When it comes to long-haul flights in and out of Australia, the market is dominated by the seven airlines listed here. And Australians bound for Europe, the United Kingdom or the United States are most likely to fly out on any one of four aircraft types – an Airbus A380 or A350; or Boeing’s 777 or Dreamliner 787.

Airline geeks spend hours studying aircraft types and routes with passion. The rest of us tend to just book a flight based on price, available seats, and an airline’s loyalty scheme. Especially given you might do your homework, only for the airline to run an older, unrefurbished aircraft – or to switch out the scheduled aircraft due to operational issues. Nevertheless, researching the smartest ways to get overseas in optimum comfort can only improve your experience at altitude.