Hi. Thanks for the reply. I’m in serious planning mode - I have a spreadsheet of 1st choice flights and alternatives should that fail. Anyone who knows me knows that once Excel comes out things are getting serious!

I’ve chosen my route so that there are
multiple airlines offering the same or very similar routes - i.e LAX-SYD have DL, UA, QF all leaving at the same time so hopefully a good chance of getting on something.
The main goal is definitely ‘going downstairs’ on the A346. The A350 and A380 will be around for a while yet so while I’d like to get them under my belt I have a few years yet on those types. If I can’t get MUC-LAX on the A346, LH also do JFK or BOS on the same day with that type and I’m quite prepared to change routings. At the end of the day I just love flying and aviation so just being on a plane is good enough for me.