QF J SIN-LHR-SIN

[upright man]

Hi everyone, just thought I'd review my recent flights on Qantas, SQ's arch-rival on the Kangaroo route.....
apologies for the disorganised trip report : am writing my review first and then posting pics later.


I flew QF 31 SIN-LHR on 10 June, returned QF 32 LHR-SIN 12 June, in Business Class.

SIN-LHR : on check-in told already flight delayed due to late arrival of plane from SYD - thats a BAD first impression.
QF/BA business lounge in T1 : quite spacious, not crowded, food/drinks so-so.

Seats : nice capsule type, almost like Raffles Spacebed. Was in 26F. Nice amenity set : I got a ladies set for free, and nice grey pyjamas with kangaroo logo. Also lots of socks, eyeshades, earplugs, toothbrush/paste, shaving kit; definitely more generous than SQ.
Food : don't know why, just felt like laksa, advertised as large bowl, but turned out TINY - disappointing.
Their on-board lounge area is quite nice, with lots of drinks and snacks.
Magazines : poor selection.
IFE : not bad selection, AVOD. But screen seemed less bright/contrast. Headphones were not good, ?any noise cancelling.

[upright man]

QF J SIN-LHR-SIN

Had dinner with jjpb3 Mon June 11 at Bumbles restaurant - fabulous.

Took the Heathrow Express to LHR 12 June - excellent experience.

Check in T4 : horrible crowds (as usual at LHR) - QF shares counters with BA and the signs were too small. The queue was horrendous at Club World counters - couldn't believe Business class queue is SO bad.

T4 Terraces lounge - very crowded and noise, like a Singapore hawker centre. Good drinks but limited food. Visited the Molton Brown Spa lounge and looked longingly at their free services for premium pax.

Flight LHR-SIN : veru full flight, sat in 26F again; food was better. Got a new QF plastic amenity kit - not too impressed. BONUS : asked the FA why no Pjs handed out, and he went and got me a fabulous First Class PJ set with slippers, luxury eyeshades. Fantastic - better than SQ's old or new set.

Managed to hit QF Silver status after this, but now having second thoughts on continuing QF after advice from jjpb3 and KeithMEL.

Overall : on board service and comfort almost as good as SQ, food not as good. FAs not bad - they got a Customer Service Officer who is like an IFS who is pretty proactive.
However, due to flight delay, poor check-in, so-so lounge in LHR, and less useful oneworld miles - SQ wins !

Hope you liked my review - will post pics soon.

[KeithMEL]

Cheers for the review.

Congratulations on having working AVOD on both flights! The QF AVOD system is very prone to breaking down and is best known as AVOiD these days. But a friend of mine had an unsolicited A$1000 travel voucher on QF as compensation.

Happy that you got good FAs. That'd be the Customer Service Manager btw, or otherwise known as CSM. I always find the QF service very cheeky and entertaining when you get a decent set of FAs.

Nothing wrong with continuing to fly QF - just don't credit your miles to QFF.

[upright man]

Thanks for that advice.

Some pictures from my trip on QF :


SIN QF/BA J lounge - very spacious.



quite nice layout of food.



that's me on QF31, seat 26F.



breakfast is a nice touch : you mark all your selections in advance on a card, and I enjoyed this meal.



had dinner with jjpb3 and my wife's cousin JL at Bumbles restaurant, 16 Buckingham Palace Road.



LHR QF/BA Terraces lounge - very crowded at peak hour.



What I had there.



Thanks to a nice FA : QF F class pyjamas set with slippers, large eyeshade, socks.

[KeithMEL]

Thanks for sharing the pics. Hm, they used to have a thin cloth or piece of paper on the food tray, now it's just the tray. Or just me being nitpicky.

Also, I believe they don't give out J PJs on those day flights. Saw the list of flights a while ago - all the night flights between Asia and Europe get PJs, but not between Asia and Australia.

Won't be on QF J again until my RTW in Feb - JFK-SYD.
Now I'm trying to decide whether to take my usual spots on the upper deck (11A/K, hoping for 16A/K to open up), or take an aisle seat at the centre of the bulkhead row downstairs (23D) and hope for a light load so no one sits next to me. A major factor in consideration is the self-serve bar being located on the main deck.

edited to add - hope you don't mind, upright man but I've started another thread for you since you've actually written a TR in its own right.

[SQ LPP]

Nice report, upright man. Hmm jjpb3 looks like ready for the summer looks at the beach.

[SQFAN]

Thanks for that advice.

breakfast is a nice touch : you mark all your selections in advance on a card, and I enjoyed this meal.

Was that Milo? had not had it in years.

LHR QF/BA Terraces lounge - very crowded at peak hour.

LHR T4 : There are 2 locations for the BA lounges. The one near Gate1 is better and there's a quieter area upstairs.

[nickbot]

Hey upright man,

Enjoyed the report and pics thanks sorry we weren't able to catch up with you in London however

I note you drank a can of Newcastle Brown in LHR QF/BA Terraces lounge - I'm surprised to see you're still alive to write this report after what must have been an awful experience

Best wishes,

nickbot

[SQflyergirl]

Nice report !

[jjpb3]

Awesome trip report, upright man, and very nice pics. That dinner was great. The only thing was, we didn't get enough time to catch up because of your theater commitments. Oh well, there's next time. For sure December in SIN, unless we get advance warning of the Changi T3 Open House dates?

I agree with SQFAN about the Gate 1 Lounge in T4. Looks like you got directed to the one near Gate 10, which gets more crowded and doesn't have a chef making hot food while you wait (sort of like SKL F at breakfast). I'll remind you to check out the alternative next time you're in London and flying oneworld.

Your neighbor on QF31 doesn't look like he's used to people enjoying their flights.


P.S. SQ Solitaire, you're much too kind. Trust me on this one, I'm a long way away from being beach-presentable.

[KeithMEL]

Your neighbor on QF31 doesn't look like he's used to people enjoying their flights.

Pretty soon we can have a 'Spot the pissed off pax' competition whenever someone puts up pictorial trip reports...

[SQFAN]

I agree with SQFAN about the Gate 1 Lounge in T4. Looks like you got directed to the one near Gate 10, which gets more crowded and doesn't have a chef making hot food while you wait (sort of like SKL F at breakfast). I'll remind you to check out the alternative next time you're in London and flying oneworld.:

Not hijacking your thread, but this picture, which does not do this Gate 1 BA Lounge justice, shows an oasis of calm compared to the level down below.

P.S. SQ Solitaire, you're much too kind. Trust me on this one, I'm a long way away from being beach-presentable.

But jjpb3 has this pose. I'm sure he has that 6 pack in there. I can only dream of mine.

[UMD]

Good report , Upright Man. It has been 18 months since I flew Qantas and I just let my QFF lapse from Gold to Silver. With all the postings on how stingy the QFF program is, I am now actually thinking of trying my luck with MPC, maybe.

[upright man]

hi everyone !

SQFan : yeah I did see the signs for both lounges, but just went to the nearest one, only stayed there 15 min before going off to see the shops !
Hey, maybe we should go to the gym together, to get the jjpb3-like physique.
The drink in the pic is their hot chocolate - and it was VERY good, much better than Milo.


Nickbot : yes, the Newcastle brown ale was pretty bad, I couldn't finish even half of it.
I realise how disjointed and poor quality this, my first, TR is. Long way to go to reach the Nickbot standard !

[upright man]

I spent some time admiring the duty free champagnes too, and took this replica of a classic Nickbot shot :



Dedicated to two big Krug fans : Nickbot and CGK !