Virgin Australia "Premier Economy"

Overall comfort: not there yet. It wasn't waterboarding but it wasn't a hot tub, either. HOWEVER - their promotional price matches Delta's coach fate so GO FOR IT (and screw the miles).

This class of service isn't economy by a long shot but isn't business either. From LAX -> Sydney, bottom line, it was 14 hours of moderate torture, not bad torture. Seat width - great; recline - good; video screen - great; noise canceling headphones - very nice (although mine had a broken plastic piece that kept scratching me); snack bar - totally over-rated, flight attendants - really great.

Sydney airport was awful - line to get out of customs was a good kilometer long. I had a two-hour connection and made it with 15 minutes to spare. Wasn't helped by waiting for Virgin's inter-terminal transfer bus for 35 minutes.