Those long flights really do me in as well. If I had the funds, I might consider taking one of those repositioning cruises where they take the ship from one area to another - crossing the ocean.

The airlines certainly don't make it any easier with their tiny seats and minimal leg room.

Congrats on your 50th Anniversary!

you can get some very good deals on repositioning cruises. A few years ago a friend turned me on to Vacations to Go; they book last-minute sales with massive discounts because the cruise lines want to to keep from sailing with empty cabins (they figure they'll make some $$ on the various other on-board spending that someone will do.)

If you sign up with an email address they send out weekly (or maybe bi-weekly - I forget) quick-deals.

I have no connection with them other than being on their mailing list. My wife and I are considering some port-retirement activities.

The website is at www.vacationstogo.com

Thanks for that URL.

can't walk, can't fly, can't party. You can still cruise. And play bridge. But it's not the same as the days when you could book your own flights, gamble on hotels, and walk your ass off in the streets of Europe, following your nose like a happy dog, guidebook or no, loving every minute of it. That said, I've had some fun on cruises, too!

Been to Oahu, Maui several times but Eastern Caribbean (St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Johns, St. Lucia, San Juan etc) are beautiful options too needing visitors.

When my wife and I flew to Oahu (Army), the flight that the military came up with for us was:
El Pass - Atlanta - Seattle - HNL

17 hours plus - you can't imagine!

I know I won't get to Europe again. Glad you made this trip, though, and congrats on the anniversary.

Might be our last. But our children live in Boston (we are in Oregon) and we are able to break up the flight time. 6 hours to Boston and then a few days to recover. From there we are going to fly via Iceland Air this time, stop there for a while and then on to Norway.

Those 12 hour flights from SFO to Europe just about do me in.

This is what's holding me back from Australia, etc. TOO LONG!

and my granddaughter keeps talking about Australia. Her reasons aren't wonderful. Koalas or something. But if I were a little younger I'd go. But those flights are like prisoner of war torture. I can't do it anymore. And have you checked prices First Class to Australia?

My husband did some consulting work for Quantas and they paid him with two tickets! We went from LAX to Auckland. It was 17 hours and it was brutal. Don't know if I could do it again.

Pick up some of those wool sweaters they make there, and don't miss Gulfoss or Geysir.

I run back and forth between Europe and the USA all the time. I always make my employer spring for business class and they do under the proviso that I look for the best deal I can find (I do, gladly). A tip: two airline groups, Star alliance (United, Lufthansa, etc) and Sky Team (Delta, Air France-KLM) have declared war on each other, and you can literally save THOUSANDS if you fly to a destination in one VIA the other. I.E. Business class fare from SFO to Paris via Frankfurt on Lufthansa can be thousands cheaper than going straight from SFO to Paris. Same goes for SFO to anywhere in Germany. Business class fare fom SFO to Munich, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Berlin or Hamburg via Paris on Air France, Delta via anywhere, or KLM via Amsterdam can be thousands cheaper than flying directly to Germany from SFO. On the trip I'm on now, I saved 1000 Euros by flying from Düsseldorf to Washington via Atlanta on Delta (Air France code share flight, booked on Air France), and then returning Dallas to Düsseldorf, again via Atlanta. Although the Atlanta-Düsseldorf flight is nonstop, and never even stops in France, it is on an Air France ticket.

If a long flight is a lot to handle, definitely break it up if you can.

My mom-in-law desperately wanted to attend my daughter's high school graduation in Hawaii (Big Island), but she was 76 at the time, and had only ever been in an airplane one other time in her life (when my wife and I got married, also in the USA, but in Washington, DC). Hawaii is 12 time zones from her home in Germany, so literally half-way around the world. So we broke up the trip and stopped in San Francisco for 3 days before continuing on to Kona. It worked out fine.

We have an overnight flight from Boston to Reykjavik and I booked business class. When we flew from Boston to London a while ago, we did coach and I was in a middle seat next to an enormously obese man. Not a pleasant experience. He was so large, he couldn't put down the tray, he gooshed over the arm rest into my space, and he smelled terrible. The flight was full, so I couldn't move. Awful experience. Wish the airlines would make some changes with that. It wasn't fair for my husband and me to be put in that circumstance.

Four to five hours. Rejkjavik to any Norwegian airport is even shorter.

Some airlines used to force extremely obese people to book and pay for two seats as no one considered it fair to make people suffer like you did. There was obviously some pushback on this, and the argument over just who was discriminating against whom raged on for quite a while.

Of course, I was on a plane one time from New York to Zürich when a loudmouthed guy came rushing up from some row behind me, yelling (as in VERY loudly) about how he was seated next to a woman, and he could not be seated next to a woman. Rather than delay the flight, the crew went to see if they could get some passengers to switch seats, but you could tell that their solution of preference would have been to kick the obnoxious jerk off the plane and put his name on a black list so he could never book a flight with them again. That move, however unjust it might have seemed, would have been applauded by most people on board (myself included) except for those few that might have shared his extreme religious/cultural persuasion.

Happy anniversary.

In California it’s only a 5-6 hour flight which is tolerable. Went on a 12 hour direct flight recently and it was murder on me.

Both ways. We're in Denver. The flights between Denver and LA weren't bad, but the LA-Honolulu leg was physically difficult both ways.

Age makes a big difference, of course. But so do the shrinking legroom and seatroom. We flew to Europe years ago, and it was okay -- when we were younger and there was more room.

The extra money for business on long haul flights is worth it if at all you can swing it. It makes the difference between arriving half unconscious and irritable and arriving ready to take on whatever awaits you. I would forego the trip to Australia before I would even consider doing it in coach. I'd be in such miserable shape both physically and mentally, I'd never enjoy the rest of the trip. If you ever come to Europe, splurge and go business class on British Airways from Denver. Their business class is one of the best, and you arrive feeling great in both directions.

for a military flight. We used to be able to catch MAC flights on a space available basis. Twice as long flight, no entertainment, and no drinks. The present status quo is the better way, believe me.

flying back from Hawaii as a result of a blot clot in her leg. She had just retired at 61.

Like stay overnight in a US mainland West Coast city and fly from there to HI?

This may sound bad, but it is worth paying the extra money to get a business class or first class seat on long flights. The comfort level is much better.

It was still hard on us.

I don't enjoy long flights anymore either

With the number of replies this is obviously a popular post.
You are the odd ball out.

If you must say something, maybe it could be a little more like ... "Not that it's big deal, but in the future, The Lounge is generally the place for posts of this nature, per the forum guidelines" ...

Not telling you what to do, but that's how most people would 'handle' this ... ummm ... 'situation' ...

Spending so much time together in that beautiful place made it very special and sweet.

Watching all the young surfers in Waikiki made us feel even older.

about given we are surrounded by republicans trying to destroy our country.

About two blocks from the beach in Waikiki.

WE have stayed at the Pink Hotel on the beach once.

We don't snorkel. We looked at everything from the shore.

Looking is more our thing nowadays.

What an accomplishment. I'm glad you had a good trip and enjoyed your time away.

My husband, son and I just got back from NZ and Australia. It was 15 hours from LAX to Melbourne! We were upgraded by a friendly desk clerk from economy to economy plus. There was much more room in that cabin and it made the long flight tolerable. While it wasn't business class by any means, it did make a big difference.

Again, Congrats!!!

The upgrade was nice, makes it easier to sleep to pass time. I can only read so much on long flights, they also make me want to drink alcohol and I am a non drinker, so I sleep.

but, you know, there's that whole no bridge to Hawaii problem.

There's one Amtrak train here a day, and it's not entirely reliable at certain times of the year.

But with recent issues, don't know. Plus a train vacation seems to require at least two weeks to be worth it.

San Francisco or Los Angeles. Once or twice we even built in a couple of days so the longest we had to fly was 5 hours and we got a fun visit in San Francisco.

But my goal is to visit all 7 continents so I've got a lot of flying ahead of me. I'm willing to suck it up.

Save up a little extra to get business class or first class seats, a lot less demanding on your body that way.

But I have three continents left and one is Australia. Business class to Australia (and NZ, which is my main goal to visit) is more than a car. I'll probably do a layover in LA for a day or two before taking the long haul flight. I might splurge for an exit row or economy plus, but business class is not an option if I want to have any money left for the trip itself.

When I was planning our trip to England, I looked at first class and business prices for flying. A repositioning cruise was less than half that cost. Of course, once I got into the concept of cruising I fell for the more expensive cruise that will go to Iceland on the way - but it is still cheaper than first class tickets from our town to London!

The return cruise is a repositioning cruise, from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale via the Caribbean (St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San Jaun, Haiti). It is a quarter of the price of that first class ticket. And that is for a balcony room - interior and oceanview are even less!

I’m something of an introvert/misanthrope LOL! I might considering a repositioning cruise to the right location, just for fun.

I am also an introvert so I will spend a lot of time working on my needlework or reading. We don't drink, gamble, or enjoy live shows, so that leaves out a lot of what is done on cruise ships

We've booked balcony rooms so we can always retreat to our private space and watch the ocean. I'm trying to convince my husband we should take dance lessons - not that we will do a lot of dancing but neither of us dance at all and it will be something fun to do. The trial cruise has a jewelry making workshop and I will probably sign up for it - and there are other activities similar to that. Plus we will spend a lot of time walking the ship or in the gym to stay in shape for hiking on shore.

it's not just the destination, it's the journey.

It was a wonderful trip. Gorgeous scenery. Food is better on Canada rail than Amtrak.

Met a fellow passenger on that trip who had done long distance Amtrak trips all over the US. He agreed about the food.

You guys should try O'hare to Tokyo or Detroit to Seoul, or JFK to Hong Kong !

THOSE are long flights.

I always book versions of Enonomy Plus on anything over 5 hours.
Big difference.

We're 66/65. This Sunday is Little Rock to Gallatin, Tn, 382 miles at 60 mph. My husband drives our 34 ft class A motorhome while on his oxygen concentrator, while I take the lead in my MINI Cooper. 12 days there and then 272 miles to Cleveland, Ga. Life on the road.

I drove a lot when I was young, but now it's much harder.

I once drove Alamosa, CO to Memphis non-stop. Alone.... When I was about 25.

Glad you had a great time on Oahu!

When I came to Kauai it was from New York.. I doubt I'll be flying anywhere again.

You'll probably have to ship out from Canada or Mexico.
http://seaplus.com/faq.php

Hate it.....if I can’t drive it, I don’t do it.

All the "cheap" flight stuff has ruined the industry, IMO.

Since the American industry turned flight into a low-rent bussing service, the customers treat it as a low-rent bussing service. They trash their seats and are rude. Then you can pay to avoid steerage conditions, and hang out with the snobs who are also rude and snobby, everybody acting like a privileged jerk simply because they paid an extra fee to not sit near the sweaty masses.

Since the companies treat their own product as cheap trash, the consumers will follow suit, the only ones to blame are the companies not the jerky and miserable consumers.

I remember flying in the 70s and 80s, it was pleasant. Most of everyone was respectful and treated everything with respect, the companies respected themselves and their product and it showed. I enjoyed it, now I hate flying domestically.

This was driven home to me last year when I flew to Italy and back. On the way out, flying American Airlines, it was like a cheap bus. AA had only the one flight to Rome that day, they couldn't find a plane or a crew, even though the flight was scheduled months in advance. We paid them to treat us with a modicum of respect (business class upgrade) and since they changed planes they randomly bumped people, we managed to get on, but was thrown to the back of the plane with the smallest seats. I couldn't sit in them because my knees ground into the seat in front of them because I am tall. Both the staff and the passengers were rude and nasty.

Coming back we flew British Airways and it was 100% better. Had the right flight and the right crew. No overbooking, no steerage classes. Everybody was polite and respectable, and that pleasant attitude came from the staff first. flying British Airways was like flying in the late 70s and early 80s, a very pleasant experience.

Domestic flight companies treat their product like trash, that's why its hell now.

to upgrade to business class for anything over 3 hours, I don't go.

My brother has invited me to join his family on Maui next January, but I don't think I'll go. Too long from the east coast and I don't particularly
want to spend the $$ or miles on upgrading!

On the other hand, I sprung for the very reasonable upgrade to business class included in a cruise of the Mediterranean this summer. It's a 9 hour
direct flight from Atlanta to Barcelona and I will be very comfortable in business class going over and also coming back from Rome.

I did have to negotiate with the cruise line--three times--to get flights that I wanted that also had enough layover time between the connecting flight once I cleared Customs and Immigration coming back to the US. Last thing I wanted was to not make my final leg home!

If we enjoy it, we've already booked a cruise to England next year.

Our cruise over is expensive - but still cheaper than First Class airline tickets - and we get to visit Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Iceland, Scotland, and Ireland on the way over. The cruise back is much cheaper and we get to visit St. Maaten, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Haiti. Since this is likely to be our only visit to the UK we're spending over two months there, plus a month total travel for the two cruises.

I love cruises-especially to your Eastern Caribbean ports but I might not survive more than a week or 2 because I burn the candles at both ends when cruising

November 8, 2016, we were in DC at the National Museum of the American Indian. After that things went downhill. We took the train back from Arlington to Florida, but the engine broke down and our train arrived over nine hours late.

The next week, I was diagnosed with a heart murmur. Thanksgiving morning my husband's appendix burst, but we didn't figure it out for days. He spent three days in the hospital being treated for peritonitis. New Year's Eve his mother went into the ER and she didn't leave the hospital alive. March 2017 my husband finally got the remains of his appendix out.

All through 2017 I spent a lot of time with medical professionals getting my heart problem diagnosed. Along the way, they found cancer on my left kidney. October 23 I got a new aortic valve, November 29 I lost a kidney and a hernia. When I came out of anesthesia that day I found out my Mom had been diagnosed with metastasized liver cancer - she's still hanging in there but is not expected to last out the year. In fact, she has already lasted longer than they expected.

So by the time we leave in July 2019 we will really, really need a break.

If Trump gets impeached I will be happy to throw a party wherever in the world I am!

We kept trying to convince our parents to take a trip to Hawaii. They met in Pearl Harbor - dad was a submariner and Mom a Navy Nurse - during a tour of the submarine after the war was over. Unfortunately they never went back, though I think they would have enjoyed it.

"Distant" can be a relative term. Germany to Dallas is ten to eleven hours, and I can handle that just fine, though not in coach.

By the way, congratulations on your 50th!!

And via LA again on the way back.

I've flown direct to Europe from Denver and back, non-stop flights. Those were tedious, but okay. But I was younger.

Ten hour flights are not the norm, but still part of the routine on occasion, and with all the train strikes and delays in Europe, I still often have days where 12 hours out of the 24 are spent getting from one place to another. I figure maybe 15 more years of this, and then I'll hang it up (I'm 66).

If I had to stop and take a desk job, I think I'd die of boredom within a month.

I took a really good job to stop traveling so much, and now, wish I traveled again. I did it for so long that it almost became the job in a strange way.

And I don't even get claustrophobia in an MRI tube.

But at this point, the people I work with are mostly friends as well. I'd feel cut off from the world. Well, my world anyway.

Last year we visited Sydney Australia which is a 14 hour flight.
We try to go premium economy to make the flight more comfortable.
The flights really do not seem that long.
I just hate turbulence!

A very happy anniversary to you!
50 years......how wonderful!

We took our fifth trip there last year and my wife says she thinks it is our final one. She wants to explore Florida going forward because we would have short flights and no jet lag. The long flight has become too much for her too.