ALL QF's 330's to get lay flat Business seating - Including Domestic

[calmelb]

Hi All,

Thought this would be the best place to check, I am flying on QF29 on the 20th of June and it shows the old Skybed MKI yet when I used expert flyer to look at other flights that could hold the new fitout (MEL-SIN, SYD-SIN) they also showed the old seating. Can anyone help me and tell me any chances I could score the new fitout?

-calmelb

 

[moa999]

Always a chance - but at present only 3/9 -300s refurbed, and I note some of the intl -200s have been getting SIN duties recently as well

 

[sydstar]

Recently had my first flight in the new suite (on the very fresh looking EBS) on a trans-con

On the whole...I really like the product. It's an incredible leap from the product it replaced (Skybed Mk1) and I can see this product going into the 380 when they have their mid-life refurb. After 5 hours in the seat, I could easily do another 4 to Hong Kong.

Interestingly the seat was already in the take-off recline position upon boarding. I didn't notice this until I was playing around with the controls and realised the seat went upright further. It seems like a bit of a gimmick to me, but understand others would like it. In a recline position, my feet were able to fit snugly into the footwell, and were not restricted in movement (for data: I'm 6"1' with an 11 foot). I did put the seat fully flat for a road test - and I actually did fall asleep for half an hour! The leather was soft and not any cause for concern (although I can see why they would choose cloth for the -300s)

I was seated in 8F, and once the curtains were closed and the NCs went on, they Y cabin behind wasn't noticeable. This flight went out with a full J cabin (28), mine was a points upgrade cleared at T-24

IFE was responsive and interface very easy to use - however, I thought the choice of movies was poor. Unless I missed something, there were only about 15 'premiere' movies, none of which caught my eye. I know that the 380 has other categories than just 'premiere', but if the 330 did, I sure couldn't find them! Plenty of TV and music options though.

Crew seemed motivated and proud of the new product. A good mix of a polished (read:experienced) CSM and some younger blood. Catering was a bit of a let-down. I accept the breakfast flights can be harder to innovate, but the morning-tea/snack served before landing was embarrassing. Shortbread biscuits that would have cost QF about 20cents wholesale. If you're going to do a morning tea, do it properly, or don't bother at all.

 

[RickyT84]

I travelled on EBV last night from SYD to MEL and decided to take a chance and requested an ODU at the QP which was processed immediately. Was allocated 2A without asking.

The seat (2A) was very private given the console was next to the aisle. One could not see the pax in 2E as the console for that seat was at the aisle. I reclined the seat to the take off/landing mode and found it to be comfortable for relaxing and watching TV. Raised the leg rest up a bit further after the seat belt sign was extinguished and found perfect spot for lounging. The massage function also worked quite well.

IFE was good in terms of variety and the 16" screen was very welcomed although the picture quality for certain TV shows (e.g. Top Gear) is not that great given it is not a HD program.

Lastly, I put the seat down to the bed mode for about 10 mins and found it sitting quite low but comfortable. As I am not overly tall (only 5" 8') and do not have large feet (size 8.5), there was no restriction in terms of moving my body and feet around.

The crew were excellent and proud of the new product. Upon seeing me taking a picture of the suite, an FA offered to get a picture of me in the suite and made some small talk.

A few pictures of the seat:

 

[Mh4k]

Got to fly this for the first time today (well, yesterday's QF82).

It's a nice seat. Plenty of room, length and width in bed mode are both first rate. Bed is only moderately comfy though. I might be imagining things but it feels firmer than the skybeds. Plenty of room for my size 12 feet lying on my back or on my side though I was in row 1.

the seatbelt is a nightmare though. Every time I looked for it the short end was impossible to locate without standing up and spending a few minutes adjusting the seat, and on landing needed crew assistance to retrieve the sash belt which had gotten gummed up in the recline mechanism.

Service experience was was quite poor though. Needed to press the call button three times (which I hate doing) just for simple things which is a record for me in business class, especially considering I was only awake for about 2 hours of the flight.

 

[Bandy]

Flying QF35 MEL-SIN late Feb 2016 together with my wife. What chance of there being Flat-beds installed by then? At this time the old configuration is still showing on the seat plan. (Have gone for a central seating position just in case of a change)

 

[Dmac6345]

Flying QF35 MEL-SIN late Feb 2016 together with my wife. What chance of there being Flat-beds installed by then? At this time the old configuration is still showing on the seat plan. (Have gone for a central seating position just in case of a change)

I would say a very good chance !
2/3 of the 333's should almost be done by then, and the last routes to get the new suites are supposed to be Jakarta and Honolulu. I have 2 Mel to Hkg trips in November and Feb and are both showing old configuration. I am pretty confident they will both be on the new suites by then.

 

[Bandy]

I would say a very good chance !
2/3 of the 333's should almost be done by then, and the last routes to get the new suites are supposed to be Jakarta and Honolulu. I have 2 Mel to Hkg trips in November and Feb and are both showing old configuration. I am pretty confident they will both be on the new suites by then.

Many thanks. What then might be your suggestion for seat selection for my wife and myself under the old configuration which might result in being placed in a reasonable position next to each other if and when a change of seating requires to be imposed by the airline subsequently? ( this is having regard, as u will know, to the fact that the old configuration has two window seats Rather than only one in new - hence the reason we have presently elected for Central seats.)

 

[Dmac6345]

Many thanks. What then might be your suggestion for seat selection for my wife and myself under the old configuration which might result in being placed in a reasonable position next to each other if and when a change of seating requires to be imposed by the airline subsequently? ( this is having regard, as u will know, to the fact that the old configuration has two window seats Rather than only one in new - hence the reason we have presently elected for Central seats.)

Any of the seats in the old config are fine for couples. Personally I don't select any seats in the middle either when flying with partner or solo. I have only flown on the new config once. It was in 2A and it was prob one of the best seats in J. Didn't really look at potential couples seats. Try to avoid flying with MrsDmac6345

 

[PaulST]

I travelled on EBV last night from SYD to MEL and decided to take a chance and requested an ODU at the QP which was processed immediately. Was allocated 2A without asking.

Hi Ricky, what flight was that? I'm flying J on QF497 SYD-MEL on an A330 and am hoping that the current old seat map might change closer to the flight.

 

[jimmylikesitwet]

Updated based on recent movements. Appears that VH-QPE may have gone in - doesn't seem to have operated from 25/5

Updated based on Qantas Source posts / FR24 data

-- Current aircraft in Brisbane maintenance
VH-QPD 330-300 In 23/4 - expect out late June
VH-QPE 330-300 In 25/5 - expected out late July (SIN repaint 25/4-12/5)

-- Refurbished aircraft in service - TOTAL = 7 (4 A330-200s, 3 A330-300s)
VH-EBV 330-200 - 1mth 15days - In 16/11 Out 31/12
VH-QPA 330-300 - 2mth 13days - In 3/11 Out 16/1, C8 check (SIN repaint 2/8-20/8 )
VH-EBA 330-200 - 1mth 12days - In 1/1 Out 13/2
VH-QPC 330-300 - 2mth 6days - In 17/1 Out 23/3, C8 check (SIN repaint 16/7-2/8 )
VH-EBJ 330-200 - 1mth 3days - In 14/3 Out 17/4 (fresh from SIN repaint from JQ from 27/2-13/3)
VH-QPB 330-300 - 2mth 7 days - In 16/2 Out 23/4 (fresh from SIN repaint 31/1-16/2, C8 check)
VH-EBS 330-200 - 30days - In 26/4 Out 25/5

330-300s - 28J/ 269Y, J Panasonic ex3 16" IFE, Y Panasonic exLite 11" IFE
330-200s - 28J/ 243Y, J Panasonic ex3 16" IFE, Y Panasonic 9" IFE (EBM-EBV), 8" iPadMini (EBA-EBL)

-- In Singapore for painting (presumably) -300s only (all the -200s are already New Roo apart from the JQ aircraft)

So QPE wasn't refurbed and QPD should be out soon. Wonder if QPE will then be done as no other -300s have been repainted yet.

EBB appears to be in for a refurb now as it has been in Brisbane for almost two weeks. Another JQ bird will be returned in mid July as Jetstar are receiving their next 787 shortly. The timing may work for it to be painted in Singapore and then replace EBB when it is done.

 

[moa999]

Correct
VH-EBB 330-200 In 8/6 expect out early July

 

[baggyred]

Correct
VH-EBB 330-200 In 8/6 expect out early July

Liking that the recliners seem to be getting done first over the Skybed Mk1's

 

[grrofunger]

After many flights i finally got the new plane and new bed this morning.

It was much appreciated as i was well hungover.

I find the old bed more comfortable, this one is a bit hard, side sleeping is rather difficult. I ended up with the pillow on the side table and kind of sleeping as diagonal as possible.

the controls were cough, the seatbelt is ridiculously bad

i was too tired to have a real good look around and play - so in that sense that i slept most of the way (sorry for snoring) the bed did the job

not sure about the touchscreen tv when in bed mode - seems silly or did i miss a control panel somewhere?

the flight attendants hate the chairs and checking the green lights for takeoff, it seemed some were still showing red even though they were in correct position.

and a big FU nature and to the ice on the wings causing about an hour delay this morning

 

[Bugalugz]

Flew the new seat (finally!!) PER-BNE the other week on EBS

I was in 3F, the foot well seems incredibly small with the F seats, the Missus was on the other side of me and her foot well was much larger and better positioned. Guess its the way it happened with the staggered layout but not a lot of room if your tall in the F seats and couldn't get too comfortable without my knees hitting the surround but lesson learnt for next time!

Several IFE reboots occured but no issues with my particular system thought it was great works like a giant tablet really so user friendly in that regard but content was really lacking for some reason only a few movies available unlike the usual A330 selection. Seat malfuctions happened at top of decent people not being able to get green lights etc which sounds like a common fault.

Storage was great.

The major......actualy massive F up is the removal of a lavatory, wtf were they thinking with this one??? I was talking to a FA while i was waiting about this and he was saying it's a big issue because they have a lot more foot traffic through the galley when trying to sort out meals and drinks etc as F/J pax have to walk through the galley to use the lav. It's a bit akward when F/A's trying to eat dinner or sort out meals/drinks and having all these people trampse through the work area where as that was somewhat but not fully avoided previously.

All in all a drastic improvement on what we have had to put up with for the last few years and look forward to a standard product accross the country rather than the pick and mix.

 

[RichardMEL]

Many thanks. What then might be your suggestion for seat selection for my wife and myself under the old configuration which might result in being placed in a reasonable position next to each other if and when a change of seating requires to be imposed by the airline subsequently? ( this is having regard, as u will know, to the fact that the old configuration has two window seats Rather than only one in new - hence the reason we have presently elected for Central seats.)

Given your chances are fairly high for the new config by early next year, specially to/from SIN which is a focus for QF I'd personally avoid the middle pair - while on paper it seems a good selection even in the new config, the setup means you're actually further away from each other than an aisle/window pair of, for example, 3K/4F (because the side table is towards the window, and inboard of the aisle seat, even with the staggering, you're more or less able to see/exchange things across the aisle while say doing 4D/4F, the table placements are both inboard, so you effectively have a bigger "buffer" between those 2 middle seats. The config is not ideal for couples/colleages.

I was on EBS last night as it happens and had to laugh at a couple who were sitting in the middle pair and one was trying to explain to the other which button to push for the "recline for take off/landing position" button, and wound up shouting so the whole cabin could hear THE 2ND TOP ONE!! No, THE ONE ABOVE!! NO!!! THE 2ND FROM THE TOP!!!" - it kind of illustrated my point really.

 

[Arrow29]

I just booked my parents flights from PER-SYD (return) classic award in October, surprised them by booking business class (they've never flown business class on any airline). Looks like QF582 PER-SYD has the new seats looking at the seat map, which I'm excited for them about!
The return flight QF577 appears to have the worst of the lot with the recliners (blanked out middle seat on the seat-map). I'm hoping that this may be refitted by the time that they fly - do those with more knowledge on the subject than me feel that there's a decent chance of this?

 

[Dmac6345]

I just booked my parents flights from PER-SYD (return) classic award in October, surprised them by booking business class (they've never flown business class on any airline). Looks like QF582 PER-SYD has the new seats looking at the seat map, which I'm excited for them about!
The return flight QF577 appears to have the worst of the lot with the recliners (blanked out middle seat on the seat-map). I'm hoping that this may be refitted by the time that they fly - do those with more knowledge on the subject than me feel that there's a decent chance of this?

Anyone's guess really.
However, if the current seat maps hold, 1 out of 2 ain't bad!!!

 

[Arrow29]

Anyone's guess really.
However, if the current seat maps hold, 1 out of 2 ain't bad!!!

Very true!

 

[Bandy]

Given your chances are fairly high for the new config by early next year, specially to/from SIN which is a focus for QF I'd personally avoid the middle pair - while on paper it seems a good selection even in the new config, the setup means you're actually further away from each other than an aisle/window pair of, for example, 3K/4F (because the side table is towards the window, and inboard of the aisle seat, even with the staggering, you're more or less able to see/exchange things across the aisle while say doing 4D/4F, the table placements are both inboard, so you effectively have a bigger "buffer" between those 2 middle seats. The config is not ideal for couples/colleages.

I was on EBS last night as it happens and had to laugh at a couple who were sitting in the middle pair and one was trying to explain to the other which button to push for the "recline for take off/landing position" button, and wound up shouting so the whole cabin could hear THE 2ND TOP ONE!! No, THE ONE ABOVE!! NO!!! THE 2ND FROM THE TOP!!!" - it kind of illustrated my point really.

Many thanks - most helpful.
The issue the for us now ( as our flight seat map is still on the old configuration) is whether we move our present seats, which are in letters which will not be dropped. That is move them from the centre together to ,say, 3K/4F (still letters that will not be dropped)which split us up in the old configuration seat map, in the hope that the flight IS reconfigured by late Feb 2016 and thus get us as close together as we can be when other seat letters are dropped upon reconfiguration? I hope that I am making sense?