EMD to HEL and everything in between. A Trip of firsts on QF1.

[Ron Calls]

Apologies for the delay with the last part of the trip report. QF2 departed from gate 40 at T3 which was about a 10 minute walk from the lounge. There are a couple of moving walkways on the journey but not all were working. The gate was pretty full by the time I arrived for the 20:20 boarding time.


Boarding through the front main door, I had to walk past the open flight deck and observed the pre flight checks well underway. I was in 4K for the trip home to SYD. Having flown in 4A on the way over my recommendations for anyone thinking of travelling F, to aim for an A row seat. IMO this row feels more private and somewhat isolated from the rest of the cabin.

The cabin crew were awesome again, very attentive and polite once on board. I was quickly greeted by one of the flight attendants and asked if I would like a drink and offered the obligatory PJs, slippers and amenity kit. The champagne and almonds were promptly delivered and poured at my seat. Shortly thereafter meus were handed out.








I had my seat made up into the bed pretty soon after take off and I think it wasn't long afterwards I was counting sheep. I woke about 6hrs out of SIN I think and ordered some food. I was offered the Cod and it took about 30minutes to prepare. It was pretty dry and without flavour. It would only be a couple of hours till breakfast so I grabbed a coffee and chocolate bar to finish the meal.

Soon we were on approach to SIN and the tail cam on the A380 provides some pretty good views for the afternoon arrival.


Was a reasonable taxi to the gate a Changi, but it was time to get out and stretch the legs. It was about a 5-10minute walk again from D46 to the F Lounge at SIN.

 

[Ron Calls]

The F lounge was pretty full on our arrival. As you enter the showers and toilets are immediately on your left and then you continue onto the lounge area followed by three dining areas all in a row. I had a shower to freshen up and luckily for me there was no waiting.

The shower was nice, although there was not a whole lot of water pressure they were clean and well stocked.
I was shown to a table by the centre of the walkway in the middle dining section.



I was quickly approached by a waiter who took my order for the barramundi, chips and a QF2 drink.


The QF2 was actually quite nice and I ordered another along with the chocolate mousse for dessert.


It seemed like a pretty quick turn around and it wasn't long before I was walking back to the gate with other F passengers for the continuation of QF2.

 

[BCons]

’A‘ seats in First are a bit quieter because they have their own aisle.

Seats F and K share the other aisle so theres a bit more traffic. Bummer of a problem hey..

 

[Ron Calls]

SIN has security at the gates, so you have to go through a security screening process before you can board, where your passport and boarding pass are checked. Boarding was about 5 minutes after I arrived at the gate and again a dedicated boarding lane was available for First Class passengers.


A new crew on board for this flight and again, they were amazing. The QF crews on all the flights I have taken thus far have been wonderful. This to me is a stand out particularly when previous experiences highlighted though media and social media have been so negative. There is certainly a perceived culture at QF that staff are not supported by management. That was not evident at anytime by any crew member who all appeared to want to be doing what they were doing.

More pre departure drinks and canapes followed by more PJs and slippers etc.


Dinner was the beef fillet followed by the coconut panna cotter for dessert. The beef wasn't great but given I had the fish on the previous flight it was the pick on this flight.



The panna cotta was delicious. I then decided it time for another nap and had by seat again converted to the bed. The Sheridan bed linens along with the think mattress topper make it a very comfortable bed.

On thing I did really like about the seat, was the little display controller for the seat. The screensaver had a count down clock for arrival time, which I found really helpful throughout the flight. You can also get the moving map on this little screen, so you don't have to interrupt your movie etc to see where you are or how long you have left.


I will leave the menu attached at the bottom should you wish to peruse them. The breakfast menu wasn't correct apparently as only the healthy bowl and brioche rolls had been loaded on board along with fruit and cereals.

Arriving in SYD the customs/immigration process was relatively quick and easy with the new e-gates. There seemed to be a long delay before bags were available on the carousel but once out into the terminal it was a quick walk to the domestic transfer area which delivers you to Gate 15 at the domestic terminal. Bags are re-checked here and boarding passes issued at the international terminal before boarding a bus that takes you airside across to the domestic terminal.

To sum up, this was my very first time flying First Class on any airline, excluding domestic US products. I did not have high expectations as things with QF have been very hit an miss. I have to say, although there was a huge delay in starting this trip, it has been extremely enjoyable and well worth it in my opinion. When booking this trip, I was ultimately looking to get away for a short break and had no intention of flying F. When searching available fares, there was a First sale on at that time which had F fares some $1500-$2000 cheaper then the J Fares. I was speaking with Craven Morehead about these fares and he hadn't seen those sort of prices previously and agreed it was a no brainer. So I ended up booking the First Class fares and making something out of it.


Thanks for coming along with me on the Trip Report. Hopefully a few more in the future from me. I will try and remember to take more photos and better photos at that. Cheers RC.

 

[Ron Calls]

’A‘ seats in First are a bit quieter because they have their own aisle.

Seats F and K share the other aisle so theres a bit more traffic. Bummer of a problem hey..

Yeah agreed 100%. The shared aisle is definitely a down side.

 

[levelnine]

$5K for SYD-LHR return is an incredible deal. Well done on snapping that up.

 

[Ron Calls]

$5K for SYD-LHR return is an incredible deal. Well done on snapping that up.

Just to clarify that's the one way fare... I didn't have a pic of both fares together but it was similar price for the return fare. It was under $11k return.

 

[Cheatah]

Great trip report Ron!

Interesting to see QF now offering a full breakfast in F on the short overnight flights from SIN, prior to Covid it was a limited breakfast

 

[Ron Calls]

Great trip report Ron!

Interesting to see QF now offering a full breakfast in F on the short overnight flights from SIN, prior to Covid it was a limited breakfast

Thanks very much drb1979.

 

[BCons]

$11k for an F return is a Very Good price (tho I don’t know when you booked..) a casual look today at a LHR return for later in Aug can’t be got for much less than $17-18k. That’s a stonking amount for some nice flts bounded by some very very unromantic terminal and security/immig control experiences..

 

[docjames]

Really enjoyed the TR - fabulous F price.

Any more pics from Billund?

Re: strange lifts, it’s more efficient if the lift knows prior to everyone boarding, where everyone is going eg. Floors 7,8,9 can all join one lift and 2,3,4 another rather than 2,3,4,7,8 all ending up in the same lift and 9 getting one to themselves because they arrived at the lift a few seconds later and the first one was full (as a broad example). Pretty common feature in large office buildings now but I haven’t seen in a hotel as yet (i’m sure there’s a number).

 

[Ron Calls]

Really enjoyed the TR - fabulous F price.

Any more pics from Billund?

Re: strange lifts, it’s more efficient if the lift knows prior to everyone boarding, where everyone is going eg. Floors 7,8,9 can all join one lift and 2,3,4 another rather than 2,3,4,7,8 all ending up in the same lift and 9 getting one to themselves because they arrived at the lift a few seconds later and the first one was full (as a broad example). Pretty common feature in large office buildings now but I haven’t seen in a hotel as yet (i’m sure there’s a number).

I only have pics of Legoland and Lego House etc. Nothing really from around Billund township etc. Happy to post a couple of Lego pics etc if required.

 

[docjames]

I only have pics of Legoland and Lego House etc. Nothing really from around Billund township etc. Happy to post a couple of Lego pics etc if required.

Yeah the Lego!

 

[Ron Calls]

Yeah the Lego!

 

[OZDUCK]

How strange - Legoland seems to have changed from our visit in 1976.