haydensydney
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2008
- Posts
- 1,375
For christmas this year my family and I thought that we would do something different and spend four nights up in Darwin: they flew from BNE on QF in Y (flights were about $500 ea return) and I used points from SYD in J.
Check-in & Lounge
Being a DJ aficionado I was surprised by the NGCI at SYD - I didn't really know what to do with myself (i.e. where do I get priority tags for my bags?)... I ended up finding a J check-in desk and was soon on my way. I must say that the NGCI does look futuristic, something out of the Jetsons: love it.
The J lounge was a pleasant surprise, the catering options this morning included scramble eggs, mushrooms + tomatoes: a decent breakfast for a lounge I must say. One soy late later, it was time to board.
SYD-DRW 737-800
This was a fairly empty flight with only two other couples in the J cabin. Boarding was over and done with fairly quickly and we got the normal "Juice or Water" options from the FA. I was in the bulkhead seat (1F) so had the seat next to me free, which was good for watching iPad/MacBookPro during the journey.
After takeoff the one FA looking after J came around and took drinks orders: I tried the white wine (Chardonnay) and it was FERRAL. I could pick a better Chardonnay from BWS for $10, so the fact that they were serving this in J was a let down. I then tried the red (which was a Vasse Felix Merlot) which was somewhat better, but still not something that I would voluntarily buy/drink at home.
The main dish was a tandoori barramundi fillet with spiced rice and vegetables, and it was very nice I must say. The only issue for me was the portion size but it did the job considering the decent I had breakfast in the lounge. For the rest of the trip I downed a few G&T's and the FA was very prompt in seeing an empty glass and refilling. The service overall was very good and the FA seemed to be very experienced - top marks for QF on this point.
Outback vistas from the aircraft
Arrival into DRW was a little bumpy but we arrived about 30mins early which was a bonus.
One30 Apartments - Darwin City
After researching Darwin accommodation options, I was fairly disappointed in what was on offer. We finally stumbled upon a serviced apartment option which we were very happy with given the price, location and overall suitability for our small group.
Holiday and Serviced Apartments Darwin Northern Territory
The apartment we were in was on the 7th floor and had awesome views of the Darwin harbour. The balcony was a great size and had a table that could fit eight guests - we spent a lot of time on the balcony drinking wine over the four nights: the humidity wasn't that bad so we were fine. Storm watching was great from the balcony also...
Sunsets were equally as impressive
The fit-out of the apartment was amazing with great furniture, large LCD screens in the lounge and family rooms, great bathrooms with showers to die for. Amenities were provided, though for longer stays you will need to purchase further supplies from Coles down the road. The kitchen was large and open plan, some staples were missing from the kitchen (read: gladwrap, egg beaters, dishwasher tablets, serving platters/plates) but we made do.
Overall I was very happy with this apartment - I gave 5 stars on tripadvisor. Should I ever go back to DRW (unlikely) I will certainly stay here.
A big thanks also to ozbeachbabe who took the time to give tips and advice to my family and I re: things to do. The Flyertalk crew are fortunate to have her help with the Flyertalk meet in DRW next year. Thanks heaps for your help ozbeachbabe and it was great to meet you!!
DRW-SYD 737-800
Darwin airport is of a "quaint" size and is almost like a flashback from the '80s (almost like Wellington airport in the 90's before the refurb!). Check-in was over and done with fairly quickly and I was soon airside. I caught up with ozbeachbabe as her brother was also on my flight to SYD and afterwards jumped into the QC for a quick drink/charge of my iPad.
Aircraft to SYD
763 to BNE
The J cabin was packed on this flight - only one spare seat and thank god, this was next to me
Another juice/water offer was made and accepted. Shortly after takeoff, the captain came on the loudspeaker and apologised for the loud high pitch sound coming the rear of the aircraft: he then said that the aircraft was not in danger and we would be continuing onto SYD. A short while later I had a chat with the FA looking after the J cabin, and he told me that there was a pressurisation issue with the rear door which was "leaking air" - the sound of which was piercing to those in row 10 and back. He then told me that the pilot dipped a couple of paper towels in water, stuck the water towels up against the "hole" which then froze upon impact with the cold temperatures outside. The sound then stopped until the aircraft was on descent into SYD at which time it returned (presumably - I couldn't hear it from my seat). I am impressed with the ingenuity of the pilot, but was still slightly concerned about the "leaking air".
For lunch I had the warm dish, which was mongolian lamb - very nice but again the portion size was on the smaller side. I didn't go back for wine on this flight, so stuck with G&T's for the remainder of the flight.
It was a very stock standard flight - nothing terribly exciting to report on. The service in the J cabin however was again great, with two FA's looking after the cabin which was nice.
Overall
Having been treated to EK F + VA J a couple of times this year, I guess QF had an impossible task of trying to impress me on these DRW flights. I kept on telling myself that this was a domestic J flight so I shouldn't have such high expectations, but the main components of the flight (i.e. Cabin Crew service / OTP ) were perfect with no room for improvements. The nice "extras" such as food and wine were a let down, but hopefully with DJ's entry into the J market in 2011 perhaps QF will raise the bar in this area.
Would I pay $1800 each way to fly J on QF on this route? No. Would I use points? Yes. Have these flights wooe me back to QF? No chance
