Qantas First - is it worth it

[Flying mermaid]

Walking upstairs, through J, PE, downstairs through whY and back into F.

Helps walk off dinner and gives the FA a few mins to make/unmake your bed.

Also has the effect of making the whY seats seem even smaller than usual

Miss FM claims I made her do one with me when she was little and complaining about something. Apparently I made her walk to the back of the plane and back and then told her to be grateful for what she had and not complain.... I don't remember but plead parental exhaustion. Hopefully I had the sensitivity to give her the lecture out of the hearing of Y passengers

 

[pagingjoan]

I'm surprised by how many people are flying F (on here I mean). I'm trying to understand the economics of it . Are people mostly on FASA's or on a points upgrade from J etc??

My first F experiences were 'back in the day' when travelling for business. Had to apply a good deal of ingenuity to make the prevailing travel policies allow it. For example: "Must fly QF if QF flies the route. Can fly F only if J is not available." Fortunately, the in house staff who arranged international travel did a huge amount of long haul travelling themselves, so were almost as good as the AFF mob at making the rules work for the benefit of all.

So the day of travel was critical, as was the particular routing. And Swiss Air did a brilliant First Class in those days, flew to the relevant destinations, and - most important - had no Business Class. Bliss.

In more recent times, my occasional F long haul was done with points-upgraded J bookings or through fabulous Op Ups. Then I discovered from this amazing source, the delights of JASAs and FASAs. Have several of both booked for the remainder of this year, some one-way only thus far, a couple with return flights confirmed. Still shaking my head over missed opportunities but counting blessings at the same time for the future benefits.

 

[Maca44]

what's a walk-through and its purpose?

I look at it as a reality check (snob hat on) but it is dark and smelly up the back.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I look at it as a reality check (snob hat on) but it is dark and smelly up the back.

yeah I get that now. Although no idea why anyone would want to do that. With some asian carriers these days you board through a separate door and they close the cabin dividers while on the ground, and the same in reverse on arrival. You really wouldn't know the rest of the plane is there.

 

[Globetrotter]

I flew first on BA last week JFK to LHR (old first) and QF First LHR to SIN (A380). Either side of this I flew J on Virgin Australia BNE to LAX, Virgin America LAX to JFK in First and SQ SIN to BNE in J. All flights were great but the highlight for all the years I've been traveling was certainly on QF in F, it was truly out of this world.

 

[Stephen65]

Thanks. New concept to me. I'm a strictly 'stay with in your class' (in both senses of the word) kind of guy

You can always go for a walk to visit the lower classes. It's trying to visit a higher one that is verboten. I like to stretch my legs a couple of times during a long flight and walking the full length of the aircraft is a pleasant way to do it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

deleted. error.

 

[sail0r]

"every time had the joy of the massage before the degustation menu. "

Having not flown in F yet (maybe next week if I get the right flight and points upgrade, is there a massage/shoulder/neck rub on offer in F?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Having not flown in F yet (maybe next week if I get the right flight and points upgrade, is there a massage/shoulder/neck rub on offer in F?

on board? no. In the F lounge at MEL/SYD yes.

 

[JohnM]

You can always go for a walk to visit the lower classes. It's trying to visit a higher one that is verboten. I like to stretch my legs a couple of times during a long flight and walking the full length of the aircraft is a pleasant way to do it.

How do you manage the child-proof latch on the gate at the top of the stairs going down from PE to whY after a few Taittingers :?: - although I'm sure Princess Fiona has it sussed (just) by now if she managed to stop fiddling with the window shades for a while :mrgreen: .

Back on topic, there's no doubt that QF F in the A380 is hard to beat. I'm a wine freak and even though BA has Jancis Robinson as a wine consultant, I was pretty disappointed in the BA F offering compared with the QF offering - except for the the Austrian Trockenbeerenauslese from the Neusiedler See which was the best sticky I've ever, ever tasted (not generally a great fan of these). Beat Noble One hands-down IMHO. The rest was very ordinary, with limited selection and tediously repeated on every F flight I took with BA on that AONEx. QF, on the other hand, can be guaranteed to have a diverse selection of wine in both J and F.