First DONE4 trip report

[djfuzz]

QF domestic J lounge, SYD:

Didn't get any AA cabin shots unfortunately.

 

[djfuzz]

One last shot of our bus - Hudson Fysh refuelling at SIN:

 

[docjames]

Thanks for sharing with TR djfuzz.

QF do seem to let themselves down with the little things, but as you noted, they stick in the memory.

 

[drron]

Great TR.Good to see someone else splitting the programs.hope mrsdjfuzz guests you into the Flounge.I think mrsdrron's price may be a little high!

 

[Keith009]

Agree with the general observations of the Australian vs UK crew on QF. Whilst the UK crew are generally rather dependable - efficient, affable and all-round pleasant in JCL, the lack of experience really shows up in FCL. The service by the UK crew tend to be rather 'textbook'-like and follow a set routine in FCL as if they're working through a check list of things they have to do, whereas the Australian crew tend to be the ones that are flexible, and the service tends to be personalised and truly pre-empt your needs.

Great report btw.

 

[djfuzz]

MEL-AKL-MEL

For various reasons, we chose to move up our local DONE4 leg to September, keeping the same QF25 / QF134 combination.

Thanks to us both having reached Sapphire, and my wife being SG – within spitting distance of WP – online checkin and seat selection worked beautifully and we were pretty much sorted the night before. Mind you, it was still nuts having to get up literally in the middle of the night and dash over the airport in time to make an 0600 international flight. Decided to give the undercover parking at MEL a go, $99 for three to seven days (sadly we were on the lower of those limits). Don’t know if the QF First checkin was open at this time of the morning, as the couple in front of us at the J checkin were WP – they were directed to the F Lounge, but their bags were given Business tags rather than First, which was interesting.

As you’d expect the airport was pretty quiet at this ungodly hour on a Saturday and we cleared immigration and got to the J lounge pretty quickly. Again, pretty quiet in the J lounge too – bit disappointed in the breakfast spread they had going, the most exotic thing available being a handful of pancakes. Still, it was nice to chill out in there for a bit after the crazy wake up time and drive. Disappointing that we didn’t get a chance to try the F lounge, but others here have suggested that it wouldn’t have been all that great until the All Day Dining starts later on.

Hopped onto the 734 shortly thereafter and was pleasantly surprised to see that the J cabin was configured with Millennium seats in a manner similar to the domestic 738s rather than the convertible seating on the 734s. Having missed the new 738’s and the updated seats by a mere two weeks, this was some consolation at least. The cabin on the way over was empty except for row 1, yet somehow my breakfast selection (poached eggs) still managed not to be available! Felt that was a wee bit poor, but luckily the other selections were quite nice too (had some sort of quiche / omelette). Portable DVD players were handed out after takeoff – I noticed that they were also given to some pax in the front of the Y cabin, which was interesting. Wasn’t sure if this was because they couldn’t see a screen or because they were WP/SGs. Interestingly, we were handed Australian Inwards Express Cards along with our NZ arrival cards – not sure why, since we also received them on the way back. Overall found the flight and service agreeable, comfortable for a 3.5-4 hour flight – possibly more so because the cabin was pretty much empty, unlike our last MEL-SYD experience when it had been packed (mostly with staff). Can only imagine how wonderful this leg would have been on the 744s and the Skybed, but given the timing, it was pretty fair.

Arrival in AKL was pretty pleasant too – bags arrived promptly and we were able to get straight onto the Airbus Express into the city. Stayed at the Westin Lighter Quay which was nice, if located a bit out of the way and a bit heavy on the extras. But close enough to the harbour, the ferry terminals and the LINK bus in order to make a decent fist of exploring the city. Headed over the Devonport for a day which was lovely too. The QF arrival video / city guide had recommended a Japanese fusion restaurant in the Viaduct area (close to our hotel) called Umi (also advertised in one of the free Auckland magazines at the airport) - we were keen to give this a go, but walked all around the area and couldn't find it at the address we'd been given, nor could we get on to them by phone or at their website or by asking around. Had to conclude that either they closed recently or are super low key (eg Yu-U in Melbourne) - in any case, not sure why they'd still be advertised on QF's inflight entertainment.

For our return we ensured we arrived well in advance of the flight and were very happy to be able to use the private QF First/Business checkin area at AKL. Even more happy to see our bag head out the door with a yellow First tag on it at last! Didn’t think this would happen given that the WPs ahead of us in MEL only got pink J tags, but we weren’t about to complain. Got pre-cleared for customs at the checkin area and headed straight through to the QF lounges.

Again, a pleasant surprise to discover an F lounge at AKL so that we were able to put Mrs Djf’s WP to use immediately. From what little I saw of it, the J lounge actually looked nicer than the F lounge – possibly because it was relatively empty when we arrived while the F lounge was packed with pax heading off on the SYD flight. They cleared out soon afterwards so we had the F Lounge to ourselves for about an hour until the WPs on the MEL flight started to arrive. Just missed whatever the afternoon food was, looked like some tasty mini pies, but caught dinner instead, which I could best describe as chicken with a mushroom cream sauce. Had a few mixers and settled down to watch some TV on the couches and get a bit of work done, all in all a nice if not spectacular F lounge experience – hoping that the MEL and SYD F lounges are a bit more special when we get a chance to sample them soon though.

The return flight was even emptier than the first – only three of us in the J cabin. Thankfully the food selection was available this time (I had a penang curry and ice cream for dessert), but having watched what I wanted from the library selection on the way over, I had no use for the DVD player. I think the new seats with the Panasonic IFE will make a huge difference when it arrives – especially if it has the depth of material that is available on the A380, which I find absolutely superb. Didn’t have to use the Express Cards on the way in given the surprising quiet at MEL, and for once received our bags relatively promptly (probably for the first time in recent memory at MEL).

So, it was a lovely little TT trip which I think we might have to try again soon, though perhaps elsewhere in NZ. Real shame that QF is no longer doing NZ domestic, more so for me since even on Jetflex I’d get nothing credited towards AAdvantage - would be nice if Jetstar gets admitted to Oneworld in the same was as Dragon Air and JALways. Earning mileage on AAdvantage locally has been decent, though a little frustrating given the need to find QF O class fares rather than the cheaper Red e-Deals, to say nothing of the difficulty of ratcheting up EQMs/EQPs with the new minimum mileage guarantees.

Would have been fantastic if some of the AA promotions (double EQMs etc) could be applied to other Oneworld flights as it seems pretty hard to qualify for elite levels without actually flying on AA (and being able to take full advantage of their promos). There’s a miniscule chance I’ll be able to get to EXP before the renewal date, but at far greater cost and time than my wife’s journey to WP, which makes me wonder if I should switch programs at some point (the mileage burning rate is great, but it's tricky trying to earn the miles with mostly domestic flights). In any case, having achieved WP/Emerald for Mrs Djf (still a pretty fair distance off for me), it was nice to finally take advantage of some of those perks.

Didn't get too many pics, but here are some of the meal on the return flight:

The trip picks up again for the final few legs of the DONE4 in December, back to ICN through HKG and DAC – with the sale on again it would have been great to put another DONE4 in the bank from ICN, but with the hefty increase in price I’m not sure we’ll get another deal as good as the one we got earlier this year, so we’ll probably hold out for a while before we undertake any more trips of this magnitude (as well as burning some of those miles/points we now have in the bank).

 

[drron]

"There’s a miniscule chance I’ll be able to get to EXP before the renewal date, but at far greater cost and time than my wife’s journey to WP, which makes me wonder if I should switch programs at some point (the mileage burning rate is great, but it's tricky trying to earn the miles with mostly domestic flights). In any case, having achieved WP/Emerald for Mrs Djf (still a pretty fair distance off for me), it was nice to finally take advantage of some of those perks."
Exactly the situation i find myself in.However even though we both do the same flights and mrsdrron gets to be WP and I have to be content as an AA plat I still earn more miles than she does-100% bonus for plats makes them add up quickly.On top of that I have just cashed in my 28 500 mile upgrades for an extra 14000 miles.Combine that with the better burn rate for awards and I am going to be happy Flounging by the good graces of mrsdrron.

 

[Keith009]

Hot! Thanks again for sharing. The QF TT product does look dire compared to what NZ and EK both have to offer across to AKL.

 

[djfuzz]

Exactly the situation i find myself in.However even though we both do the same flights and mrsdrron gets to be WP and I have to be content as an AA plat I still earn more miles than she does-100% bonus for plats makes them add up quickly.On top of that I have just cashed in my 28 500 mile upgrades for an extra 14000 miles.Combine that with the better burn rate for awards and I am going to be happy Flounging by the good graces of mrsdrron.

So you don't get a chance to use the 500 mile upgrades? Have you used the SWUs from your EXP days?

I don't know drron - gets a bit annoying having to find AA-eligible QF fares at suitable times (which are invariably a bit more expensive), and on short Cityflyer runs even with AA PLT the MMG means that both QF and AA earn 1000 points/miles. On longer flights, the fact that most eligible discount economy fares only earn 50% of BIS miles (and only 50% EQMs and between 25-50% EQPs) whereas QF WP get the full mileage and bonus does appear to even the situation out a fair bit in QF's favour.

eg. MEL-PER on an O class fare

AA PLT/EXP - 1680 BIS miles = 840 miles + 840 status bonus = 1680 RDM
plus 840 EQM and 420 EQP (max 1.68 per cent towards PLT requal, 0.84 per cent towards EXP - ignoring the segment rule for this eg)

QF SG/WP - 1680 BIS miles = 1680 points + 840 or 1680 status bonus = 2520 or 3360 points, respectively
plus 20 status points (2.9 per cent towards SG requal, 1.4 per cent towards WP requal)

Based on our intended redemptions, we value QF points at a little more than half the worth of AA miles, so with up to twice the earning on these types of fares, it evens out. Of course, flying on full economy or above AA does come back into its own, but that would be in the minority of our regular flying.

Given all that, and the relatively lower likelihood of flying more AA than QF in the near future, it appears that it may be worth looking into switching to QF once Mrs Djf's PG comes through, thereby earning at least 50% of the bonus for QF fares.

Unless I'm way off in calculations (which I'd be more than happy with!).

QF009 - Other than the warm and fuzzy feeling, I assume that part of your consideration prior to undertaking your journey from AA EXP to QF WP was whether or not the difference in mileage earning/burning rates weren't too punitive?

 

[drron]

Yes I forgot my first bit of advice-we are all different.My local flying is DJ or JQ as MCY is home field and QF hasn't been here in a while.Actually with DJ reducing their services and their prices going up it looks like JQ will be getting a larger share of our domestic travel.
So my OW earning is from OS travel and mostly in J hence the better earning with AA.

 

[serfty]

Agree with your calcalations.

I had a similar dilemma with a MEL-LAX trip ealrier this year. Already re qualified WP with PG in the bag.

O-Class, so for this WP crediting to QF was the better option.

TT in J is not that dire.

TT on QF is simply not in the same league as AirNZ, nor EK -basically due to the hard product.

 

[Keith009]

QF009 - Other than the warm and fuzzy feeling, I assume that part of your consideration prior to undertaking your journey from AA EXP to QF WP was whether or not the difference in mileage earning/burning rates weren't too punitive?

Actually, of greater consideration was the greater ease of making top tier status on QFF. As well as the ability to upgrade using QFF points. Mileage earn/burn isn't as much a priority to me now as it once was, given with imminently less time for personal travel I'd have less use for the miles and I'd want to focus on status and being treated well on the airline I actually fly with instead.

I'm mostly using my BMI miles for awards these days, and these are far better value than AAdv miles or QFF points. Though annoying that I can't fly SQ out of MEL anymore other than the SQ238/237 coughpola old regional seating.

 

[Flashback]

Quite often row 1 and sometimes 2 in whY will be given the personal DVD players, and yes it's because they can't see a screen.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for posting the report djfuzz.

This is the first time I have seen it and read from the beginning - din't realise the first part was from June.

I have to smile at your recollection of the AA domestic flight - you have them down to a T!

I've done plenty of AA red-eyes - especially LAX-DFW. I write to AA customer service every year saying the hot nuts are great. The drinks are great (they always seem to give me doubles - and at 100ml a time even SKYY vodka can be drunk!!). And the cookies are great (i often get two or three because most pax seem to be able to sleep).

But the main thing I ask them to implement is a tray of those 'paper' hot towels... it would make such a huge difference to be woken with one of those just before landing. I can't imagine they would cost more than a buck for the tray??

 

[parsonstrish]

Thank you from me also re. your trip report. Spent abt. an hour reading it from the beginning to end. Very informative.

Just abt. off to US and going with AA domestic and paid for two upgrade flts. Thanks to your report, not expecting much from food, good to know these things in advance. Other flights with them have been in y.
cheers

 

[djfuzz]

MEL-HKG

Thanks for all the feedback guys, really appreciate it.

So the final leg of our DONE4 begins, and it is a special one. We are making a reappearance on QF29 MEL-HKG, except this time in J, seated in F seats 3E/F. Have been looking forward to this particular leg for a long time as it’s the first international flight we’ve taken together since Mrs Djf reached WP.

As mentioned earlier, we called ahead to see if it would be possible to book treatments at the spa but were advised that only F passengers could do this, not WPs (despite no F cabin sold on this flight). They told us to come early to book treatments, so accordingly, we arrived well in advance of departure at 8pm (thanks to some surprisingly favourable traffic) – only to find F checkin (and all the other desks) closed! We had been advised that checkin would open 3.5 hours prior to departure, but I guess we’d hoped to make the most of the time in the spa and checkin as early as possible. We filled in our departure cards as we waited, and by the time we were done, the lights were on in the F checkin area. Couldn’t get in straight away, so we waited about 5 minutes for them to unlock the automatic doors. Checkin agent was lovely, although it would have been nice to be able to have sat down while we waited for them to get ready and all – the seats in the waiting area looked very nice. She offered to make us bookings in the spa, which we gladly took up – though perhaps unnecessarily given how empty the Flounge would turn out to be. Our luggage was taken away, but with pink Business tags – a little disappointing, given QF’s publicised policy of putting F tags on WP’s for international flights (I mean, we got them from AKL which doesn’t even offer F). I would have though the F checkin would only have F tags, given that only WPs or F pax can checkin there. In any case, no big deal in the end.

Our bags checked in and off, we proceeded straight to customs – didn’t need to use the express pass as immigration was empty. However, we had a long wait at the front of the queue at the TRS desk as some pax were taking forever (and on the phone!) to sort out their claims. We had a lot to claim, but werte prepared, so when we finally got served it didn’t take too long. Then we picked up a quick duty free pick-me-up and went straight up to the Flounge, just in time to meet Mr Djf’s spa appointment. So while she went off, I was taken to sit down near the dining area in the corner – the Flounge was completely empty but for me. I plonked myself in front of the TV and was immediately offered a drink and snack. Based on my drink, I was recommended the spicy squid, which was absolutely devine and complemented my drink perfectly. Some warm nuts followed too, which were also excellent.

Mrs Djf returned from her treatment very refreshed and off I went. We only booked 30 minute neck/shoulder/head massages – given then 3.5 hour limit (except for long layovers) I’m not sure how you can really fit anything longer in, especially when you factor in dining and a wee bit of relaxation too. The treatment was lovely, finally got to admire the hanging garden though the fact it was night precluded a good look out on to the runway. I sneakily took a couple of iPhone pics while I was on my own in there too, as I felt the environment was so nice it was warranted. I was interested to see that there was a shower in the room – what kind of treatment warrants that? Do they offer body wraps or the like as well? In any case, my treatment was light and invigorating, just what I needed in the lead up to the flight.

Upon my return, we walked all of five metres over to our table for dinner. There were maybe a couple of other parties in the Flounge by this stage, but it was still pretty much empty. The great thing about being at the lounge when it was so empty was just being able to leave all our stuff literally paces away from us and not worry about storing it or securing it as you have to in the J lounge. A small thing, but it made it easier for us to relax. As recommended by pretty much all of the regular Floungers here, the Tattinger was up for pre-dinner ‘champu’, and it was lovely. Had some Parker Estate Merlot as well which was also very nice. For dinner, we had the burger and the turkey medallions and sweet potato gallette (on the specials). No wagyu, but both of these dishes were excellent. We were pretty full by this stage, but managed to have the mousse and sorbets for desserts which were equally delicious, and polished it off with a glass of Noble One. We did a wee bit of lounge hopping in between to visit some friends elsewhere, and by the time we finished up the flight was boarding – amazing how quickly all that time goes when you’ve having such a ball!

Boarded pretty quickly through the J lane, but as only one door to the aircraft was open, there was a fairly long queue running through the bridge. Was wonderful to get to the front and finally be able to turn left though! In her excitement, Mrs Djf joined me in the A/E aisle, without realising that she had to go through the F/K aisle to get to her seat. Had a quick pre-flight drink (there was a spill on the seat next to me, so the pax there had to move) and off we went. I wasn’t sure about how takeoff would be in the E/F seats – I’ve previously been in the A seats, and wanted to try out 1A for the forward view – but the impressive thing I found was the almost unobstructed 180 degree view from E/F. Not that there was much to see, but in the initial stages following takeoff it was truly spectacular being able to look all around (except for a narrow bit in front) and see everything outside the aircraft in our plane of sight.

Not much per se to say about the flight. While it was great being able to sit in F, the seat was pretty much as expected for a QF F seat – we got two sized pillows but the blue blanket (I prefer the red one with the stitched inner sheet). Storage was not as good as I expected – the J Skybeds have plenty of little nooks and cranies for in-seat storage, but we found that all we really had in the F seats was the console area between the seats, and a couple of narrow, small pockets for headphones. Given the cabin was not full, we were able to find spare bins for storing our carry-on bags (we had a few), but can see we would have struggled if the cabin were full. Also, I found the overhead bins struggled with my Victorinox WT20 placed correctly (I suppose I could have put it in sideways, but that would have also been space inefficient). Was lovely that they used the LED mood lighting (although not until after dinner - unlike the J cabin, which was lit by LED from taxi onwards. The moodlighting makes so much difference to the experience for me, really felt let down when it wasn't used on our last longhaul leg on the A380. However, since the F cabin has three sides of lighting in close proximity, it is quite bright unlike the same lighting in the J cabin, which is down each aisle and blocked from the other side by the overhead bins in the middle. Wouldn't have been a terrible idea to compensate by reducing the intensity of the lights, as it was quite bright while we were trying to sleep.

The service was great but not spectacular (which is fine, it was J service after all). The food was pretty disappointing – on out last time on this flight in PE, we got dinner and a hot breakfast. This time in J, we got ‘supper’ and continental breakfast. I had a roasted duck dish, which was nice but not great and pretty average muesli in milk for brekky. Would have been annoying had we not loaded up previously in the Flounge. Really liked the F toilets though, with the tiled splashback, protruding basins and sensor taps. One of the toilets had a bottle of Payot moisturiser left in it, clearly an oversight as the other had the standard Korner creams. The Payot was absolutely brilliant to use, especially since I’ve never really had a good experience with the Korner stuff.

Got a few hours sleep and watched a little bit of Comedy onQ – thankfully they’ve finally cycled the 30 Rock episodes they’re showing. Promptly deplaned on landing and got through customs very quickly in a relatively empty HKIA. Wanted to try to enrol in the frequent visitor program, but it was closed until 9am. Hopped on the Airport Express (which I now love) which took us to Kowloon and then shuttled us off in a bus to the Peninsula very quickly. Worked out marginally cheaper than a cab for the both of us, but the speed and efficiency won me over. Has been a lovely few days at the Pen as per usual, and about to head back to HKIA for a long soujourn at the Wing or Pier prior to our forst Dragonair flight, on which I’ll report soon.

 

[djfuzz]

Photos of the Flounge spa and bathroom.

 

[djfuzz]

The Flounge dinner - delicious!

I have to say, this was very well suited to an evening departure - is there anything other than QF29 or codeshares that departs MEL in the evening?

 

[djfuzz]

The F cabin lit by the 'awakening' purple mood LED lighting (and obligatory QF009 legroom shot).

 

[serfty]

Good stuff, keep it going.

There are no regular Qantas departures from MEL between the daily 6pm QF133 to AKL and the 10pm QF29 (Midnight in Winter) so the First Class check-in closes after all expected eligible passengers have check-in for an hour or so. In Winter the F check-in might not open until after 8:00pm.