Qantas to Launch SYD-AKL-JFK (June 2023)

[GoldCanyon340]

From purely a personal point of view I will be sad to say goodbye to AKL F.

1. It is *almost* always quieter than next door and, in these days of 'quiet haven' marketing blurb (I'm looking at you BA), is in fact a relaxing space to spend your time.
2. Its decor is that of the early to mid-90s so I have a tinge of nostalgia as it reminds me of the previous QF LHR T3 lounge of that era: the first QF lounge I visited.
3. The frosted door!

Not one of the combined International Business lounges has done anything for me: crowded and noisy. I considered HKG the worst offender until I frequented LHR.

HOWEVER, and it is a big however, I will suck this up because ADL is FINALLY getting a J lounge. As I start and end every QF journey there I will take an improved lounge in my home port against one I only visit six to eight times annually.

 

[arrow]

From purely a personal point of view I will be sad to say goodbye to AKL F.

1. It is *almost* always quieter than next door and, in these days of 'quiet haven' marketing blurb (I'm looking at you BA). is in fact a relaxing space to spend your time.
2. Its decor is that of the early to mid-90s so I have a tinge of nostalgia as it reminds me of the previous QF LHR T3 lounge of that era: the first QF lounge I visited.
3. The frosted door!

Not one of the combined International Business lounges has done anything for me: crowded and noisy. I considered HKG the worst offender until I frequented LHR.

HOWEVER, and it is a big however, I will suck this up because ADL is FINALLY getting a J lounge. As I start and end every QF journey there I will take an improved lounge in my home port against one I only visit six to eight times annually.

Totally agree. Was in the LHR lounge as WP no champagne, so had my S&P squid and went to the Cathay F lounge and spent the rest of the time there. The combined lounges are a huge degradation of the WP benefits

 

[DC3]

I will suck this up because ADL is FINALLY getting a J lounge

ADL to get a J lounge. Who saw that coming?

 

[GoldCanyon340]

ADL to get a J lounge. Who saw that coming?

I've been pestering the company for the last five or six years at least about it so thankfully they've listened to me as last Y'all can thank me when we next meet in a lounge.

 

[kookaburra75]

Totally agree. Was in the LHR lounge as WP no champagne, so had my S&P squid and went to the Cathay F lounge and spent the rest of the time there. The combined lounges are a huge degradation of the WP benefits

I always head straight to the Cathay lounge first, for a shower and something to eat and drink, before heading over to the Gin Bar in the Qantas lounge for some pre departure beverages as it's on the way to the gate. The Qantas lounge unfortunately is just too small, although they had to do the best with the space they were given. Still, it's light years better than the old BA lounge in T3.

 

[DC3]

I've been pestering the company for the last five or six years at least about it so thankfully they've listened to me as last Y'all can thank me when we next meet in a lounge.

Maybe someone in Tassie can do the same for HBA.

 

[openseat]

QF (ghost) flights to ORD have a habit of materialising and de-materialising!

Regards,

BD

I recall the advertising in the early 2000's of a Melbourne-Chicago flight (via LAX). I thought it a good match at the time: both cities made up of relentless suburbs on mostly flatish ground on the edge a large body of water with lots of wind.

Post automatically merged: Aug 27, 2022

Agreed, the combined premium lounges have been great. Plus the space at AKL will be much bigger removing all the walls.

Yes, it would be good to open up the space. The shame of it is the lack of views.

 

[bodog]

Did anyone manage to book the inaugural flight with points?

Very happy to say I got 2 seats in J on the points plane on the 16th of June (the actual inaugural flight is on tbe 14th I think) - when I booked it early on seating was very open and I could select pretty much any seat I wanted except rows 1 and 2

 

[RooFlyer]

Maybe someone in Tassie can do the same for HBA.

Sure thing. . See here

Link not working? Try this:

QF lounge Changes - New ADL Dom J, merged AKL lounges, Upgrades to ROK & PHE Lounge

I wonder how QF will do it, in ADL in particular. Are they going to cut the QP in half, and put in a J lounge half way, either towards the Atura side, or halfway towards the Qantaslink side? Edit: add Hmm. I wonder if QC and Gold members flying out on international flights out of ADL will get...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[gsl55]

Better than the old transfer at LAX. It was always a tight squeeze getting thru immigration, identifying luggage and racing to the departure lounge for the connection to JFK. I did it regularly back then and would much prefer a transit in Auckland and straight thru to JFK. (Although the former was still better than being shoved onto an AA connection to NY which I mistakenly booked once .. not a pleasant experience)

 

[group-of-5]

At least now, you can look back now and laugh about the experience.

Agreed. Stuff happens and you just have to roll with it as best you can on the day! We had booked the holiday to give us a break from some stress at home, so we were determined to minimize any unnecessary stress. At the end of the day, we got into JFK earlier than the Qantas flight, we just got then in a less relaxed lower quality way.

 

[group-of-5]

Correct. This should be straight forward - QFF have been doing this for years (though maybe not their recent hires) - and is called an Original Routing Credit or ORC.

Regards,

BD

Understood. I was going to pursue it when I got back, but didn't get around to it. So that's on me. I did gather all the relevant information, but had a few issues on our return journey. I ended up having a minor medical episode on the JFK-LAX sector. The night before we left we had salads for dinner (to keep our vegan daughter happy) from one of those upmarket supermarkets. I won't mention the name but first word starts with T and the second starts with J. We had just finished dinner in our apartment and were watching the news where they announced that salads were being recalled from said supermarket (and many others) for Listeria contamination. We had already eaten them so there was nothing we could do, but about half way through the flight the next day I collapsed and couldn't be brought around for a few minutes according to my wife. On return home blood tests showed I had a massive bacterial infection, but they couldn't isolate the specific germ. I was crook for a while and then covid happened so I didn't get around to pursuing the credits.

 

[group-of-5]

Just FYI, the seat with the broken recline mechanism should not have been allowed to remain in service. Under standard aviation laws (it would be this way in any country), this seat should have been booked out of use, as well as the ones behind it/blocked by it, because this affects the seats' performance in a crash as well as emergency evacuation. Perhaps the flight attendants didn't know about the problem, but had they known before departure, they would have been obligated to re-seat the passengers in the affected seats, even if it caused some passengers to be bumped. This is one of the rare cases in which passengers can actually be bumped after boarding, even with the new US legislation after the famous United incident with the doctor who got pulled out of his seat (and knocked unconscious by police).

If you wanted to ding Delta about it, this could have been reported the FAA and they would investigate.

I understand that it shouldn't have been allowed to happen. By the time we got on the flight, after all the disruption, we just wanted to get to New York. We had Amtrack bookings the next morning as well that made any delay an issue. Yes, FA's were aware of the issue as soon as I sat down. I believe the gentleman behind me had also told them. The flight was jam packed and there were no spare seats anywhere, so someone would have had to be bumped. Chance are it would have been us or one of the other dozen or so Qantas refugees that were loaded on at the last minute as our luggage probably hadn't been loaded at that point. The FA's were very good and tried their best. They did give our group a little TLC on the3 flight that I wouldn't have expected on a US flight.

 

[group-of-5]

I was distracted earlier commenting on the LAX transfer issues. What I really wanted to say was I have always wondered why Qantas didn't use AKL-JFK from day one. I have used the AKL-LAX flight usefully in the past and would see similar benefits to the new service.

In the past, I have been travelling to the USA with several friends/colleagues from different cities (CBR/MEL/BNE etc.) We have each caught flights to AKL and then transferred to the same LAX flight from there. Transit is easy in AKL and we met up airside or in the lounge and we all land on the same plane at the same time, rather than trying to meet after arrivals in LAX. It allows you to easily continue your journey together (eg: organise car hire etc.).

The alternative would be for everyone to transit via Sydney with the domestic/international transfer issues and to me you seem to be travelling backwards rather than forwards.

 

[aus_flyer]

I have always wondered why Qantas didn't use AKL-JFK from day one. I have used the AKL-LAX flight usefully in the past and would see similar benefits to the new service.

Until the 787 they didn't have an aircraft with the range

 

[SYD]

Until the 787 they didn't have an aircraft with the range

They also had MEL/SYD/BNE flights converge on LAX and the BNE ac took all JFK PAX over (and back). There were other variations including the A330 shuttle.

 

[group-of-5]

Until the 787 they didn't have an aircraft with the range

I should have been clearer. I meant once the 787 was introduced on that sector, replacing the 747. Thanks for the pick up.

 

[ChrisMars]

Totally agree. Was in the LHR lounge as WP no champagne, so had my S&P squid and went to the Cathay F lounge and spent the rest of the time there. The combined lounges are a huge degradation of the WP benefits

To be fair, we went from no- Qantas lounges in LHR, to a combined F+J lounge in LHR. That's a great improvement: more people heading there, so quieter time in the Cathay F lounge. Considering how slow their table service is (at least for me), that's a clear win.

 

[dajop]

Until the 787 they didn't have an aircraft with the range

Although theoretically the A380 should have the range for AKL-JFK which is 8828 miles as EK used to fly it DXB-AKL which is 8824 miles. Not sure about the impact of prevailing "headwinds", are they stronger across the Pacific?

In any event that doesn't mean the route would have been viable economically, as the A380s would certainly be better off and less load restricted used elsewhere - as they were.

 

[Fergo747]

In any event that doesn't mean the route would have been viable economically

I highly doubt that an A380 would be economically viable even if it could be to full capacity. For the vast majority of people going from AU to US, their final destination is rarely NYC. That's part of the reason that the QF shuttle from LAX>JFK was rarely full (yes, I'm aware they couldn't sell it as a stand alone leg, however if they couldn't fill an aircraft from 3 feeder flights then not exactly viable). It's also the reason that DFW made so much more sense as it allowed people to arrive in the central US at an AA hub meaning much greater choice of connections for their final destination.