Qatar Airways Airbus A319CJ Business One. Photo / Supplied
The plane: Airbus A319CJ - the VIP aircraft of Qatar Airways, operating an evening service from London to Doha in an all-premium layout - it's called Business One. The plane can fly for up to nine hours and has 40 seats.
Class: There is only one.
Price: Varies; booking was part of a London-Auckland segment in conjunction with Qantas. One way from London to Doha is about 2500 ($5000).
My seat: 1A - Fully flat bed, giant pillows, Armani amenity kit, cosy blanket and a pair of giant pyjamas all dished out. Plus being in the first row I got unrestricted great views of London lights lighting up the low cloud just after take-off - superb.
On time: To the second.
Fellow passengers: Four American businessman, a Kenyan couple, a handful of British and Indian business travellers and me.
How full: 13 passengers, plus five crew and two pilots.
Entertainment: Watched Birdman and Foxcatcher. Music options terrible - no individual albums, just endless "best of" albums - like NOW 6. TV options looked decent.
Service: Attentive. One crew member for every two or three passengers means service. Nothing was too much trouble, from replacing dud headphones to asking for an extra mattress.
Food and drink: Qatar Airways wins the Skytrax "Best Business Class" award year on year. I've had better food on their larger planes; maybe there are limitations and smaller ovens on the Airbus. But they did rustle up a decent seven-course dinner followed by breakfast. Smoothies and beetroot juices make for a good revival on arrival.
Toilets: Three. Standard sized, spotless and never a wait.
Luggage: Up to 40kg, and more if you're a oneworld elite member.
The airport experience: Qatar has a special lounge in Heathrow for Business/First passengers only. There is a martini bar, restaurant, deli, brasserie area, TV lounge and seating for 70-plus even if only about 30 passengers at one time will ever use it. The Doha lounge is a giant version of the London lounge, where it's easy to pass time.
Would I fly this again: Although the aircraft is a novelty, when it comes to small light planes versus big wide jets, turbulence is kinder to the latter and that wins me over every time.
The plane: 777-300ER.
Class: Business.
Price: Business Class return flights start at $7491. From Auckland to Dusseldorf, return flights are $10,959.
My seat: 6K.
On time? Faultless. When you've already been on three different planes there are few better feelings than being told you have a Business Class upgrade and everything is running on time.
Fellow passengers: A very polite woman to my left who was probably surprised to see a bloke wearing trackpants and an NBA singlet in Business Class. The rest of the team, an interesting array of people, were pretty subdued. I walked down the tunnel with a bloke who had also been bumped up to Business Class and he was stoked.
How full: Plenty full in Business. There were eight private suites in first class and five were taken. A flight attendant told me it was rare to see that many of them occupied.
Entertainment: Decent selection of films and television shows. Have you watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine? If not, get into it; it's a great show. On top of that there was plenty of music. You could wade your way through Britain's No1 singles back to the 1950s but I was disappointed to find Robbie Williams' 1999 smash hit Strong wasn't on the list. I later found out it peaked at No4. Travesty.
The service: Couldn't fault it. Very polite and the Bacardi and Cokes continued to flow. I am pretty sure it was 5pm in the world somewhere at the time.
Food and drink: Can never work out why Emirates don't offer dark rum but other than that I had no reason to complain. On the near seven-hour flight we were fed twice and the food was fantastic. A quick glass of Champagne before takeoff is always a great touch.
The toilets: They were in immaculate condition and who wouldn't want a spray of Eau de Rochas cologne after spending the past 20 hours on a collection of planes? In business we also got a nice ensemble of toiletries to help scrub up before landing.
Luggage: Well, everything got there and after the two-day travel odyssey I had just completed I was pretty pleased about that.
The airport experience: I wouldn't rave about the wifi at Dubai airport, mostly because I couldn't even connect to it to gauge the quality. Otherwise it was a smooth transition between flights and everything is well signposted.
Would I fly this again? Sign me up.
The plane: An Airbus A320. One of the cool black domestic planes.
Class: Only one class.
Price: $388 return.
On time: Departed four minutes late but arrived nine minutes early.
My seat: Aisle seat just behind the wings. The plane's leather upholstery was tidy and clean and there was a spare seat next to me.
Fellow passengers: A mix of Japanese and Chinese tourists, one or two families and the rest made up of students.
How full: There are a handful of empty seats.
Entertainment: No individual screens. The safety video is delivered via 18 small LCD screens that drop down from the ceiling. No games or movies, but pub quiz general knowledge questions keep me occupied enough during the one and a half hour flight.
The service: Friendly, with a smile.
Food and drink: L&P, water, tea and coffee were the only non-alcoholic drinks. Beer and wine are available for purchase to wash down cassava chips or cheese and crackers.
The toilets: One in the front and rear. Clean, but the soap dispenser was out of order and had been replaced with a watered-down liquid dispenser on the shelf.
Luggage: Just enough over-head storage available, with one check-in bag under 23kg.
The airport experience: Plenty of shops with refreshments available before going through the gates. The terminal has a drink-vending machine and large viewing windows of the planes outside. There are a few power points dotted around, and free wifi. It's warm with plenty of seating.
Would I fly this again? Yes. Queenstown can have very mixed weather and all the Air New Zealand planes have the equipment to land in wet weather. I have flown with other airlines into Queenstown only to be diverted to Dunedin because of rain, while Air New Zealand jets always seem to land on schedule.
Overall price: $1850 return, a very good deal.
Flight One: New York to LA.
Class: Economy.
On time? Takeoff from JFK is on time and smooth, which is a little unusual as anyone who has flown from this airport frequently will know. We also land on time.
My seat: 56K - it's a big plane. The pitch of the seat doesn't matter too much as I have two empty seats next to me. I can put my feet up and almost lie down.
The service: Great from the female flight attendant, who wanted to talk tennis.
Fellow passengers: Appeared to be a few Aussies taking advantage of the cheap Qantas prices, as well as a few tennis people - including me - coming from the US Open. The winner of the junior title was on board with his parents.
The toilets: Reasonable and not much delay.
The food: Regular fare, but very edible, and the service was extra good. The gin and tonic they made me just about knocked me out with its strength. The Lounge beforehand was great.
Flight time: Five hours and 10 minutes.
Flight Two: LA to Sydney.
On time: We arrived in Sydney on time, although trying to get through transit and eventually to the lounge was a nightmare and Sydney continues its trend of lacking service at the airport.
My seat: 56K again.
Fellow passengers: The flight was a little more full this time with one other person in the row of three. It's great being on the same international flight rather than swapping from a domestic carrier, which is never as good, to an international plane. I recommend making sure you fly international all the way.
Toilets: Fine.
The service: Seemed pretty good again, with no complaints. It's a long flight and it must be testing for cabin staff at times.
The food: Not sure if it was breakfast or dinner or both, but there seemed to be an array of food. I ate quickly and tried to get back to sleep.
Flight time: About 12 hours.
Flight Three: Sydney to Auckland.
My seat: 18A, with one spare seat next to me in the 3x3 seat combination.
On time: Yes, for takeoff, though we arrived in Auckland 10 minutes late. I noticed the space and a lack of people in the airport. The electronic passports are fantastic for speeding things up. Also Immigration staff, and generally all staff at the airport smile - a rarity at an airport in the US or Australia.
The service: Good on what is a pretty short flight.
The food: Lunch, or breakfast, or dinner. They all become a blur after a while, but you can guarantee there will be a sausage involved.
Would I take this flight again? It adds in an extra stop, but with Lounge access it's not so bad. But the main reason is the price.
Viking’s cruise brings Europe to your balcony..