My partner is an Aussie & having flown to Australia on at least a dozen occasions we have often debated which is the best airline. We used to fly with JAL because it was one of the very few airlines on which you could still have a cigarette (no longer). Also you got a free stopover including hotel at Tokyo (Narita) which helped split the long journey.

Last year we flew with Royal Brunei, who were again middle of the road (also no alcohol on board). Where Royal Brunei excelled was when our plane was turned back en route to Dubai because of the volcanic ash cloud closing Heathrow Airport. Royal Brunei put us up in a 5 star airport hotel for 6 days, provided 3 meals a day & organised buses to the beach & into town – all free of charge. I really couldn’t fault them.

My wife likes Cathay Pacific & my personal favourite is Thai Airways. If you look at Skytrax it seems that most Asian flag carriers score well & the two UAE carriers (Emirates & Ethiad) also get good reviews.

In the US market, there are just too many carriers for them to make profit, so they slash as much money as they can. If American merge with US Airways, United merge with Delta, and Southwest being the success they have been, I think you’ll see the airline industry pick up over there. It still stuns me that Southwest don’t charge for bags and they offer snacks – something US Airways doesn’t offer and US Airways flights cost more.

I have regularly flown American and United, also Alaskan in the US and – sad to say – Qantas beats them handsdown in comfort and class and service when comparing domestic service. Moreover, if you are in the pointy end of the plane, domestic business class in Australia is astounding on the longer-haul (2 hour+) flights – good seats, brilliant service and the food is excellent – eg dessert is cheese plus fruit and icecream, and and port / dessert wine.

I do admit that your placement of Q in the middle seems right; I thnk their overseas service and quality has slipped over a decade; the A380 is making a difference, if you can access it (I did once, business), but the 747s are tired – some uncomfortable seats – and the pressure is always on to cut the food quality. From what I know, too, cabin staff are also on worse schedules now which may explain occasional grumpiness. That said, I have never had a bad Qantas flight and will shortly be returning to the skies with them, confident that it will be fine and sometimes it will be great.

On an interesting note, I flew Qantas from Chch – Manila in Dec, returning late Jan, and can honestly say I was not terribly impressed. The food was ok, the seats seemed fairly small, and the entertainment was comparatively poor (shared screen front of cabin, 2 movies shown on the Manila – Sydney leg, and a show advertising Sydney). At one point there was around 4? hours with no entertainment. They also put me on JetStar for one Chch – Sydney leg, which I would prefer not to have flown, considering I paid for a full priced international ticket.

Have fun traveling Matt.