BA J LHR To FRA & SYD-BKK - LHR - Eye Opener (by eccc Feb 17 2010 in Trip Reports)
Firstly, if you’re wondering what the author looks like!
After a disappointing first leg on BA¸ I had lost some enthusiasm for this flight, not helped by the fact that the BA check-in agent at LHR was unable to issue me my boarding pass for FRA-SYN, despite the fact that I was flying on a Qantas ticket, code-shared with BA for part of the way. She said it was problem with new systems etc. I’m not an anxious traveller in any way, but do like to have all my bits and pieces sorted out. Anyway, had to sort that one out once at Frankfurt. By the time I boarded QF6 for a 23h20 departure, I was feeling a bit fractious (and hungry!!). It was good, therefore, to be so warmly welcomed on board by the excellent QF cabin crew. The load factor on this leg of the flight was pretty light, so moved to a bulkhead window seat with no neighbour, so was able to spread myself out a bit.
Qantas Skybed seat pre departure
Plenty of legroom in bulkhead seats
The service on Qantas was very friendly and efficient, and the food was very good. Don’t want to bang about the return BA leg, as I think I made my point in my other trip report, but given that they are code-sharing, you’d think they could reach similar standards.
Delicious lamb dinner
...and cheese plate was ok.
I didn’t take a lot of pics in-flight, as most people on this site would have seen them all before. Also it was a night flight, so would have been annoying to fellow passengers.
Breakfast was ok, though the sausages had some weird cheese-like filling
RR engines on QF 744
A380 about to take off in Sydney.
I’m never sure about holiday pics in these reports, but for the benefit of those who have ummed and aahed about spending Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere – admittedly it was a bit weird to see Santa Clauses wondering around in the heat and listening to traditional carols being played in shopping centres and the streets – here’s a taste of what it’s like – highly recommend it! (Apart from the redback, which is probably best avoided, though strangely fascinating. Also the taipan that slid across a beachfront bar I was at near Cairns, though unfortunately didn’t have the camera with me then. There really are some nasty creatures in Oz, and my previous convictions that Australians are all very blasé about them were soon dispelled).
Ah, Clare Valley Riesling
So this is what December is like Down Under
Boxing Day on beach in Adelaide. Now I’m not a dog lover, but this little guy – friend’s dog – is very cute
...and this little guy - inches from my arm at lunch in the Clare Valley - wasn’t so cute
Could this scene be more Australian?
Conclusion: Having been rather spoiled – well very spoiled – by flying in First on Emirates last year, I was worried that the Qantas Business Class experience would not excite me anymore. However, once I stepped on board, the childish thrill of it all came back and I wasn’t disappointed. I was slightly surprised, however, to discover that they had scrapped First Class on this route and, apparently, many others – I think apart from LA & London, and of course the A380 routes - which, although probably very sensible, is a little sad. Given that they’re doing this, I do hope, however, that they will replace the current Skybeds with the new generation fully flat seats, as the padding on the seats I was in does seem to be wearing a bit thin, and the angled seats don’t give as good a sleep as Virgin’s Upper Class seats of BA’s Club World seats (see, I’m not totally anti-BA, although I do think I made that clear in my other report too).
Anyway, unless those nice people at Barclaycard decide to clear my account, or if the even nicer people at Lottery HQ see sense and pick my numbers – just once is all I’m asking – I suspect that this will be my last report for a while, so hope you enjoyed it.
[Edited 2010-02-17 13:46:49]
