Singapore airlines - excellent service, generally one of the cheaper airlines and Singapore airport is amazing.
Air New Zealand - excellent service but we've always found them slightly more expensive. Los Angeles transit lounge is depressing too.
KLM - in my experience, DON'T GO NEAR THEM! Awful service, miserable staff and no TV's on the plane. The only saving grace for my flight with them was that we stopped at Singapore airport.
(That's the only airlines we've ever used so can't comment on any others..... )
The longest wait we've had between flights is about 4 hours (apart from a 7 hour wait in Amsterdam to fly to Cardiff!). Personally, I wouldn't like a stopover any longer than a few hours, I'd rather just just get the flight over and done with, but then I had a child with me, so a long stopover for a bit of sightseeing and rest might be nice for others!
Good luck with everything Alison
