toowongman
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2006
- Posts
- 521
Over in the VA forum Rooflyer posted their one-off VA experience, so after flying QF for the first time since 2006 I'm reporting from the other direction.
Had to be in Toowoomba from MEL for a usual monthly Friday afternoon meeting so thought it was time to give the new WTB airport a go and thus QF400 then QF2016 up the hill instead of the usual MEL-BNE with VA and rental car.
Not having any status apart from a paid ticket, it was interesting to see things "from the other side".
Checkin: What? You have to tag your own bag. Err OK. After working all night and driving straight to MEL I wasn't having much luck, and a few QF people just watched and walked past. Thanks guys, I worked it out after a few minutes. Security was no effort, was amusing to see people queued up to get in to the lounge, however not for me.
Boarding: A330 so dual entries, I can't be bothered so wandered on about half-way through after reading the free newspapers and watching Chinese tourists. Nothing to report there. Picked up some headphones.
Seat (economy): Wow, where did all that space come from? Awesome. Nobody next to me (aisle seat), plenty of leg room and an extra bit of width (more than I'm used to) and the seat belt had plenty of surplus space (sometimes I get an extension with VA). Little iPad in the seat pocket, so I set that up and then realised the headphones didn't fit (dual prong) however you can get one side in and listen like old Uncle Arthur with one ear.
Flight: we took off and landed early. I started the LEGO movie then promptly fell asleep after breakfast.
Food: Wow, an actual box of food that resembled a real breakfast was handed out with a smile along with some reasonable tea. Yoghurt, small cake thing from memory. Very nice. VA would give you a half muesli bar thing or nasty cheese and some attitude.
Connection: Had 35 minutes to reach QF2016 which was delayed a few minutes, then 30 minutes, then an hour, then two hours and change. No lounge access for me, so head over to the food court, fired up the 4GX and worked for an hour mixed with testing coffees from various places. The self-serve-ordering cafe near the travelator was my favourite, machines speak English. Turns out we could have shown our boarding pass for a $20 credit.
Boarding: Bus to the Dash-8 was OK, people smell and I can't control that so such is life. Banged my head boarding, however aisle seat was roomier than expected and matched how I felt with VA in the 737. Again roomier seat belt. Are QF passengers on average larger?
Flight: bumpy towards the NSW-QLD border but what can you do? Crosswinds at WTB caused the pilot some grief so they just "put 'er down" with a nice thump landing.
Food: Hello - Yoghurt box again. Was hungry so ate it with another tea. Was nice not to have to reach for a credit card.
WTB airport - reminds me of NTL from ten years ago, however kudos to the Wagners for taking their vision to reality. Private enterprise for the win.
Will I fly QF again? Yes - we're shifting to BFOD QF or VA. Would switch to 100% QF tomorrow if they would status match, however I suspect that won't happen as VA's family pooling can misrepresent an actual frequent-flyer.
So if you've been a rusted on VA person, give QF a try and see for yourself.
Had to be in Toowoomba from MEL for a usual monthly Friday afternoon meeting so thought it was time to give the new WTB airport a go and thus QF400 then QF2016 up the hill instead of the usual MEL-BNE with VA and rental car.
Not having any status apart from a paid ticket, it was interesting to see things "from the other side".
Checkin: What? You have to tag your own bag. Err OK. After working all night and driving straight to MEL I wasn't having much luck, and a few QF people just watched and walked past. Thanks guys, I worked it out after a few minutes. Security was no effort, was amusing to see people queued up to get in to the lounge, however not for me.
Boarding: A330 so dual entries, I can't be bothered so wandered on about half-way through after reading the free newspapers and watching Chinese tourists. Nothing to report there. Picked up some headphones.
Seat (economy): Wow, where did all that space come from? Awesome. Nobody next to me (aisle seat), plenty of leg room and an extra bit of width (more than I'm used to) and the seat belt had plenty of surplus space (sometimes I get an extension with VA). Little iPad in the seat pocket, so I set that up and then realised the headphones didn't fit (dual prong) however you can get one side in and listen like old Uncle Arthur with one ear.
Flight: we took off and landed early. I started the LEGO movie then promptly fell asleep after breakfast.
Food: Wow, an actual box of food that resembled a real breakfast was handed out with a smile along with some reasonable tea. Yoghurt, small cake thing from memory. Very nice. VA would give you a half muesli bar thing or nasty cheese and some attitude.
Connection: Had 35 minutes to reach QF2016 which was delayed a few minutes, then 30 minutes, then an hour, then two hours and change. No lounge access for me, so head over to the food court, fired up the 4GX and worked for an hour mixed with testing coffees from various places. The self-serve-ordering cafe near the travelator was my favourite, machines speak English. Turns out we could have shown our boarding pass for a $20 credit.
Boarding: Bus to the Dash-8 was OK, people smell and I can't control that so such is life. Banged my head boarding, however aisle seat was roomier than expected and matched how I felt with VA in the 737. Again roomier seat belt. Are QF passengers on average larger?
Flight: bumpy towards the NSW-QLD border but what can you do? Crosswinds at WTB caused the pilot some grief so they just "put 'er down" with a nice thump landing.
Food: Hello - Yoghurt box again. Was hungry so ate it with another tea. Was nice not to have to reach for a credit card.
WTB airport - reminds me of NTL from ten years ago, however kudos to the Wagners for taking their vision to reality. Private enterprise for the win.
Will I fly QF again? Yes - we're shifting to BFOD QF or VA. Would switch to 100% QF tomorrow if they would status match, however I suspect that won't happen as VA's family pooling can misrepresent an actual frequent-flyer.
So if you've been a rusted on VA person, give QF a try and see for yourself.