EY / CX / JL F reviews

[boomy]

I've done a review of EY F last year but on the latest trip I had the chance to visit their new MEL lounge plus the stunning F lounge in AUH and thought it's good opportunity to make another review of the complete F product.
On the return I flew CX & JL. The main focus will be on CX since I've already done a review of JL last year.

The route:

BNE-MEL-AUH-LHR-TXL
QF J/EY F/EY F/ BA J
100K AA miles + $AU91.10 taxes.

FRA-HKG-HND/NRT-SYD-BNE
CX F/ CX F/ JL F/ QF J
80K AA miles + $AU214.24 taxes.

 

[TomVexille]

Certainly interested in your thoughts on CX

 

[v1nce007]

Looking forward to reading this one

 

[Pointcollector]

I'm in for the review too. Thanks in advance for taking the time to post them

 

[LadyC]

Eagerly awaiting the next installment!

 

[JessicaTam]

The F comparison thread. Buckling in!

 

[mmchow]

Thanks boomy for sharing. Looking forward in reading and hearing your thoughts on their products.

 

[boomy]

EY check-in and baggage services in Australia are managed by Menzies Aviation which means the whole experience is bound to be underwhelming. I've never encountered an enthusiastic Menzies check-in agent, they all seem to work like someone forced them to be there. Not the best first impression when flying F.

In this particular trip I've checked my luggage in BNE with QF all the way to AUH. When I showed the Menzies agent in MEL the QF baggage receipt he was surprised because there was no mention in their system about that. He made a phone call to double check and assured me everything is fine and my luggage will be loaded on the plane. At that point all I wanted is to get moving towards the lounge to snap some photos before it gets too crowded so I made a fatal error not asking the agent for my EY baggage receipt. I will pay for that mistake...

 

[boomy]

Arrived to the lounge about 2 hour before boarding and found more staff than pax inside.
First I was offered a quick tour.

The bar



Dining area



Self serve buffet



Communal seating

 

[boomy]

More seating and relaxation spaces

 

[boomy]

A unique feature in AUH lounges is the Prayer Room.





Basin to wash feet



Prayer mats and copy of the Quran

 

[boomy]

There is also nice kids playing room but since there were some kids inside I thought it's inappropriate to take photos.

Time to sit down and check out a-la-carte dining.



Champagne and wines menu



coughtail menu





A La Carte

 

[boomy]

Once sitting down in the dining area someone came with hot towel and glass of water.

Wine selection looked ok but it will definitely be better onboard so I've ordered a coughtail which was served quickly from the bar. When food was delivered they noticed I didn't use the towel and replaced it with new hot one. Wow, I don't get that service even in the QF F lounge!

I was hungry but ordered some lighter dishes to leave enough space in my tummy for the meal onboard.

Appetiser - 62 degree free range egg



Main - Confit of Tasmanian salmon



Dessert - Warm fig pudding



The meal was exceptional, top restaurant quality!

At that point the staff to pax ratio was about 1:1 and they were all so attentive that It was a bit awkward when I took photos of everything while they were all watching me.
Finally about 30 min later more pax started coming in and the attention shifted but as the dining area became full the service level didn't drop, the staff just worked much harder.

Overall it was the best service I've experienced in a business lounge, that's on top of the high quality F&B offers. I'm not usually excited about returning to J lounges (TK IST is an exception) but will be very happy to visit this one again.

Almost time to board, last photo before leaving, taken from the entrance.



The MEL lounge looks good, much nicer than LHR and more spacious than SYD. EY did a good job here.

 

[v1nce007]

View attachment 77398

Is that the "chick-chick-boom" girl on the TV?! I thought her 15 minutes of fame was long over.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Is that the "chick-chick-boom" girl on the TV?! I thought her 15 minutes of fame was long over.

That's exactly what I thought. Her name is Clare Werbeloff. Google it and you will see the pictures look remarkably like what you see on the screen.

He most recently public coverage seems to have been as the cover of the last ever Zoo Weekly.

Although as I understand it she works as a checkout assistant for Woolworths currently.

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

Looking forward to this TR.

 

[I love to travel]

Hi why was there a difference in miles as both were one ways Oz to Europe

 

[GarrettM]

That's exactly what I thought. Her name is Clare Werbeloff. Google it and you will see the pictures look remarkably like what you see on the screen.

He most recently public coverage seems to have been as the cover of the last ever Zoo Weekly.

Although as I understand it she works as a checkout assistant for Woolworths currently.

Presume the television was showing one of those pointless 20 to 1 tv moments shows. Total garbage. She fits well.

 

[Danger]

Hi why was there a difference in miles as both were one ways Oz to Europe

American allows South Pacific to Europe to be on the one award only when traveling via DOH on QR (both into and out of DOH) or via DXB on QF (again, both into and out of DXB). A similar exception exists for travel from South Pacific to Europe to be via Asia 1 or Asia 2. For this one there is some ambiguity about exactly which Asian cities can be transited as part of this exception but it certainly includes SIN and HKG.

As travel was via AUH on EY the award was actually two awards: 60k to Middle East and then 40k to Europe. Of course, those rates are now no more.

 

[boomy]

Must admit I had to google that woman on the TV as I had no idea who she is. Maybe I was overseas when that story happened or maybe I should watch more TV.

Anyway, back to the TR...