It was once again time to leave Sydney, so I arrived at the airport and took myself off to the Business Class check-in counters. There was only one agent on duty, so it took some time (10 minutes plus) to get through to the agent. The agent was able to check my bags through to Dublin, which was great as I could just transfer in Heathrow rather than having to exit and go back in. Once again, my hoped for upgrade wasn't to be, and I was handed a boarding pass for Premium Economy. I didn't mind
I decided to change a lot of my unused Australian Dollars back to Euros at the Travelex counter, and got over 150 frequent flyer points for the transaction, which is always nice. I headed through immigration, security and into the Business Class lounge where I had a drink or two and a little food.
Soon enough, it was time to board. Happily there are duel aerobridges in use, so I boarded through the Business Class / Premium Economy one. On the way, I got a view of our steed...
After negotiating the upwards slanting slope, I came to the door of our aircraft, boarded and turned right to go right down the back. The Upper Deck on the Qantas A380 is configured with Business Class forward and Premium Economy aft.
Business Class features fully flat Skybeds (the angled one is still the best sleep in the sky in my opinion) and they look like this.
Premium Economy on the Qantas A380 looks like this...
While no-one else was on board, I hurried around taking some other snapshots from around the cabin such as the A380 door...
A flight attendants seat...
Along with the galley. The seats you can see are the crew rest seats, which are covered in a completely different coloured fabric to passenger seats so no-one gets confused. The "Push Push" sign at right is one of the dedicated Premium Economy loos.
The upper deck also has the lovely bins beside the seats, which are very similar to the ones on the upper deck of the Boeing 747-400 in Business Class. Of course, Premium Economy gets these too, as Qantas pitch the class as a Business Class "Lite" product as opposed to Economy "Plus".
As I was in an aisle seat, I took a couple of shots out the window... such as this other Qantas bird next to us (with a BA 777 on climbout!) -
... and of course the giant wing of our A380.
Seat pitch is listed on the Qantas web site as 38" to 40" - basically this means that the window/aisle seats on both sides have 40", while the three seats in the middle have 38". Hence why I chose a seat on the side.
The flight was completely full in Premium Economy, and from what I saw, all the other cabins were quite full as well. It seems people are actively choosing the A380 over other aircraft. My seatmate was a lovely lady from New Zealand called Wendy, who was flying AKL-SYD-SIN-LHR. As she was pleasant, I said she could come to the lounge with me in Singapore for a shower if she wanted to - and she accepted. We had a pre-take off drink and it was fun watching the Flight Attendants do the "avoid the boarding passengers while holding a tray full of drinks" dance!
Soon enough, we had the safety demonstration, pushed back and then taxiied to the runway. The aircraft seems to taxi very slowly, and it seems to take ages to complete a turn, which was interesting.
We lined up and began our take-off run. I was immediately entranced! The Rolls Royce Trent 900s sounded like a whisper! It was obvious we were taking off, but the noisy sound of other aircraft was extremely muted. After a long run, we were in the air, and the heavily laden Airbus climbed like a wet sponge... which was nice as I got to see most of Sydney passing by out the window next to the person next to me!
After take-off, we were given hot towels and then we were served dinner. The starter was Green Leaf Salad with Asparagus and Feta, followed by a choice of mains. Mine was Stir Fried Lamb with Hoisin Sauce served with Fragrant Rice. The other choice was Grilled Chicken with a Basil and Parmesan Sauce. It was gorgeous! Really top notch!
Cheese and Biscuits were also on the side to have after. Dessert was an ice cream.
The seat belts for the A380 are like in a car, with a push button latch as you can see here...
I watched some movies on the great AVOD system. The first one I watched was Borat which had me almost screaming with laughter, but I had to keep quiet as it was quite silent inside the aircraft. After 7 or so hours, we started our descent - and if I thought the A380 was quiet before, it was almost silent during descent. Really very quiet - like being in a glider almost. We landed in Singapore and deplaned. Myself and my new friend Wendy went to the lounge and had a shower, before hitting the Internet and then going back to the gate and boarding once more.
The flight to London is quite long, and once in the air, we were served supper. This was Green Leaf Salad with Olives and Beans with a choice of either Beef in a Rich Tomato Sauce, Potato Mash and Steamed Vegetables or Jalfrezi Style Fish with Rice and Spinach Daal. I had the Fish and once again the meal was superb! Dessert was Passionfruit Brulee with Chocolate Ganache.
I watched some more movies and tried to get some sleep. I basically only got a cat nap or seven and the thirteen or so hours passed slowly. During the flight you can choose to have extra food made for you if you like. Some other passengers got a baguette and I could smell it and got hungry. So I ordered the Toasted Baguette with Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, Dill Creame Fraiche, and Spinach. Another win for the food!
I went for a little walk and took this picture of the rear stairs...
Soon the mood lighting began to brighten (a bit like dawn) and people began to wake up and refresh themselves. Hot towels were handed out again, and then breakfast was served. This time it was an Omelette with Bacon, Sausage and Tomato Ragout, which was really nice. Breakfasts on flights are generally sad (apart from Aer Lingus!) and this one was quite the opposite.
The danish was lovely and the Seasonal Sliced Fresh Fruit was some of the best food I've ever had on board an aircraft!
We began the descent and once again I marvelled at how quiet the aircraft was. We landed and began our slow taxi around Heathrow before arriving on the gate. We deplaned and I followed the signs to flight transfers, got the bus to T1, went through Passport control, another security check and finally to the Aer Lingus transfer desk where I got my boarding pass. To the Aer Lingus lounge, then I flew to Dublin - my bag arrived safely also!
The A380 - what can I say? Very good! Quiet! Slow climber, slow taxiier, but lovely on board. You notice the lower cabin altitude, I felt great when I arrived. The mood lighting throughout makes a marked difference from the 747-400 which only has it in F and J. AVOD worked perfectly and it was all good! The Flight Attendants were attentive to everyone's needs and very happy.
Great fun, can't wait to do it again! Hope you all enjoyed the report Any questions or comments, let me know!
I do quite enjoy a spot of flying - more so when it's not in Economy!
Pawsleykat From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 1978 posts, RR: 14 Reply 1, posted (3 years 11 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 32767 times:
Great report boyo! It's actually nice to see the photos in the report as you detailed this one so much better than your somewhat hurried description of the photos in Dublin.
The food looks incredibly nice tbh, and the seats are better than what I expected when I first saw them on the a.net database et al.
I still wish you'd kept to your word and flown it with me for the first time, but I'm glad you had a good flight on board. I'm looking forward to my trip on the EK ones in November!
JG
First Class passengers are my favourites. They can't get any further forward without an ATPL.
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24929 posts, RR: 60 Reply 2, posted (3 years 11 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 32767 times:
Hey Trent , I was waiting for this one !! Excellent report and great pics. The food looks fab. You have sold QF to me , would love to go on it .
Interesting to see the door by the exit row means you can still stretch out in a window seat and not have legs blocked by the door. ( thats how it looks ) anyway.
Nice of you to offer that lady to take a shower with you Joking aside if I have a nice seat mate I always offer to get them into the lounge whilst in transit. Its nice to do and costs nothing.
Thanks for the great report.
Philip
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
Akhmad From Netherlands, joined Sep 2005, 2334 posts, RR: 53 Reply 6, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
Another great TR with QF Premium Economy!
Quoting ClassicLover (Thread starter): As she was pleasant, I said she could come to the lounge with me in Singapore for a shower if she wanted to - and she accepted.
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1618 posts, RR: 42 Reply 7, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 32767 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
Great report! The legroom looks real good! Did you get the same seat on the second leg? And did many people leave for SIN or were most of them going LHR as well?
BlatantEcho From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 1870 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (3 years 11 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
great report. I am looking forward to my LAX-SYD A380 trip this fall!
KHI747 From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 1609 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (3 years 11 months 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
That Y+ product really is fantastic.I mean it must cannibalise J class passengers as well.
If you the see the seats and the presentation of food,it really is miles ahead of regular Y but not that far behind J class if you factor in the incremental price you will pay for J.
As someone who travels J class (now with wife and kids) and as someone who pays for it myself rather then my company paying for it,i would be extremely tempted to use a Y+ product like this which offers a noticeable difference from Y class but at the same time substantially cheaper then J class.
Can you tell me how much was the J fare for the same flights?
AY104 From Canada, joined Nov 2005, 503 posts, RR: 7 Reply 11, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
Excellent TR, and many thanks!
I read also your TR on the outbound LHR-SYD, and have to say "Good going Qantas!". It really sounds and looks as though they have perfected the Premium Economy experience, and made the 747 flights every bit as good as the A380. There would be no reason to believe that the same holds true for the other classes of service as well.
Very rarely that one reads a TR with the experience of both directions of travel on the same carrier having been excellent, and for that length of journey.
I went to Australia a couple of years ago, both ways on AC YVR-SYD-YVR via HNL in Y class. Must say, the AC service was excellent. However, I did find that the catering out of SYD, ie between SYD and HNL was some of the very best I have ever had. Even the purser on the flight said that the crew feels SYD is one of the best caterers on the system.
Thanks again for the great TR!
Cheers,
Carl
The only thing a customer should expect for his/her loyalty is good service
ClassicLover From Ireland, joined Mar 2004, 4522 posts, RR: 25 Reply 12, posted (3 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
Quoting OA260 (Reply 2): Hey Trent , I was waiting for this one !! Excellent report and great pics. The food looks fab. You have sold QF to me , would love to go on it .
Thanks very much - you need to get yourself down to Singapore or Sydney and give it a whirl
Quoting Directorguy (Reply 4): Food looks good, but the seats look slightly drab. In terms of appearance,
The design philosophy on the interior was to bring back a feeling of the romance of travel, so the cabins were designed to bring back the memory of how cabins were presented back in the 1960s for example.
This picture -
... is of the Qantas Boeing 707-138 First Class cabin, taken in Vancouver in 1960. The colour of the seats is quite similar to that in Premium Economy nowadays.
We left the aircraft in London and she was off to meet her husband
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 7): Great report! The legroom looks real good! Did you get the same seat on the second leg? And did many people leave for SIN or were most of them going LHR as well?
Yes, usually you'll have the same seat all the way through. Some people got off in SIN, and they were all replaced - but many people were going all the way to LHR.
Quoting KHI747 (Reply 10): That Y product really is fantastic.I mean it must cannibalise J class passengers as well.
It does, the Qantas CEO has stated that they wish they had larger Premium Economy sections in the aircraft and smaller Business Class cabins thanks to the downturn in passengers up front.
Quoting KHI747 (Reply 10): Can you tell me how much was the J fare for the same flights?
Yes, the J fare on Qantas is usually around about £2,800.
I do quite enjoy a spot of flying - more so when it's not in Economy!
ClassicLover From Ireland, joined Mar 2004, 4522 posts, RR: 25 Reply 18, posted (3 years 9 months 2 weeks 5 days ago) and read 32767 times:
Quoting EC001 (Reply 16): Although I love QF's seats design on the A380, they always seem "hard". Were they comfortable enough?
They were quite comfortable actually... not for sleeping in though! While all signs pointed to "yes" in the sleeping stakes, you are still sitting up, so no sleep for me.
Quoting Allrite (Reply 17): I can't speak for the premium economy, but I found the normal economy seats in the A380 very comfortable with excellent lumbar support.
I'm trying this in September, so I will also write a report on it with some comparisons
I do quite enjoy a spot of flying - more so when it's not in Economy!
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