It took me 27 years after getting hired to make it to the 747-400. Taking off and landing the 400 is a lot of fun. Laying over in London, Rome, or Singapore is cool. Cruising for 13 hours is not, or feeling tired all of the time. You fly the 747 in two conditions; either the sun is directly in your face or it's dark and the sun is about to come up and shine directly in your face. If you want to fly across the water, shoot for the Caribbean or California to Hawaii. Having said that though, I wouldn't have traded it for anything else.