Comments on dom catering:
1. Price is irrelevant given most people in J are either on upgrades/awards or paid through work. YES some people self pay for J (I am one, when a sale appears!!!
) but frankly the reason most J cabins are empty till boarding is due to upgrades, staff travel etc. Reality is very few people (yes, there are exceptions I know) fly paid J. Those that do the market is screwing over because there are relatively few of them IMHO.
2. Consider. bar the transcons, the average stage length of QF dom flights... it's 1-3 hours.. specially the triangle MEL/SYD/BNE. If you're in J you can access the lounge. I seriously think QF sees the "meals" as snacks more than actual meals to feel a need. This week I'm doing a 1830 MEL-SYD arriving 1955. In theory a "dinner" flight.. but many would either eat in the lounge prior or have a later dinner in SYD (but it is true QF "dinner" options are, in general, more substantial than the "All Day Dining")
What perpelexes me are the flights like the 649 CNS-BNE (I've flown this a few times myself).. it leaves lunchtime, gets into BNE near 3pm yet you're offered a toastie, soup or salad? If your destination is BNE then you've had a glorified snack till dnner and iif you're going on to say SYD. MEL or ADL where you get offered an afternoon "refrreshment" service in the 3-5pm bank you might get another soup or a cheese box or maybe some sort of "meal" (the toasties seem to dry up by 1pm - pun intended).
I honestly think QF consider you'll eat e;sewhere for these "short" flights (and what do you get foir a CNS-SYD/ME:L extra? like a tub of ice cream extra).
It's very AA in the idea that have some comfort food if you're flying 2-4 hours, I sort of get it, but at the same time there are flights where I get off and think "man I'm hungry but by the time I get to my hotel it's going to be 2030-2100 and food will be downn to Maccas or dial a pizza"
I am looking to book, for example, CNS-BNE-MEL with the 649 as a tag. I start at CNS lunchtime and end up in MEL like 1920 or so.. which is dinner time, but it's posbsible the J meals I will be offered are a soup and a cheese box (and there have been times where I have not had time to even visit the J lounge in BNE but go gate to gate in BNE to connect). you get some food, but if you arrive MEL after 7, the sonnest you'll hit the CBS is most likely about 8 and that starts to find you in a "we're closing soon" situation depending on the day of the week.
I really think QF caters these comfort food optons as "snacks" regardless of if they say "dinner" or "lunch" service... and if you're doing MEL-SYD or v.v. (or SYD-BNE) I could see that, but some of the longer sectors take you out of these windows.
Still though it's, in general, better than what you'd get doing SFO-LAX or ORD-LGA on a US major.. where the most you could extect might be a coughpy wine, a coke and a pretzel mix.
my 2 cents.
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