First* Class with an Asterisk [*Lesser treatment when not WP..]

[MEL_Traveller]

Agree the F cabin should be fully catered no matter the status. Sure you can't load 10 (or whatever) serves of every meal, but it seems very odd.

*IIRC* both LH and LX fully cater every choice for every passenger. Some airlines probably also do a better 'estimation' of preferences

 

[serfty]

It's easy for an FA to be discrete when taking orders in the First suites. Normally you would not notice.

 

[serfty]

... but treated as a second class citizen because I wasn't a Platinum member... This was most evident when skipped in meal ordering and our chosen meal was not available (only a couple of meals were available for each selection - despite the cabin being full). ...

Were you actually told that Platinum had their orders taken first?

 

[Pushka]

My apologies. I meant when first asked onboard.
In her case she had been enjoying the delights of the SYD F lounge. Felt too full to order dinner. A few hours later, was feeling hungry! Pops. No food left. You need to place your order, otherwise you may miss out.

They ran out of food in F?

 

[samh004]

It's a difficult one - I don't think QF should be expected to carry 14 serves of the tasting menu. How many would be enough, generally? But you can bet however many they carry, there'd always be the odd occasion when demand exceeded supply (unless they did carry 14 of them).

As below, not sure why they don't offer "Select on Q Eat" for F then. Would make a lot of sense to expertly tailor the F experience and allow selection of pick-ups, drop-offs, massages in the lounge and food choices onboard, all before actually getting to the airport. Would make for a truly F-class experience!

do QF still offer the pre order online for meals ?

Not in F, they never have.

 

[Princess Fiona]

It's easy for an FA to be discrete when taking orders in the First suites. Normally you would not notice.

I'd agree with this. It's a lot more obvious in J, especially refurb 747 lower deck when you see them dotting all over the cabin.
Having said that it seems that it was obvious to the OP that it was going on in F.

 

[DaveB]

I thought the whole point about F was to receive special treatment, not to ensure near zero food wastage on each flight. I could totally understand if you did not take the opportunity to pre-book your intentions but just farcical if otherwise not an option.

My problem with QF has always been they are rarely discrete in favouring their elites and also staff. Lowly Silver never got me out of Row 3 knowing the likely outcome is soup or salad. I get it that you would want to restrict either all or part of Row 1 for possible elite passengers. Having to login close to flight time to try and move into Row 2 should not be the only option.

 

[Deleted member]

They ran out of food in F?

I dont think so, BUT If you didnt put your order in, the food was given away else where. As I understand it.

 

[RichardMEL]

Couple of thoughts on the last few pages of posts.

1. i had always thought eat on Q (is that what it's called?) was a intro to QF offering a "book the cook" style option. I wonder if they abandoned that given F is shrinking at QF though given they have the technology to do it, I don't see why they can't. It is something that does absolutely stand out for carriers like SQ and TG to differentiate them as options where QF lags.

2. The sameness of catering bothers me a bit. OK I don't fly QF in F every month, but if they only change the menus every season (same with the F lounges) that would ge boring quickly. I also note that brekky options are all very similar (but then again there's only so much you can do involving eggs!) but always to/from the US it's some sort of omlette or egg option on toast with baked beans (in essence) which I find a bit.. I don't know. Doesn't scream F to me.

3. I've been on many other premium cabins on airlines and many of them do the status thing. Used to be on UA (don't laugh/judge ) they'd say "What's your first preference.. and if we can't do that what's your second?" - other carriers do a strict order of seating (forward/back) of ordering (status irrelevant) - AA does or used to at least do this... and so on. I agree on QF at least it can, and should be, discrete specially if an option may not be available. Most menus always have the "* We apologise if, occasionally, your selection is not available" (or variations on this). I suppose if you wanted to be absolutely 100% sure to get what you want every time you go private yes? Heavens I've been on some F flights where NONE of the options have appealed! LOL

4. Folks have mentioned the crews and how they vary. ABSOLUTELY (sorry, Ansett ) - maybe this should have been point 1. Some F crews have been almost meh and not providing what I would consider the best service. Sometimes you'll order something and they'd make you feel like it was such a chore to do it for you (eg: one time I woke up a few hours before brekky and had a hankering for a steak sanga so I called and asked for one and got this attitude back of "oh well we're preparing for breakfast and I'll have to reallocate ovens and...." I think almost hoping I'd say oh don't worry about it and let him off.. but his galley issues are not my problem as a passenger. He should have said "Of course sir, that will take about 20 minutes to heat and what would you like to drink?" but I got this whole excuse ridden thing to make me feel like it was such an imposition to make the request!). OTOH some crews have been a-mazing and nothing too much trouble, friendly, proactive, just all the right touches (to me anyway) of service without being overbearing or invisible and made me feel like nothing was too much trouble. I'm not one of these guys who demands a lot, rings the call button much at all etc.. I eat my food, have a few drinks and pretty much amuse myself with a few movies and sleep.. but when I want something or are being served I do expect it to have a certain level of customer service. This isn't about being in F - it should apply to J, PE or even Y. Some people get this, some don't. I don't think my expectations are impossibly high, but the inconsistency at QF can be maddening - that said the great crews usually outweigh the average ones for sure

5. re the no food available hours after meal service.. I also wonder if there's a food spoilage factor.. eg they set up for service at a time, say after take off and get it all out, defrost etc... there may be ab issue with some meals just hanging around for x hours after, plus the crew would eat and so on. I'm not excusing the experience, but there could be reasons for it. I've often wondered why, on QF, you have your menu but only certain items are marked as available throughout the flight vs others. I mean why couldn't they have a soup available for example?

Many airlines offer, in F, dining on demand and I think QF lags a bit here. Now they do have it to a certain extent - I've seen folks go right to sleep then eat a bit later and it seems to be no real issue as long as they let the crew now and perhaps order too(not sure on that detail) so having options available through flights shouldn't be a massive issue if they just can grab them out of the carts they're in and heat and plate.

I'm flying F to/from LAX next week I'll try and offer up the menus

 

[coolumbla]

i have a f trip to london next month
ive gone and checked the loads
All F9 so far!

and j 9


hopefully that gets me my choice so far

 

[Chalkie]

Couple of thoughts on the last few pages of posts.


4. Folks have mentioned the crews and how they vary. ABSOLUTELY (sorry, Ansett ) - maybe this should have been point 1. Some F crews have been almost meh and not providing what I would consider the best service. Sometimes you'll order something and they'd make you feel like it was such a chore to do it for you (eg: one time I woke up a few hours before brekky and had a hankering for a steak sanga so I called and asked for one and got this attitude back of "oh well we're preparing for breakfast and I'll have to reallocate ovens and...." I think almost hoping I'd say oh don't worry about it and let him off.. but his galley issues are not my problem as a passenger. He should have said "Of course sir, that will take about 20 minutes to heat and what would you like to drink?" but I got this whole excuse ridden thing to make me feel like it was such an imposition to make the request!). OTOH some crews have been a-mazing and nothing too much trouble, friendly, proactive, just all the right touches (to me anyway) of service without being overbearing or invisible and made me feel like nothing was too much trouble. I'm not one of these guys who demands a lot, rings the call button much at all etc.. I eat my food, have a few drinks and pretty much amuse myself with a few movies and sleep.. but when I want something or are being served I do expect it to have a certain level of customer service. This isn't about being in F - it should apply to J, PE or even Y. Some people get this, some don't. I don't think my expectations are impossibly high, but the inconsistency at QF can be maddening - that said the great crews usually outweigh the average ones for sure

Hear hear! I could not agree more.

I think I've been very lucky lately. I've had terrific crews in F (transpac and Kangaroo route) for the last 2 years, but do remember some occasions before that where they were "meh". I think the most "meh" crew I've had lately was on QF11 LAX-JFK in J. An ancient, clapped out old crew flying an ancient, clapped out 747. The contrast was stark - there are some senior folks flying the A380 and the service level differential between the A380 and the 747 is very noticeable.

 

[mviy]

A friend who has PS status flew F recently and found that between LHR and DXB the service was excellent (the flight attendant couldn't do too much and made my friend feel really special) but between DXB and MEL the flight attendant thought she knew best about how to do things, following a routine (less willing to adjust to more effectively deal with what was wanted) and the service wasn't quite as good.

 

[lathiat]

Chatting to the QF DXB-LHR crew in J (who were great), because Qantas basically only has one route out that way they basically operate the same route all the time.. semi randomly going back to AU on that half of the leg but not all the time.

 

[opusman]

I thought the whole point about F was to receive special treatment

Nope, the whole point of F is to subsidize the budget travelers in Y

 

[RichardMEL]

Most of crews on DXB-LHR v.v. are LHR based poms and provide a VERY good level of service. It is a nocible change from the ex-AU crews. Not always better, but in general this has been my experience.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Nope, the whole point of F is to subsidize the budget travelers in Y

Ahh yes all the freeloaders on cheap bucket fares in Y! I bet they get their gruel choices served correctly.

 

[drewbles]

Re: What the best seat(s) to choose in First class on A380?

Sheesh! It's really not acceptable at all for Qantas or other airline, ever, that F paxs are subject to this silly behaviour of not having a meal choice available. They should provide pre-flight meal booking for F if they can't handle the basics. The price of F, especially on Qantas out of Australia, should mean they actually provide a basic F experience...

QF did this to me earlier this year on LAX-MEL, and I am Platinum. Even worse was they took my order, then came back and said "sorry we've run out". As it was the only thing I wanted I said "don't worry I won't have anything" and the FA didn't know what to say or do, after much 'are you sure? there's x, y or z if you want?' I said no. 5 minutes later, my requested meal was placed in front of me and I was advised 'oh we found an extra one'. Now I'm not sure if that means "we decided that we wouldn't eat your meal" or "we've found some other poor sod who isn't Platinum so you get his" but I felt awkward accepting it.

The whole crew was pretty terrible on the flight actually.

 

[travs]

Re: What the best seat(s) to choose in First class on A380?

I was just on QF 9 MEL to DXB earlier this month. They don't do a tasting menu (posted in the menu thread). They do a dinner type thing, but it wasn't great. Did you have a problem on that leg? I found that most everyone slept (F was full and my wife and I were the only ones really awake.)

As for seating, I think you're complaint is misplaced. I think the suites are fine. I sat on the "guest ottoman" and it was a good dining experience to share a table for 2 in the sky. The food wasn't up to par, but not really the issue. The hard product itself is good for sharing; I had them make up my bed while we had dessert. It's a great way to dine in the sky, and a better experience than sitting across from each other w/ other F products IMO.

Also, I think the "A" row is where it's at. The aisle is only shared by 4 people. Better than on the right side of the plane IMO. You can't really see your partner regardless, so I prefer the less traffic side.

 

[Flying mermaid]

They ran out of food in F?

I don't think they run out, but if you miss the dinner service and don't ask for food to be set aside, or have a proactive crew you certainly don't get a meal. When we came back from Tanzania two years ago, we got on QF2 in Dubai, having travelled non stop for 24 hours. I was so tired I could hardly think straight, so asked for a bowl of soup and to go straight to sleep. That bit was terrific, my bed was made up and I was fast asleep in no time at all. However I woke up 6 hours later, really hungry and the only thing on offer was a steak sandwich. No meals at all. I ended up with a cup of tea and some cheese and bikkies, which was quite reluctantly put together after I requested it.

It is the first time I have ever not eaten on "schedule", so was quite surprised. If I was in the same situation again, I would ask before I went to sleep for something to be set aside. Next time we come back from East Africa it will definitely be Emirates not Qantas, although I don't think we will be silly enough to try and do it non stop again!

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I don't think they run out, but if you miss the dinner service and don't ask for food to be set aside, or have a proactive crew you certainly don't get a meal. When we came back from Tanzania two years ago, we got on QF2 in Dubai, having travelled non stop for 24 hours. I was so tired I could hardly think straight, so asked for a bowl of soup and to go straight to sleep. That bit was terrific, my bed was made up and I was fast asleep in no time at all. However I woke up 6 hours later, really hungry and the only thing on offer was a steak sandwich. No meals at all. I ended up with a cup of tea and some cheese and bikkies, which was quite reluctantly put together after I requested it.

It is the first time I have ever not eaten on "schedule", so was quite surprised. If I was in the same situation again, I would ask before I went to sleep for something to be set aside. Next time we come back from East Africa it will definitely be Emirates not Qantas, although I don't think we will be silly enough to try and do it non stop again!

Without meaning to give any specific carrier a plug, surely "anytime dining" should be the new standard for F?