No one I know is going to be taking 17 hour direct flights anywhere if I have anything to do with it.
My best friend, seriously wealthy, can't stop himself from flying economy for his annual skiing trip to Aspen,, Vail, etc.
This time a few weeks after return, he came down with chest pains,weakness and shortness of breath.
Imaging at the Alfred shows he is a mass of blood clots, Lung, heart and right leg. He is now on clot dissolvers and is to be rerassessed in Six weeks. The problem? DVT. Probably exacerbated by time at altitude skiing ( your blood thickens up - more red cells). I then found out he had a smaller bout in the other leg after last year's trip and was wearing compression socks this time.
You cannot imagine what a bad patient he is; demanding to be fixed immediately! Wanting to telescope the reassessment time, etc. I've told him if he doesn't stop work, slow down and take it easy, he is going to be a very rich corpse.
Ive suggested next year its business or first class and short hops - Melbourne, Auckland, Hawaii, west coast, overnighting in each.
To put that another way, where I live - north eastern Victoria, almost everyone we know who is retired or semi retired goes overseas every winter to escape some of the cold. We want our comfort and are prepared to pay something extra for it. From my point of view, Qantas totally ignores our market segment
Its not that hard , but a seventeen hour flight in economy with one inch extra legroom might be OK for millennials but not for us old fellas. Who remembers the QF "Fading blue denim" seat covers and market promotion on the kangaroo route? What about a new promotion with free Zimmer frame storage?
Last edited by Sunfish; 10th May 2017 at 22:45.