Should just be able to knock this out before the BBQ hoards arrive!
<snip>
Thanks for your input Roo - as per my thoughts on QF F I would certainly never want to be argumentative - I have longed to try QF F and I tried to be as honest and subjective as possible. As PF noted maybe just a tad unlucky - so am going to try again.
I do hope my postings did not appear deliberately negative - I honestly just felt there were certain obvious areas that could be much better.
<snip>.
Never thought negative or argumentative
Its really valuable for 'fresh eyes' to report what they think .. its very easy to get used to a product and not know if its still shaping up to the competition or not.
I've done maybe 10 QF F long hauls in the past 5 years so have become used to it a bit (although not used it it enough!) so when I was on QF94 the other day I thought of your comments.
PJs and amenity pack look good – but my god are those scuffs provided just the cheapest of cheap you could ever find – freebies in any hotel far superior.
I take all my own amenities and PJs so am not worried about them The Emirates F amenities pack was fantastic though - I still use the case! As for the scuffs - well, I keep them and feed them to the dog when back home. He loves ripping them apart.
Toilets so tiny – my god I was amazed. Half size of toilets on SQ 380 and about 1/10th size of TG 380.
Spot on.
Tait Comtes champers delicious – 3 champs listed on wine list – only 1 available – crew advised they serve what is loaded – Comtes it is so let’s get serious.
I'm not a Champagne fan, but think I know a good one from a bad one. On QF94 it was one I have never head of; so unmemorable that I can't remember what it was. By the sound of it, if you were served this to might have walked off
Seriously inadequate lighting for reading – this I found a pain in the cough – oh light totally insufficient – lights surrounding headboard behind you just not bright enough – this was most annoying.
I was thinking 'he's right', but then discovered that its adjustable and I could up the brightness a lot over what it came on at.
Crew were excellent – 3 crew members service 14 pax – CSM did nothing bar greet people and wander through cabins tapping on his iPad – I guess that his job. SQ CSM always contribute to serving F pax if required. SQ R and F have 4 crew – QF 3 – they had to work their coughs off
As you say, crew of 3. We had one gal, who was terrific, and two guys who were drones. One didn't interact with me
at all (just talked loudly to the couple behind me) whilst the other served a couple of drinks, unsmiling and zero affability factor. I wasn't annoyed about this - I was looked after fine but just a bit surprised how these two guys could qualify for F crew (assuming it is somewhat competitive). As you say, the CSM had a pure meet and greet function as far as the F pax were concerned and this guy possibly needs to brush up on his people skills a bit; conversation seemed a bit forced.
During the safety demo, there was a gal (from the J cabin it turns out, but I didn't know that then) doing the demos in front of me. I do listen carefully to these .. you never know.... At the end, it said that the life jacket was in the bottom of the seat (ie where your calves are) and please check that you can find it, and ask a crew member if you have any questions. I looked down, and there was just a solid bit of fabric there. No sign of a life jacket. So I asked. She had a look, couldn't explain to me and was flummoxed. Embarrassed, went off to ask. She came back with a senior looking cabin crew guy (also from the J cabin), explained that she had never worked in the F cabin, and that the lifejacket had a tag that you pull at the side of the bottom of the seat. I bent down, found it tucked away and the guy said dismissively 'Its there - OK?' I didn't mean to embarrass her, but marked it down as a bit of a safety fail, especially the attitude of the guy.
Seat comfortable to sit in in most positions – upright or whatever recline angle – this is one area where SQ F let’s itself down. SQ R is good but std F seat wide as hell but nor very comfortable to sit in – not a problem with QF seat though – very good.
I do like the QF F seat, and its adjustability. But I don't like the clunky control thingy; awkward to get out and put back.
Virtually zero storage bins in and around seat for your goodies for use during flt - zero in F seats anyway – don’t know about A or K window seats – 2 tiny little shelves right beside you on LHS which are then totally obscured when seat rotated for recline – 2 twist out draws out of reach from your seat – slide forward on your seat then can reach them but not very convenient – just an area that should have been addressed.
This is the one I think we diverge on most. Never had an issue with the storage in the seat. I have a lot of stuff around me; small & fiddly items into the draws, larger items I put on the shelf or even in my carry-on laptop bad which sits on the floor beside me.
No vertical adjustment dinner table – that was strange – slides forward and back but no vertical adjustment – ok no biggie – just expected it.
Again, I've never looked to adjust the table height on any flight I've taken (some Y flights I'd want to!).
Both F and J cabins full - F 14/14 with 10 who changed totally into the PJs provided to answer a question posed in another thread – J had 54/54 pax according to crew – again so diff to SQ as no upgrades on SQ unless lower cabin oversold.
This F had 1 seat empty and I don't know about the J cabin. Mine was a points upgrade redemption which came through at about T-60 (as previous ones have). I was always under the impression that QF won't upgrade to just fill cabins, as they regard them (like SQ) as 'Premium products'. The TPAC flights are usually very full; I've tried a couple of times to get a full revenue seat in J ex LAX between 1 and 3 days before departure on ANY of the departures a number of times and have failed more times than succeeded.
Now as for the interaction bw couples - there were 3 couples on board all of whom continually criss crossed aisle or are peering around mini suite wall to try to interact in minimal form with partner during flight. This amazes me – it just smacks of lack of design forethought – maybe no possible solution.
Yeah this seems to be an issue for some. I'm nearly always travelling TPAC solo, but what I observe many couples to do is to sit together for meals then talk across the aisle (difficult if one of them is in row A). I wouldn't think of this as a design error, just that the cabin wasn't able to be optimised for all pax. A configuration which would be great for a couple would not be great for two individual pax.
Watched BYO IFE 2hrs before realized no power supplying my computer even though I had power supply plugged in - but USB power outlet ON – call FA and she goes off to check – apparently power outlet was turned OFF - go figure – Jen the crew member who looked after me entire journey was totally apologetic and she was just SUPERB throughout the flt.
Actually, I've struck non energised power points a number of times (in J) and they have rarely found a solution on flight.
What’s with the ‘camp style’ cutlery in both F Lounge and on-board? Hardly elegant.
Hmmm .. can't say I recognise that as something I would notice; I daresay some would regard it as the height of fashion
. My flight was a 10 or11pm departure and usually I'd skip the meal service at that time, but as it was F ... dinner was OK, without being memorable. What amazes me about the early service is that there is no drinks offering after the seatbelt sign goes off. I know there is a lot of effort gone into preparing and plating the meals, but surely this is pretty basic thing in any J or F flight. I rang the bell (which I almost never do) and asked for a pre dinner G&T and it was brought promptly, so no drama, but I am genuinely surprised that this service isn't offered straight up.
Woke and prepared for breakfast – forgettable to say least. Fresh fruit fine but that was best part. Scrambled eggs just so so and toast best not had – very ordinary. English breakfast tea though was hot and only redeeming fact. Cruiserettte was woken an hour after me and her scrambled eggs were stone cold – just not good enough.
As I think I mentioned up thread, that was pretty bad. I went for the French Toast with apple and spice - it was fantastic!
So pack everything away for landing and OMG – my phone was sitting on tray table and as I lifted table phone slid down behind and trapped. Bugger me – totally inaccessible area and totally irretrievable.
I looked at this, and you are right of course. I've had airline seats swallow a heap of things over time. Worst one was when I was in CX J, and something disappeared down the side. Asked FA for some assistance, after trying myself for 5 minutes to get it out. Poor girl - fortunately thin and lithe - went to all sorts of contortions to squeeze her arm along to get it back. took 10 mins, but succeeded!
I don't doubt that SQ F is overall better than QF F (EK F certainly is). For me a F service must offer, with what I found on this last trip:
* A very comfortable bed - Big tick
* Very good, individual service - one of the crew, big tick, others fail
* Very good meals & drink - pass only (at F standard)
* A nice and relaxing environment - big tick
* Attention to the details - OK, without being exceptional (at F standard)
Looking forward to your second look
(Someone get to travel to SYD in Business class.) Then put an alert on Expertflyer or similar to see if another First Seat subsequently appears on QF11 or QF93 - then you can switch.
