In flight entertainment

[Expon]

I hope this topic fits in here, but its all about Qantas so here goes.....
I'm not a frequent international flyer so I really have no clue about this.
I flew Melbourne - Syd - Tokyo in June on a B743 it had the little screens with all sorts of things I could choose to watch, there is only so many romantic comedies a guy can handle, but its better than Qantas choosing what I watch specifically.

On the way back I went Tokyo direct to Melbourne. It was a B763 and not a very comfortable flight at that.There was one screen in my section half blocked by a skybed in front of me. They also showed only 2 romantic Heath Ledger films then turned it off as it was an overnight flight, so I had to entertain myself for the next 5hrs. My headphones had only one ear working, its was the jack not the actual phones. My ipod battery died and the flight was full so I was stuck next to people and couldnt move to another seat. 10hrs of that got fairly frustrating.

Hoping to go to Japan in Nov again, i'm wanting to book tickets on an ACFT which has better "features". I can't seem to find many Qantas B747 flights to Japan. I have found B763 or A333. Does the A333 have the little screens in each seat? or is it a clone of the B763?

Also if anyone has any experience, which day is the best to fly Melb-Tokyo and have less people on the flight? I know you can never accurately predict, but surely some days are better than others.

 

[NM]

A333 has personal IFE throughout and is equipped with Audio and Video on Demand. So if its all working properly, its better than the 743 product.

Note that the 767 does not have Skybeds, so it was not a Skybed that obstructed your view.

 

[Expon]

Note that the 767 does not have Skybeds, so it was not a Skybed that obstructed your view.

I thought it was a skybed, I'm not really sure what it was then. It looked like something they had installed for the flight, like an enclosed seat with a curtain to block the view of other passengers. It was on the end of bussiness class where it joins economy.

Thankyou for the info on the A333

 

[N860CR]

That would be the crews "rest area" where they can take their break (and the curtain stops the pax seeing them and thinking they're not doing anything!)

 

[NM]

I thought it was a skybed, I'm not really sure what it was then. It looked like something they had installed for the flight, like an enclosed seat with a curtain to block the view of other passengers. It was on the end of bussiness class where it joins economy.

I assume this is the crew rest seat installed where seats 23AB and 24AB would normally have been. I have not been on an international config 767 beyond row 5 for quite some time, so perhaps they have installed the crew rest seats as Skybeds, but I would have expected them to be dreamtimes the same as the business class seats.

And yes it would obstruct the view of the screen from 25A and maybe a few other seats around.

 

[garyjohn951]

I would certainly recommend you dont fly qantas unless it is the A333. There 767 are very old craft. As alternative why try CX to HKG and then HKG to Japan on CX. There Airbus planes have Avod.

 

[Mal]

Yep Cathay wins by a mile when you're comparing Qantas 763's with their fleet.

Bring on the A380's and Airbus compensation aircraft. Maybe that will allow retirement of the 743's and 763's that are in the Qantas fleet.

(Note of course that Qantas has a young fleet compared to several other airlines. While I dislike the 763's, I'd prefer them over the 762's and 742's found in some other airline fleets!)

 

[simongr]

Sort of in the same vein is there a place somewhere that shows what the rollout plan is for the 380s and the Dreamliners (the boeing planes - think they are dreamliners) on what routes etc? Given my level of travel over the next two years (and maybe beyond as I reckon my next job will also be asiapac but maybe without the US element) I really want to have a go on one of these new planes

 

[NM]

I would certainly recommend you dont fly qantas unless it is the A333. There 767 are very old craft. As alternative why try CX to HKG and then HKG to Japan on CX. There Airbus planes have Avod.

That may be the case if originating in SYD. But if starting in BNE and tarvelling in business class, I would rather take a direct QF 763 with dreamtime seating as 1x2x2 at 50" pitch than a CX regional config A330 with 2x2x2 at 45" pitch via HKG. Even if the CX aircraft has AVOD and QF is loop IFE. This would especially be the case for an overnight flight.

 

[garyjohn951]

I agree the QF Airbus is better than the CX alternative. However having to recently fly on a 767 that replaced a 330 at late notice, did not make it a value for money trip.

 

[Yada Yada]

I would certainly recommend you dont fly qantas unless it is the A333. There 767 are very old craft. As alternative why try CX to HKG and then HKG to Japan on CX. There Airbus planes have Avod.

Or fly via SIN on SQ if you have *A membership or via KUL on MH if you have Velocity membership. Or fly JL.