Lessons in indulgence and moderation – MEL F lounge, QF9 MEL-DXB, DXB A380 F lounge, QF9 DXB-LHR
I had been anticipating this experience for quite some time, as I’ve never actually flown QF F before – putting aside the ‘J service / F seating’ experiences from a few years ago – and despite being an avid AFFer for awhile, had never had the opportunity to sample QF’s flagship product. I’d done extensive research and a fair bit of vicarious practice by reading some exceptional trip reports of the experience (
anat0l and
Keith009’s come to mind, though there have been plenty).
Needless to say, when this trip came up and I spotted a F award seat on the AAdvantage award search for 70,000 miles + approx $100+++ one-way to LHR through DXB, it didn’t take me too long to book (via the infamous El Segundo method to minimize +++, as my booking wasn’t confirmed for some time while I was passed around between AA desks who couldn’t give me a straight answer on whether my Australian credit card could be used to pay the +++). The rest of the trip similarly fell into place, but we’ll get to that later.
Not long after I made this booking, Qantas announced their Chauffeur Drive service. Having been unable to secure a similar service on a VS award ticket, I wasn’t really expecting much of this. However, at this year’s QF Rockpool lunch I put the question as to whether or not Chauffeur Drive would be available for award travel, and the answer was definitively – “for all tickets in business and first”. So I was rather pleased to see it appear as an option in my booking on 1 April, and went ahead and booked my car.
I caught up with
anat0l at the QF Tweet and Eat, and asked for his advice on making the most of the trip, and had similarly been reading some comments made by
Princess Fiona (who I have somehow managed to miss at two QF AFF events!). The gist of it all was that in order to enjoy the full experience, you should avoid over-indulging in the lounge. Tough advice given all there is on offer, but I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a few long F lounging experiences already, so took it to heart nonetheless.
Lesson 1: Check that your contact details are correct, then check them again.
The day before the flight, I was very much anticipating the call from the First Host. Though I’ve had plenty of occasions to try the MEL F lounge, I’d never had the visit prearranged – it was always a rush to get in at T-3, check in at the F desk and try to get any available spa bookings, then race through security and the various duty free shops to get there in time to fit in a meal (or two), spa treatment and some casual work and relaxation time. That would not be the case for once! Sure enough in the morning I got a call from Brunel to confirm my car, which was great. But as the afternoon passed, no call from the First Host. On a hunch, after T-24 I decided I’d check MMB. To my horror, despite filling out my APIS, no contact details were recorded for me – of course, I’d booked through AA and had thought I’d been doing the right thing by not asking them to enter my QFF number against the number. How wrong I was. I called the F lounge, but had to try a couple of times before I got through, and sure enough the lack of contact details was confirmed. Very luckily, there were still a couple of options for spa sessions, which I went ahead and booked, and let them know that I’d probably be a little early as I’d booked the car at T-4.5 just in case of delays. I was advised the check in desk wouldn’t be open until T-3.5, but didn’t mind waiting – this was pretty much what I’d expected and what nlagalle and serfty had stated on a thread here.
Lesson 2: Get plenty of sleep before the flight (per anat0l)
The takeaway from
anat0l’s trip report (where he did 30-odd sectors in the space of a few days) and his suggestion to me at Spice Temple was to be well rested for the flight. Good advice for pretty much everything, but something that for various self-inflicted reasons I failed at. I didn’t get nearly enough sleep the night before, and woke up with a niggling headache on the morning of the flight. Tried to combat this with limited effectiveness with food, water, coffee and Panadeine.
Just a little bit before the time I’d booked my car, I received a text that it had arrived and was waiting outside. I was delighted to see what I assume was an Audi A8 (didn’t get a chance to confirm) with a lovely driver who was friendly, helpful and very efficient. While two people can fit very comfortably in the car, my 3 pieces of checked luggage plus 2 pieces of carry on did push the boot to its limit. Given that, it’s not such a bad idea that Chauffeur Drive is offered on a per-passenger rather than per-booking basis.
Lesson 3: Sometimes they’ll check you in prior to T-3.5 if you’re in F (per nlagalle)
Needless to say, the drive was very comfortable and we made excellent time – I got to the F check in area about 15 minutes before they’d advised me it was due to open. I expected I’d probably have to wait, but the driver very kindly took me to the door and waved for the attention of the staff inside who kindly let me in anyway, as they were just preparing for my flight. I noticed some leaflets setting out the new arrangements for DXB airport – stupidly, I didn’t take one with me, which I would later come to regret. Check in was very fast and efficient, I was given a rather plain F boarding pass (how I would have loved one of those lovely old printed BPs!) and a departure express card, and I was on my way in no time. The agent did make a comment that it appeared I had already been checked in – seeing as I had not done OLCI, I found this a little surprising.
Since I’ve left, I’ve noticed that
Ansett made some enquiries that suggested that the F check in area does not close between flights any more. All I can say to that is that I had to be admitted to the lounge by a staff member and there were people waiting outside when I arrived, and I’ve not had the experience of checking in prior to T-3.5 myself. If this is a new arrangement, that’s really great, but nothing in this particular experience suggested that it would be possible. Add to that the issue of whether or not customs had opened the flight for processing prior to T-3.5, which I’ve briefly encountered earlier (but wasn’t a big deal). Regardless, if this is now the case then I may have tried to get there earlier to sample brunch (eggs benedict!) but for the advice of
anat0l and
Princess Fiona.
Lesson 4: Departure cards are almost useless at MEL
I briefly stopped to pick up some obligatory Australian treats for relatives I’d be visiting then headed in to security. I showed my Express Card and was waved in to the Express Card aisle, only to find the entire area almost empty, and the queues nevertheless converging at the one checkpoint. Before I could unload my bags, I was tapped for explosives screening – which isn’t unusual in itself, but I’d never come across it before x-ray machine, which was interesting. The agent who scanned me did make a comment about how heavy my bag was – which I’d been dreading, as I’d had to carry my laptop in it as I was carrying a few pieces of goods to claim on TRS. Luckily, and despite not seeing my BP, she didn’t say anything else or force me to repack or defend my heavy bag as has been the case previously and elsewhere. Similarly at immigration there were no queues, so I pocketed the Express Card and walked the long way straight through to a waiting agent.
Lesson 5: TRS is always slow, and the MEL F lounge is too far away
I just had a couple of things to process at TRS, and had all the items at hand at the receipts organized and ready to go. There were only three people waiting to claim TRS, but only one agent to process them. However, the queue grew substantially behind me. The agent was actually pretty efficient, but nonetheless waiting for the others to get through and for mine to finish took much longer than it should have, given all the steps they have to go through (and the fact that some of the others claiming TRS were not as prepared and had to go fishing for information on address and accounts while at the desk). I sometimes wonder whether the time wasted at the TRS desk it really worth it – surely this sort of thing could be done much more quickly, but isn’t. Perhaps they’re trying subtly to dissuade people from using the service.
Between the time wasted at TRS and the ridiculously long and windy walk to the lounge (why can’t there be a short-cut as in SYD?), you are liable to lose a fair chunk of time getting to the MEL F lounge. This wasn’t news to me, but something that nevertheless continues to frustrate. It would seem more effective to me to have gates and shops all throughout the terminal rather than concentrating the shops at the start and having nothing but gates at the end. Seems like a Gruen-esque misunderstanding of modern consumer behaviour.
When I finally got to the F lounge, I noticed the Emirates lounge across the way. For a moment I thought that perhaps I should see if I could pop my head in there for a look, but didn’t really know the access policy post-alliance. In any case, was greeted at the F lounge by the person I had spoken to the day before. As they knew I’d been to the lounge before, they were happy to let me straight through without the ‘tour’ and confirmed my spa appointment which was smack bang in the middle of the time I had in the lounge.
Lesson 6: Don't overindulge in the lounge if you want to enjoy the service on the flight! (Princess Fiona)
The lounge was pretty empty when I arrived, which was as it had been on my previous visits. I made the rather controversial decision the night before not to order any mains for lunch in order to follow
Princess Fiona's pre-flight advice. So I pulled up a pew by the window to watch the tarmac, intending to move to the dining area later. I immediately ordered a glass of Veuve and the squid. I promised myself I’d try a few different things this time around, but as everyone knows well, there was no way I could have avoided this staple starter – and naturally, it did not disappoint.
After finishing the squid and checking my emails, I decided I wouldn’t move to the dining area and ordered another starter to come out to me – this time, the Ocean Trout (apologies for no more detail – I didn’t photograph the menu as I assumed it would be similar to the one on the Rockpool website, but it was clearly a bit different). The fish itself was nice, but in typical NP fashion it was the accompanying greens and the roe that really accentuated the hearty flavor of the dish. Not something I’d necessarily order again, but I was glad to have tried it.
The time for my spa appointment was nigh, so I headed over there. The spa attendant didn’t mind that I’d be a few minutes late, so I popped into one of the cubicles for a quick shower to try to dampen my fading, but still present, headache. It seems that the days of the ever-present Payot cream tubs in the showers are over, probably due to people taking them with them, but it would have been nice if they’d had a fixed dispenser or the like available as they do on board the aircraft.
Lesson 7: A facial makes for a refreshing start to a long flight
Possibly for the first time I didn’t need to fill out a treatment form, as they managed to find a previous one on file, so I headed straight into the room. The masseuse very kindly gave me the option to change my treatment from a back massage to a facial and neck and shoulder massage, which I agreed to given my desire to try new things and also to avoid the headache from ruining the experience to come. Once again, needless to say the facial was fantastic and really hit the spot in advance of the flight, though I’m not sure how much it actually helped stave off the headache. I was a little disappointed that the full-height wall gardens have been removed from the treatment rooms; I can understand that they’d be expensive to maintain, but they really added to the ambience of the rooms. Perhaps it may have been a better compromise if they’d reduced the height of the gardens to the level they are at in the SYD treatment rooms, but without them the room felt oddly stark.
Following the treatment, I had what I’d anticipated to be about another hour in the lounge. However, it was much much busier than I’d ever seen it by now, so again I decided I’d try and get a nice seat by the windows rather than head to the dining area. It took a bit of discipline, but I decided to stick to my guns about avoiding mains (the risotto in particular looked very tempting) and picked up a couple of the chicken rolls and some cheese from the self-serve area. They were tasty, though not quite as much as the curried bread rolls I’d had at the SYD F lounge. I followed this with a coffee and the dessert special, the sticky date pudding, which was just as tasty as you’d expect from NP (though I’ve never had a bad sticky date pudding either) together with the standard glass of Noble One.
Lesson 8: Arrive early to the lounge, and leave early for the gate!
By this stage I figure boarding wouldn’t be too far away, and though it had faded I hadn’t quite rid myself of the headache. So I quickly freshened up and got out just in time to hear the boarding call. I had been hoping we’d be boarding from gate 9, just below the lounge, where QF93 depart from; however, we were at gate 18, which was possibly the furthest you could possibly be from the lounge. Needless to say, this was no time for dawdling in the lounge, so I set about on the trek to the gate – and unlike the JQ 35 run, this time without any snacks or bottles of Aqua Fina in hand! As I walked the long walk, I realised that I'd somehow managed to get through an F lounge visit unbloated and unslushed with my appetite mostly intact while still feeling like I'd had some good food and drink, and felt refreshed from the spa and showers with a mostly managed headache despite the relatively little sleep I'd gotten the night before. Not a bad start!
Next... the flight itself.
