Hi,
there's been some recent discussion on the board regarding plundering status credits from JQ's domestic starclass segments so I thought a small trip report might be of interest. I had a function in Sydney last Friday so decided to book JQ30 MEL-SYD on the 15th and JQ35 coming back the next day, mainly to try out the Melbourne FLounge which I'd never been to.
Accordingly, I arrived at the airport in good time and was checked in immediately at the starclass counter using my driving license as ID. The seat was correctly assigned and having no checked baggage I was done in a couple of minutes. A single immigration officer was handling both the Domestic pax and flight crew queues so I had to wait 5 minutes for some crew to be processed. I was airside however no more than 20 minutes after leaving the car in the high-rise long term parking so couldn't have been more smooth really.
Presented at the FLounge with my JQ boarding pass and WP card and was quickly welcomed in. Looked like I was basically the only person in there at around 0930 so had a quick look around and then got comfortable with the papers and the very tasty egg, bacon & tomato baguette which I think are much nicer than their famed BA counterparts. I also really like the latte glasses the FLounges use, which have an air space between the inside and out so your fingers don't get too hot.
Overall the lounge was very nice, though I think the Sydney one is a little better as it's larger proportions give it a more airy feel.
I was keeping an eye on the clackety departure board, mindful that the desk wouldn't call the flight. I hadn't travelled on JQ at all before so wasn't sure how cough they'd be about closing the gate. I've always laughed at the latecomers on the ITV Airline show so didn't want to become one of them myself. As it turns out boarding didn't commence until around 1210 due to a late in-bound so we around 90 minutes late getting going.
The flight itself was fine for a short hop to Sydney though I think I'd be a little less pleased with a longer international trip. The cabin was very clean and the seat was spacious and comfortable for sitting. I was in row 1 and it looked like there was only a couple of other pax in the cabin behind me. I wasn't ready for a beer yet and declined the offer of a blanket, so service was a can of lemonade and packet of Pringles. Very basic but again more than adequate for such a quick flight.
Arriving at Sydney we went straight to the gate and being first off I was through immigration and quarantine without hardly stopping walking at all.
In Sydney my first stop was out in Ashfield so I decided to try the train link for the first time. This involved an easy change of platform at Central and on the whole was pretty good except it was around $14 one way which is getting to the rip-off stage. I know that the HEX in London is expensive too but that's a longer distance and a special non-stop train. Using the Sydney service with more luggage would be somewhat of a pain.
Coming back the next day I was a little more pushed for time and nearly missed the minimum checkin time. Luckily I was okay and got through airside very quickly thanks to the dedicated immigration queue for domestic, crew and diplomatic passports. The FLounge computers were down so the lady insisted on keeping my boarding pass and card until I left for some reason, but said she would announce the flight which she did. I had enough time for a crownie and the sitr-fry chicken which was on special - both very nice and we boarded bang on time.
Onboard the cabin was maybe half full, with most continuing on past Melbourne to Bali. I was in 2B this time but still had the window seat empty. The good timing slipped here as first one passenger failed to show and then was eventually found in the terminal "not in a fit state to fly" It then took 45 minutes to find the guy's bag so we were late getting going again, though we got a soft drink and packet of nuts whilst we were waiting. Service on this flight was a can of beer and a pre-made sandwich in one of those triangular boxes. Again fine for an hour but probably less so if you were off to Bali or Hawaii!
Finally landed in Melbourne an hour or so late but again walzed straight though the formalities and was in the car and leaving in no time. I checked my QFF account on Monday morning and the two flights had already posted with correct cabin and status bonuses plus two helpings of 40 SC
All in all both flights were pretty good and the slight inconvenience of going through immigration was more than made up for by accessing the FLounge rather than the regular QP. The only issue for me was timing. I had a slack schedule in this case but wouldn't want to be using these flights to reach an important meeting without some fudge time available.
Cheers,
Steve.
there's been some recent discussion on the board regarding plundering status credits from JQ's domestic starclass segments so I thought a small trip report might be of interest. I had a function in Sydney last Friday so decided to book JQ30 MEL-SYD on the 15th and JQ35 coming back the next day, mainly to try out the Melbourne FLounge which I'd never been to.
Accordingly, I arrived at the airport in good time and was checked in immediately at the starclass counter using my driving license as ID. The seat was correctly assigned and having no checked baggage I was done in a couple of minutes. A single immigration officer was handling both the Domestic pax and flight crew queues so I had to wait 5 minutes for some crew to be processed. I was airside however no more than 20 minutes after leaving the car in the high-rise long term parking so couldn't have been more smooth really.
Presented at the FLounge with my JQ boarding pass and WP card and was quickly welcomed in. Looked like I was basically the only person in there at around 0930 so had a quick look around and then got comfortable with the papers and the very tasty egg, bacon & tomato baguette which I think are much nicer than their famed BA counterparts. I also really like the latte glasses the FLounges use, which have an air space between the inside and out so your fingers don't get too hot.
Overall the lounge was very nice, though I think the Sydney one is a little better as it's larger proportions give it a more airy feel.
I was keeping an eye on the clackety departure board, mindful that the desk wouldn't call the flight. I hadn't travelled on JQ at all before so wasn't sure how cough they'd be about closing the gate. I've always laughed at the latecomers on the ITV Airline show so didn't want to become one of them myself. As it turns out boarding didn't commence until around 1210 due to a late in-bound so we around 90 minutes late getting going.
The flight itself was fine for a short hop to Sydney though I think I'd be a little less pleased with a longer international trip. The cabin was very clean and the seat was spacious and comfortable for sitting. I was in row 1 and it looked like there was only a couple of other pax in the cabin behind me. I wasn't ready for a beer yet and declined the offer of a blanket, so service was a can of lemonade and packet of Pringles. Very basic but again more than adequate for such a quick flight.
Arriving at Sydney we went straight to the gate and being first off I was through immigration and quarantine without hardly stopping walking at all.
In Sydney my first stop was out in Ashfield so I decided to try the train link for the first time. This involved an easy change of platform at Central and on the whole was pretty good except it was around $14 one way which is getting to the rip-off stage. I know that the HEX in London is expensive too but that's a longer distance and a special non-stop train. Using the Sydney service with more luggage would be somewhat of a pain.
Coming back the next day I was a little more pushed for time and nearly missed the minimum checkin time. Luckily I was okay and got through airside very quickly thanks to the dedicated immigration queue for domestic, crew and diplomatic passports. The FLounge computers were down so the lady insisted on keeping my boarding pass and card until I left for some reason, but said she would announce the flight which she did. I had enough time for a crownie and the sitr-fry chicken which was on special - both very nice and we boarded bang on time.
Onboard the cabin was maybe half full, with most continuing on past Melbourne to Bali. I was in 2B this time but still had the window seat empty. The good timing slipped here as first one passenger failed to show and then was eventually found in the terminal "not in a fit state to fly" It then took 45 minutes to find the guy's bag so we were late getting going again, though we got a soft drink and packet of nuts whilst we were waiting. Service on this flight was a can of beer and a pre-made sandwich in one of those triangular boxes. Again fine for an hour but probably less so if you were off to Bali or Hawaii!
Finally landed in Melbourne an hour or so late but again walzed straight though the formalities and was in the car and leaving in no time. I checked my QFF account on Monday morning and the two flights had already posted with correct cabin and status bonuses plus two helpings of 40 SC
All in all both flights were pretty good and the slight inconvenience of going through immigration was more than made up for by accessing the FLounge rather than the regular QP. The only issue for me was timing. I had a slack schedule in this case but wouldn't want to be using these flights to reach an important meeting without some fudge time available.
Cheers,
Steve.
