QF 747 refurb

[rockyroad]

I have been flying J between LAX / BNE; look forward to a more comfortable flight.

I missed my Dallas flight a week ago (thanks to American Airlines) and went through LAX instead; couldn't even get pajamas in J this time. I had been in my travel clothes for two days by then, so really would have liked to get out of them for a while.

I always carry PJs, so I never ask for them. What was the excuse for no PJ's especially on such a long flight? :shock: That is like the FA saying, "Sorry Sir but we have run out of Shiraz". :evil:

 

[VHOEJ]

I was on the QF15 on Sunday on the new aircraft and thought I would give feedback.

It was cleary a new aircraft and the new setup did have its issues. The crew spent a lot of time trying to get things sorted and locate where everything was. The J class lunch service was very slow - I think not having the galley between A and B is a definent drawback - it is further to walk to the lavs and when they are serving the meal, you are trapped. There are obvious drawbacks particularly on the Dallas flight for this config - effectively having 2 toilets for all of J class is not enough. There were other issues with the volume of the announcements and a slight delay to departure but overall, they would have learnt a lot from the first aircraft, particularly for the ones in the future.

Seats 5A and 5K (I think it is) are definently going to be the best seats for single travellers. You are away from the window but it does give good storage.

One of the crew said an economy passenger was very impressed with the A380 seating, and the service manager mentioned that this was a new interior a few times. It will be interesting to see what sort of reaction it gets from BNE passengers considering a few of them do travel to SYD to get on an A380. It won't stay on that route in the long term though - it really needs to get on DFW and Sth America first.

 

[brett-au]

I'm surprised at the reduction in toilets, in J & W.

Can some one please tell me what the 747 flying to Frankfurt QF5 is going to be like? I'm flying out on the 29th of October, and want to know if the seats up the pointy end will be old F seats or A380 J seats.

Ta

 

[serfty]

If it has a row 5 then it's the new configuration - but really I doubt you'll get it on the 29th.

There is currently only the one operating and it's doing QF15/QF16.

 

[docjames]

Cant say I'm surprised about the toilet feedback - dont know what they were thinking.:evil:

 

[brett-au]

Cant say I'm surprised about the toilet feedback - dont know what they were thinking.:evil:

Really? I think it went something along the lines of 'moneymoneymoneymoney...'

I'm more surprised at the thought "oh they are paying $5,000 for a ticket, they wont mind having to queue for a toilet"

 

[VHOEJ]

The toilet thing is interesting and reading back through all the posts - it doesn't make any sense. If you were a low cost carrier, fair enough, an extra row of seats makes money but it will be interesting if there is any official feedback. The whole A332 with J in the middle seat for domestic got a lot of negative feedback and was done in the right channels - I think everyone should do the same thing. I know it would take a lot to change the config so far into the project but it was a poor decision to start with. The galleys as well being so far from the front was causing issues - you would think that the designers et from the airline would raise this in the initial design. Imagine if one of the toilets went out for J class? If others went u/s, there could be lots of diversions to HNL, Nadi etc.

The second one won't be ready for a couple of months and probably will go to Sth America.

 

[VHOEJ]

And the other thing about the toilets - they given everyone in J pyjamas but it is comical lining up to get changed into/out of them. On my flight probably only about a third of pax were wearing them so the actual number using the toilets was minimal.

 

[docjames]

And the other thing about the toilets - they given everyone in J pyjamas but it is comical lining up to get changed into/out of them. On my flight probably only about a third of pax were wearing them so the actual number using the toilets was minimal.

They had chance to install a change room (without toilet).

 

[ozmille]

I'm surprised at the reduction in toilets, in J & W.

Can some one please tell me what the 747 flying to Frankfurt QF5 is going to be like? I'm flying out on the 29th of October, and want to know if the seats up the pointy end will be old F seats or A380 J seats.

Ta

The planes doing the FRA flights are the old ones with Skybed MK1 in the nose. The occasional F seats were when the others got refitted with PE. Wont see the refitted aircraft flying to FRA any time soon in my opinion. (not to say that I am not hoping for it because have seat 1K on an upcoming trip to FRA)

 

[under the radar]

They had chance to install a change room (without toilet).

this is totally 'off the record'...but doors left2 and right2 do have 'privacy' curtains..as cabin crew use these areas/seats for crew rest during flights...and cabin crew often use these areas to change into/out of their serving jackets.... maybe a quiet word in a crew members ear to utilize this area as a pj change area for a few minutes???? ..... 'off the record' of course!!!

 

[Gold Member]

I've read articles stating the refurbed aircraft will sequentially service LAX (BNE), DFW, EZE, SCL and FRA, but no mention of JNB. The scheduled rollout is expected to be complete by end of 2012, so I hold slim hope for SYD-JNB in Septmber 2012 for my Zone 10 First Class Award. The thought of lowering myself to an A380 style horizontal fully flat bed in the nose of a 747 in 'Business' Class sends shivers down my spine. What is the world coming to??? :shock: At least I can him em up for another MPD.

Any crystal ball or star gazers wanna enlighten me further?

 

[under the radar]

I've read articles stating the refurbed aircraft will sequentially service LAX (BNE), DFW, EZE, SCL and FRA, but no mention of JNB. The scheduled rollout is expected to be complete by end of 2012, so I hold slim hope for SYD-JNB in Septmber 2012 for my Zone 10 First Class Award. The thought of lowering myself to an A380 style horizontal fully flat bed in the nose of a 747 in 'Business' Class sends shivers down my spine. What is the world coming to??? :shock: At least I can him em up for another MPD.

Any crystal ball or star gazers wanna enlighten me further?

there are many factors that 'influence' what aircraft serves which route at a particular time!! (maintenance/scheduling/disruptions...etc) ..no-one thought the a380 would be seen on hongkong routes so quickly!!.... keep praying..it may just happen!

 

[docjames]

this is totally 'off the record'...but doors left2 and right2 do have 'privacy' curtains..as cabin crew use these areas/seats for crew rest during flights...and cabin crew often use these areas to change into/out of their serving jackets.... maybe a quiet word in a crew members ear to utilize this area as a pj change area for a few minutes???? ..... 'off the record' of course!!!

Great tip!!

 

[kaz]

Can anybody lay their hands on the refurbished 747-400 seating plan. I'm flying on 747-400 SYD - DFW in August QF7/8 and our selected seats were 16A&B being exit rows on upper level
Then today I logged into the booking and I noticed we have now been allocated seats 14 A&B which are now the exit rows on upper level.

I rang Qantas and they said the aircraft has been changed and our seating allocation have been changed to reflect the new exit row. I have since worked out that we will be flying on the refurbished 747-400.
She also said the new configuration on this route is: 58 Business, 36 Prem Economy, 270 Economy


The Qantas site still shows on the seating plan for the 747-400 as Row 16 being the Exit Row on upper level, (which I know is not correct) so they are still showing the UNfurbished seating plan for QF7/8. The configuration also does not reflect the configuration that I was told by CS lady as noted in above paragraph.

We have a ^ against our seating allocation on Row 14 and the Qantas CS confirmed that we are in the exit row.
If anybody can lay their hands on a seating plan for the refurbished aircraft and put up the link that would be really appreciated

 

[serfty]

see this thread:http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/qantas-frequent-flyer-program/seating-qfs-direct-syd-dfw-32071.html#post538061

And this one for more specifics: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....yer-program/new-3-class-747-layout-37226.html

 

[kaz]

see this thread:http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ting-qfs-direct-syd-dfw-32071.html#post538061

And this one for more specifics: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....yer-program/new-3-class-747-layout-37226.html

Many Thanks Serfty for the link to seat map.

 

[kaz]

see this thread:http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ting-qfs-direct-syd-dfw-32071.html#post538061

And this one for more specifics: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....yer-program/new-3-class-747-layout-37226.html

Just one more question, looking at the refurbished seat map it states 'T' is toilets. However I cannot see any T icons on the upper floor. But in saying that I cant see any T markings in Zones A, B or C either.
I'm presuming that there toilets on the upper floor ???

 

[serfty]

There's a significantly less number of Toilets in the reconfig.

http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/744ER-58J36W270Y.pdf

B indicates a toilet with a "Baby Change" table.