Qantas Business Class meals & menus

[Aussie_flyer]

Ive never been given a fruit plate or ice cream on a mel-syd in my life. Whats described by pooch sounds like a lunch option to me.

 

[kermatu]

Might be a weekend thing, but I would've gone postal if they told me that.

Been quite a while since I've had a decent J meal on any flight under 2 hours. Where possible I will now eat in the lounge. For the price of J fares it really is poor. The fact that Y dinners are noticeably more consistent and on wider timeframes is actually embarrassing. I might make a point of asking for Y meals in future. My next few flights are in Y anyway!

Tempted to ask for a special meal - but I gather they can be very disappointing too.

 

[RichardMEL]

Ive never been given a fruit plate or ice cream on a mel-syd in my life. Whats described by pooch sounds like a lunch option to me.

Correct. IC has been offered on flights over 2:30 or 3hours ish (eg: SYD-CNS in recent memory) as a pre-arrival "snack" (or if crew is lazy, appended to the main service).

the 1300 MEL-SYD is a "Lunch" flight but on these triangle sectors, QF seems to just use the "All Day Dining" concept anyway - I suspect because of the flight lengths being so short that crews, rush to serve anything.

On longer sectors like MEL-OOL/BNE of around 2 hours, it's a bit more relaxed, and hot meal options have definitely been more substantial in my experiences - eg stir fries, parmas, and the like). Still no IC or stuff like that, but it's a much more relaxed service because of the flight lengths give that extra 30min or so of service time.

IMHO.

 

[dk4]

I thought the rule of thumb for short flights (e.g. MEL-SYD) was - if it's not a breakfast flight, then it's a refreshment flight (i.e. a choice of; a salad, a soup or cheese) except for a brief respite for dinner in the evening (the timing of which is inconsistent with what is advertised on the QF website)?

 

[basso]

Correct. It doesn't make much sense to me why dinner in Y starts at 5pm while in J only at 6pm.

You'll be pleased to know that in the interests of consistency, dinner in both cabins now starts at 5:30 pm! The booking engine should be showing 5 pm as a refreshment flight

 

[Mattg]

You'll be pleased to know that in the interests of consistency, dinner in both cabins now starts at 5:30 pm! The booking engine should be showing 5 pm as a refreshment flight

5pm flights are still showing as "dinner".

 

[kermatu]

5pm flights are still showing as "dinner".

View attachment 72964

And look at the price of a J fare!!! Would want to be damn good cheese box.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Qf926 Syd-cns today. Barramundi and cous cous. Other option was a Greek salad. A bit before landing there was Maggie Beer icecream and a mint chocolate. Barramundi was lovely.

 

[kermatu]

Qf926 Syd-cns today. Barramundi and cous cous. Other option was a Greek salad. A bit before landing there was Maggie Beer icecream and a mint chocolate. Barramundi was lovely.

And to me there's absolutely no reason a meal such as this couldn't be served on the SYD-MEL-CBR routes. QF FAs are generally excellent (skilled and energetic) so if other carriers can (and do) manage a decent meal at any time of day on flights of around an hour, the only reason why QF doesn't seems (to me at least) to be cost-related.

I've been part of a near-full J cabin on the CBR-SYD flight where everyone was served hot breakfast, as well as tea and coffee offered. A second FA came to assist, and it was quite rushed, but still manageable.

As an aside, I find the service incredibly slow on the refurbed A330s in J. I might be wrong but it feels like one crew member serving up to 12 pax, with one spare FA getting any drinks not in the trolley or offering fresh bread. One advantage of the 737s is the more visible service and proximity of the FA (for refills!).

 

[Conrad_S]

I thought the rule of thumb for short flights (e.g. MEL-SYD) was - if it's not a breakfast flight, then it's a refreshment flight (i.e. a choice of; a salad, a soup or cheese) except for a brief respite for dinner in the evening (the timing of which is inconsistent with what is advertised on the QF website)?

I've had decent light meals on lunchtime flights between Mel and Syd this year. Probably better than dish of the day in the lounge. No way it is worth the difference in fare though. I hadn't noticed they were north of a grand now.

 

[NZ_Flyer]

QF434 MEL-SYD today. Options were French toast with ham and 3 cheeses, spicy red lentil soup with naan bread, and the below Vietnames beek brisket noodle salad...which wasn't that good. Although the J FA was fantastic, much better service than I expected for the short flight
.

 

[RichardMEL]

QF434 MEL-SYD today. Options were French toast with ham and 3 cheeses, spicy red lentil soup with naan bread, and the below Vietnames beek brisket noodle salad...which wasn't that good. Although the J FA was fantastic, much better service than I expected for the short flight
.View attachment 72979

That's a sleep bank your aircraft was doing at the time of the pic !!

 

[NZ_Flyer]

That's a sleep bank your aircraft was doing at the time of the pic !!

Or a lot of shiraz

 

[wjohn]

QF697 dinner service Melbourne to Adelaide on Friday night. Was pleasantly suprised with the chicken, polenta and vegetables. Washed down with a few G&T's - cudos to the FA who provided me with one last beverage well in to the descent, top service!

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Oh that's the name of the vietnamese mix beef dish.
For $710 though I would have loved ice cream.
But the C or D or J or Z classes of service on the QF a330 I guess would be worth it for a try at least once in a lifetime.

 

[RichardMEL]

Oh that's the name of the vietnamese mix beef dish.
For $710 though I would have loved ice cream.

You could have gone to your local supermarket and bought a couple of tubs of Maggie Beer ice cream......

The price one pays for a ticket is not relevant to the planned service offerings on any particular sector. Fact is QF has not served ice cream on these short sectors in J in as long as I've been flying the routes. They do serve on longer routes.

Service time is tight on these short sectors - it's enough they can get to serve all pax with at least 10 minutes or so to actually consume food.

Also remember in many other parts of the world, eg: the USA, Canada and parts of europe, on similar stage lengths one gets barely more than a packet of salty pretzels and a drink if you're lucky. I was actually shocked on a recent LH flight on MUC-PRG (a 50ish minute flight on a ERJ) to be given a dish of cold cuts deli meats/cheese- a usual kind of euro-breakfast of sorts - on such a service - but even that paled compared to what you'd get on QF or VA.

The reality is - specialy on these short haul flights - we are still pretty spoilt when it comes to catering options. Maybe some of the asian carriers do just as good a job too but if you ever fly AA on a 2 hour sector and get nothing but a biscuit in "F" then you'll come to adore QF J

tbh if you fly for the catering then I am not sure that is the right reason to be flying (possible exception being long haul F flights on premium carriers of course).

my 2 cents.

 

[boomy]

You could have gone to your local supermarket and bought a couple of tubs of Maggie Beer ice cream......

The price one pays for a ticket is not relevant to the planned service offerings on any particular sector. Fact is QF has not served ice cream on these short sectors in J in as long as I've been flying the routes. They do serve on longer routes.

Service time is tight on these short sectors - it's enough they can get to serve all pax with at least 10 minutes or so to actually consume food.

Also remember in many other parts of the world, eg: the USA, Canada and parts of europe, on similar stage lengths one gets barely more than a packet of salty pretzels and a drink if you're lucky. I was actually shocked on a recent LH flight on MUC-PRG (a 50ish minute flight on a ERJ) to be given a dish of cold cuts deli meats/cheese- a usual kind of euro-breakfast of sorts - on such a service - but even that paled compared to what you'd get on QF or VA.

The reality is - specialy on these short haul flights - we are still pretty spoilt when it comes to catering options. Maybe some of the asian carriers do just as good a job too but if you ever fly AA on a 2 hour sector and get nothing but a biscuit in "F" then you'll come to adore QF J

tbh if you fly for the catering then I am not sure that is the right reason to be flying (possible exception being long haul F flights on premium carriers of course).

my 2 cents.

You'd be surprised how much F&B can be served on short sectors. QF don't serve ice cream or other small desserts on all routes because they want to save money not because there is not enough time.
When asked why no dessert on the PER-MEL menu I was told the flight is 'too short'. It's a 3.5 hours flight!!
When someone pays the ridiculous fares QF charge for Dom J they have every right to demand top service.

You make a fair point about AA. Compared to the treatment on USA carriers we are indeed blessed here in AU but I don't agree that some of the Asian carries will do just as good job as QF. Many of them have far superior service on short sectors.

 

[Pleb Status]

When asked why no dessert on the PER-MEL menu I was told the flight is 'too short'. It's a 3.5 hours flight!

Confirming no dessert of any type in J PER-MEL? Most QF diehards will not fly VA because they do not get a 'proper' dessert in Y!

 

[Awesom Andy]

When asked why no dessert on the PER-MEL menu I was told the flight is 'too short'. It's a 3.5 hours flight!!

Probably one of the more extreme examples, but they should try a flight on CX/SQ SIN-HKG. By great circle distance, SIN-HKG is slightly shorter than PER-MEL. It's a whole different world in J especially on the long-haul seats, and even in Y, pax get a proper full meal - ice cream included if it's not a breakfast.

 

[RichardMEL]

You'd be surprised how much F&B can be served on short sectors. QF don't serve ice cream or other small desserts on all routes because they want to save money not because there is not enough time.

Well, QF do provide a "dessert" of sorts via a cupcake or small tart kind of thing on most flights post the morning meals, but I take your point that they could just as easily place a tub of IC in place of the lemon tart or whatnot. I can only presume it's an issue of the pre-plated trays are stored at a different temp to the IC and it would require another step (gasp! more work!) for the FA's to plate IC - and what is 60% of the pax don't want them?

Not an excuse but trying to think through more practical matters for short flights.

When asked why no dessert on the PER-MEL menu I was told the flight is 'too short'. It's a 3.5 hours flight!!
When someone pays the ridiculous fares QF charge for Dom J they have every right to demand top service.

This I don't understand at all tbh. PER-MEL is a "premium" transcon flight, or is supposed to be. I'm shocked if they don't offer something - given they usually serve IC on flights like SYD-CNS, which is 3h. I think that was a lazy answer. who knows what the real reason was?

One can demand "top service" but it's what is willing to be dispensed is something else totally

Now I bet you if VA started doing chocolate fudge sundaes on PER-MEL QF would respons.. the offerings are as much about "competing with the other guy" as they are about providing a "decent" product.

I don't fly transcon routes in oz very often at all so my experience levels are minimal to comment, though I understand QF have slipped somewhat. It is interesting now that VA have introduced their new J produce where QF will go with the soft product, now that the hard product is more and more certain to be suites in the 330's. (yes, I would not book a 737 on this sector!)

I do think these short sectors like MEL-SYD/ADL, CBR-SYD/MEL SYD-BNE etc are a different beast service wise to longer flights.

You make a fair point about AA. Compared to the treatment on USA carriers we are indeed blessed here in AU but I don't agree that some of the Asian carries will do just as good job as QF. Many of them have far superior service on short sectors.

Some yes, some no.

also on AKL-CHC/WLG on NZ you only get Y.