Review of Qantas flight Cairns Sydney in Economy

Airline Qantas
Flight QF925
Class Economy
Seat 20A
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Flight time 02:55
Take-off 20 Aug 15, 13:15
Arrival at 20 Aug 15, 16:10
QF   #33 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 175 reviews
st7515
By 2878
Published on 4th September 2015
CDG - KUL Boeing 777-200ER AF246 http://flight-report.com/fr/report-11323.html
KUL - PER Airbus A330-300 MH127 http://flight-report.com/fr/report-11338.html
PER - DRW Boeing 737-800 QF792 http://flight-report.com/fr/report-11398.html
DRW - ASP Boeing 717-200 QF1939(Link) http://flight-report.com/fr/share-11457.html
ASP - AYQ Boeing 717-200 QF1941(Link) http://flight-report.com/fr/report-11467.html
AYQ - CNS Boeing 717-200 QF1854(Link) No FR, same aircraft/crew
CNS - SYD Boeing 737-800 QF925 YOU ARE AT THE RIGHT PLACE ! Last flying Kangaroo
SYD - KUL Airbus A330-300 MH122 http://flight-report.com/fr/report-11543.html Good Luck MAB !
KUL - CDG Boeing 777-200ER AF241 http://flight-report.com/fr/report-11619.html

((Reminder, bonuses are available here :
A special FR one (same pictures as here, plus spotting from Cairns Esplanade) : https://www.flickr.com/photos/100675655@N08/albums/72157657806681812
A 'normal' tourist one : https://www.flickr.com/photos/100675655@N08/albums/72157657809601382
I hope you'll enjoy them))

We meet here for the last QF FR of the season, which is saddening me at a point you can't imagine !

I - GETTING TO THE AIRPORT
II - LANDSIDE
III - AIRSIDE
IV - BOARDING
V - FROM APRON TO THE AIR
VI - CATERING - LUNCH
VII - CATERING - SNACK
VIII - CABIN
IX - CRUISING VIEWS
X - DESCENT AND LANDING TO JETBRIDGE
XI - DEBOARDING
XII - LUGGAGES/TERMINAL
SPOTTING BONUS

I - GETTING TO THE AIRPORT


As usual, we got to the T2 (Domestic) by cab. A clever thing to know about CNS, cabs are not that expensive.
From Novotel Oasis to the airport : 21.98$AUD. In shared transfer for two : 22AUD… Think twice !
We are at CNS at 11:42 AM

II - LANDSIDE

QF holds a small part of the landside counters, at the very beggining of the terminal. The terminal itselves has a good aircon, temperature is nice inside.

We waited two minutes before reaching my new friend, self check-in kiosk, working perfectly !

I tried to change our seats to be closer to the engines but unfortunately, the flight was full and it showed me the same seatmap as the day before when I did the online check-in (I couldn't choose other seats at booking due to the "Red deal" fare). So here we go, same seats as on the PER-DRW flight QF792.

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Then, drop off with a nice lady.

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We headed to security where another nice old lady welcomed us? She was definitely satisfied to see that our stuff was perfectly in order.
Here, you can keep your watch, shoes, belt, sunglasses, no ID control, no BP scan, just an explosive powder, on me, this time.

III - AIRSIDE

We were airside by 11:55 AM, the FIDS shows a boarding in 45 minutes, so 12:40 PM, which is false because our BP states 12:55 PM.
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There are lots of shops inside the terminal.
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Our boarding gate was the #18. All this terminal's part is blind, toilets are on the right hand side.
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On the gate monitor, it shows : your flight is yet to commence boarding, please enjoy the terminal facilities
The translation : Go buy you a coffee, then buy some made in china shirts and if you don't buy that, you'll notice that no wifi is available for you !
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LOL ! What a joke. I start to find Australia quite annoying for the internet… I mean, the lack of ! No food, no internet, no water…
In France, you can buy 18L of water, in AUS 1.5 or 2L, for the same price !
This plus the fried food smell.
IV - BOARDING
At 12:35 PM, another flight exits gate 19.
As scheduled, our boarding is announced at 12:55 PM.

A QF employee came to us asking if we were on that flight, I answered back we were on the 925 so yes.
She then told us the J line was on our right hand side and showed it with her hand.

She came back a bit later and started again to show us the J line… Maybe the way we were dressed intrigued her and she tought we were in J. So funny, now that I recall, I should have asked her if she was offering an upgrade ! Maybe I would have get one^^

Priority : 3 pax were on the J queue, a couple and their daughter. The couple is on J but I saw upon boarding that their daughter was seated on row 23… She did board by door 1L whether she had to board via ground and not jetbridge, at door 2L…

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VH-VYH is our beast, and she is a bit old (2005). She has that not very pretty yellow stripe on her tail which means old colours/scheme.

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I wanted to take a nice picture of the tail and I had the time to do so cause the crew was not ready. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera on hand and my iPhone was set on low brightness… Which gave that, completely blind.

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At the back, a friendly aged male FA checked our BPs

V - FROM APRON TO THE AIR

Now you see, the scrapped window and a VA EMB190

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QF Q400, VA738 in the background

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Temporary tip, taking picture on the very edge of the window, less scrapped

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Center is awful

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Skytrans Q…300 ?

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We are about to say goodbye to CNS

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For once, I am not responsible for the pictures quality. We are taking off RWY 15, after a Beechcraft landed

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Taxi + take off !



That view^^



VI - CATERING - LUNCH

The meal was served at 2:09 PM on a paper box ?! There was a choice between salmon and sausages, I took sausages

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Sweet

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The main meal, a bit weird in that box : Sausages, peas, mashed potatoes, tasty but could have been hotter

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Café mug

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Milk

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Box details

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I ended at 2:25 PM. The food and beverages services are not done at the same time. Cold and hot beverages are not served at the same time either.

My second meal (YES, I asked for a second one).

When the FAs took back the previous boxes, I asked a friendly female FA:

"May I ask you If there are some hot meals left ?"

She answered back "I don't… know, but I'll ask and I come back to tell you !"

She asked her trolley colleague and she did not know either so when she ended the trolley work, she got to the galley and heatened me up another meal (the same) and served me very hot !

Amazing service with smiles along the way !

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I was hungry !

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Of course I ate all of it and thanked her twice for that

VII - CATERING - SNACK

At 3:25 PM we were handed small ice cream fro Weis as you can see. Basic but nice touch !

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We got a water refill at 3:30 PM

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VIII - CABIN

Seats

I am so used not having an IFE on France domestic flights that I did not even notice there wasn't any when I seated. But because I had to take a picture of the screen for you, I got it at that moment !

Nice pitch

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My signature on all QF flights ! Comfy seats as you can see, very soft

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Ouch, the seat belt shows her 10 years of age !

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No personnal IFE screen

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Safety card, in a very good shape as always



Removable IFE screens

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They showed us a stupid movie on them and I forced myself not to look at that but I ended up throwing glances at it so well, I admit it made time pass a little, plus one for that

General views (at boarding)

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Old cabin scheme

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IX - CRUISING VIEWS

Here is the Great Barrier Reef from this aircraft, hopefully I took a scenic flight to take better pics !



Back to the inland



X - DESCENT AND LANDING TO JETBRIDGE

We started our descent at 3:43 PM



Vaucluse I think, end of harbour

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Seems like a falling building !

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Landing…



Touch down at 4:05 PM

A388 QF

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744 GE QF

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Sydney skyline with the same QF 744 GE

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QF servicing

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It seems like a 332 is seating in there

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Another special livery missed due to the window :/ This is moustache !

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Jetbridge connected at 4:15 PM

XI - DEBOARDING

My bank welcomes me again

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Baggage Claim on the right

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The first QUeensland And Northern Territory Aerial Service aircraft

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SYD wonderful T3 with sun fading

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XII - LUGGAGES

Carousel number 5, indicated since booking completion in April if I remember well !

Organization : second to none.

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XIII - EXITING AIRPORT

We waited on position 6 to have a cab but all of them passed in front of us… Until a staff obligated one to stop there at 4:35 PM. Heading to Sofitel !

Cab, too expensive… Think Uber ! 15 AUD gap between the two (cab versus UberX), huge!

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SPOTTING BONUS

First ever spotting relatively near to an airport (CNS)

All of this is available on Flickr but for those who are lazy ;) I had to choose Barrier Reef or Spotting, I took the latter but you have access to both !

They are very compressed here !



Hi VH-NXO ! Do you remember me ? I do !

See more

Verdict

Qantas

8.3/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering10.0

Cairns - CNS

8.1/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services6.5
Cleanliness10.0

Sydney - SYD

9.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access7.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

Once again, a very good flight with QF which earns my very own award of the best domestic/medium haul airline.
Their oldest 738 need to be updated and their windows to be changed but apart from that, everything is perfect.

About the fare, at 216 AUD/pax for a 3hr flight, it is even cheaper than the low cost Air France fare on domestic flights.

Information on the route Cairns (CNS) Sydney (SYD)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 5 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Cairns (CNS) → Sydney (SYD).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Qantas avec 7.8/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 44 minutes.

  More information

7 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 145686 by
    eminere™ 271 Comments
    You should know that QF offers free seat selection to all passengers travelling on all fare types on domestic flights. However, preferential seating zones are allocated to the various FF elite tiers so the seat availability you saw might've been more limited initially (as you are only a Bronze member). At ~T-80 all seats open up for selection.
    • Comment 324341 by
      st7515 AUTHOR 217 Comments
      I'm not complaining. I tried to be comprehensive for pax on Y sale + Bronze/no FF. 20A&B were our seats since booking where there was a restricted choice due to fare+lack of status (Bronze can choose from row 20/end, Silver/Gold up to row 17 then at T-80 or so, the highest status can choose the front rows, but not Bronze when it is a 738). I kept checking QF website and at self service kiosk still no seat was available on the front rows which means the seat selection is blocked all the time when combinig low fare and no status on their 738, but it is not the case on their 712 (those w/o J at least). It does not fundamentally change the flight, that was just a point I wanted to specify.
    • Comment 324369 by
      eminere™ 271 Comments
      Back when I was a Bronze (about two years ago) I could definitely see seats in row 4 on the B738 open up at T-80 for me to select.
    • Comment 325098 by
      st7515 AUTHOR 217 Comments
      You're welcome parisian neighbour :)
  • Comment 146506 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    I'm a little late, but thank you for sharing this FR with us!

    CNS does not appeal to me, no windows out onto the tarmac for spotting is a big let down.

    Love the tail shot on the tarmac. I'm a little confused, so J passengers boarded through 1L using the jetbridge and Y passengers boarded through 2L from the tarmac?

    Despite the age of the plane on the outside, the cabin looks very refreshed.

    The meal doesn't look visually impressive slopped into a box (although I'm not sure bangers and mash can ever be a visual masterpiece), but it's the taste that counts. Two meals is always better than one! Good and friendly crew on this sector as well. QF has a very respectable domestic product.

    Nice spotting at the end. Great shots of the B788 and I didn't know Jetstar had undercarriage painting.
    • Comment 325189 by
      st7515 AUTHOR 217 Comments
      I agree, big disappointment for CNS in domestic, maybe the Intl terminal is better ?

      J boarded trough 1L and Y last rows boarded through 2L, then Y front rows boarded through 1L I imagine, this way it gives a little time for FAs to serve welcome drink and let J pax set comfortable in their seats, which is fine. Two doors always accelerate the process anyway !
      Refreshed ? Well, it is not in a bad shape, but the fasten seat belts, the old IFE... it works yes, but the look is not that gorgeous. I'd rather fly the newest 738s ! The bad point is definitely the window of course.
      Yes, you indeed have to overpass the visual^^
      788 and A333 were the easiest ones thanks to their size. I just had a 250mm lens, not enough for 738s and even worse for Cessnas. I think the JQ livery is a bit too flashy, I know it is a low-cost carrier, but it just kind of breaks the aerodynamical beauty of the beast!
      Thanks for your comment!

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