PaulST
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
- Posts
- 1,196
After a tough week, on a background of a tough new job, I though I’d comfort-fly down to MEL (from SYD) for the day and try something new – the MEL QF Flounge (with my newly minted WP status) and QJ 788 business class.
The day begun at the SYD J dom lounge with a clearing storm, but nothing new to report here.
I’ve been to the SYD Flounge twice now, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was keen to see what the MEL one was like.
While my flight was domestic, the aircraft continues on to Hawaii so it takes off and lands at the international terminals, hence how I get into the QF Flounge. I had heard that I wouldn’t be able to check-in until strictly 3hrs before my flight so I took my time walking to the check-in desk only to find that it was up and running. So I checked-in around 3hrs and 20mins before departure, so there was more time for the Flounge!
It’s certainly more difficult to find than the one in SYD but after taking a few wrong turns, I found the escalator and the (now familiar) frosted doors. I was greeted by a friendly young women who booked me in for a spa appointment. After looking around the lounge, I went and had my 30 mins massage. It wasn’t half-bad! I had a massage at the JAL First lounge at NRT a few months ago and it was just a 10 min back rub while this massage in MEL involved oil so it was the real deal.
After that I had a few appetizers, a glass of bubbles (only half filled) and then sat around and relaxed while waiting for my flight.
Then I was off to gate 20 for my 60 min 787 flight to Sydney. They called for business pax but ended up letting everyone through anyway. As so happened, there were only 4 J pax anyway.
The FAs were a mixed crew. I found the older, Caucasians far less interested while the (Thai?) crew were more engaged. Still, considering how empty the J cabin was, there wasn’t much interaction.
The seat itself is fine although the recline isn’t great in 3A. The leg rest is really useless, and if anything, causes more problems by digging into your calfs unevenly.
The IFE didn’t have a lot of content and what it did have, was fairly old. Having said that, the touch screen was crisp, responsive and had no ads!
Food-wise, it’s just a snack (chips and drink) which I was surprised about as QF offer a hot meal in a flight of the same duration. Anyway, I’d eaten in the Flounge so I wasn’t too worried.
I’m flying in QF PE (747) this coming December so it’ll be interesting to compare the two but I guess it’s safe to say that, from a seat perspective, this J offering is really only PE. But it’s only ever PE priced so you can’t complain.
Would I fly a proper long-haul flight with JQ? If I got a good price I would as it’s certainly better than being stuck in Y!
[video=youtube_share;1nas5DKBWq4]https://youtu.be/1nas5DKBWq4[/video]
The day begun at the SYD J dom lounge with a clearing storm, but nothing new to report here.
I’ve been to the SYD Flounge twice now, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was keen to see what the MEL one was like.
While my flight was domestic, the aircraft continues on to Hawaii so it takes off and lands at the international terminals, hence how I get into the QF Flounge. I had heard that I wouldn’t be able to check-in until strictly 3hrs before my flight so I took my time walking to the check-in desk only to find that it was up and running. So I checked-in around 3hrs and 20mins before departure, so there was more time for the Flounge!
It’s certainly more difficult to find than the one in SYD but after taking a few wrong turns, I found the escalator and the (now familiar) frosted doors. I was greeted by a friendly young women who booked me in for a spa appointment. After looking around the lounge, I went and had my 30 mins massage. It wasn’t half-bad! I had a massage at the JAL First lounge at NRT a few months ago and it was just a 10 min back rub while this massage in MEL involved oil so it was the real deal.
After that I had a few appetizers, a glass of bubbles (only half filled) and then sat around and relaxed while waiting for my flight.
Then I was off to gate 20 for my 60 min 787 flight to Sydney. They called for business pax but ended up letting everyone through anyway. As so happened, there were only 4 J pax anyway.
The FAs were a mixed crew. I found the older, Caucasians far less interested while the (Thai?) crew were more engaged. Still, considering how empty the J cabin was, there wasn’t much interaction.
The seat itself is fine although the recline isn’t great in 3A. The leg rest is really useless, and if anything, causes more problems by digging into your calfs unevenly.
The IFE didn’t have a lot of content and what it did have, was fairly old. Having said that, the touch screen was crisp, responsive and had no ads!
Food-wise, it’s just a snack (chips and drink) which I was surprised about as QF offer a hot meal in a flight of the same duration. Anyway, I’d eaten in the Flounge so I wasn’t too worried.
I’m flying in QF PE (747) this coming December so it’ll be interesting to compare the two but I guess it’s safe to say that, from a seat perspective, this J offering is really only PE. But it’s only ever PE priced so you can’t complain.
Would I fly a proper long-haul flight with JQ? If I got a good price I would as it’s certainly better than being stuck in Y!
[video=youtube_share;1nas5DKBWq4]https://youtu.be/1nas5DKBWq4[/video]
