Anonymous wrote:
For a trip further east I would go to Constantinople and spend a few days if I have the luxury of time and can find good flights/deals.
I'm intrigued by the folks saying that going west is easier...but there's nothing I want to see out west. Absolutely nothing.

What about Peking? Saigon? Edo? You could also visit Bombay? If you route a little differently maybe you can stop in Zaire or if world politics change, perhaps Leningrad.

It also really matter matters if you’re flying economy versus business class or above, where you get a full bed.

Economy, I would do the two 8 hour stretches, with maybe a layover.

Business class I would opt to sleep for much of the 15 hour flight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents are Indian immigrants so I grew up flying to India every summer to visit family, still do occasionally as an adult. This will depend in part on your travel style, but from the East Coast I strongly prefer flying a European airline with a layover. It breaks the trip up into two roughly equal segments of 7/8 hours. The break is nice to stretch your legs, walk around, and maybe have a meal or a snack. So worth the extra travel time it adds on.

I really dislike being in a plane for 12+ hours, even if it’s a more direct route. So I tend to skip the ME airlines and the direct flights that are 14-15 hours.

I live in NYC and have Finnair as an option. It’s my favorite because it breaks the journey up into literally two equal segments (8 hours each) and Helsinki airport is the best one I’ve been to. It’s peaceful and not too crowded, has good food, and isn’t too big. From DC I would probably fly BA or AF.

My travel twin! We went through Dubai or Qatar en route to India. It was too long even in biz class.
For a trip further east I would go to Constantinople and spend a few days if I have the luxury of time and can find good flights/deals.
I'm intrigued by the folks saying that going west is easier...but there's nothing I want to see out west. Absolutely nothing. I'd rather break up my trip going east. There's so much to see. Helsinki sounds great too!

There is nothing you want to see going west? What?

I have connected/done layovers through Tokyo, Taipei, Seoul, and Singapore. Each is a great place to spend a couple of days.

Anonymous wrote:My parents are Indian immigrants so I grew up flying to India every summer to visit family, still do occasionally as an adult. This will depend in part on your travel style, but from the East Coast I strongly prefer flying a European airline with a layover. It breaks the trip up into two roughly equal segments of 7/8 hours. The break is nice to stretch your legs, walk around, and maybe have a meal or a snack. So worth the extra travel time it adds on.

I really dislike being in a plane for 12+ hours, even if it’s a more direct route. So I tend to skip the ME airlines and the direct flights that are 14-15 hours.

I live in NYC and have Finnair as an option. It’s my favorite because it breaks the journey up into literally two equal segments (8 hours each) and Helsinki airport is the best one I’ve been to. It’s peaceful and not too crowded, has good food, and isn’t too big. From DC I would probably fly BA or AF.

My travel twin! We went through Dubai or Qatar en route to India. It was too long even in biz class.
For a trip further east I would go to Constantinople and spend a few days if I have the luxury of time and can find good flights/deals.
I'm intrigued by the folks saying that going west is easier...but there's nothing I want to see out west. Absolutely nothing. I'd rather break up my trip going east. There's so much to see. Helsinki sounds great too!

My parents are Indian immigrants so I grew up flying to India every summer to visit family, still do occasionally as an adult. This will depend in part on your travel style, but from the East Coast I strongly prefer flying a European airline with a layover. It breaks the trip up into two roughly equal segments of 7/8 hours. The break is nice to stretch your legs, walk around, and maybe have a meal or a snack. So worth the extra travel time it adds on.

I really dislike being in a plane for 12+ hours, even if it’s a more direct route. So I tend to skip the ME airlines and the direct flights that are 14-15 hours.

I live in NYC and have Finnair as an option. It’s my favorite because it breaks the journey up into literally two equal segments (8 hours each) and Helsinki airport is the best one I’ve been to. It’s peaceful and not too crowded, has good food, and isn’t too big. From DC I would probably fly BA or AF.

So it's not as hard flying west. We did loooong trips because I strung together cc points for our flights in prem econ (not on US airlines but on foreign airlines that was well worth it). We did a stop in LAX and TPE before hitting Shanghai. On the way back flying from Beijing, we hit Japan. On the way back we stopped in LAX again. I thought it would be excruciating because of so many stops but it actually was fine. Flying prem econ helped 1000% even with time lost stopping.

For background I am Asian and grew up there most my life over summers so flying back/forth is something I've done many times. My experience stopping more but flying more comfortably beat flying direct on econ. But that's just me - it depends on your needs. I liked being able to lean back to be more comfortable and I just liked the amenities better than made the trip easier.