QF 9 MEL-PER 787 Business Class Review

[Max Samuels]

Ok so last week I flew QF 9 MEL-PER on the 787 in J.
After my recent pro-VA posts I thought I would share a little love with QF....

F check-in: Amazing. Fast. Friendly. As always
Security: the next-gen x-ray seems to make things faster? I don't know, but the time from check-in to F lounge must have been less than 10 mins (including that ridiculous walk through the duty free area). Has anyone noticed the Tumi store? Who the hell is buying suitcases when they are inside the terminal?????
F lounge: amazing as usual. Had a leisurely 3 hr lunch. Mr Perry is so boring but still a great afternoon.
J class seating config: as many have pointed out, the "suites" are a little too cosy for my liking. A bit cramped. Don't know how comfy I would be flying to LHR.... certainly better than Y of course....
Crew: they were fine. Nothing to complain about. Standard QF crew in "friendly" mode
Food: Also fine. Decent choice of meals. Tasted pretty good.
Wine selection: TERRIBLE. I cannot believe how bad the wine selection was. The SB was something you can buy for under $20 in Dan Murphy's. For an airline that thinks of itself as highly as QF I was shocked at the wine selection. Thank god I stuck to vodka.
Service: Slow. Not the fault of the crew, but the training they get for the 787s seems to be coughe. Each time they serve a customer they read out the full name of whatever the item is verbatim.... "sir, here is your seared tuna with beetroot and cheese and salad with a hint of dressing and murray river salt sauteed in garlic butter from France". So when the person sitting next to that person is served the same thing 3 seconds later, they hear the same rendition..... kind of got draining to listen to (just my opinion). I think we must have been airborne at least 30 mins before the drinks arrived....

Anyway, overall was pretty good. Can recommend to anyone that is flying to PER from MEL. Really good use of points in my opinion.

8/10

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Has anyone noticed the Tumi store? Who the hell is buying suitcases when they are inside the terminal?????

I would be hard pressed to name a terminal WITHOUT one or more luggage stores.

I think we must have been airborne at least 30 mins before the drinks arrived....

Oh you received the express service then ...
When I did this flight on 13 October it took over an hour!

 

[Max Samuels]

I would be hard pressed to name a terminal WITHOUT one or more luggage stores.

Yeah but airside???? I mean, how do you actually take your newly purchased suitcase with you?
Seems like the place you needed the suitcase was before you checked-in?

 

[Hvr]

I would be hard pressed to name a terminal WITHOUT one or more luggage stores.

There's obviously a business case for such a store.

 

[Austman]

F lounge: amazing as usual. Had a leisurely 3 hr lunch.

With the 3 hour check-in rule and boarding well before departure, how did you manage 3 hours in the lounge?

Was the flight running late?

Thanks for the report. I must admit that I find the QFi J-class wines pretty underwhelming but they are usually OK.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Yeah but airside???? I mean, how do you actually take your newly purchased suitcase with you?
Seems like the place you needed the suitcase was before you checked-in?

Yet almost every major airport has a Samsonite store in the airside duty free labyrinth!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yet almost every major airport has a Samsonite store in the airside duty free labyrinth!

Maybe you buy at duty free prices and they deliver it?

Hand luggage I guess people can just transfer to the new one, or take two.

 

[JohnM]

I'll be on that Sunday next week. I snared a WP-request award seat release - much to my surprise.

I have flown that bird LHR-PER in J, but I figured for getting back to PER from MEL I may as well have a crack at a seat release.

I'll stoke up in the F Lounge to help tide me over the onboard express drinks service .

 

[defurax]

J class seating config: as many have pointed out, the "suites" are a little too cosy for my liking. A bit cramped.

I've never brought my measuring tape, but one thing for sure is that my shoulders do not fit in MK2 bed when lying on my back and I have no problem in the mini suite. So they might feel claustrophobic while being a bit wider nonetheless.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

At least during your visit, JohnM, you would have lateish lunch in the QFi F MEL T2 F lounge,
As the first security checks are now diy at the entrance to MEL T2, with the person only cursory walking around, if you can get check in done even prior to the 3 hour open window, you could get past at any time.
I was out at T2 at 4am a few weeks ago, and the diy BP initial check system was still closed off, at 4.40am, check in opened, and I was one of the first through.
And of course, I got the bomb residue scan with the guy with the wand, (5 people at once, and they rope you in), oh, the indignity).
Once you are cleared by the guy on the left, you are on to the main screening part, as I got the bomb residue, I guess the guy must have made a sign I didn't have to go through the modern xray, just the old style walk through, without facing side ways.
Lucky my bag didn't swing into the "further check section", and it came straight out.
Some people's bag go down the right, facing the immi counters, mine stayed left, ...
So collected bag, and went through outgoing immi, which is a sinch.
With the orange stickered procedure, yours might be a bit more time consuming, as you can't use smartgate, and still need the officer to physically look at your BP & passport.
All my visits so far, flying QFi, 1 to the F and several to the (basement) J lounge, it was all breakfast times.
Has the s & p squid come back yet, never have had the chance to try the squid.
Or is it still a nono.
My plans are one day soon, maybe Oct 2020, is to the QF10 PER - MEL flight, to test out the QFd T4 lounge, have only done the T4 QP few years back.

 

[Gold Member]

I think we must have been airborne at least 30 mins before the drinks arrived....

Oh you received the express service then ...
When I did this flight on 13 October it took over an hour!

I can assure you this was entirely deliberate and well planned. This arrangement has been in place for a few years now purely to reduce costs in the interests of ‘safety’ or whatever marketing BS QF want to throw at you as an enhancement.

Almost every other full service carrier I can think of with either domestic or Intl services prioritises the drinks service and with a much higher quality.

Unsuprisingly, providing QF some feedback will fall on deaf ears (template oyalty ‘we listen and care’ BS response). IMHO, VA is much better in their drink service and quality.

Vote with your wallet. Don’t stay loyal to an airline that laughs in your face.

 

[JohnM]

I'll be swinging through from ADL after a winos w/e with a bunch of reprobates AAFers on my way to PER (why fly direct etc...), arriving at 1255. HLO. The 9 is not due to pull out until 1650.

I tell you, if there is no S&P squid in the FLounge at that time of day, it will be the last nail in the QF coffin for me!

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Make sure you get the staff in ADL to check you through to PER!

 

[JohnM]

Make sure you get the staff in ADL to check you through to PER!

That issue had been going through my mind. Will they be able to give me the red sticker on my BP?

 

[esseeeayeenn]

That issue had been going through my mind. Will they be able to give me the red sticker on my BP?

They were able to do it for me in SYD, not sure about ADL but worth a try.
Otherwise you may be able to check in early HLO in MEL but I am not sure.

 

[Quickstatus]

Ive bought a suitcase airside. Easy enough to Gatecheck.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Ive bought a suitcase airside. Easy enough to Gatecheck.

The gate crew were fine about that?
Also what was the price like? Those stores have always seemed expensive to me.
Although I think i did once buy a garment bag in an airport somewhere in Europe.

 

[Max Samuels]

Ive bought a suitcase airside. Easy enough to Gatecheck.

Do ALL airlines offer gate check FOC?

 

[Max Samuels]

There's obviously a business case for such a store.

Of course there is a business case - just like they had Veuve for MORE than Dan Murphy's - the business case is plain and simple: stupid tourists who get bedazzled by the flashing lights and switch their brains off, and don't bother doing a price check.

 

[Max Samuels]

With the 3 hour check-in rule and boarding well before departure, how did you manage 3 hours in the lounge?

Was the flight running late?

Thanks for the report. I must admit that I find the QFi J-class wines pretty underwhelming but they are usually OK.

Good point.... was probably not quite 3 hours - more like 2h45m? We did board at the very last minute as it was the "domestic" leg and didn't have any of that psycho enhanced "screening" as they do with flights to the USA...