Hobart Express JASA (Amongst others on the road to PS)

[JetLagged]

To be fair it's not that it's his food that's cough...it's that his name is attached to food is cough and marketed as being inspired by him.

Perhaps they could scrap the endorsement deal and invest in the actual catering.

Inspired, not cooked!!!!

He's a great chef, however has too many businesses and has probably lst some passion along the way.

Gordon Ramsay is another.

Thes guys are extremely driven business people.

Nice but you gotta try out cramming the whole thing into 1 day - it is a unique experience!

I'm thinking next time to take an earlier flight to CBR to enjoy the J lounge for breakfast(and avoid turning around with the same crew again - awkward!).

Then have a nice long lunch in SYD J lounge before heading to HBA and turning around to MEL for dinner in J lounge there.

Was 1A served first, important on a CBR -SYD sector?

I'll be in both Singapore and HK for 3 week periods each. Which location do people think is going to offer me a better deal in terms of quality and price for tailored shirts and maybe a suit?

I can't speak about SIN as I haven't bought any clothing there. But like others, I use Lee Baron in Hong Kong: as a 'alrger than average' size person, I enjoy having clothing that fits. And also lasts. I am still using shirts that I bought there in 2006! Some just never seem to wear out, though those ones are starting to.

Peter's (the Leet of Lee Baron) prices are good: I pay about $280HK-$380 HK(under $A40-50) for a full cotton made-to-measure shirt - and the collar stiffners are first rate. Pick collar design and sleeve design. Also have had shirts made in linen and silk.

Suits in light weight super grade merino (probably for Australia in the first instance) are about $3000HK (approximately $Au372), and that is with an extra pair of pants. Tailoring is first rate - though as a bigger person I ask him to double stich the seat area. Have been asked at functions whether it is a Saville Row suit!

Hope this helps.

 

[PaulC83]

Frankly the only thing QF can do better is get better tasting food, with (probably more important than the current state of food) more consistent caterer QA requirements and encourage a culture of FAs that just has to ensure that if they want to work for this company they will need to be able to deal with immense pressure. There really is no other way, yet the solution is so difficult to achieve...

My dislike of QF food is not really just limited to QF (BA offerings for shorthaul are woeful), its a problem with a lot of places now where the bottom line and a little arrogance affect peoples decisions on quality.

I travel a lot on the road, and I find road house food is just as bad in terms of an ever diminishing selection, rising in prices, and apathy for service.

Unfortunately the truth is, if your the only game in town, why bother try any harder than you have to. And this is a business process, its the same with fares, you can see where competition comes in, suddenly they go down. If there was somebody offering something better in the same market, they would be forced to lift their game.

My preference would be to stick to basics, I think the continental breakfast offering that they have settled on these days is not bad (decent size, tasty and suitable). I have a severe dislike of the poor attempt of a toasted sandwich (historically toasted means toasted not soggy), and then some of the other offerings (like the pizza square, i think these are generally only on the QFLink flights) are served stone cold (and I am not always hungover enough to enjoy it).

The other thing too is they really need to bring back a couple of choices. Often on the ASP->ADL flight they have a corned beef or ham and cheese etc. which is not everybodies cup of tea. Obviously you could request a special meal, but that can be complicated. Even with the Calzones lately, offering just a spinach and feta calzone is definitely going to be hit and miss when serving to 200 people.

 

[drron]

A really good perspective on the DJ/QF differences yohy?!.
I really dont fly enough on DJ to be an expert but my experiences seem to mirror yours.
My comparison is domestic AA F to QF J.If you are impressed by the hard product QF wins out but the attitude is different.A choice of meals-and i know where to sit to get my choice.Meals often are presented poorly but do have taste-my preference.Often dont mind lack of meal on sectors<2 hours.Certainly on recent DFW-BNA sector the FA more than made up for this with fantastic service.Definitely find it more likely to get a smile on AA-but yes they also have a few less than friendly FAs.
Once again thanks for posting.

 

[TonyHancock]

I'd like to think that all of us are well-thinking, rational adults.

To that extent, it doesn't matter whose food it is: it just has to taste good and be reasonable portioned. The name is irrelevant. That's the point. Keep the deal - I don't care. I read the menu considering the item I want to eat, not that Neil Perry inspired it.

..but if the name is irrelevant why bother to use it? I think that is the point of a lot of Fred Perry "bashing" here. I completely agree reasonable portions and decent taste is all that is required.

I just object to the Qantas marketing spin that drags out Fred Perry's name every time there is an "enhancement". It makes it so easy to be critical when this happens, because the food is, at best, OK.

Excellent report yohy?! I think Alan Joyce has big job ahead of him. In an industry requiring so much interaction with customers at a face to face level it is critical to have motivated cabin crews. Qantas is so hit and miss here, and I have only ever flown DJ once so I don't really have much to compare to.

 

[markis10]

I think you might cloud the issue by dragging Fred's good name in, whoever Fred is???

 

[TonyHancock]

Sorry Fred Perry = Neil Perry...I can't help myself. (I'm not a big Neil Perry fan, I suspect Fred Perry, last Englishman to win Wimbledon - in the 1930's I think, could probably have knocked up a decent fry up to match any Neil Perry inspired delight!!)

 

[737]

I received my pre-departure drink and at this point really thought that there should be some sparkling offered at this point of the day - the alcohol selection in Dom J seems to be very limited, I was never offered anything other than a nice red with my meal but it would have been nice to have a selection available.

Hi,

Great to read the TR, always good to read the experiences of frequent flyers. Sorry that only a juice or water is only served, considering we only board at T-20mins, and we have to load the whole plane before we can serve you, and we can be serving up to 42 people with pre-take off juice, it would be difficult to try and co-ordinate 3 different types of drinks, especially when they are all supposed to be poured before pax step on the aircraft.

Pre-takeoff can be quite hectic, especially on short sectors, where we need to hang jackets, offer pre-takeoff juice/water, offer newspapers, all in a short amount of time. (Internationally they have a little bit of extra time ).

During the meal service, we do offer a wine/water, however we do have a full bar, but I guess this isn't advertised as we don't offer a menu domestically. On most services there is one white, and one red, with Perth Cityflyer an extra white.

There would also be an Australian Sparkling wine also available during flight.

In J, there are three types of beer - James Squire, Crown Lager, Hahn Premium Light. And Heineken/VB is available from Y if needed.

Spirits/liquers/etc off the top of my head: Chivas Regal Scotch Whisky, Vodka, Bundaberg Rum, White Rum, Baileys, Wild Turkey Bourbon, Brandy (I think?) and there might be one or two more, my memory fails me.

And of course, Coke, Coke Zero, Bundaberg Ginger Beer, Lemonade, Solo, Soda Water, Tonic Water, Natural Mineral Water, Dry Ginger Ale, Tomato Juice, Spicy Tomato Juice, usually OJ/Apple juice, Appletiser Sparkling Apple, and a mixed juice that is served pretakeoff.

But as you said, if you aren't offered it then you wouldn't know. However, don't hesitate to ask you flight attendant what is available and they would be happy to get it.