We flew out in April with BA. No problem with the flight (except we left 1 hr late due a seal missing on the undercarriage door!) and we also decided to pay the extra to go into World Traveller plus; same meals as World Traveller (economy), but miles more room and at 6' 3" I appreciated it. We decided to 'one hit' it to Sydney, so can't help with the stopover. BA were cheapest at the time of booking, but Virgin were only about �100 more (for a return flight), whereas Qantas was a fair bit more(about �600). I think its a case of 'you pay your money, you make your choice'.