QF51 & QF52 - Business Class - Bring back the Full Breakfast Option

[spils]

Reading through a previous quote, I must totally agree - Qantas - Give customers the option of a FULL or CAFE breakfast, recently did the Singapore - Brisbane QF52 in business.
The CAFE offering was a disgrace, I am not against the way in which it is served café style, just give us decent choices.
Am also not sure who Qantas says it is listening too? I think it can only be the shareholders in the effort to cut costs.
Also the lunch offering on QF51 Brisbane - Singapore was just as bad, the hot meal was cold and the refreshment offered prior to landing in Singapore was exactly the same as I had for Lunch!!
Internationally my only other flights I can compare to recently are Cathay and Emirates and the offering for both airlines was way more appealing, great choices for all meal times, was served hot and all offered a full breakfast option.
I have been a loyal Gold QFF where ever possible over the years and used to praise them, however Internationally at least two others full services carriers have the upper hand in my opinion.
Lets hope that Qantas soon pays attention and learns to turn back the clock to the era when there was a genuine decent choice on offer.

 

[Mattg]

Welcome to AFF. A lot of AFFers have shared similar frustrations on this thread, don't know if you have seen it:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ram/tale-2-brekkies-qantas-cafe-49859-10.html

Reading through a previous quote, I must totally agree - Qantas - Give customers the option of a FULL or CAFE breakfast, recently did the Singapore - Brisbane QF52 in business.
The CAFE offering was a disgrace, I am not against the way in which it is served café style, just give us decent choices.
Am also not sure who Qantas says it is listening too? I think it can only be the shareholders in the effort to cut costs.

I would have to agree with you about this, I would rather get a decent meal in business class than (supposedly) an extra 15-30 minutes of sleep. Some may disagree, but many don't, which is why Qantas should absolutely give customers a choice!

I think your comment about the only people benefitting being shareholders is spot on. Although, if frequent travellers choose to fly with other carriers over this, the shareholders ultimately lose!

 

[wenglock.mok]

I think the issue with the day flight up to SIN (QF51) is that the whole big and small plates concept seems to be a lot more work for the crew. In my experience, they seemed really flustered and disorganised with the lunch service and it was almost 3 hours into the flight before I got my big plate. Just to give you an idea, I actually dozed off for about 40 minutes waiting for my big plate and nearly thought they had already come around with it when my seatmate told me that they had not been seen at all. There was also no refreshment service proactively offered and neither were we told that we could order anything off the menu anytime during the flight. I went prodding in the galley just about an hour out from SIN and was only offered a few pieces of chocolate as everything else had run out.

On the (shorter) QF52 overnight flight back to BNE, the crew were more organised and didn't appear as flustered as the crew on the way up. However, imho the dinner service still took a long time to finish (nearly 3 hours) and we only had shut eye for about 2 hours before the lights came back on for the breakfast service 90 minutes from landing. I somewhat agree with the view that customers should be given breakfast choices given that it is business class after all -- but truth be told, I could really only stomach a bowl of fruit and a cup of tea an hour out BNE after the dinner service, which is exactly what they served.

I can't really see how different the small and big plate concept is from what they had before, which was basically a list of 3 or 4 choices of mains and a choice between 2 starters. As such, I'm not sure why the crew on both my flights appeared to be buckling under the workload of doing the meal service.

 

[serfty]

...

I can't really see how different the small and big plate concept is from what they had before, which was basically a list of 3 or 4 choices of mains and a choice between 2 starters. As such, I'm not sure why the crew on both my flights appeared to be buckling under the workload of doing the meal service.

I have been told the big/small plates are [individually] prepared to order - presumable the meals were prepared in groups previously.

Anyhoo, Qantas see it as a cost cutting measure, een though they promote it differently: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....rogram/truth-small-plates-plates-j-51990.html

 

[wenglock.mok]

I have been told the big/small plates are [individually] prepared to order

To be quite brutally honest, it's not like they tasted any better individually prepared than before. At least previously, the service seemed to flow more smoothly. Now it just seems shambolic (in my experience, at least).

Really not a good look for business class I have to say...

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Yes there is no defined second meal on the flights to SIN now. You are expected to know that you can order again from the lunch menu (if theres anything left), if and when you feel hungry.

 

[mattm199]

I quite enjoyed the QF 51 as a "long lunch" flight, with a good crew on the Upper Deck of the 744, for nostalgia's sake. I returned with BA, and enjoyed the hot breakfast they offered!