SIN BNE - QF52 vs EK432, two OP ups in three days means showdown time.

[markis10]

I was not going to do a trip report however the rare honor of having received two OP ups in three days on SIN BNE meant I had the opportunity of comparing the two direct options Qantas flyers have when wishing to travel to Brisbane. This was my first ever EK flight so I was interested in what lay ahead, as I prefer non overnight flights where possible.

Checkin.
EK does not use the premium check in lounge at SIN unlike QF, however there were no delays.

Preflight Lounge.
The two options are so close I cannot split them, I love the staff in the QF lounge but feel the drinks on offer are probably the worst aspect, no Bundaberg Beer or real champagne. The EK lounge has a bigger variety of food both cooked to order and buffet as well as better drinks, however its staff are very formal and its hard to relax, while the views are good.

Boarding
EK has priority screening for status and J/F passengers, a big plus, I used this with my Y pass no issue prior to it being swapped for J at scanning, happy days (Flight Stats indicated F2 as the only availability). Qantas did do priority boarding, EK only offer priority with the early Y boarding stages for J passengers. EK police the A bridge for F passengers only, which is fair enough however it meant some time on the B aerobridge with the masses.

Seat
Enough has been said about Skybed, the EK equivalent in the 773 is comparable, it has what seems to be more cushions, yet seems to lack the width of the Skybed, I spent a lot of the flight resting my arm on the IFE tablet, I could not find a more comfortable place.



.

 

[markis10]

Food.
Both flights have a more substantial offering as the first meal, this makes sense for EK as its lunchtime but for the Qantas flight I really think this needs a rethink. Most of not all passengers would have eaten prior to boarding, why not offer hot snacks for those that want it (toasties/pizza or a salad) and leave the more substantial offerings to Breakfast????

I did have the Wonton soup on QF and it was great, the less said about Breakfast the better, and I use the term "breakfast" loosely, as does Qantas in this context.

EK Entree:
Smoked Tuna with piquant wasabi dressing.

 

[markis10]

EK Main

Steamed seafood, a gourmet selection of scallop, prawns and snapper fillet in a light mustard sauce with red pepper, sugar snap peas and duchess potatoes with olive oil.

 

[markis10]

EK Desert - Cheese Plate

 

[markis10]

Menus

 

[markis10]

IFE

Its pretty hard to come up with a winner here, while ICE on EK has some very nice features such as the camera views etc, I found it hard to navigate and not without glitches, with the tablet controller WiFi based I had issues with a TV series jumping to the next episode every 5 seconds until I moved my iPAD away from the seat. Certainly the screen size on EK is great and the fact all seats can view ICE from take off to touchdown is a bonus given the screens are not in the seat, probably the major point of difference.

 

[markis10]

Amenities.

On first boarding EK I thought perhaps QF and EK were going to be close, could not have been more wrong. In the seat pocket was an eyeshade and socks etc, while the toilets have combs/shavers and toothbrushes, help your self.

After takeoff came the Amenity Packs for both flights, I will let the pictures do the talking in this case:

 

[markis10]

General observations/ summary:

Overall both flights were good, crew were fantastic on both flights and worked hard given the full cabins. I noted on the EK flight the CSS was going through training scenarios with another crew member between service rather than resting.

There were some issues however with EK, for a start they always use the northern most aero bridge as they have direct boarding from the lounge, this means a LOOOOONG walk to customs on arrival. Another issue was the lack of arrivals cards, these were handed out on deboarding, luckily I grabbed mine, went for the long walk and used smart gate, using the baggage waiting time to actually complete the paperwork. Luggage was out promptly and my bags tagged with a F tag one of the first out, with QF it was HLO so no comparison available.

If QF had a day flight ex SIN it would be hard to choose, there is not much in it, but the fact it's overnight and has very poor catering choices to boot mean its likely I will choose QF51 up and EK432 back in the future. In the meantime I wonder if QF have postulated on the following:

QF BNE 0600 SIN 1200
SIN 1400 PER 1900

and

QF PER 0600 SIN 1100
SIN 1300 BNE 2200

 

[Inver]

Thanks Markis for the comparison and great photos.

 

[markis10]

Not sure whether I lucked out but noticed my Bose headphones did not like the ICE system, with significant audio distortion.

 

[docjames]

Thanks for the comparison.

The "breakfast" is a joke on QF. Penny pinching at its finest.

 

[Boogs]

Great thread! Thanks for taking the time. When flying with the family a day flight is always preferred so I'll consider EK from SIN next time.

 

[NM]

Not sure whether I lucked out but noticed my Bose headphones did not like the ICE system, with significant audio distortion.

Did you try switching to the "LO" setting on the switch?

 

[markis10]

Did you try switching to the "LO" setting on the switch?

I have QC3s, no switch.

 

[Isochronous]

Wow that EK amenity kit is amazing - even better than CX.