South Pacific Islands for a stopover (Fiji, Cook Islands, and Tahiti).

 

This way, the long journey becomes an enjoyable part of your holiday.

 

I agree that now over zealous security has made overnight stopovers not worth the effort!

Edited by MMDown Under
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We just did that same flight in the spring. We used Frequent Flyer miles and had some guidance to the many bloggers that I read. We flew from the East Coast to SFO. We then flew on Asiana in Business Class (frequent flyer miles thank you very much) to Seoul. With business class, even if it is a free ticket, we got lounge access. We then flew from Seoul to Sydney. We felt like we had a good night's sleep on the first leg since we had lay down flat seats. The second leg we had angle and I was so tired that it didn't matter that it was angle, I slept. For the trip home, we decided to explore another city as out free stopover. We chose Singapore. We found it difficult getting flights out of Auckland, we flew instead to Brisbane, went to the lounge again and then off to Singapore. After few days there we flew home via Beijing nonstop to the East Coast on United which I would not recommend. If you have time, sign up for some credit cards, make the minimum spend and ear the miles to get to either upgrade to business class or just fly business class.

 

Whether you push through or stop over somewhere, you are still going to be jet lagged - at least coming home. It took us about 2 weeks to go back to normal sleeping hours. Someone said it take 1 day to adjust to one time zone.

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  • 1 year later...

You can fly from Florida to Dallas Fort Worth. Then Qantas QF flies daily direct from DFW to Sydney.

 

Another option is fly Florida to LAX. Then fly with AIR NEW ZEALAND ex LAX via Auckland to either Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane .

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We have done it most different ways (no stop-overs, stop-overs, multi-day stop overs) and think that the best option (if time and budget permit) is to spend several days stopping over on either the West Coast or Hawaii. Doing a 1 night stop-over in LA was probably our least favorite option. It is just too much hassle waiting for luggage in LAX, going to a hotel (or renting a car for a day), then having to come back to LAX at least 3 hours prior to your international flight and go back through all the airport check-in security hassles. So if we cannot spare the extra days for a multi-day stop-over we just "suck it up" and get to our from down under as quickly as possible. We do always fly-in to Sydney or Auckland several days early so we have time to enjoy the country and recover from jet lag before we get on a ship.

 

I would also mention that we recently returned from Auckland (via LAX) on Air New Zealand. This time we decided to shell out the big bucks (about $600 per person extra) to upgrade to Economy Plus. On some of the long haul Air New Zealand aircraft the economy plus is something akin to business class on many other airlines. For our money we got 2 angled abreast seats (with a small table connecting the seats) that were in a shell (similar to many business class seats). ANZ also gives their economy plus better food, better booze, extra services, etc. Although we typically do not pay the extra money to upgrade airline seats, this turned out to be money well spent.

 

Hank

Edited by Hlitner
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Much depends on how much time you have between connecting flights. Ours are "iffy" due to changing terminals and airlines. Whatever we do we have to pick-up luggage and go through security again.

We decided on stopovers in LA for both flight directions and stay in the Embassy Suites LAX north --uses Hilton shuttle. We plan to go on the trolley to the beach and have a good walk and late lunch before the long trans-pacific flight. We do not have "status" for the lounges in the Thomas Bradley terminal so also need to consider that.

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You can fly from Florida to Dallas Fort Worth. Then Qantas QF flies daily direct from DFW to Sydney.

 

Another option is fly Florida to LAX. Then fly with AIR NEW ZEALAND ex LAX via Auckland to either Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane .

If you were replying to the original post, it was made in May 2013.
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