greetings,

Ok, this is my first trip report, so be nice. I fly from Dub to Syd 4 or 5 times a year for work, and have traveled virgin upper class most times, BA first twice, but decided a trip on the A380 was needed, so I booked with Qantas this time. I chose Qantas for 2 reasons, BA points and price, I picked up the flight for £4500, compared to Singapore at over £8000, with Virgin UC £4000 approx.

LHR Lounge
The lounge in T3 is new, its very similar to the BA lounges in T5, as this was an early flight breakfast was being served. The staff in the lounge are useless! Spent 5 minutes trying to find someone to order food, and then they were just completely indifferent. Very poor for a first class lounge. Facilities were good, showers, PCs, plenty of choice for drinks, food was limited. Overall it was average. Nothing compare to Virgin Club House.

Flight

The A380 is a amazing plane; so much space. The seats are unusual, as you face forward for take off and landing, but then swivel inflight to watch TV and sleep. The cabin was very spacious, and was very neutral in color, it does not have any of the gold and bling of some carries first class.

The IFE was excellent, great choice of movies and TV, you can watch it from the moment you board, why you can not do this any other airlines????? The screen was a great size. You also have a touch screen control panel for everything, including blinds, lights seat etc

The crew were great, very friendly, cabin manager introduced himself, always attentive, overall, crew could not have been better

Food, choice was again excellent, fish, meat veg, and then light and snack menu, including the best ham and cheese panini I have every had! they must have a panini machine, as it was great. I wont bore you with what else I ate, as I can not really remember anyway! Wine was good, 3 choices of white and red,. and plenty of champagne on boarding

Also got a sleeper suite on each let and a amenity bag, this was a bit disappointing compared to BA, felt very cheap

The bed
This was really amazing, by and far the most comfortable bed I have every slept in, they offer a turn down service when ever you like. and they put a very thick mattress on the seat/ bed, this makes for a very soft and comfortable sleep. There is plenty of space, and I had no problem sleeping on my side.

They also have a kind of bar area upstairs, whoever designs this has obvious never been on a virgin flight, as this bar is useless, just on big long rigid seat, no one used it. Shame, as could have been a great space. I think for a bar to work on a flight, they need to have someone behind serving drinks

On the return leg, I used the Qantas lounge in Sydney, and this is probably my favorite lounge in the world, just beating the clubhouse I think! The spa is great, and the food services in the dinning area also of very high standard.

Overall
An excellent experience, I could not really find any faults with 1st class on qantas A380. If I had to chose again; and price was not an issue, and would happily fly with them.

Thanks for the report! I have a question for you about seats. I am flying SIN-LHR in F on this bird in September. I currently have seat 2A and from what I read people don't seem to have an opinion either way about that seat. What do you think? What would be a better seat to switch to having been in the cabin?


Cheers!

Very comfortable. Not as plush as the EK product but still a wonderful way to travel!

Hi,
Any other pics?- otherwise, thanks for the report, I'm hoping to get on this bird, and try out the First myself sometime this year.

Quoting irishbean (Thread starter): a very thick mattress on the seat/ bed

good!!! I've never understood why airlines use very thin mattresses that really don't do anything other then eliminate the creases caused by the different sections of the seat- but there's the rub. it still feels like a seat, so I'm glad QANTAS took the step to making a more comfortable bed by adding a better mattress.

In looking at these pictures, the openness between the all the seats and the windows seems odd- maybe not whilst sitting... how did that feel?

Tell us a little bit about the seat in comparision to the other First products you've travelled in... pros, cons...
~Cheers-
~~Kyle

Quoting alaskaqantas (Reply 4):

Lol, why would I write a fake trip report?

I have no other pics, I just had my Iphone, and to be honest, I was not planning on writing up about the trip, they were pics i sent to my boyfriend.

Quoting Raffik (Reply 2):

All window seats are the same, but best to avoid 5A and K as they are next to galley.

The major issues I would have with the layout is if traveling with a friend/ Partner, as there are no 2 seats together, unlike BA, and this to me if very important, especially if you have a 24 hour flight like london to sydney. The cabin felt very spacious, and the set is semi private, which is the way I prefer it. I have seems pics of the new BA first and they have gone for this feel to, I would not be a fan of the suite concept, as when traveling along on a very long flight, I find it interesting and fun to 'size up' my fellow passengers, gives you something to do! and dont want to be in a small cabin/suite like a toilet!

Overall, I find it very difficult to beat the layout and seat, you really can not get any more comfortable, its big, fully flat, very confirmable, you get 2 pillows, its as confirmable as any bed, anywhere.

My 2 major gripes would be the disappointing 'bar' area, I feel this was a real opportunity lost, when traveling a lot, and on very long flights alone, the bar on virgin is a really great way to pass a few hours and meet some very interesting passengers. Is not down to space, as they had a 'bar' seating area, just bad design. The other fault as mentioned above is if traveling with a partner.

cheers
iain

There is no "bar" area, there is however a "lounge" area at the front of the upper deck, for the use of F and J passengers to chill out away from their seats. A totally different concept to the "bar" offered by VS and EK.

Dave

Thanks for posting.

Nice selection of pictures though a few of the F&B onboard would have been good, especially as there have been so few of the QF 380 'F' service.

Rgds

Mark

Quoting Raffik (Reply 2): I am flying SIN-LHR in F on this bird in September. I currently have seat 2A and from what I read people don't seem to have an opinion either way about that seat.

I traveled from LAX to SYD in 2A. I had previously traveled in 5A and chose 2A deliberately. It does not have the 'traffic' issue of 1A or the nearby galley of row 5. The A seats are preferred for single travelers as you don't share the aisle with anyone opposite you.

Quoting irishbean (Thread starter): The IFE was excellent, great choice of movies and TV, you can watch it from the moment you board, why you can not do this any other airlines?????

You can do so on quite a few airlines, from the various reports I've read on here. I've experienced this myself on 9W as well.
Seems like a good way to fly - not quite SQ but still pretty good!

Quoting irishbean (Thread starter): I picked up the flight for £4500

I am surprised that it is THAT cheap for a F ticket all the way to Sydney!

The seat looks amazing and I do not prefer EK's suites. You feel like you are in a coffin!

I wish there were more pictures but still an amazing TR!

Well done!

Hi irishbean good TR. I've always liked QF no matter what class I've travelled in. The VS Lounge is definitely better than the BA/QF one in T3 and possibly as it was a early flight the staff hadn't woken up yet. QF F looks generally good. Maybe could have added a bit more colour to the cabin as it does look rather bland. But I'd be happy travelling on the long flight down under on that seat.

Quoting irishbean (Thread starter): The crew were great, very friendly, cabin manager introduced himself, always attentive, overall, crew could not have been better

That happened to me as well when i flew to HKG last year in Economy. Even though I was right at the back of the plane the lead purser came and introduced themselves to me and said not hesitate if I needed anything. I asked cheekily for a Biz Class amenity bag and some headphones which she gave me after take-off. The look on everyone else's faces around me was priceless.

Sandeep (AI151)

DUB-SYD 4 o 5 times a year - why not travel Etihad? In my opinion their new First Class suites are the best in the sky.

The F Class seats look great, but here is the issue for me - and call me a big kid if you want, but they seem to be terribly far from the window; I like to be able to look out - particularly on takeoff and landing. Still, the QF J class cabin looks very good indeed (as indeed does Y+, where I'm far more likely to be found!)

Anyway, great report and thanks for sharing!