[srishiva]

I once (only once and never will again) flew LA to KL with a fueling stop at Taipei. Was almost hell. I dont like them at all. But this was when entertainment options were not that good with personal screens for each. Having more leg more and better seats might help.

Is taking a sleeping pill ok from safety point of view ? I have never had to take one in my life and hope it doesnt make one drowsy for long time.

[benu9714]

After many trips to the US over nearly 2 decades, my wife and I have adopted a method for flying from Kolkata to NYC or SFO, regular economy (Business Class is just too expensive).

We go to Dubai the previous day by the morning Emirates flight which gets you there by about 1.30. Emirates provides free visa, airport transfers and hotel room with all meals - Dubai Connect. Relax in the afternoon, take a shuttle to a Mall in the evening, have a good night's sleep in a bed.

Next morning the Emirates flights to US leave at abut 8 am - 14/15 hrs to NYC/SFO. I can't sleep on economy seats , so I watch movies, read etc. We reach US in the afternoon around 1.30 - 2.30. Then we just have to stay up until 7-ish, have dinner, and sleep 10+ hours. Next morning we are fresh, and body clocks are in sync with the local time.

Works beautifully for us !!

[SCORPION]

Originally Posted by vb-san

True, but its still not so bad. 11 hours in say, an United economy is far more a torture than 19 hours in a SQ flight

Very true. I cringe when I have to fly an European or an American airline. I would any day prefer an Asian airline, except may be Gulf Air, for the long haul. No comments on Air India as I have only flown once on AI and that too DXB-BOM, and my experience was not all that great.

Besides the airline, stop over airports in Asia are far better. For instance, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, Abu Dhabi (not so much) etc are far better airports to while away time during a stop over than when compared to CDG, Heathrow, Frankfurt, Newark, Atlanta and such. I find those airports really boring.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by SCORPION

I cringe when I have to fly an European or an American airline. I would any day prefer an Asian airline

American air lines' quality of cabin service is uniformly bad and actually they work hard at being rude and bullying with, in my opinion, United being the pits and Delta the best of a bad lot. Of the Europeans, Lufthansa and KLM I find good in their cabin manners and in J class very good. The rest are so so to poor to rotten.

[shrjun]

A review of a Singapore based 'airline mile collecting ' blog that I follow - a review of the business class seats that he ' bought ' using miles

https://milelion.com/2018/10/14/the-...in-ewr-review/

https://milelion.com/2018/10/15/more...ongest-flight/

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

I am 58. It is all in the mind.

Perfectly put in sir. I has done DEL-DOHA-DALLAS & DEL-ABUDHABI-LA thrice in last half year in economy with an average flying time of 16+ hours each way and didn't feel much stress. While i found qatar better overall than etihad, It's the convenience of getting immigration done in abu dhabi that forces me to take etihad. As for tiredness goes, usually takes a nights sleep to get over it.

I find 16 hours flights better as you can sleep peacefully for longer durations comparing to 8 -9 hours flights and multiple stop over which is neither here nor there.

[HKap]

The longest flights that I've ever flown on are Toronto - Mumbai on the 787-9 (14 hours) and FRA - SFO and SFO - FRA (10 and 11 hours). I prefer to break my journey after about 8 hours. It gives me time to relax, grab some decent food and freshen up. The layover has to be about 2-3 hours. Anything more and you're better off in a direct flight. That's just me. I've only flown for more than 13 hours straight once and the last couple of hours were incredibly boring. I'm sure travelling business class won't be half as bad.

[aroonanand]

Like many others, I have done my fair-share of long hauls (Dubai - San Francisco, Hong Kong - San Francisco, Doha - Dallas, Chicago - Doha, Doha - New York and back) and medium-hauls (Blr - Frankfurt / Paris / London, SFO - Frankfurt / Paris) on a combination of business, premium economy and economy and here are my observations

- If flying time is under 10-11 hours, take a Non stop flight. Period. Just not worth stopping and adding 3-4 hours to the journey time. Especially if flying economy. You would rather be done with the misery sooner than later

- If flying from India to the US, I have tried both options and while taking a break mid way does help in stretching, freshening up and having some good food, the Europe - US leg is usually a hit and miss. while LH is good, it can become disastrous if the last leg is operated by UA, their star alliance partner. Similarly with AF - delta, where both legs are hit & miss

- For this reason, I have preferred to fly through Doha as Qatar's service is consistently good and due to the embargo by other GCC countries, their economy cabin is usually not packed (unlike Emirates). So on more occasions than not, one can get 2 seats empty in a 4 seater, or 1 seat empty in a 3 seater. Further, I have found Doha airport to be super convenient, friendly staff, and not spent over 5 mins on transitting between terminals + security. This time can multiply several times if one thinks of security lines at DXB or the kilometers of walking / trains to change terminal at CDG or FRA.

- Again if flying business, the long 13-14 hour flight works very well - grab a good 6-7 hours of sleep and then you have the balance to either work or watch some movies. In economy, the cramped leg room can become painful but still I would prefer to sleep well on the long sector leg rather than 2 legs with broken sleep on both.

[ranjithrnath]

Here is a trip report of the inaugural flight of Singapore Airlines A350-900ULR. (Ultra Long Range) by Sam Chui, one of the worlds most followed aviation bloggers, vlogger, photographer and journalist.
I am a big follower of his youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jVv21yg4qw&t=699s

[Soumyajit9]

I have been flying JFK-DEL-BBI route for 3 years now, Economy Class.
My choice of airline - AI101.

- JFK-DEL 15-16 hrs gate to gate Nonstop
- 4 hrs of wait at DEL
- DEL - BBI - 3 Hrs Nonstop

So overall I do 13,000 kms in 19 hrs including a 'break' to 'stretch my legs'.

I find these long haul flights very effective as there is no waste of time.
When you are spending $1200 round trip to home, you wouldn't like to waste time and days sitting in airport and going through crazy security exercise multiple times.

Waiting at airports and security
- can be emotionally painful as you would want to be with family ASAP.
- can be physically stressful when you have a toddler in tow.

Coming back to this particular flight - SQ 22, its a wonderful proposition !
I can't imagine someone doing break journeys to travel from Singapore to US East Coast ! Imagine wasting a day and a night.

Ofcourse the cost of less seats is offset by higher ticket price.

I can well predict this flight going full without any losses.
Just like everyone says Air India is crap, yet flies full flight on international routes, this one will also do its business well.

[selfdrive]

I have a few concerns about non stop flights.
- despite all the entertainment options, there is not much to do unless you have interesting company. And there are only so many things you can do in a closed box that high up.
- what if you are stuck next to a hyperactive toddler or even worse a bawling kid or three? Those 19 hours would offer no escape/ respite at all. Perhaps they should consider making a separate kid zone within the aircraft.
- I assume they would have more food and more toilets than the regular flight?
- what would all those globe trotting facebookers put as updates on their walls? 'Checked in at some random airport'. Know the kind?

[Akshay1234]

Its great to see some ultra long haul flights coming back, after being discontinued a couple of years ago. Its just the added convenience of less flights, and no airport waiting and security which can be a headache at times. I remember taking the BOM-ATL Delta flight on a 777-200lr and that 17 hour flight was just awesome. A good 9 hours of sleep, a movie and meal before and after the nap. And you reach!

Of course that is if one has the option of travelling in business/first. In economy (I'm 6'4) I would definitely choose more flights, simply for the comfort of not being stuck in one place for so long.

I have also flown ATL-NRT a couple times on the 747, and those 15 hours got over before I knew it, what a magical plane!

This SQ flight is sure going to run full, since it is the most convenient option for anyone from SIN to go to the east coast.

[moralfibre]

Flying to SFO frequently for meetings I used to opt for a European carrier that would split my journey into two nearly equal legs. Back in the day there were no international flights out of Pune. Therefore an international flight scheduled for 2 am meant:

- Leave early evening from Pune to avoid any delays due to an accident on the expressway or unpredictable traffic in Bombay.
- Reach Bombay airport anywhere between 9pm to 11pm. Waste 3-4 hours before checkin starts.
- Waste time at the airport because you had no predictability of your arrival.

Then Lufthansa started a PNQ-FRA | FRA-SFO leg. The PNQ-FRA flight would halt at Bucharest to refuel because the puny Boeing 737 would not be able to take off with tank full of fuel owing to the short runway in Pune airport. This was still very very convenient because I would save myself 7 hours straight and fly out of Pune at 2am. Which meant I needed to be at bus stand sized airport just about 90 minutes before my flight.

However, the pain of landing into a foreign country, completing your security checks and waiting for your onward flight was still not so great until, Air India launched a PNQ-DEL | DEL-SFO flight.

You checkin your bags through and through. Fly out of Pune at 10pm, reach Delhi at around midnight and hop onto your connection at around 3am or so. No problems whatsoever! In fact, the plane lands in SFO at 7am when there are zero international flights and you clear immigration in less than 30 minutes after deplaning. It's one of the top 10 longest flights but I'd always prefer a point to point travel than land in a European country where they won't grant you any visa / local hotel accommodation if you miss your connection.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Then Lufthansa started a PNQ-FRA | FRA-SFO leg. The PNQ-FRA flight would halt at Bucharest to refuel because the puny Boeing 737 would not be able to take off with tank full of fuel owing to the short runway in Pune airport. This was still very very convenient because I would save myself 7 hours straight and fly out of Pune at 2am. Which meant I needed to be at bus stand sized airport just about 90 minutes before my flight.

OT: It really is frustrating that Pune still does not have a decent airport of it's own and we are still dependant on a borrowed airstrip from AF.

[jinojohnt]

Originally Posted by GTO

On the other hand, I can totally understand why some people would prefer to split a long journey into two flights and stretch out / explore an airport in between. Taking a break and boarding a fresher airplane has undeniable benefits.

My cousin actually prefers a non-stop flight because he can't bear the ear pain during take offs and landings. Why double the torture when you can manage with one take-off and landing?