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In September of this year, I went on an extended business trip to Australia. This spanned two weeks, and covered Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, as well as a personal side trip to Perth. It was a long time to be away from home, but it was necessary from a work perspective, and also gave me the opportunity to visit friends and family while on the road.
I flew the trip entirely on Qantas, including one segment on QF's LCC arm, Jetstar.
I am based in Singapore, and SQ is my favourite airline. Why did I fly Qantas?
For this trip, I did so because I was keen to see what the post-COVID experience was like on QF. My last experiences on Qantas were pre-COVID, on their A330 and also their A380 with the 1st gen cabin product. My experiences back then were very positive. Now Qantas was operating new Boeing 787-9's to Singapore, along with Airbus A380's, reactivated from storage during the pandemic, and equipped with refreshed cabin products. The Qantas Singapore Lounge, closed during the pandemic, was also now open again. My flights on QF would be on new equipment and/or new cabin products that I had not tried before. I would also get to revisit one of my favourite lounges at Changi.
Regulars on this forum will know that in the pre-COVID heyday of business travel, I travelled enough to hit both Star Alliance Gold / KF Gold and Oneworld Sapphire / Qantas Gold in a single qualification year. As the pandemic ended, both SQ and QF were kind enough to allow me to maintain status even though I did no flying during the pandemic. But now that travel is booming again, airlines are again starting to qualify status very strictly. I no longer fly enough to qualify for Gold status (or its equivalent) on both Star and Oneworld simultaneously.
At some point later this year, I will need to make a decision whether to fly the rest of the qualification year on SQ / Star Alliance or QF / Oneworld. My previous trips in the past year were with Star Alliance Carriers (SQ, TG, NH, LH, LX). This trip would provide me with a perspective on what was going on in the QF / Oneworld camp, and hopefully better inform my decision.
On this trip, I would begin with a SIN-MEL sector on one of QF's newest equipment types, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, in Premium Economy. Then, a domestic QF 737 sector to Brisbane in Economy, followed by a Jetstar A320 Y sector back to Melbourne. After that, a QF A330 segment in Business from Melbourne to Perth, and a return on the same aircraft type in Economy. After that, a MEL-SYD sector in QF 737 Y, before flying home on a Qantas A380 in Business Class, on flight QF1 SYD-SIN, on an aircraft with new refreshed A380 cabin products and a revamped upper deck lounge.
Along the way, a few runs in Perth and Melbourne, as well as some amazing meals, including omakase sushi at Melbourne's Minamishima, steak at Rockpool Bar & Grill in both Sydney and Melbourne. I could not resist old favourites such as Lulu's Char Koay Teow in Melbourne, and Beef pho at Mekong in Melbourne, and Pho Pasteur in Sydney.
I've recently developed a taste for cocktails and mixology. On this trip, I visited several excellent cocktail bars, including Nick & Nora and Lily Black's in Melbourne (Where I caught up with fellow SQTalker SQ228), and Cantina OK!, Baxter's Inn, Dean & Nancy on 22 and Maybe Sammy, in Sydney.
On this trip, I stayed at several excellent properties, including the DoubleTree Hilton Flinders Street in Melbourne, and the West Hotel in Sydney, part of the Hilton Curio collection. These 2 might now be my preferred hotel choices if I visit these cities again.
Fasten your seat belts, sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of this trip report!
I flew the trip entirely on Qantas, including one segment on QF's LCC arm, Jetstar.
I am based in Singapore, and SQ is my favourite airline. Why did I fly Qantas?
For this trip, I did so because I was keen to see what the post-COVID experience was like on QF. My last experiences on Qantas were pre-COVID, on their A330 and also their A380 with the 1st gen cabin product. My experiences back then were very positive. Now Qantas was operating new Boeing 787-9's to Singapore, along with Airbus A380's, reactivated from storage during the pandemic, and equipped with refreshed cabin products. The Qantas Singapore Lounge, closed during the pandemic, was also now open again. My flights on QF would be on new equipment and/or new cabin products that I had not tried before. I would also get to revisit one of my favourite lounges at Changi.
Regulars on this forum will know that in the pre-COVID heyday of business travel, I travelled enough to hit both Star Alliance Gold / KF Gold and Oneworld Sapphire / Qantas Gold in a single qualification year. As the pandemic ended, both SQ and QF were kind enough to allow me to maintain status even though I did no flying during the pandemic. But now that travel is booming again, airlines are again starting to qualify status very strictly. I no longer fly enough to qualify for Gold status (or its equivalent) on both Star and Oneworld simultaneously.
At some point later this year, I will need to make a decision whether to fly the rest of the qualification year on SQ / Star Alliance or QF / Oneworld. My previous trips in the past year were with Star Alliance Carriers (SQ, TG, NH, LH, LX). This trip would provide me with a perspective on what was going on in the QF / Oneworld camp, and hopefully better inform my decision.
On this trip, I would begin with a SIN-MEL sector on one of QF's newest equipment types, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, in Premium Economy. Then, a domestic QF 737 sector to Brisbane in Economy, followed by a Jetstar A320 Y sector back to Melbourne. After that, a QF A330 segment in Business from Melbourne to Perth, and a return on the same aircraft type in Economy. After that, a MEL-SYD sector in QF 737 Y, before flying home on a Qantas A380 in Business Class, on flight QF1 SYD-SIN, on an aircraft with new refreshed A380 cabin products and a revamped upper deck lounge.
Along the way, a few runs in Perth and Melbourne, as well as some amazing meals, including omakase sushi at Melbourne's Minamishima, steak at Rockpool Bar & Grill in both Sydney and Melbourne. I could not resist old favourites such as Lulu's Char Koay Teow in Melbourne, and Beef pho at Mekong in Melbourne, and Pho Pasteur in Sydney.
I've recently developed a taste for cocktails and mixology. On this trip, I visited several excellent cocktail bars, including Nick & Nora and Lily Black's in Melbourne (Where I caught up with fellow SQTalker SQ228), and Cantina OK!, Baxter's Inn, Dean & Nancy on 22 and Maybe Sammy, in Sydney.
On this trip, I stayed at several excellent properties, including the DoubleTree Hilton Flinders Street in Melbourne, and the West Hotel in Sydney, part of the Hilton Curio collection. These 2 might now be my preferred hotel choices if I visit these cities again.
Fasten your seat belts, sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of this trip report!
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