- Joined
- Feb 14, 2012
- Posts
- 289
My story supports a number of threads on different subjects but all relating to how far QF has fallen.
My partner and I flew QF J for the first time in a fair while to BKK recently. Over the past few years I and we have flown international J in NZ (outstanding), BA, AY and JL as well as QF. We've also had some segments in F in QF and BA.
But let me start with a bouquet first, for FA Andrew Vitalis on the BKK-SYD leg who went out of his way to overcome the problems and make the flight as best as he could. He provided the most outstanding service we have had on a QF flight, even surpassing the F flight and the A380 flight we had in a 10 day old aircraft where everyone was matching the novelty with top service. Anyone lucky enough to have Andrew as their FA will indeed have a great experience.
But to the brickbats....We flew to BKK on QF23. I was in 3K. The IFE was faulty and needed rebooting. This did not work, so then the seat pair was rebooted. The IFE worked but continued to be faulty, continually popping up the control screen. In the end I had no choice to watch the IFE with this screen popping up probably about 20 times during the movies. This was reported to the cabin crew.
We thought the new menu offerings were poor. The onion soup was ordinary and the chicken schnitzel sandwich was very poor: too crispy (hard) top and soggy bottom.
The IFE and the seats on the A330 are clearly under industry standard now and I note that there is a plan to replace them, but this should have been in train long before now.
I was booked in 3K for the return on QF24. In the week leading up to returning, in fear of having the same plane and IFE problems, I tried to change my seat but was not able to online. As we checked in in Chiang Mai I was also not able to change the seat there. We were first in the lounge and I was still unable to change it - 3.5 hrs before the flight. Then I learned from another AFF thread that there were 8 or so op-ups. Surely I should have had precedence to choose seating over op-ups.
On boarding, there were no noise-cancelling headsets at the seat. They had apparently not been loaded in Syd. And sure enough, the IFE in 3K was still faulty, with the same faults. Nothing had been done to fix the problem in the 10 days between flights. I assume it was the same plane, or I have been incredibly unlucky with the IFE on two different flights.
On both flights we got First amenity kits (with Payot products, presumably old stock now replaced?), which was great, but they do not have socks. A minor thing I know but on top of everything else points to a lack of attention to detail.
FA Andrew Vitalis was outstanding. He found us some headsets and socks, and looked after me an my unwell companion cheerily and without complaint, and turned my extreme grumpiness into appreciation.
Really my biggest beef is how the IFE was not fixed after the first flight. The cabin crew service can be variable but clearly the cabin crew are being let down by poor back of house systems. It sounds like our experiences are typical of the QF A330 routes. On booking we did have the choice of EK flights but chose QF for better timings for transfers. My advice to anyone considering this route is to take the EK flights. I know the seats on this route are also angles flat but based on general AFF advice I reckon their service, both front and back of house, would be considerably better.
I have of course relayed all this QF and made a point of telling the CSM on the flight how good Andrew was.
My partner and I flew QF J for the first time in a fair while to BKK recently. Over the past few years I and we have flown international J in NZ (outstanding), BA, AY and JL as well as QF. We've also had some segments in F in QF and BA.
But let me start with a bouquet first, for FA Andrew Vitalis on the BKK-SYD leg who went out of his way to overcome the problems and make the flight as best as he could. He provided the most outstanding service we have had on a QF flight, even surpassing the F flight and the A380 flight we had in a 10 day old aircraft where everyone was matching the novelty with top service. Anyone lucky enough to have Andrew as their FA will indeed have a great experience.
But to the brickbats....We flew to BKK on QF23. I was in 3K. The IFE was faulty and needed rebooting. This did not work, so then the seat pair was rebooted. The IFE worked but continued to be faulty, continually popping up the control screen. In the end I had no choice to watch the IFE with this screen popping up probably about 20 times during the movies. This was reported to the cabin crew.
We thought the new menu offerings were poor. The onion soup was ordinary and the chicken schnitzel sandwich was very poor: too crispy (hard) top and soggy bottom.
The IFE and the seats on the A330 are clearly under industry standard now and I note that there is a plan to replace them, but this should have been in train long before now.
I was booked in 3K for the return on QF24. In the week leading up to returning, in fear of having the same plane and IFE problems, I tried to change my seat but was not able to online. As we checked in in Chiang Mai I was also not able to change the seat there. We were first in the lounge and I was still unable to change it - 3.5 hrs before the flight. Then I learned from another AFF thread that there were 8 or so op-ups. Surely I should have had precedence to choose seating over op-ups.
On boarding, there were no noise-cancelling headsets at the seat. They had apparently not been loaded in Syd. And sure enough, the IFE in 3K was still faulty, with the same faults. Nothing had been done to fix the problem in the 10 days between flights. I assume it was the same plane, or I have been incredibly unlucky with the IFE on two different flights.
On both flights we got First amenity kits (with Payot products, presumably old stock now replaced?), which was great, but they do not have socks. A minor thing I know but on top of everything else points to a lack of attention to detail.
FA Andrew Vitalis was outstanding. He found us some headsets and socks, and looked after me an my unwell companion cheerily and without complaint, and turned my extreme grumpiness into appreciation.
Really my biggest beef is how the IFE was not fixed after the first flight. The cabin crew service can be variable but clearly the cabin crew are being let down by poor back of house systems. It sounds like our experiences are typical of the QF A330 routes. On booking we did have the choice of EK flights but chose QF for better timings for transfers. My advice to anyone considering this route is to take the EK flights. I know the seats on this route are also angles flat but based on general AFF advice I reckon their service, both front and back of house, would be considerably better.
I have of course relayed all this QF and made a point of telling the CSM on the flight how good Andrew was.
