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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWilling to Endure the World's Longest Flight for $12,000? Qantas Is Banking On It
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/willing-to-endure-the-world-s-longest-flight-for-12-000-qantas-is-banking-on-it-1.1765214Bloomberg) -- Wanted: Hundreds of people to sit in a plane for 20 hours. Must be willing to pay lots of money. Claustrophobes needn’t apply.
Conceived prior to the Covid crisis, Qantas Airways Ltd.’s plan to operate the world’s longest nonstop commercial flights from southeast Australia to New York and London is being resurrected in a much-changed aviation landscape, with global carriers reeling from the pandemic and people wary about travel.
Qantas, which lost over A$22 billion ($15 billion) in revenue due to virus-related border curbs, is banking on passengers being willing to pay a premium to avoid layovers and get gargantuan journeys over and done with in one go.
But some regular fliers are balking at potentially paying 30% extra for a direct flight compared with a two-leg journey. While fares may differ by the time the flights start, a return nonstop Sydney-New York business class ticket could cost more than A$18,000 -- enough to buy a new compact car -- based on October flights listed on Kayak for the same route with a stop in Los Angeles.
(Excerpt)
No problem in business class, but in economy? Ouch…

dalton99a
(87,740 posts)Dial H For Hero
(2,971 posts)16 hours or so in the middle middle seat.
Demovictory9
(35,042 posts)longest leg was about 8 hours. It was still torture.
spooky3
(37,265 posts)roamer65
(37,523 posts)16 hours.
I slept most of it.
ProfessorGAC
(72,149 posts)Sydney though, not Melbourne.
My 2nd visit was as far as Honolulu. 2 or so hour layover, then home to Chicago.
I should have burned some FF miles & flown my wife in for a long weemend, but i think i was just anxious to get home.
roamer65
(37,523 posts)Took me 1 year to shake the idea of moving there.
I flew in through Sydney and left from Melbourne.
But, sometimes you do just want to get home.
ProfessorGAC
(72,149 posts)However, I got the sense that they loved Americans as long as they knew I was going home! LOL! Same with Japan.
roamer65
(37,523 posts)They remembered the UK walked out on them in WW2 and we stepped in to defend them.
It was mentioned to me a few times, in particular a taxi driver.
One lady on the train from Sydney to Melbourne said there is no way u are American, you must be Canadian…you’re too nice.
Gave her my 9/11 ribbon I was wearing…my trip was about two weeks after 9/11.
ProfessorGAC
(72,149 posts)I was working with folks who worked for an American multinational, and I don't recall working with anybody older than me.
Hekate
(96,982 posts)No, thank you
tblue37
(66,361 posts)ProfessorGAC
(72,149 posts)Seems to me that a biz class tickets were around $7,000 and the last time I went to Australia was 10-12 years ago. (I burned FF miles to upgrade to 1st both times I went.)
Maybe I'm remembering the ticket price wrong.