I was on QF460 on ZNA tonight. Not my first 787 flight, but first on QF 787 metal (plastic) and first time in PE. I'm not a huge fan of the 787, maybe because of unrealistic expectations of the 'dreamliner' hype and the way too narrow 3x3x3 Y config. The cabin is also always full of whirring electrical noises and noisy boeing aircon.
However, my initial reactions on ZNA were that the J cabin looked really good as I walked through - a nice evolution from the 330 J product, which is one of my preferred J classes. As someone up thread mentioned though, it was surprising to already see scuff marks and scratches. But seeing as the guy in 20J had his feet on the bulkhead wall for the whole flight, it's not so odd maybe.
The PE seat is initially comfortable to sit in but even after an hour MEL-SYD I kind of found myself sliding forward and slouching like on domestic J. It would be a good compromise for a day flight up to Asia, but there's no way I'd do PER-LHR in one of those seats.
Long haul crews were grappling a bit with service on a short sector. Maybe it'll be good training for them seeing as int'l dinners and suppers can sometimes seem to be almost Wagnerian in duration ;-)
All in all a nice change from the usual 737 golden triangle experience and would be a great aircraft to put on domestic flights (harking back to 767 days) or SIN, HKG, NRT, etc, but no amount marketing spin can make 17 hours to London pleasant.
