International Business - Qantas uncompetitive?

[trigger]

Upper deck QF J is good. Good service, seats are sloped but fine. I secretly prefer these seats to A380 J due to the much more personal service level. Enjoy =)

Wait, you mean the seats are different? I thought they were the same on both planes?

 

[samh004]

Wait, you mean the seats are different? I thought they were the same on both planes?

Most of the older planes with Skybeds use the first version, which is a flat (but sloped) bed. The A380’s and some renovated 747’s use the second version of Skybeds, which is a flat (horizontal - or thereabouts) bed.

 

[trigger]

Most of the older planes with Skybeds use the first version, which is a flat (but sloped) bed. The A380’s and some renovated 747’s use the second version of Skybeds, which is a flat (horizontal - or thereabouts) bed.

Good to know! Any way I can tell what to expect? QF30 and QF9 FYI.

 

[milehighclub]

Most of the older planes with Skybeds use the first version, which is a flat (but sloped) bed. The A380’s and some renovated 747’s use the second version of Skybeds, which is a flat (horizontal - or thereabouts) bed.

No 747's have been renovated yet. The first one doesn't start until September

 

[JetLagged]

Good to know! Any way I can tell what to expect? QF30 and QF9 FYI.

Depending on the day of the week you are flying (happy to stand corrected on this), QF 30 to LHR is the A380 - excellent seats - of course, can always use points to upgrade to F, but bear in mind it is very hard to go back to anything else!

 

[milehighclub]

Depending on the day of the week you are flying (happy to stand corrected on this), QF 30 to LHR is the A380 - excellent seats - of course, can always use points to upgrade to F, but bear in mind it is very hard to go back to anything else!

QF30 is from London to Melbourne via Hong Kong is not an A380

A380 flights to/form London are:
QF31/32 A380 daily (SYD/SIN/LHR)
QF9/10 A380 everyday except Wednesdays from MEL or Thursdays from LHR (MEL/SIN/LHR)

 

[NM]

Fourthly, once you have status, you then earn bonus status miles when flying QF, in the case of a SG member its 50% extra points so a return trip to London will get you quite a number of bonus points (and if you make WP, then you get double the base points).

My only comment is to remember that if you have status with QF, then you only get the status bonus (100% for platinum) if you fly QF, BA or AA. Up to you whether the extra points outweigh the cost/quality of seat.

I don't think you earn cabin bonus on CX though. However, if you can get CX F, I'll definitely take that!

And if crediting the flight to AAdvantage, you earn the status bonus on both QF and CX flights. And you only need AAdvantage Platinum (equiv to QF Gold) for the 100% status bonus, while QF only provides a 50% status bonus for Gold status. But you have to get the status before that bonus applies of course, which is where a DONE4 and AAdvantage Platinum Challenge routing via USA can come in handy.

Then again, for less money you can problem fly with an airline like EK and earn miles in their program that can be used for confirmed upgrades on future flights.

 

[Jobu]

Trigger, the Qantas A380 J class is excellent. Fully flat seats, lots of space, very quiet cabin. Book in the front cabin (only 3 rows of seats, so very quiet), if you can.

The Qantas 747 J class is ok. Similar looking seat upon first glance, but looks can be deceptive. Flat bed but sloped (annoys some people, ok with me but obviously inferior to fully horizontal beds like on the A380 or Cathay), less space, smaller tv screen. Not much privacy from your neighbour, so good for couples - A380 offers more privacy (with a screen that can be raised), but still not as private as Cathay. Upstairs is a bit more quiet. Some (very few) of the 747s still have the old F class which is sold as J class, which is great (fully flat seat), but don't count on this.

The Cathay J class is also excellent. It's *very* private, so not ideal for couples, and arranged in a "herringbone" layout so you are facing diagonally away from the windows, which some people don't like - high partitions between seats make some feel claustrophobic, but fully flat seat and a much bigger tv screen than Qantas A380. There are some Cathay planes with old J class seats which are really old - like Qantas domestic class - avoid those.

Cheers

 

[trigger]

Thanks all for the comments. I ended up going with Qantas, based on a combination of general endorsement (here and beyond), better arrival/departure times and actually ending up cheaper when factoring in a number of side trips.

Some (very few) of the 747s still have the old F class which is sold as J class, which is great (fully flat seat), but don't count on this.

I find this pretty interesting. From what I can see my return flight has F (or rather, I can buy in F if I want) - has anyone has this experience (of buying J and sitting in F) and is there any deciding factors?

 

[serfty]

...
I find this pretty interesting. From what I can see my return flight has F (or rather, I can buy in F if I want) - has anyone has this experience (of buying J and sitting in F) and is there any deciding factors?

Many of the LAX/BNE flights have this facit.

Currently, ALL of the SYD/(BNE-)DFW flight do as they are not selling First class but until late this year the only 744 with the 'legs' to make the journey are 4 class configurations (Pacific or Hi J).

It also works for PE/economy as status PAX can preallocate some skybeds/PE seats respectively.

 

[Jobu]

I find this pretty interesting. From what I can see my return flight has F (or rather, I can buy in F if I want) - has anyone has this experience (of buying J and sitting in F) and is there any deciding factors?

I think it was QF17 Sydney to Buenos Aires had the Wunala Dreaming 747 which still has/had the old first class seat but it is sold as a business class seat and is at the pointy end of the plane, in front of all the sky beds. I'm not sure how to check a flight before booking to check if it has the old F class, or if that's even possible to check, but obviously when you select your seat, you can select the front of the plane. Nothing like the F class on the A380 but better than the old sky bed.

 

[Alanslegal]

has anyone has this experience (of buying J and sitting in F) and is there any deciding factors?

I think QF009 had a recent flight where he had a Y or Y+ ticket, got op-upped to J, and ended up allocated in a F seat

 

[trigger]

I just thought I'd comment back on this itinerary should anyone be looking through old threads. The flights were all ok. Food service on the A380 took forever, even between courses, there really are too many business seats up there (or not enough staff). I wouldn't be seated down the back again though. On the way back I was able to get row 16 windows on the upper deck on the 747, these were great and although the cabin was louder than the A380 there were no noisy kids which was excellent.

BUT! Many people have talked about the variation in staff on QF and I experienced this too. On 2 of my sectors I had what I would consider pretty abrasive staff. They were disinterested and rude and seemed to make a point of finding things to illicit confrontation. A typical example was I was working on my notebook prior to engine start and got a "you'll have to turn that off soon for take off". 1 hour out from landing (seat belt signs off, and were to stay off for another 30 mins) I was pulling everything out of my storage cupboard into the exit row space so I could pack up and was told "you'll have to put all that in the overhead locker". I requested a drink at one point, was told they didn't have it and poured an alternative without even getting a chance to respond.

Now, these are all VERY minor issues but they are indicative of an overwhelmly condescending attitude and I felt like I was being treated like an idiot. I know that you can't leave cough on the floor of the exit row and that your computer is off for takeoff, I'm flying business, I didn't just show up and watch the safety video closely to learn how to unbuckle my seat belt. Compare this with a Dragonair business flight and they were all sympathy, apologies and smiles. It's not that hard Qantas. I had a good last leg home but I will prioritise codeshare in the future.

I didn't get any upgrades (and there was some issue with my booking so I couldn't upgrade with points) but I got row 16 on 2 sectors so that was good enough for me.

 

[serfty]

...

I didn't get any upgrades (and there was some issue with my booking so I couldn't upgrade with points) but I got row 16 on 2 sectors so that was good enough for me.

WHat booking class were you in? If I class the you need to call to put in for an upgrade - there's a bug in Qantas.com

 

[trigger]

WHat booking class were you in? If I class the you need to call to put in for an upgrade - there's a bug in Qantas.com

I don't know how to tell, I thought I was in J. In any case it doesn't matter - if I really wanted the upgrade I would of just called, I knew my ticket was upgradeable but was hoping for an unlikely opup.

One thing I also didn't mention was that BA's domestic/euro business product was appalling and I will avoid it in the future. Cemented my respect for QF's domestic business which, whilst it has its faults, runs rings around what I experienced with BA.

 

[rechoboam]

I don't know how to tell, I thought I was in J. In any case it doesn't matter - if I really wanted the upgrade I would of just called, I knew my ticket was upgradeable but was hoping for an unlikely opup.

One thing I also didn't mention was that BA's domestic/euro business product was appalling and I will avoid it in the future. Cemented my respect for QF's domestic business which, whilst it has its faults, runs rings around what I experienced with BA.

I was in I and couldn't upgrade but was told that it was because there were AA sectors on the flight? Maybe they were wrong.

 

[drron]

I don't know how to tell, I thought I was in J. In any case it doesn't matter - if I really wanted the upgrade I would of just called, I knew my ticket was upgradeable but was hoping for an unlikely opup.

One thing I also didn't mention was that BA's domestic/euro business product was appalling and I will avoid it in the future. Cemented my respect for QF's domestic business which, whilst it has its faults, runs rings around what I experienced with BA.

However virtually all intra Europe J class is cr*p.The only good hard product I have experienced was MA but that came with unedible food and surly service.

I was in I and couldn't upgrade but was told that it was because there were AA sectors on the flight? Maybe they were wrong.

Load of rubbish from QF.Mrsdrron has been able to upgrade us 2 out of 2 from J-F and both times had the max AA domestic segments for our DONE + at least 1 longhaul AA sector

 

[serfty]

I was in I and couldn't upgrade but was told that it was because there were AA sectors on the flight? Maybe they were wrong.

They were wrong. The online upgrade tools happily states "Upgrade not available" for non QF segments in a mixed airline booking.

Several xONEx's don't lie ...

 

[gumpy]

They were wrong. The online upgrade tools happily states "Upgrade not available" for non QF segments in a mixed airline booking.

Several xONEx's don't lie ...

I'm learning something new here, what was the issue? so one should be able to upgrade a non QF flight in DONE? I only have attempted upgrades on QF flights in the DONE.

Or was it a situation where on the DONE4 you were say flying to JFK without a stopover and they refused to let you upgrade for the QF segment?

 

[serfty]

You're over-reading it.

Simply put; with a list of up to 16 flight segments, "Upgrade not available" appeared against those that were not QF flights numbers and metal.

Most recently, this came up against AA, CX, IB and BA flight numbers. The QF flight numbers indeed showed upgrade options. (Took it's sweet time to load as well).

So what I am posting to rechoboam is that the presence of AA flight number does not cause the issue, so the QF agent was incorrect.

See my earlier post: "... If I class then you need to call to put in for an upgrade - there's a bug in Qantas.com".

That WAS the reason, not AA segments.

trigger, with Qantas, I class is discounted business class.