Oh, and never ever do Tuscany without a car, absolutely beautiful region.
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So just got back this morning. I did Seattle to LAX (American) and then QANTAS to Melbourne.
The good news is that the new connection from Terminal 4 to Bradley (international) is now operational and it means you not go through customs or security anymore. You stay airside and itās a breeze. Just follow the signs to Terminal B. As the blurb from the QANTAS magazine says you head to Gate 41 and itās off to the left. I flew into a satellite terminal 5 from Seattle so got bused to the main terminal 5 and it was still and easy matter of just following the signs and walking to terminal 4.
Obviously the connection time is still dependent on your flight arriving from Miami without a big delay.
As for Bradley, itās new and looks like it has lots of good places to hang out. I stayed in the QANTAS business lounge. Itās fine for seating. If you want a drink thereās an impressive bar. Food wise itās average for selection, regardless if you are omnivore or herbivore. Emirates is way ahead from my limited experience. The Emirates Rome lounge is outstanding. Food wise itās equivalent to eating at a very good quality Italian trattoria.
Please tell me Qantas have upgraded their whole fleet of A380ās now and they donāt have the horrible droopy beds
As I turn right on the vast majority of my flights Iām not the one to ask.
Shouldāve turned right at Albuquerque.
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Cathay Pacific business looks a bit squashy, more squashy than Qantas anyway.
La-de-fkn-dah, you lot whingeing about your fkn business class seatsā¦ 
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The worst Cathay business seats are better than the best Qantas business seats. Qantas is in the process of overhauling all thei business class seats though. They are still one of the most expensive carriers though unfortunately
Thatās good to know. Iām flying back business on Cathay. Walking through there on the fly into Europe it seemed smaller than Qantas, glad itās not. May have just been the plane (A330)
I now only use Air NZ to go to USA. Cheapest Business Class seats if you chose the correct days to fly. Plane are Boeing 777 with lie flat bed and service beats Qantas by a very long way, not as though that is very hard these days.
We just booked for Houston in Sept at $4,250 return in Business. QANTAS was nearly $10,000 and United was about $7,000. And the Air NZ flights are quicker and less hassle going to and from Auckland direct to Houston, which is an excellent hub to fly anywhere in USA.
Yep. Plenty of people I know are rusted on QF passengers and wonāt change no matter how much they are stuffed around or the price. A real pity because they were once a brilliant airline. As you said Air NZ offer better service and times and China Airlines is another who often have $4000 fares to the US or Europe in very modern and comfortable aircraft. Plenty of bargains out there if you are flexible.
The worst Cathay business seats are the 2-2-2 configuration on their A330 or the 2-3-2 on their 777. They should mostly be phased out for long haul and the 1-2-1 reverse herringbone seating is great. You should be able to see which setup you have
Took the niece and nephew to Selwyn this morning for a bit of tobogganing and boarding. Was fairly quite there and I went for a ski and the little buggers flew past me on their boards. Really wished I had learnt properly as a kid 
I used to be one of those, but now that Qantas only go to London first when going to Europe and have sent a heap of their maintenance to 3rd world countries Iāve moved away from them.
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Yep, just wait until project sunrise is unleashed and you are stuck on the nightmare which is Qantasā Dreamliner for 17+ hours
Last four trip Melbourne to hong Kong on Cathay were all 1-2-1 on a330s though will be replaced with 777s and a350s. 350s very nice plane. Nice humidity inside!
Air NZās business is pretty good as is their service. I do prefer Virginās the business to LA for comfort though. Easily the best seat I have experienced although Iāve never flown Cathay business so cannot offer that comparison.
Virgin are top 5 for most comfortable seats in business class IMO. I rate them better than Cathay.
I am curious as to who else is in your top 5. I expect your experience is more diverse than mine.
Do you mean you havenāt wrecked it yet?