Qantas/BA: These Are My Favourite Things (QF A380 J, BA 777 J, QF 744 F)

[KeithMEL]

whY+ pax boarded with J pax, as these cabins are located on the upper deck. Despite the very full aircraft, boarding was v orderly and efficient. There were also a fair few peeps stopping to take pics with/of the aircraft on the aerobridge; it was evident that a significant number of pax had no idea that they’d be riding the Qantas A380 (let alone its inaugural service on the Kangaroo route) - judging by the surprised reactions both at the Flounge and at the gate. The ushers on the jetway were only too happy to assist with photo requests.










To be continued...

[KeithMEL]

Inaugural Qantas A380 Service to Singapore and London Heathrow; Part II: The Onboard Experience, Sydney to Singapore

I was greeted at the entrance to the aircraft by a rather flamboyant FA who made a fuss of making sure that every entry to the aircraft was a grand entrance. Upon entering the aircraft, I instinctively looked for stairs without realising that I was already standing on the upper deck – so used I was to boarding a 747. According to another FA, I was apparently not the only one with that ‘doh!’ moment.

I walked through the bright red JCL cabin until I reached my seat which was in the last row. JCL was split into 3 cabins; rows 11-13 were in the front mini cabin, rows 24 and 25 were in their own little cabin at the back, whilst rows 14-23 were situated in the main cabin which reminds me a bit like the youth hostel configuration on a BA 777 in Club World, though this dormitory feel is somewhat negated on Qantas by the large shell enclosure around each Skybed which almost obliterates your view of the front of the cabin.



[aside]
In my attempt to nab a better seat a few days prior to departure, the reservations agent had inadvertently “lost” my prior seat assignment in the 2nd row of Business (foremost mini cabin) before realising that the computer would not accept specific seat requests within 80 hours of departure. At AKL check in I was assigned row 17, in the middle of the dormitory. One of the SYD First Hosts had managed to place me in row 25, which was in the backmost cabin and a better choice than the main cabin. Or so I thought at that time...
[/aside]




rows 24 and 25


seat 25B

The seat pitch on the A380’s JCL cabin was simply massive – this was rather obvious when I settled down into the seat and found that my legs couldn’t even stretch out halfway to the seat in front. Privacy in the new JCL cabin, for those who want it, is enhanced by a large divider between the seats which could be adjusted at the touch of a button. The Skybed mk2 had noticeably more buttons to play with than its predecessor – you could now adjust the intensity or focus of your massage, as well as “save” when you’ve found that comfortable seating angle to “recall” it later. The massive PTV screens are no longer mounted on the seat in front, but pop out from your seat upon pushing a button. Love the v space age-cool IFE controller. And finally, the seat belt resembles car seat belts, presumably for the benefit of the infrequent pax.









privacy divider






My seat mate was already at her seat when I arrived. She didn’t seem to mind my constant picture taking, and was in fact slightly bemused. Upon introducing ourselves, I realised that she was the editor of the Qantas inflight magazine. A very pleasant lady, unfortunately we didn’t get to chat much the entire flight as she seemed busy with her work. Also at our seats was a Marc Newson coffee table book on design, compliments of Qantas as a “precious momento of this flight” as the CSM later announced.

[KeithMEL]

An FA by the name of Ritchi, who personally introduced himself to each pax, soon appeared with the pre take off drinks service. The champagne was of a darker colour than usual and looked suspiciously like a rose, and after a sip I realised that this was a rather nice drop; Ritchi confirmed that Dom Perignon Rose was being served to celebrate the inaugural. Unfortunately it was only meant for pre take off, but he promised to come back with more post take off if they had any left.


Dom Perignon Rose

Departure was delayed by some late connecting pax from the domestic terminal. But without too much of a delay, we were finally taking off down the runway – a take off I hardly felt! I’d thought when I was on the lower deck of the A380 last year, that it’s the quietest take off I’ve ever experienced. On the upper deck OTOH, I felt nothing more than a gentle murmur. The whole thing felt more like a cruise liner than a jet.

Bar service quickly came around after take off, and I got another glass of Dom Perignon Rose as promised. And a third. And +1. And alas we had to go back to the standard Charles Heidsieck MEC thereafter, for the JCL cabin was then devoid of all of the special bubbles.

Dinner was soon served. Seated in the last row, it took a long time to be fed. An FA explained that although the airline had worked out the crew : pax ratio in terms of mandated safety standards, they’d failed to take into account that there was a workload imbalance in having all 75 JCL pax in what’s effectively one cabin served by the same set of crew. Not to mention the fact that LHR flights are always chockablock. JCL requires a greater level of service than whY+ or whY, and has a higher concentration of pax than FCL. Profuse apologies were offered for the slow service, though it was rather remarkable (and a relief!) that they had time to top up empty glasses whilst the service cart slowly trundled its way down the cabin.

Menu for this flight here.
This was a full dinner rather than a ‘supper’ service so we got a proper entree to begin with. Then came the main – I picked the most delicious and fresh beef fillet. Switched to the Cabernet Merlot for my main; v generous flavours. I felt pretty full and had decided to skip dessert, but got talked into having something anyway – picked the fruit platter as it seems the lightest option. Along with some Bailey’s .






Mmm... lots of fruits in this report

Decided to check out the IFE whilst waiting for food. There was an expansive selection of programs in the new entertainment system; I was spoilt for choice and probably spent lots of time trying to decide what to watch. Watched The Duchess on this leg, as I’m rather fascinated by the life of Georgiana Cavendish (nee Spencer), Duchess of Devonshire and had read the biography this film was based on; Keira Knightley’s portrayal of Georgiana was hauntingly impresive, as was Ralph Fiennes’ performance as the passive aggressive Duke of Devonshire and Dominic Cooper in his role as Earl Grey. The chemistry was simply spellbinding.


PTV screen with new and improved flight path

After a few more glasses of Charles Heidsieck, the day started to catch up with me. I decided to have a short nap as well as check out the new and improved Skybed. As promised, the bed reclines to a 180 degree position. As well, it has a lot more padding and feels more solid than many other JCL flat seats. Best of all, it is most ergonomically friendly and contours itself to your body shape. The NZ Business Premier seat still had the edge in sleeping comfort (mainly because NZ lays a mattress pad on the seat when in bed mode), but the Skybed’s one big advantage was the ease of adjusting everything with the seat controls unlike the latter which required an FA’s intervention to switch from seat to bed mode and vice versa. There were also easy-to-reach buttons inside the seat shell to facilitate changing the form of the seat.





I woke up with 2 hours to go before landing in Singapore. Despite the numerous self serve bars, Ritchi and his colleagues still came around with platters of snacks and drinks. I decided to pay the onboard lounge a visit. It was a nice little space away from the rest of the cabin, with a nice selection of magazines and newspapers, and a large TV screen. The lounge was surprisingly busy, though it could hold no more than 6 pax at a time. The FAs kept coming around to check if people needed food or drink, all this despite the self serve bars – it’s great that the FAs don’t see the self serve bars as an excuse to slack off.


self-serve bar (x 3, maybe 4? in JCL)







Shortly after I got into the lounge, possibly the youngest pax on the inaugural decided to pop in – 8 month old Baby Josh. He was full of cheers despite it being way past his bedtime, and charmed everyone he met with his cheeky grins and playful chuckles. His dad consented to my taking a pic of him.

[KeithMEL]

All too soon, it was time for descent. The crew went around the cabin, seeking our individual feedback and apologising once again for the slow meal service. Ritchi gently advised us to “go easy” on the UK crew who’d be taking over for the onward sector, as it’d be their very first time on the A380.

The final approach to Singapore was extremely bumpy, but we made a rather smooth landing at Singapore’s Changi Airport. The CSM advised over the PA that we should sit down and chill out as it’d take at least 10 minutes for the aerobridges to be connected. We were also told that we have to take everything off the plane for the transit at SIN. Finally, off we went – to be welcomed by a banner at SIN commemorating the inaugural Qantas A380 service to Singapore. Changi Airport staff were also handing out baggage tags as souvenirs to all pax of QF31.



To be continued...

[jhm]

This coming weekend, I'm staying in the Westin Grand Berlin again (but this time as a PLT) - will let you know how it goes.

Upgraded to a junior suite - which is double the size of a normal room - overlooking the garden (rather than Unter den Linden which will probably be noisy). However, half of the suite (the bedroom) has no windows! No lounge.

The location is good for me - right next to a U-bahn entrance and a few minutes walk down the road from the Brandenburg Gate - but perhaps not for the places you want to frequent ?

The location is really the only plus point of this hotel IMO - everything else seems pretty ordinary and I've stayed in Westins elsewhere which are better.

[taipeiflyer]

a great TR keithMEL. so happy you got to be on the inaugural!!

[VC10 Boy]

Excellent rep' Keith.

Looking at the pics though I can't help thinking QF J is similar to SQ regional 330 J. The SQ 380 J is where I'd rather be on the kangeroo routes. Still if they're open for redemptions my one world miles may be going to QF.

[KeithMEL]

Excellent rep' Keith.

Looking at the pics though I can't help thinking QF J is similar to SQ regional 330 J. The SQ 380 J is where I'd rather be on the kangeroo routes. Still if they're open for redemptions my one world miles may be going to QF.

Have yet to try the SQ A380 J, only R alas. The QF soft product is what wins it for me though - food, wine, (especially) service, IFE - QF all the way for me.

[Kiwi]

IME QF service is too more uneven. Some flights great and others not good at all.

[KeithMEL]

IME QF service is too more uneven. Some flights great and others not good at all.

I'd defer to your more extensive experiences of QF, however I must conclude that I've pretty lucky then, as IME they've all been great at least and sublime at best.

[KeithMEL]

Inaugural Qantas A380 Service to Singapore and London Heathrow; Part III: The Onboard Experience, Singapore to London Heathrow

We were advised at the jetway that reboarding would happen in 45 minutes. I made my way to the joint QF/BA Flounge at T1 to take a shower before the long overnight sector to London. The place was fairly empty and I basically had the pick of shower cubicles. Pretty nice and spacious showers at the SIN Flounge, with the usual array of Molton Brown amenities.







I waited till the 2nd boarding call arrived to board the flight, as IME the boarding calls at SIN are made before boarding actually began. All well and good to ensure people had time to made it to the gate except today we were boarding at C23 which isn’t that far away. I arrived just after FCL had boarded, and they’d started making the call for JCL/whY+/shiny cards. The boarding gate was a bit of a zoo, as there were scarcely enough seats for everyone in the holding area.

As noted earlier, the UK crew took over for the onward sector to London and it was their very first time on the A380. They seemed just as excited as many of us were. QF handpicks its crew for the A380, and the crew members on this particular sector were handpicked from QF’s little outpost in London itself. Given that the UK base is reputedly the best in the system as is, we’re indeed served by crème de la crème on this flight. Indeed – throughout the flight, the enthusiastic crew were only too happy to render any assistance that pax might require and seemed to be doing so because they are genuinely fantastic and fabulous people, not simply because it’s part of the job.

On this flight, the crew was an even mix of Australian, British and continental European nationalities. They were led by CSM Nicki who had a voice most suited for making PAs. My part of the cabin was served by a rather chirpy and dedicated young woman who took delight in emptying as many champagne bottles as she could for pre take off drinkies. As take off was delayed not once but twice, this meant she was most successful in her endeavours. We could not take off at first due to the unexpectedly short flight time due to favourable winds and hence had to delay departure to avoid landing out of turn at LHR. Then just when we were ready to push back, a pax announced that he was rather unwell and asked to be offloaded. The FAs also took the opportunity to hand out PJs, amenity kits and collected brekky order cards whilst we were stuck on the ground.

We were finally ready to go after an hour and a bit. I’d decided that I was simply too tired to have supper, and in any case I wasn’t at all hungry. I took the opportunity to change into PJs whilst we were on the ground, so immediately after take off – I’d reclined my seat and went straight to bed. Had a good solid sleep, and woke up with 5 hours to go.

I went towards the self serve bars to scavenge for some snacks. (note to self: rows 11-13 has a more direct access to the self serve bars, and more importantly – they put out champers at the self serve bars...) On my way there, I was stopped by an FA who noted that I’d missed supper and would I like to have something fixed up then and there – as they still have a few bits and pieces of supper items that they could cook. As I’d ascertained that it’d only be 3 hours to go before brekky was served, I instead opted to have some sandwiches from the refreshment menu to tide me over rather than a full hot meal. Snacked on some freshly made tuna mayo baguettes which were pretty tasty. Like the previous flight, the FAs also circulated the cabin with trays of snacks and drinks in spite of the self serve bars.

Whilst sitting in the lounge, I came across Nicki, the v amiable and excitable CSM who immediately sat down for a chat. She was evidently v happy about working on the A380 for the first time, and urged me to have a tour of the a/c. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to enter the FCL cabin, but she indicated that it was possible to go down the stairs after arriving at Heathrow to check out the cabin before disembarking. Aside from that I was allowed practically free rein of the entire plane.

You do start to appreciate how massive the A380 actually is after doing a tour of almost the entire plane. The galleys all looked similar to the old ones in terms of features, except they had a lot more groovy buttons to press now. I also noticed an espresso machine in the JCL galley. Pics from my little tour:




front stairwell/ “Stairway to Heaven”


whY+ - lots of space in the emergency exit row


self serve bar in whY+


back stairs


gate at the top of back stairs to keep the riff raff from downstairs out


a packed whY cabin




self serve bar in whY

[KeithMEL]

Whilst touring the aircraft, crew I encountered in other parts of the aircraft would always be eager to ask if I needed anything or be rather keen to explain to me what various things were. FAs also regularly popped into the JCL lounge to offer snacks and drinks at least once every 30 mins.

Soon, the smells of breakfast being prepared waffed across the cabin and I decided to retire to my seat for the rest of the flight. The usual hot towel service was performed to signal that food was ready. There was a slight delay after theyd done the row ahead of us as the crew had misplaced the brekky order cards of my seatmate and I, so we had to fill up another one. They were most apologetic but assured us that there was more than enough of everything to go around so we needn’t worry on that front. Breakfast, as usual, was wholesome and scrummy.


my order of crossiant with strawberry jam and butter, fruit salad, Charles Heidsieck, grinders coffee (was able to get a soy latte later), scrambled eggs, English spinach, baked beans, sausages

There was then the usual post-brekky scramble to change back into street clothes and wash up before preparations for landing had gotten underway. All too soon it was time for descent, but not before the ATC-mandated holding pattern due to congested airspace. We then made another v smooth landing at London Heathrow. Despite the rather delayed departure and the ATC hold, we managed to make up some time along the way and hence docked at the gate a mere 20 minutes behind schedule. It was with a tinge of regret that I finally tore myself away from the aircraft, with its new products and features reinforcing Qantas’s role as my preferred supplier.

1 Dec 1947: Qantas debuts the Kangaroo route with Lockheed Costellation aircraft carrying 29 pax and 11 crew from Sydney to London via Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo and Tripoli. This created "one of the most important events in the history of Australian commercial aviation." (Daily Mirror)
1959: Qantas introduces the 707 on the Kangaroo route.
1971: Qantas 747s were introduced on the Kangaroo route.
16 Jan 2009: The Qantas A380 debuts on the Kangaroo route.

“Thanks for being part of history with us today,” concludes Nicki.

Next: BA73 LHR-(AUH)-MCT J

[jhm]

On my way there, I was stopped by an FA who noted that I’d missed supper and would I like to have something fixed up then and there – as they still have a few bits and pieces of supper items that they could cook.

Impressive if they remembered this unprompted and that they were willing to rustle up something for you!

Glad to hear that your plane arrived with all bits intact. Gosh, it seems it must be ... months since any news like that ? Hopefully 2009 will be a better year for QF on the news front!

[Kiwi]

I'd defer to your more extensive experiences of QF, however I must conclude that I've pretty lucky then, as IME they've all been great at least and sublime at best.

It doesn't help that my most recent QF experience was bad, so it sticks in my mind.

[Kiwi]

Impressive if they remembered this unprompted and that they were willing to rustle up something for you!

Agreed. I've had that happen to me before on QF too, but very much depends on the crew (other times I've had no mention).