A trip of firsts : EMD-BNE-SIN-HEL-TXL return

[craven morehead]

I'll be knocking over a few firsts on this trip so I thought I might share my experience with my fellow AFFer's. I flew down from EMD last night and booked in to the ibis budget Brisbane airport as my usual haunt the Novotel Airport was fully booked!. So this morning a quick shuttle trip and a painless check in. Only 15 minutes from drop off to lounge.

Having flown mostly EK & CX the past few years I haven't had a chance to check out the relatively newly renovated QF BNE lounge.

So the first of my firsts for this trip is BNE lounge post refurbishment.

I would have to say that I think Qantas has missed an opportunity to raise the bar here. Compared to some of their upgraded OS lounges I thought this was disappointing. I think it is too small and when on the upper level you still need to go downstairs to use toilets.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the lounge itself my breakfast was outstanding.

 

[craven morehead]

The second of my firsts will be flying QF51 and the third first will be flying internationally in the new business suites. I have flown the business suite once before but only Trans-Con. So I am anticipating a much better experience than QF's tired old skybeds

Struggling a bit with the phone , back on the laptop.



Plenty of legroom however that's not hard when you're only 5'8"

 

[craven morehead]

 

[craven morehead]

 

[craven morehead]

With my last 4 flights being in EK (F) Dom Perignon 2006 this champagne was a big drop in standards/taste not that I an expert by any means.



Entree was Dahl soup with corinander yoghurt : quite nice



Mains was Orecchiette with sauteed mushrooms , spinach cauliflower and onion cream : very average , too dry / over done

 

[craven morehead]

Fourth first is the QF lounge in Singapore. I have only flown here via EK in the past and never managed to get here : either been in EK lounge or dnata when EK was being refurbed. Certainly seems like a decent space. I am sure some of you seasoned travellers will let me know how much of an improvement it was on the old one.

 

[craven morehead]

Fifth first is my first flight with Finnair (AY82) closely followed by my sixth first as this is also my first flight on an A350.


Was hard to get a decent shot with people everywhere. J cabin and J mini cabin were chockers !!



Amenities kit was ultra basic and no PJ's supplied. However AY supply Bose headphones as standard.



My thoughts on AY's J product : Suites are a tad narrow and sleeping wise I think anyone over 6'0" might struggle to stretch out. Food was good and the excellent staff were Asian ex SIN.

 

[OZDUCK]

craven morehead, as someone over 6'0" I did struggle to stretch out in AY J. I also agree with you about the Asian staff - very friendly. Please keep the photos coming.

(I just noticed the outside view seemed bright - what time did you leave?)

 

[Mattg]

Count me in for the ride.

 

[amaroo]

With my last 4 flights being in EK (F) Dom Perignon 2006 this champagne was a big drop in standards/taste not that I an expert by any means.



Entree was Dahl soup with corinander yoghurt : quite nice

View attachment 105142

Mains was Orecchiette with sauteed mushrooms , spinach cauliflower and onion cream : very average , too dry / over done

View attachment 105143

Selected the same last week SYD-BKK .... agree on both counts.

 

[Pushka]

Dontcha hate it when fellow passengers get in the way of a good cabin photo?

 

[love_the_life]

View attachment 105143

I see they still have the camping cutlery set

 

[love_the_life]

Dontcha hate it when fellow passengers get in the way of a good cabin photo?

Tony Hancock would concur! But in his case because they fill up the space rightfully his

 

[craven morehead]

craven morehead, as someone over 6'0" I did struggle to stretch out in AY J. I also agree with you about the Asian staff - very friendly. Please keep the photos coming.

(I just noticed the outside view seemed bright - what time did you leave?)

That was approx 23.30 OZDUCK maybe just well lit around where we were.

 

[craven morehead]

Dontcha hate it when fellow passengers get in the way of a good cabin photo?

Yep sure do, how dare they

 

[craven morehead]

I see they still have the camping cutlery set

Most certainly do, not sure how the knife would go with a steak.

 

[kermatu]

Subscribing to this too.

 

[craven morehead]

This folder contains the menus for Food , Beverages along with a breakfast pre-order form basically Western or Asian choice)






So as I had been eating like a champion for the previous 24 hours it was time to have a light dinner and attempt to get some sleep.
So I went with the Parsnip cream soup with croutons and a small salad & cheese plate. That was well and truly enough.



Approx 8 hours later they served my pre-selected semi dried tomato omelette for brekky. Well this was decent bloody feed I can tell you. Man I could hardly look at food for the 4.5 hours I was in the AY lounge between flights I bravely had a little taste for reporting purposes lol !!

 

[OZDUCK]

That was approx 23.30 OZDUCK maybe just well lit around where we were.

Ta - the photos are looking very good.

 

[VPS]

Looks exciting - I like new adventures so tagging along