QF3 vs JQ3 (SYD to HNL) : which one?

[mumof2sydney]

booking award tickets to honolulu mid 2010. I have noticed that to purchase tickets on qantas is about double than to purchase on jetstar - but points needed for award ticket the same. With two young ones (childen), and noting that the QF flight is a B767-300 with NO inseat entertainment...which should i book on? All advice greatfully recieved (PS its a Y class booking).

 

[Dave Noble]

If you are booking award seats, then I would book on Qantas since you will receive meals et al plus have a higher baggage allowance

If buying a ticket , I would take JQ with the supplement for meals and extra legroom seats ( though in the case of having young children with you, the extra legroom seats may be unavailable due to tending to be at exits )

Dave

 

[mumof2sydney]

thanks for that dave - but can you get individual dvd screens on qantas?

 

[Dave Noble]

thanks for that dave - but can you get individual dvd screens on qantas?

Only if you bring your own. QF does show movies on the main screen, but that is it for economy.

Dave

 

[N860CR]

The benefit of meals/drinks/baggage/service on QF far outweighs the benefits of the portable DVD players ok JQ. The selection is fairly poor.

A QF meal service burns up a good 2 hours of the flight time, with the last one being served ~2 hrs prior to arrival so that leaves 6 hour in the middle to entertain the kids.

 

[mumof2sydney]

thnaks danielribo, that is true in a way, and can always bring along our own dvd player....appreciate the feedback

 

[Dave Noble]

thnaks danielribo, that is true in a way, and can always bring along our own dvd player....appreciate the feedback

If you have a portable player, that is the best anyway imo; you can stock up on exactly the dvds which you are interested in watching

Dave

 

[Alanslegal]

If on points, I'd choose QF purely because everything is inclusive of the ticket. Even if you used your QF points for JQ3, you don't even get complimentary food (and I found out the hungry way a few years back when I redeemed some points to HKT - and it wasn't even clearly published back then).

As individual screen/entertainment is important, I guess JQ3 have them "for hire" whereas QF does not have that option. Maybe go for the QF option and start planing/preparing strategies on keeping the kids entertained now for the mid2010 flight

 

[Katie]

We flew with QF in May/June to HNL. The flight there we didn't use our own DVd player for Miss 2.5 (then). Leaving SYD at 7:30 or so meant that we got her to sleep after dinner, and she didn't wake up til we stood up to disembark.

We did a points upgrade on the way back, had bus IFE, but as afr as I recall, there wasn't much in the way of kids friendly movies. She ended up watching our DVDs on our player, as well as wandering up and down with us. Return flight is a daytime flight, so that's the bigger worry, frm an entertainment perspective.
Haven't done jetstar on this route, I'd likely stick with QF. We had lots of families on our flights, either due to location or the kids fly free promo earlier this year.

 

[N860CR]

I did it in Y on JQ not too long ago, and the flight was totally empty. Everyone in Y had a whole row of 4 to themselves to lie across which made for a very pleasant experience (better than Starclass!).

Does anyone know of the loads lately? If they're still running empty then maybe JQ scores one point at least for a shot at a "lie flat bed"!

 

[mumof2sydney]

we have considered the upgrade option but J on QF is in no way flat - definately worse than 3-4 seats in Y on either QF or JQ... if your kids are like mine - they wont sleep reclined even in J - wants heads down on our laps or pillows...so upgrade for us isnt worthwhile on this route....oh for a crystal ball to predict how full a flight will be!

 

[serfty]

thnaks danielribo, that is true in a way, and can always bring along our own dvd player....appreciate the feedback

One thing about portable DVD players - make sure it can provide enough volume to your head set. The noise of an aircraft in cruise can overpower many of these.

Laptops have a similar issue but, these days, many players (such as VLC) have volume controls that go to > 100%.

 

[Dave Noble]

Good noise cancelling headsets are a great boon for use onboard too

Dave