Article: Qantas Airbus A321XLR Business Class Review

[AFF Editor]

Canonical URL

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/qantas-airbus-a321xlr-business-class-review/

Qantas Airbus A321XLR Business Class Review is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

Qantas Airbus A321XLR Business Class Review

Qantas’ new Airbus A321XLR Business Class offers a refined cabin and elevated comfort at the pointy end of the plane, with some room for improvement in the soft product.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[AuSammy]

I was in MEL QC on May 4th and both escalators were running and no stairs involved???

 

[jrfsp]

A pretty typical experience of the soft product.

I’d be extremely disappointed on a flight to Asia if I paid cash and got a short haul product.

 

[Silvia]

I was in MEL QC on May 4th and both escalators were running and no stairs involved???

Thanks for letting us know. I flew in March and at the time there was some construction still happening. I will make sure we make that clearer in the review. Appreciate that you are flagging this

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I’m a bit surprised that the author was surprised at the absence of preflight drinks. QFD hasn’t done that for years. You’re lucky if you get a drink before the meal service. Even in J. It’s not just the drink holder which resembles PE on a 787. The seats mean the hard product continues to be a PE standard and the soft product has deteriorated to the same level. Meals without linen. Prepackaged food items. Grudging “service”. They have no real competition and it shows.

 

[Silvia]

I’m a bit surprised that the author was surprised at the absence of preflight drinks. QFD hasn’t done that for years. You’re lucky if you get a drink before the meal service. Even in J. It’s not just the drink holder which resembles PE on a 787. The seats mean the hard product continues to be a PE standard and the soft product has deteriorated to the same level. Meals without linen. Prepackaged food items. Grudging “service”. They have no real competition and it shows.

The usual has been the economy tiny water bottles. Whilst I wasn't expecting to see glassware, it just shows a new low for QF

 

[1A Please]

I flew on one for the first time on Saturday (Brisbane to Sydney @7pm service) in Business and was impressed. Was the latest in the fleet - apparently only operating for 2 weeks and still had the new plane smell. Offering bubbles before takeoff but I just went for the water. Seats were fine for short haul domestic - certainly better than the 737s for comfort. Not sure the foot rest is needed and could be uncomfortable on longer haul when you want to stretch under the seat infront and have metal on your shins. Don't really mind the missing screens - as the chargers and wifi more than make up for it with phones/ipads these days.

 

[SYD]

I’m a bit surprised that the author was surprised at the absence of preflight drinks. QFD hasn’t done that for years. You’re lucky if you get a drink before the meal service.

^

v

Offering bubbles before takeoff but I just went for the water.

 

[serfty]

^

v

I suspect, barring any changes from Qantas, the FA was not following policy.

 

[Daver6]

MrsDaver6 fly PER-SYD today in J on the A321. Prior to take-off they announced wifi wouldn't be available, yet somehow it was for the entirety of the flight. Not sure how they get that so wrong.

 

[Scarlett]

^

v

So, 100% on product for QF then:
“Consistently inconsistent”

 

[markis10]

I’m a bit surprised that the author was surprised at the absence of preflight drinks. QFD hasn’t done that for years.

Not my experience over the last couple of weeks.

 

[Aeryn]

I was in MEL QC on May 4th and both escalators were running and no stairs involved???

Yep the escalators have been back up and running since at least late March (probably longer) so this flight must have been taken much earlier in the year.

 

[elanshin]

I suspect, barring any changes from Qantas, the FA was not following policy.

Or that they knew the person very well. Quite possible for some of these flights, had an FA have a chat with someone in business about all sorts of things as they clearly knew each other quite well once the service was done.

Yep the escalators have been back up and running since at least late March (probably longer) so this flight must have been taken much earlier in the year.

Mar 22 it was definitely open already. I think it was mid March that the escalators were back up. I think I had a flight on Mar 11 where the Lounge staff mentioned it was opening the next week and I could see that it was completed.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Not my experience over the last couple of weeks.

If this is not an aberration it will be a welcome change!

 

[serfty]

Not my experience over the last couple of weeks.

Did your experiences include this?

Offering bubbles before takeoff ...

 

[markis10]

Did your experiences include this?

There’s other drinks ?

 

[serfty]

There’s other drinks ?

Some years ago, I was offerred "still" or "sparkling" - I took the latter

 

[mad_atta]

That really is a woeful food offering, even for a snack on a short flight - particularly since the vast majority of the day now seems to have been deemed snack time, outside the very tightly defined meal windows.

Flying VA recently on MEL-SYD, where I was able to upgrade for the princely sum of about $70, in the late afternoon (what Qantas would have deemed a snack flight) I received a pretty respectable hot pasta dish with optional chicken, plus cheese and crackers, along with multiple refills of wine. And on such a short flight, the pre-departure bubbles on the ground make a big difference, given available time in the air for service is fairly minimal.

Try harder, QF!

 

[burneracc]

Honestly a bit strange reviewing this for syd-mel as I'd be equally happy in 737 economy plus on that route. However I flew J last week per-syd on a very new XLR (pilot told us it was barely 2 weeks old) and IMO thats where this setup shines. Excellent experience overall. Decent food, preflight drinks, and service. My biggest gripe was that the wifi got spotty halfway through before recovering.