We were all looking forward to the trip to New Zealand and Australia, but I was really concerned how our kids would handle the long plane ride.

I had heard great things about Quantas Airlines, but the flight just from Los Angeles to Auckland was supposed to be over thirteen hours long!

First I tried to find out if we could get an upgrade to make the ride more comfortable. Premium economy wasn’t available on this aircraft so it would have to an upgrade from economy to business class. I had lucked out last August on my trip with Robert to Paris. Swissair had a great deal to upgrade the major part of the trip from NYC to Switzerland for an extra $400.

Big difference on this trip! The best bargain that I could find was an upgrade for an extra $4,000 per person. I was told that a normal round trip flight in business class cost $11,000.

I also tried to use airline miles,  but that proved to be unsuccessful.

So what to bring on the plane to make it more enjoyable or just bearable? I think that the best items that I brought were small fluffy blankets that I bought each for about $12.00 at Marshalls. They easily fit in our individual carry-ons and made us feel like we were in our own soft cocoons. They also served as an extra warm touch of home in our hotels rooms. I brought headphones as well to block out the noise on the plane.

I had great luck,though, at the last minute. Just before we boarded the plane for our long trip, I successfully got us switched to bulkhead seating.  It was still economy, but we had enough leg space that we could extend our legs all the way out.

The plane took off toward our big adventure at about 11:45 pm Pacific Time and we were exhausted after traveling all the way from Albany, NY. So after the plane stabilized, we put our carry-ons on the floor in front of us to act as foot rests, pushed our seats back, put on our headphones and comfy blankets, and fell fast asleep.