One of the hardest reward tickets to procure is flying Qantas A380 service across the Pacific in first class. Now that I have, my question is, why?
Was it a horrible experience? No, not even close. But it palls in comparison to Etihad first which I flew in on. In fact as I compare the rankings of my recent first class international trips, surprisingly QF sits at the bottom. Thai Airways gets a better mark, can that be right?
Of course these are my opinions so to each their own. I enjoyed the flight and there were a few positives, but overall Qantas didn't stand out to me.
If you arrive by car (I was at the hotel across the walkway) there is a special Qantas first class entrance. This private room serves as your check-in stand.
Obviously much more "first class" than this…
After the friendly agent checked my bag and handed me my boarding pass as well as priority screening pass, I headed to the lounge for some brekkie.
The best Qantas first class lounge is in Sydney. I was in Melbourne. Located on the upper level, the lounge was not anything special in terms of decoration. The only service that made the lounge a first class experience was table service offering a full meal.
Once inside looking back at the entrance.
The decor was, well, Qantas colors.
Workstations if you need to be in the office.
Don't they know it's called brekkie in Australia?
Muelsi and eggs kept it simple as well as a long black.
Based on my order I wasn't expecting anything special, and it wasn't. But good.
From my breakfast table I was able to keep tabs on my ride to the US.
Boarding was interesting. The boarding area was on the middle floor of the terminal. That level jet bridge led to the upper deck of the A380. The lower deck jet bridge was on the first floor, an elevator ride down. So let's have a couple hundred folks go down the 12 person elevator. Fortunately I went first.
Where is everyone? Oh, they are upstairs!
Sometimes you get wowed, sometimes you don't. This was a don't.
No color, just very bland.
Notice the buttons on the leather wrap around head liner, lower right corner.
They are seat controls so the FA can adjust your seat if needed. Nice idea.
A quick trip to the lavatory found the smallest A380 first or business class lav I've seen, which is the reason for a narrow photo, there wasn't any room to take a wider shot. Nor was it particularly well stocked.
But it had a view.
Moving on I decided to check upstairs. This would be a nice first class entrance, don't you think?
The mini-cabin in front, was empty.
Maybe they took the elevator down and got lost.
One person made it in this Qantas upper deck 2x2x2 configuration.
Heading back downstairs and the view into the first cabin.
The first class pods remind you of oversized reverse herringbone business class seats. The cabin is not quiet either. You can easily hear the conversations of all passengers, at least while on the ground. Once airborne those conversations ceased.
For an added sense of privacy the pods have moveable partitions. With a 1x1x1 configuration the center and right hand seats share the right aisle, while the left side window seats have the aisle to themselves. Some feel that these left hand seats are more private.
During boarding the partitions are retracted.
In the air they are extended, controlled by the flight crew.
Additionally there is a partition that seperates the seats.
You control this one from your touch pad.
These seat pods were probably designed 10+ years ago. While no doubt innovative back then, today times have passed them by.
The seat faces forward as well as swivels away from the aisle. Forward facing is mandatory for takeoff and landing. (As is the shoulder harness.)
I thought the seats were comfortable.
Once airborne you can swivel the seat to a herringbone position. Now you are inline with the ottoman, which has a seat belt allowing a companion to visit as well as dine with you. The monitor retracts against the wall. I just don't get the swivel part, leave it swiveled.
Window gazers are out of luck in either position.
Notice jacket.
Notice jacket again.
Typically flight attendants hang jackets for first class customers.
Let's have a look at the command center. A touch screen LCD panel controls lighting and your seat positions. Also one of many air vents as well as the headphone hook and input plug.
Across the way, on the back of the seat in front is a coat hook and a vent. But if you hang your coat you can't use the tray underneath.
This small tray is about twice the size of a phone, with the placard holder below.
And at foot level, a very odd place for the electrical plugs. Anything bigger than a phone and the device being charged has to go on the other side, meaning if you get up you have to step over the cord, or unplug it.
This vent next to your head probably would have been more useful as a reading light.
But since I'm not an aircraft seat designer I have no explanation for that, or this.
A small storage slot next to the seat. Perfect for my ipad, well I have a mini ipad. Fits like a glove.
I think I'll swivel my seat, wait, where's my ipad??
Flip open the armrest and you find the audio controller. But don't turn the monitor off, because it will come back on at seat 3A on this day.
There are two "lazy susan" swivel drawers below the small table off to your side. One had the headphones inside.
The one below I have no idea what to put in it, nor am I carrying anything that weighs 15 pounds (6.8kg).
The touch panel controls the seats, privacy screen and lighting as well as provides a mini air show. Or you can just use the buttons at the bottom if you like simplicity.
A nice turn down service was provided including a mattress pad, duvet along with a large and small pillow.
Sleep came well. The bed was very comfortable. In fact the most comfortable first class bed for me to date.
Martin Grant gave me his pajamas, they were ok. Honestly, they aren't hanging in my closet where LH, CX, EY, QR among others hang.
He also gave me this pouch.
Very comfortable eye shades (blindfolds sound too dramatic)
And Qantas headphones that were not Bose but sufficient and comfortable, just unnecessary.
The menu was distributed. Notice the font size.
Beverage Selections:
Today there was an insert featuring a couple different champagne varieties.
Having little knowledge of champagne, I wasn't familiar with any of the ones on the menu. Airborne the Comtes by Taittinger was offered. I accepted.
Apparently this one, along with the others, are serious players in the expensive champagne league.
No bumps please.
Later on I opted for the Leeuwin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.
But it's noon, not 5, so I wasn't all that into it. In retrospect it was 5, in LA. Oh well.
Lunch service, there's those fonts again.
The tasting menu choice of spaghetti with prawns (Australian's reference to shrimp) or lamb just didn't fancy any fires with me
So with a selection of 5 mains I was down to 3 as the tasting menu was on the the regular menu. In fact I fail to see how the "tasting menu" was anything different, not sure of the purpose other than having soup and salad, make that 2 salads. Anyway duck sounded interesting. So let's go with:
Tartlet of caviar with creme fraiche soubise and mushroom and tarragon croquet Goats cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes, green beans and hazelnut salad with lemon dressing Roast duck with Davidson plum sauce, jasmine rice and Asian greens Warm chocolate fondant with raspberries and creme fraiche Then later on try the signature steak sandwich with tomato and chili relish while worrying about breakfast in the morning.
For breakfast I went for:
Cold pressed green juice with kale, silverbeet, celery, apple, cucumber and lemon (for those repulsed the lemon cuts the "green" taste and you think you are drinking lemonade, it's good and healthy.) Bircher muesli Free range scrambled eggs on toast with Cumberland sausage, slow roasted tomatoes.
Happy with my choices I was ready to eat.
Have to love Australian silverware
The disappointments came fast and furious.
The Amuse or Canape. While not advertised as such, this is not caviar as presented on LH or CX now is it?
For some reason I chose this bread, tell me not to next time.
The salad?
Upon closer inspection I guess so.
The main.
I'm almost longing for Asiana at this point… well maybe not that…
Dessert will make up for it, has to.
What do you think?
I guess you had to ask for the petit fours or chocolates as they weren't offered, unlike you might find on say Swiss business class, Etihad first class, United Airlines business class. I could go on.
There was little chance I wouldn't be hungry for the steak sandwich, so when everyone was sleeping I was starving.
In fairness it was good, just small.
Breakfast was served 90 minutes or so outside of LAX.
Unsurprisingly the muesli was the same as was served at the lounge and the green juice was tasty which is good because I needed nourishment at this point!
Good morning!
I was hungry you know.
My last long black for the trip.
The in flight entertainment system for picture quality, selection and air show was below par in my opinion. Plus the monitor is too far away from the seat.
Given this and the menu fonts, do all Australians have good eyes?
A highlight on the A380 is the tail camera view.
No updates in 10 years, can that be right???
Granted the windows shades are up during the day, but would, check that, could you watch this movie?
(If you look real close you can see Ben Affleck's face in Gone Girl.)
I wonder how many times this one has been played.
Heading over to the airshow, oops
So the interactive map didn't work, but you could select "follow plane". The 4 views that looped for 13 hours, riveting entertainment.
You could also view the air show on the control panel.
The most informative screen, except we were still at the gate.
The flight attendants were a mixed bag here. Beau was the FA for my seat. A likeable guy we chatted a couple times. He was attentive and if I were to rate the flight just on his service it would be higher. His teammates let him down however.
I changed into Martin Grant's clothes before departure. As I exited the lavatory a younger female flight attendant was standing at the front door. I asked if I could hang my shirt. Instead of taking it for me, she pointed to the closet. Of course my jacket in the overheaed bin didn't win any praise either.
In the middle of the flight when the cabin was dark and I was ready to sleep I asked for some water. I was given a small glass that was placed on that little tray. Ok, it's water. How about a bottle so I don't spill it. It wasn't until almost 10 hours into the flight that I was given a bottle of water. In fact that meant 15 hours of flight time before being handed a single bottle of water on Qantas flights. None on MEL-SYD, none on SYD-PER and now 10 hours in on this one. Maybe for economy, but business and first? Am I being unrealistic or too modern world entitled? Maybe.
This Qantas A380 first touched the skies in June of 2010.
United rolled out before us and beat us to LA even though we had twice as many engines!
Next is the TBIT Qantas First Class lounge and the final American Airlines flight back home.
See more
Verdict
Qantas
5.5/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi3.0
Meal/catering5.0
Qantas First Lounge International
7.8/10
Comfort7.0
Meal/catering8.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Services8.0
Melbourne - MEL
8.0/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0
Los Angeles - LAX
7.6/10
Efficiency8.5
Access5.0
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.5
Conclusion
This RTW trip included 3 flights on Qantas featuring their premium services. I was not impressed by any. Let's be clear, they WERE NOT terrible or unacceptable. However when comparing them to competing products Qantas simply didn't stack up in my opinion. I was mostly taken back by the quality of their catering. There was not a single course, including dessert, that I really enjoyed. The snack steak sandwich was good, but extremely small. The rest you could have.
Qantas reminds me of a legacy carrier that is hanging on to its past glory while the new bred competition swamps it. For my money (or points) QF is not on the return list.
10 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Hi FFlyerCDG, yes, looks like you got the better of the two trips. You take great photos! However since this trip I've flown United first class and with the new Polaris bedding it beats Qantas for a good nights sleep. The mattress pad, sheets and pillows they have are something you'd put on your bed at home. That good. Whether that will be true in business class remains to be seen as they are dumping first.
Back to QF, the lounge in Sydney looks pretty nice. If Melbourne had a spa no one told me. Same menu. Looks like a nicer facility but still a lot of similarities.
I will say the photos of your food look much more appetizing, except for the salad and the amuse. My meal was marginal business class fare. And after great business class meals on Qatar, Virgin Australia and a decent first class meal on Etihad, QF was not in the same league, business or first class.
I found it interesting that you could remove the audio/seat controller from the wall. 14 hours on the plane and I didn't figure that out!
I spotted a typo. You typed in "Coats cheese" as opposed to "Goats cheese" ;)
Martin Grant is certainly a change from Kate Spade. Was the pyjamas at least comfortable to wear?
To be fair regarding the portion of the food they serve, their tasting menu is rather extensive. They probably expect passengers to want to try as many food options as possible before their bellies are stuffed. Then again if that is the case, they should at least try to make it look appetising..
Australians don't just have good eyes, they have g'days, too! (I can't resist the pun, and I'm not the slightest bit sorry)
How was the steak on their steak sandwich cooked? Looks well done to me, though I do hope I'm wrong?
The eggs breakfast you had looks the prettiest, but I don't see salt & pepper shakers anywhere there. Did they offer you any?
Hi Razza_Pr, Now you know why I complained about the fonts, glasses hence typos!! But yes, the Aussies are super nice people.
As I sit in my CX pjs I don't recall the Martin Grant version other than they were more like a tight fitting t-shirt. They are now sitting in the bag in the closet.
Good catch on the salt and pepper, not one to use it I didn't notice. The main had little bowls of s/p. At least they weren't the paper packets served in business to Perth.
As far as the sandwich, as much as I remember it was more like a braised piece of beef, not "steak" as we might think. So it probably would be better called a beef sandwich. It was only 5/6 bites,, maybe. And no fries like Etihad!!! Not even a chip.
Thanks for your very detailed report. Having read FFlyerCDG report before i expected this flight to receive better grades and comments. I agree with you on the cabin that is not really "First" for me except for the huge space available. It should be more intimate and cosy. The meals look ok to me but may something more sophisticated could be expected in First. Thanks for sharing with us !
Yes FFlyerCDG got the better of the two. The meal was decidedly business class if that. Maybe I just made the wrong choice but even presentation wise it was not done with any care. Thanks for your thoughts!
Thanks for this report, although it's disappointing to read that QF didn't live up to expectations.
The breakfast looked okay, but yeah, the "main" meal sure looked like it left a lot to be desired. And even the steak sandwich, while getting a good review, sure lacks the visual factor of the Etihad First Class steak sandwich. Every time I see a report that includes that Etihad steak sandwich, I find myself trying to figure out a way to get on Etihad F some day.
As much as it's disappointing that the flight was so below expectation, I have to admit I did find some of your snark quite entertaining. So thanks for the report... and for moving QF F quite a few notches down my "figure out a way to fly it" list.
Ha, my guess is the snark doesn't sit well at times with some. But I call em as I see em. And you never know until you try. Maybe they will step it up when they start flying the 787. If they fly that to Chicago I may try them again down the road. Look forward to your next post.
Oh goodness, you are squashing my QF dreams with these reports! Haha. I'd been hoarding my AA miles and QF A380 F was at the top of my list, but now I'm rethinking that. I'm just afraid to be disappointed :-/
It's too bad because I like QF, but when you are spending so many miles that take so long to earn, you don't want to take a risk of an Intl F experience not living up to high expectations.
Maybe I'll just save the miles to do Intl F to Australia the long way on QR or EY. That sounds like a safer bet.
Sorry KevinDC. I was lucky blowing the pre deval on this flight. Spending 110k would have been really disappointing. I did the wrong way going on QR and EY with business in 350 and first in 380 as you probably read. Can't have it better than that. It's 170k aa points vs 110k IF you got qantas.
Another way is JL in first for 80k then either CX or JL down in business for 40k. Take a few days in Tokyo Much better use of points.
For me to fly qf in first again they'd have to upgrade the seats. Ife was terrible. Pod is glorified business class seat. I could go on.
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Back to QF, the lounge in Sydney looks pretty nice. If Melbourne had a spa no one told me. Same menu. Looks like a nicer facility but still a lot of similarities.
I will say the photos of your food look much more appetizing, except for the salad and the amuse. My meal was marginal business class fare. And after great business class meals on Qatar, Virgin Australia and a decent first class meal on Etihad, QF was not in the same league, business or first class.
I found it interesting that you could remove the audio/seat controller from the wall. 14 hours on the plane and I didn't figure that out!
Thanks for reading!
I spotted a typo. You typed in "Coats cheese" as opposed to "Goats cheese" ;)
Martin Grant is certainly a change from Kate Spade. Was the pyjamas at least comfortable to wear?
To be fair regarding the portion of the food they serve, their tasting menu is rather extensive. They probably expect passengers to want to try as many food options as possible before their bellies are stuffed. Then again if that is the case, they should at least try to make it look appetising..
Australians don't just have good eyes, they have g'days, too! (I can't resist the pun, and I'm not the slightest bit sorry)
How was the steak on their steak sandwich cooked? Looks well done to me, though I do hope I'm wrong?
The eggs breakfast you had looks the prettiest, but I don't see salt & pepper shakers anywhere there. Did they offer you any?
Thanks again for this FR!
As I sit in my CX pjs I don't recall the Martin Grant version other than they were more like a tight fitting t-shirt. They are now sitting in the bag in the closet.
Good catch on the salt and pepper, not one to use it I didn't notice. The main had little bowls of s/p. At least they weren't the paper packets served in business to Perth.
As far as the sandwich, as much as I remember it was more like a braised piece of beef, not "steak" as we might think. So it probably would be better called a beef sandwich. It was only 5/6 bites,, maybe. And no fries like Etihad!!! Not even a chip.
Thanks as always!
The breakfast looked okay, but yeah, the "main" meal sure looked like it left a lot to be desired. And even the steak sandwich, while getting a good review, sure lacks the visual factor of the Etihad First Class steak sandwich. Every time I see a report that includes that Etihad steak sandwich, I find myself trying to figure out a way to get on Etihad F some day.
As much as it's disappointing that the flight was so below expectation, I have to admit I did find some of your snark quite entertaining. So thanks for the report... and for moving QF F quite a few notches down my "figure out a way to fly it" list.
I'd been hoarding my AA miles and QF A380 F was at the top of my list, but now I'm rethinking that. I'm just afraid to be disappointed :-/
It's too bad because I like QF, but when you are spending so many miles that take so long to earn, you don't want to take a risk of an Intl F experience not living up to high expectations.
Maybe I'll just save the miles to do Intl F to Australia the long way on QR or EY. That sounds like a safer bet.
Thanks for sharing!
Another way is JL in first for 80k then either CX or JL down in business for 40k. Take a few days in Tokyo Much better use of points.
For me to fly qf in first again they'd have to upgrade the seats. Ife was terrible. Pod is glorified business class seat. I could go on.
Thanks for reading!
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