It may be one of the last for QF, but it's a first for Tooner

[Tooner]

It has been a long time between TRs!

Since my last trip to LOTFAP via DFW, a steady diet of SYD - MEL has only been broken by a couple of JASAs to PER (which have been used to help me keep WP). Oh, and a 6 week trip to Europe in June/July to see the Tour de France (but that was all the Tooners and was on SQ).

There is a pattern emerging in my travel, however. It seems once a year I need to visit either NY or LON, depending on where the latest regulations are about to descend on our business.

This year it is LON, and so my flights are booked, apartment lined up and take-off is on Monday, 18 March QF1, returning 26 March on QF2. These trips will be some of the last by QF1/2 via SIN, but I don't expect any fuss. For me, this is a bit of a first, as I've never travelled in a QF A380! I have been in SQ A380s in J and Y, so I'll be interested in the comparison. I'm also looking forward to a visit to the Flounge for salt & pepper squid and wigged out pavlova! The last time I was there was for a QF81 run (just before the announcement it was canned), and that was in the morning. I might even try for a visit to the spa!

My seats were allocated on booking (less than 2 weeks before departure), and on looking at the allocation on QF1 I'm 11F, and on QF2 I am 13F. Thanks to the many threads here on best seats, I discovered that not only was I in "Emerald City", I'd been allocated some people's favourite seats! So, no changes required.

So, all set for departure, and looking forward to the J catering in the A380 having heard Neil Perry rave about the kitchen and food at the Rockpool lunch this week!

I'm also looking forward to visiting the Platinum lounge in SIN to compare with the old Flounge there (while disappointed I don't get a look at the EK lounge, but, of course, I am not worthy...).

I'm also keen to try out the AA arrivals lounge at LHR T3; I found the old BA Arrivals lounge at T4 excellent for the early morning arrival. Particularly as I have teleconference at 7:30am when we're due to arrive at 6:20am!

More to come after departure.

 

[djfuzz]

Enjoy Emerald City and good luck with the spa! Looking forward to the report.

 

[Tooner]

Now in London, good flight overall; will post more in the next couple of days when I get a moment.
Interesting, first time I've been on a flight that aborted on final approach. Apparently there was an indicator that the brakes weren't working, so we had to fly-past and go around. Who'd have thought, after the u/c went up and was put down again, it had fixed up:shock:

 

[TonyHancock]

Now in London, good flight overall;

How was the "sapphire shed"?

 

[Tooner]

How was the "sapphire shed"?

Aka Emerald City? Pretty good. I like the seats, like the bar too. I don't really see it as a mini cabin! Much like upstairs on a refurbished 747!

 

[Tooner]

Monday the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] rolled around and got off to a good start as I went for a light run before breakfast and took the kids to school before setting off for a few hours at work. With last updates done and materials gathered, I headed home to finalise packing. By 2:30 the Silver Service taxi was waiting outside and off I went for a bit of Flounging.


The F counter check-in was as smooth as always; within a couple of minutes I had boarding pass, express entry cards and sat down to fill in the immigration card. The express passport queue was not too long and all was going well until I managed to overbalance the wheelie with my briefcase on it [CRASH!] at the passport counter. Oops. Then at the security check I had the laptop out and in a blue tray, not realising it was only partly on the rollers. CRASH! Flipped over and on the deck. One of the security guys had to retrieve it; fortunately I got it to work, but it was due for replacement anyway! After negotiating the rest of the process successfully and weaved my way through the duty free shop towards the F lounge. I did notice just before the shopping there is a corridor which heads off to the right; I presume that leads to the long promenade between the 2 terminal wings?

As I write this on the way home, I can say that my security check experience in Sydney was in platinum class compared to Heathrow, but I’ll come back to that later.


The F lounge wasn’t overly busy, with a steady stream of people eating in the dining section. I had a little time, so thought I’d see if I could get into the Spa, but no space there and offered the “I’ll put you on the waitlist...”. I can say in all the times I’ve tried, no luck! I believe it is more likely in MEL, but I’m not tempted to re-arrange my itinerary completely! I’d best try a FASA or upgrade!


After a while working on a few last minute emails, the lure of the dining area proved too much, and I sat down to the 3 F lounge food groups: salt & pepper squid, chips and pavlova! As usual, it was nicely done and just what I needed to steel myself for the long flights ahead (or so I told myself...).


Eventually our flight was called, and so headed off to gate 9 to the A380 which had pulled in an hour ago. Passport check and then to the gate where general boarding commenced as I got there. The First / Platinum door was unused, so it was very quick and so up the ramp, “welcome aboard, please cross to the other side and turn left, and so into Emerald City or the Sapphire Shed.

 

[Tooner]

QF2
SYD - SIN
Seat 11F



Some may call it a shed, but if it is it is a very spacious one! In the same way that the upper deck on an un-refurbished 747 feels really crowded compared to a refurbished one, the cabin with its 3 rows of Mk II sky beds feels very spacious. As I’ve said, I’ve not been on a QF A380 before, and I’m impressed with the look and feel of the cabin. The lounge is particularly good, and rather than sit in the seat while waiting for boarding to complete, I sat looking at the magazines for a while. I’d have to say it compares quite favourably to SQ J on the 380, with the same spacious feel, but better overhead storage.


One thing that was annoying – this was a version 2 flight so there were 2 toilets at the rear of the shed. More than enough for 18 seats (all occupied BTW. I didn’t spot a single empty J seat up to SIN), except one toilet was out of action (something wrong with the bowl; probably a major concern I would have thought) and it certainly made for a lot of queuing up to SIN, and then on to LHR as it couldn’t be repaired.


The service was good and friendly, with menus, amenities, newspapers handed out as we waited.... and waited, until finally, about 10 mins late, we pushed back. My feedback on the new safety video? Sounds OK, but I haven’t seen it, as no-one in J can watch it due to the pop up screens! I’ll have to wait until my next domestic flight to actually see it.


Having been slightly late leaving, we now got caught in the late afternoon traffic at SYD, and we seemed to be 4[SUP]th[/SUP] in the queue for an awful long time. Eventually, we got to the North of the main runway and trundled down the runway. I’m not sure if I’m imagining this, but do A380’s have a pretty relaxed way of taking off? I was wondering if we would run out of tarmac it took so long for the front wheel to lift! Is it Gallic insouciance or my imagination?


After a little while, the seatbelt sign was off, and the service started. I settled into a little computer work until it was time for our meal, and looked at the movies. Skyfall was available so watched that (enjoyed it too, particularly the Scottish scenes). I was looking forward to seeing what the food was like given Neil Perry’s passionate and eloquent eulogy at the QL lunch! The menu was the same one as described in another thread recently where the OP selected the pork cutlet and the curry and felt they were dry and bland respectively. Given that feedback, I decided to try the third choice, the chicken tagine. I think I got that right, it did look and taste good! Washed down with a little red wine, and then desert of frozen yoghurt with berries and tea. Very nice.


One of the firsts I was trying on this trip was to avoid my usual massive headache on arrival in Singapore. I’ve found previously that the combined effects of the air, G&Ts and wine usually leave me with a headache in Singapore that a shower and the sleep on the sector to LHR sometimes relieve. My experiment here was to avoid too much alcohol in the air and see how it went. Result: no headache, but not much alcohol! Oh, the dilemma!


After watching Lost in Translation from the Oscar Classics and a few episodes of 30 Rock we were getting close to SIN and I was starting to fade! I really enjoyed LiT, and can identify with the experience (maybe not all of it) travelling to Japan. I spent 2 months there a long time ago, and experienced many of the things depicted in the movie, from the bewilderment at the see of neon signs you can read to the earthquake alarm in a high rise hotel!


Finally, we were at Singapore, about 30 mins late, and it was off to the Platinum lounge for me, not being a P1. One of the benefits of the Emerald Shed is you are quite quick off the plane, and consequently I was one of the first to get to the lounge and so was able to go straight into a shower. After showering and changing, I went out to the lounge to find it not crowded at all (I think QF5 was boarding at that stage, so most would have left), but there were people with beepers waiting for showers. When the lounge was the F lounge, I just remember it as crowded and tired. It now looks a little fresher, the food was OK, the showers goof and the wi-fi worked. And it wasn’t crowded. Hopefully the revamped lounge will be of the quality discussed at the lunch. (On my return trip I found out a little more about SIN lounge, as well )


Before long, our flight was called (definitely a benefit over SQ) and we headed back to Gate 26. A looong way! I’d have to say the boarding in SIN for this flight was complete chaos. While the security was OK and passport check worked pretty well, boarding itself seemed to resemble a large scrum. One very harassed man was checking boarding passes for all queues which created an enormous choke point. Eventually we got past and there were a number of staff waiting to direct us to the correct door. Good work, but it might have been better to give the poor guy inside the gate lounge some help!

Anyway, once again, cross over and turn left and back to my seat.

 

[Tooner]

QF1
SIN - LHR
Seat 11F



I’m sure everyone has checked out Seatguru and how it rates the seats in the Emerald Shed. The only row which escapes yellow is row 12, and the comment on 11F is, like 11E it suffers from proximity to the galley and lounge. While it is true there is a curtain just in front of 11F, it leads to the lounge, which doesn’t exactly have bright lights, and as I sit here in same lounge on the way home, the lights are not very bright. I think 11E might be a little harsher, as there is a small gallery which is well lit, but it didn’t seem too bad, and the passenger next to me slept pretty soundly.

On this leg, the crew were really good, and nearly all of the English from the north; it is kind-of weird to here QF announcements in a Yorkshire accent! One of the FAs tried to help me with the non-performing lumbar and massage controls by re-booting the seat. While that happened, I sat in the lounge and read a newspaper for a bit. One of the other FAs came over and offered a drink while I waited, and eventually I headed back to the seat as we got ready for take-off. Very relaxing.

After my seat was re-booted (no luck with the massage controls), I started on another movie (Woody Allen this time), and selected the Paneer from the menu as a not too heavy meal before sleep and it was very nice. After a little while and a little more 30 Rock, it was time for sleep, and with a T2 sleep tea (whatever that is), I set up the bed and got ready to turn in.

Another first I thought I’d try, especially given the new mattress-like cover for the seat, was try to sleep sans eye-mask and ear plugs. I’ve slept sans ear-plugs in SQ J on the A380 and while there is noise, it is not over the top. My previous experience of the MK II was on a flight to DFW and there were no mattress covers. So, on turning in, I managed to fall asleep pretty quickly, but also found I’d probably drunk too much water prior to sleep and felt I was constantly heading to our solitary functioning toilet. As you would expect, there were frequently queues during the trip, particularly at jammie time when everyone wants to get changed. I did spy quite a few sneak down-stairs to the F toilets!

Nevertheless, I would rate the experiment as a success. I felt quite rested and slept for around 7 hours on-and-off which felt quite good. The seat covers make a big difference – the moving parts of the seat seem to dig in at the wrong points, so the cover makes a difference. I didn’t find the light too distracting at all, and the shell of the seat does cocoon you quite a bit. I’d probably only achieve better sleep downstairs, but that is another matter!
Having had enough sleep, I was offered my “room service” breakfast. I’d chosen the non-stodgy options of fruit salad and yoghurt, croissant and coffee, and it was very nice.

Soon we were on final approach. Not having a window seat, I was aware we were on finals, but couldn’t see much. All seemed OK when suddenly, the engines were gunned and we were definitely climbing. Puzzled looks all around. At that stage, we’d been reasonably on time to land around 6 am, but that was clearly not going to be achieved now. Eventually one of the pilots advised us there’d been a problem with the undercarriage, with an indicator showing problems with the brakes. So they had come down for a visual inspection from the tower and then went around. In the end, after climbing away, the undercarriage was raised and lowered again and all was fine. After we finally landed, the Captain advised us the fire engines as we landed were a precaution, and we weren’t going to be charged for the extra flying time!

Eventually we were off, and the usual long trek to the immigration and luggage hall. Terminal 3 is a little more human these days, with less grey and more glass, but it was a cold morning, and it is a long way to walk. The last time I’d been here was just prior to the Olympics and the place was quite bright with the official family and accreditation stations, but now it is just back to bare corridors. With fast track card in hand, passport stamped I was off to the luggage carousel. My big bag emerged quite quickly, so off I went in search of the AA lounge. I must say I found the sign-posting for this lounge very clear, and had no difficulty getting up there.

A few minutes later I was in a reasonably sized shower room, though it is not a room I’d like ot have a lot of luggage. I put my trousers into the valet cupboard, rang the bell and quite quickly the door opened and off they went. A couple of minutes later they were back, freshly pressed. I do love that service. After a shower, shave and dressed in my corporate uniform, I emerged into the dining area and set up my spot.

I had a teleconference at 7:30am, and if we had arrived at 6am, I thought there was a fair chance I could be in a car or at the office by that time (I’ve managed less than 45 mins from Heathrow to the City before). However, our missed landing meant I couldn’t organise it in time, and had to join the call from the lounge. Fortunately there are some good workspaces in the lounge which meant I could be less disturbing to the other people there, but it didn’t feel overly comfortable.

Call finished, I thought I would give Uber in the UK a go. Using the AA wi-fi, I saw a car 14 mins away, booked it and within a little time, my driver Grahame called and a meeting point in the T3 drop zone was arranged. The car was a very comfortable BMW, and off we went into the traffic. As I discovered, there is not a lot positive about leaving Heathrow for London at 8:30 in the morning! The only good thing was the flat-rate of GBP75.

And so off to work for the next 8 days, and the return journey.

 

[Tooner]

London

...was freezing!

Normally I manage to pick the week after the last blast of winter before spring starts. This time I managed to land slap bang in the middle of it. Fortunately I was prepared!

Work was as usual; busy and lots of tramping around, visits to Canary Wharf, drinks, dinner etc. I did have a weekend, but it snowed both days! On the Saturday I headed to Plymouth to have lunch with my Aunt (at Gary Rhodes). Fortunately it was a little warmer at around 6c there! On Sunday I walked from Barbican to the Science Museum in Kensington, then back through Hyde Park (now that was cold...) stopping at coffee shops at regular intervals to thaw out! I made my usual visits to Monocle shop and Daunt Books for gifts, and the headed back to the apartment to rest up for my final couple of days. Some snaps of the lovely weather:



I would say the weather did lift a little on the Thursday; enough for me to go for a quick run in the morning, but it was dire the rest of the time and there was no way I was going out in that weather. I did wake up at around 4:30am each day, but there was no way I was going anywhere outside. 0c that feels like -4c is not my idea of fun!

Once again I stayed at a City Apartments apartment. This was my fourth visit staying on one of the apartments, and each time it is easy and comfortable. When staying for more than a week around the City, it is well worth it. This particular stay was in some new warehouse style apartments in Newbury St next to Barbican (and the City Apartments head office). Despite being a large space, the underfloor heating made it cosy the whole time I was there.

One good thing was the location. Close to Smithfield markets, but not close enough to have the constant noise, and very close to Barbican station. This helped when heading back for the 9:30m departure. Rather than sit in a car in peak hour traffic, I braved the Hammersmith & City line to Paddington, and then the Heathrow Express to Paddington. Fortunately, I managed to walk with my large 4 wheeler to Barbican, haul it downstairs onto the platform and then up to the concourse at Paddington. After that it was plain sailing!

I had, after reading some of the commentary, decided to have a crack at a First upgrade. Leaving it quite late (I didn't request it until I was in London), I was interested to read how the requests progress. I was concerned I got no ams, but heartened to see a duplicate booking with "wait listed" against it on the morning of the flight. Despair sunk in a few hours before the flight as the duplicate disappeared and the request with it. Not a peep from anyone at QF, either! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to slum it in J There is always the chance of an upgrade half way through the flight!

And so, in Heathrow and a chance to experience this smooth operation again!

 

[Tooner]

QF2
LHR to SIN
Seat 13F


So, the perennial problem: getting to LHR!


After a lot of thought, and despite the good experience with Uber on the way in, the timing and close proximity of the apartment to Barbican suggested the Tube to Paddington and HEX to LHR would be easier.


After asking City Apartments to hold my big 4-wheeler in their offices next to the apartment, and after a quick beer with my mate from the office, I headed for Barbican and the Tube. Even though it was around 6pm, I managed to get the cases down the stairs to the platform and then onto the train. Although it was reasonable crowded (especially around Kings Cross) I managed to stay with the cases all the way to Paddington. Although there is a climb up from the platform, it wasn't too bad. The lift made it work well to get to the platforms below, and then hopped straight onto a HEX train. I'd downloaded the app earlier when I booked my ticket and the ticket collector had little trouble scanning the barcode on the train. The whole thing was quite painless, and with the Oyster card and HEX app completely paperless.


If only LHR could be as painless! Once out of the station and in the check-in area I would have spent less than 2 mins at the F counter and after a few pleasant words with the agent was on my way. I headed up the escalator to the priority security lane, and noticed the long queue for the general lane, only to halt half way a long. It was clear there was a massive queue for priority as well. Once inside (after about 20 mins of waiting), it was clear that the security procedures had been carefully designed to have no logic, no real purpose other than to frustrate passengers and slow them down. In this, it was phenomenally successful! I witnessed at least 3 pointless arguments as people were waiting! They also appeared to have the scanners set for the most sensitive setting, as it was the only time my RM Williams boots set off a scanner the whole trip (including Sydney and Singapore).


The big scrum may have been due to the half-term holidays over Easter, but it could hardly have been a surprise to Heathrow. While they did have people running up and down the line to make sure people made their flights, some were sure to have missed out (I think I know of one example..... More later).


Eventually through, and after dodging the duty free I was able to get to the BA lounge with only 45 mins to boarding! After a quick change out of my suit (can't stand international travel in a suit) I went out for some chocolates for the kids and after a few snacks and a drink, the flight was being called. I wouldn't say the BA F lounge was overly full despite the big crush out there. It was amusing to sit outside the F dining area, though. Unfortunately BA is to as generous as QF with dining facilities, and I saw a number of non-BA F travellers turned away from the dining area.


A short walk to the same gate we arrived at and up to the cabin. Before long everything was in place at 13F, but rather than sit in my seat I went to the lounge and sorted out some emails as they were mounting up over the Sydney morning. Great service from the FA who offered me a drink in the lounge while I was waiting.


After a while I went back to my seat to discover no one next to me, and a delayed take-off as someone had checked bags but not got on the plane: I wonder why


Eventually we took off and after a few episodes of 30 Rock and Trollied, a nice tagine and ice cream, I was in the land of zzzz. Once again I tried sleeping without eye mask and ear plugs. I can say it works on A380s!


After a pretty good sleep I woke about 3 hours from Singapore and had my fruit and yoghurt and croissant with coffee and then we were in Singapore.


We were late, And were given a take off time some 30 mins later than scheduled, and so I headed off to the WP lounge.


This time, there was a short queue to use the showers, and I had just enough time to see that the lounge was pretty full before my buzzer went off and I was into the showers. After a refreshing shower and change of clothes, including packing the heavy overcoat into the wheelie, our flight was being called, seemingly at the original departure time. A bit strange, but after a quick drink I headed off to the gate, as 26 is some way away from the lounge.


After passing through the security I joined the chaos of the SIN scrum. This time was worse than on the way over, and the gate agents were simply tearing off the stubs and calling out to their bored companions to check I was actually a passenger. Tre efficient!


No boarding was happening at that stage, so I stood around for about 5 minutes waiting for the boarding call. Eventually it came, and so on to the plane....

 

[TheEmu]

Nice TR (Tooner Report?) Tooner, thanks for posting.
I particulary enjoyed your winter photos - very nice of City Apartments to put a couple of boomerangs on the wall to make you feel at home!

 

[Tooner]

Nice TR (Tooner Report?) Tooner, thanks for posting.
I particulary enjoyed your winter photos - very nice of City Apartments to put a couple of boomerangs on the wall to make you feel at home!

Thanks; I should point out the photos are of London in Spring!

I do like City Apartments for stays a week or over. All of the apartments I've stayed at have been OK to very good and they do a great job of making you feel welcome. One of the best things is the welcome pack. I usually find I get back to the apartment quite late on the first night and don't feel like heading to the shops or to try and find a decent restaurant (with the risk of falling asleep at the table).

BTW there is one more leg to describe, so I will when I can find 20 mins or so to put it together.

 

[JohnK]

Very nice trip report Tooner!

Photos are nice.

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

Great trip report

W-K

 

[Tooner]

I had this nagging feeling I hadn't finished this TR and it turns out I was correct. So apologies for not completing it and also for reviving an old thread, but there were a few things worth finishing off.

SIN - SYD
Seat 13F

I reckon one of the things I won't miss about transiting through SIN on QF is the pretty poor landside service I experienced on this trip. On the way to London, the scrum at the gate was phenomenal, and the gates are always miles from the lounge. Same gate this time, and to top it off we were late in. The crew were quite clear on a 45 min delayed departure, yet at the F Lounge they still called the flight for the usual time. Then at the gate, things were confused, with no BPs scanned, just collected so we could stand around and wait for the gates to open.

Once on board, order was pretty much restored. I made my way to my seat, noted a new travelling partner sitting in E, and followed my (now normal) game-plan of heading for the little lounge while boarding was completed. As usual, drinks were offered and it was a chance to catch up on some emails on the BB before having to switch off. After a while, a passenger I recognised from the flight from LHR came into the lounge with her luggage. I asked what had happened to her seat, and I learned that someone was sitting in it, and the crew had parked her in the lounge while they sorted it out. Weird I thought, how does that happen? We talked about these weird things and some of the experiences she had travelling to and from Australia every couple of weeks (Blimey!).

In due course, we glimpsed a passenger head down the stairs with a crew person, and were none the wiser. Eventually I headed back to my seat to discover 13E about to decamp to 11J. Interesting! Then, lo and behold, the displaced pax from the lounge sat down next to me. We continued the conversation and I learned she was CL and she had been told the reason her seat was taken was she had been upgraded to F for the trip to SYD, but it wasn't picked up at the gate! The crew bumped someone else up to F, so had found her the seat next to me by moving the original occupant to the seat previously taken by the person moved to F... if you can follow that! I wouldn't say my new seat-mate was all that happy, but before we could explore this point, the CSM and a gate agent appeared and seat-mate #2 was packing her things and paused to say she was moving to F after all, and before long, the person who had been moved to F was then moved back to sit in 13E, making her seat-mate #3.

So, how often do you have 3 seat-mates before the plane has taken off, let alone on the same sector?

As to the rest of the journey, we had some good chats, and after noticing the attention lavished on her by the crew I found out she was a Rockpool lounge rep and was checking out what the crew do in-flight. She had also been helping out with the new SIN lounge and provided some good info on what it would be like (previously passed on int he thread on the SIN lounge upgrade), but also talked about the work having to be done to adjust the catering operations in London as well to ensure Halal standards were achieved.

Overall, after the weird start, it was a pleasant flight with some nice food, a few more episodes of Trollied and 30 Rock, some sleep and then into SYD and back home and then to work. Seeing the sunrise from the sky-cam was a highlight as well.

I was impressed with the J service in the A380, I loved Emerald City and love the lounge at the front of emerald city! 

I would be inclined to try A380 J again, although I think my next flight (to JNB) will be on SQ in Y with the family, but I'm waiting to see what the improved SQ J is for any future trips to London.