Hi<BR><BR>I am going to be flying from Los Angeles to Brisbane and am not sure which airline to take. Qantas has deals sometimes but mostly in Australia and I have heard their seating area is small. Air New Zealand is an airline I don't know much about other than reading on their website that their seating areas are larger in economy class similar to their business class seating.<BR><BR>Does anyone have any opinion on which one would be better for this long of a flight. I don't have any frequent flyer miles so that would not be one of the criteria.<BR><BR>Thanks

Hi Jenny,<BR>yes, the qantas seating is cramped, especially on their older 747s (the 300 series?)which have not been refitted. i'd go for air new zealand. there may be a stop in auckland, but on a long flight that's not a bad thing. <BR>you might want to check this site out:<BR>http://www.airlinequality.com/<BR>hope this helps

Regarding FF miles, when you are ready to make your choice, do yourself a great favor and sign up for a partner airline program so you can capture the significant mileage that you will get on this long haul. For Air New Zealand, United Airlines would seem like a logical choice. For Quantas, there are a number of U.S. partners including American, Continental and several others. You can enroll online and get an account number to have entered into your record when you buy. Unless you really aren't planning to travel in the future, it is too much to leave laying on the table. <BR>

I prefer Air New Zealand.

I have not heard from a single person that Qantas is good. I had also a very unpleasant flight with Qantas. But it is AA's partner. It is better to hook up with AA than UA which is going bankrupted.