Qantas to Beijing. Are they kidding??

[graxx]

Just got back from a 6 week trip, starting Sydney to Beijing.
What a little shocker! An ancient 747, old Business Class seats with the dreaded slope (QF should look at the fantastic new AA 777 product in J!! AA for heavens sake!!), a decrepit old entertainment system with the symbols worn off the buttons and a 100mm screen!!! Lousy choice of entertainment too!
Like flying 10 years ago.
Hardly what you expect of a new route!!!

 

[TheInsider]

B747 to PVG, i'm surprised they used that to there. But they are getting rid of them very shortly.

 

[mushez]

Sounds flash for a Chinese route hard product.

 

[mannej]

Are you sure it was a 747 and not EBL/G (unrefurbed A332).

QF advertised that you would get the old 332 product on this route, so it really shouldn't come as a surprise.

 

[graxx]

You may be right- I was too put off by the product to take much notice of what in the hell I was in.
Advertise?? Didn't see any 'advertisement, but don't really care- when you pay for J Class you don't expect such clapped out seats. Flew AA back to Sydney and got a shock at their terrific J class seats- better by far than QFs ( even the newer ones).
I'm obviously just a naive traveller who gets sucked in by the hype airlines put out and expect standards to be consistent
.

 

[mannej]

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/m...lights-take-off-in-time-for-chinese-new-year/

36J + 199Y = 235 seat A332.

 

[levelnine]

The unrefurbished A332 is a terrible product. These planes either need to be refurbed or be retired -- completely unacceptable for what you're paying in J.

 

[Mattg]

My understanding is that they kept 2 unrefurbished A330-200s specifically to use on the SYD-PEK route. The A330-300s don't have the range (at least not with a full payload) for the route, and the refurbished A330-200s don't have the crew rests/galleys etc. needed for a flight of this length.

I agree that it's a poor product.

Beware that Qantas also regularly uses VH-EBL and VH-EBG on QF5/6, the evening SYD-SIN and midnight SIN-SYD flights. I'm flying SIN-SYD in J next month and specifically chose to fly via BNE for the A330-300.

 

[Happy Trails]

Well, as I said at the time, anything that keeps them out of BKK is fine with me.:mrgreen:

 

[graxx]

After such a disappointing experience, I'm beginning to feel like keeping out of Qantas just to be on the safe side.
Sad about that too.

 

[Mattg]

After such a disappointing experience, I'm beginning to feel like keeping out of Qantas just to be on the safe side.
Sad about that too.

Just don't fly them to PEK or on QF5/6 to SIN, and you should be fine.

 

[moa999]

Sadly it's more than just QF5/6 SYD-SIN you need to worry about.
In the past week EBG/EBL have also been used on QF83/180 QF117/118 SYD-HKG and QF81/82 SYD-SIN

A333s (possibly lightly loaded) have been used on QF107/108 most weeks recently

 

[eric2011]

You may be right- I was too put off by the product to take much notice of what in the hell I was in.

.

Are you sure you were on QF

 

[graxx]

Yep They're the only ones with the slopey business seats and no storage.
I've been on QF plenty of times.
The seats are not great compared to most other airlines, even in the new configuration ( which loses toilets, particularly on the upper deck of a 747 which means embarrassing queues at landing time!)

 

[yohy?!]

PEK is losing them money hand over fist I think given the very low sale fares on offer - they can't fill Y in competition with the mainland carriers. Probably not much appetite to spend on a refurb...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

PEK is losing them money hand over fist I think given the very low sale fares on offer - they can't fill Y in competition with the mainland carriers. Probably not much appetite to spend on a refurb...

And perhaps there's a bit of a catch-22 - put a refurb on the route and maybe it would attract more business? But the later arrival time is also off-putting. Too late to do much else than go to the hotel to sleep, and too late for connections.

 

[graxx]

Why would they bother to open a new route that is going to lose money hand over fist?
Qantas is a business and if they make a business decision to open a new route and can't run the route profitably, then something is wrong with their decision making, surely.
Opening up a new enterprise with a faulty, old, inferior product when you sell yourself as a full service airline is arguably insane and can't lead to success.\
But this is not particularly my problem. I just didn't get what I thought was good value. Funnily, they don't seem to discount J class and run it at a loss hand over fist!!!

 

[yohy?!]

Why would they bother to open a new route that is going to lose money hand over fist?
Qantas is a business and if they make a business decision to open a new route and can't run the route profitably, then something is wrong with their decision making, surely.
Opening up a new enterprise with a faulty, old, inferior product when you sell yourself as a full service airline is arguably insane and can't lead to success.\
But this is not particularly my problem. I just didn't get what I thought was good value. Funnily, they don't seem to discount J class and run it at a loss hand over fist!!!

i doubt they could've predicted how strongly the response would be to their return. regardless, the china market is too big to ignore and they are probably resigned to losses at first to build market share.

they can keep the cough old planes around because people will still book to fly them (eg corporate contracts, QFF "golden handcuffs)!

 

[Mattg]

Serious question... how does the QF product compare to what's offered on the other direct flights to Beijing?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Serious question... how does the QF product compare to what's offered on the other direct flights to Beijing?

Air China provides a full flat 81 inch pitch seat. 2-2-2 configuration so not so private, but the bed is very comfortable. Service - I'd say it's on par if not slightly better than QF (language and cultural differences apply). Food... close call these days. It's comfort food on Air China, but recent reports put it on par with CX. I find it better than QF - but its a different style... not individually prepared so it comes in sauce and retains some flavour and moisture. IFE, QF wins hands down. Lounges in Australia - on par with QF's business class offering.

CA has MEL and SYD non-stops to PEK overnight, allowing full day of work in both cities. MEL pax don't need to connect in SYD. Plus CA has connections from PEK. CA - credit miles to Lifemiles or SQ.

In economy, both products have their pros and cons. CA has more legroom. QF not so much. But QF wins on IFE and alcohol.

Downsides - for leisure travellers, arriving before 6am into PEK means a long wait for your hotel. But equally with QF - arriving at 10pm is very late.