Qantas economy or Jetstar business to Honolulu

[Mattg]

The risk of getting moved aside, how is the legroom in row 1 on JQ's 787s?

 

[eastwest101]

The risk of getting moved aside, how is the legroom in row 1 on JQ's 787s?

Not that special according to these photos here:

InFlight: Jetstar's New 787 - Flight Review

 

[Icarus3619]

I once used Jetstar Business Class almost exclusively before I knew better. Jetstar usually will not page you if you are in their lounge or a QF lounge. They are frequently late, cancel flights and pull all kinds of peculiar stunts. Cabin crew are usually pretty good but you will often not see them outside of meal times. Ground staff are abhorrent. Meals are terrible. Was once given a meat pie in a cellophane bag for breakfast. In one day, they cancelled two flights, transported me to another airport, quietly cancelled the flight to my destination and put me and 100 other people on a flight to another destination (we didn't know until they closed the doors that we were going to a city 500 kilometers away) and told us to make our own way to our final destinations. Finally, on the very next international flight, they refused to let me board my domestic connection to an international flight because I was not at the boarding gate 30 minutes before departure (was in the business lounge). Sitting down the back next to the toilets in an old aircraft on any FSA is a better proposition than any business class seat with Jetstar. /rant mode off.

 

[DontGetMeStarted]

I have always been happy with the JQ offering in Star Class. Just returned this time in economy on the Dreamliner and paid for the exit row seats which were fine, in fact on the way back plane was not full and we managed to get a row of three seats each to stretch out. No more upgrades processed at the airports now though, business class was not full either.

 

[snabbu]

Just returned this time in economy on the Dreamliner and paid for the exit row seats which were fine, in fact on the way back plane was not full and we managed to get a row of three seats each to stretch out. No more upgrades processed at the airports now though, business class was not full either.

Wow good stuff! In the last few years each time I've been on JQ3/4 the loads have been 100% in all cabins.

 

[Bellwood]

It's more or less like premium economy on Qantas - which is a step up from Qantas economy.

More rather than less. Wife and I used points for Honolulu-Brisbane in JQ StarClass in Feb and were very pleased with the flight. Seats were definitely better than PE on QF. This was before the 787 was on the route (shame) but they were wider and comfier than the PE we sat in on a QF 747 - they reminded me of the old Ansett business class seats.

I just checked my diary: it was 3 hours late leaving, but they notified us early in the morning so we could delay leaving for the airport. We were allowed to use the QF lounge although told that QF lounge membership was strictly necessary, not just a JQ J ticket. Food was "good". Free noise cancelling head phones. Overall, for a daytime flight, great.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Worth mentioning as it may be important for some... friend of mine flew to HNL today... they had to collect their bags in SYD and take the paid airport bus ($6 per person) over to international and check-in again.

This was all on the one ticket, and sure enough, according to the JQ website they no longer transfer bags for the majority of connecting flights.

 

[legseleven]

More rather than less. Wife and I used points for Honolulu-Brisbane in JQ StarClass in Feb and were very pleased with the flight. Seats were definitely better than PE on QF. This was before the 787 was on the route (shame) but they were wider and comfier than the PE we sat in on a QF 747 - they reminded me of the old Ansett business class seats.

I just checked my diary: it was 3 hours late leaving, but they notified us early in the morning so we could delay leaving for the airport. We were allowed to use the QF lounge although told that QF lounge membership was strictly necessary, not just a JQ J ticket. Food was "good". Free noise cancelling head phones. Overall, for a daytime flight, great.

PhilJG, could you please elaborate on your access to the lounge? I have 5 Classic Awards booked in JQ Starclass for HNL and can't see if we're allowed in to the lounge or not....many thanks.

Also thanks again MEL_Traveller, yes did assume that QF would not check our bags through from PER and would have to collect and transfer, cheers.

 

[Bellwood]

PhilJG, could you please elaborate on your access to the lounge? I have 5 Classic Awards booked in JQ Starclass for HNL and can't see if we're allowed in to the lounge or not....many thanks. /QUOTE]

Not much more to say: We fronted up at the Honolulu desk and showed our J tickets. I naively thought that would be enough (I'm only (life-)silver on QF). Lady said we had to be QF lounge members to get in, but said she would let us in as a favour. BTW it is a very small lounge, smallest international one I've been in. Good seating, though cramped. Snacks and drinks ok.

 

[legseleven]

PhilJG, could you please elaborate on your access to the lounge? I have 5 Classic Awards booked in JQ Starclass for HNL and can't see if we're allowed in to the lounge or not....many thanks. /QUOTE]

Not much more to say: We fronted up at the Honolulu desk and showed our J tickets. I naively thought that would be enough (I'm only (life-)silver on QF). Lady said we had to be QF lounge members to get in, but said she would let us in as a favour. BTW it is a very small lounge, smallest international one I've been in. Good seating, though cramped. Snacks and drinks ok.

Oh I'm sorry, I've misunderstood, I thought you were in the BNE lounge, thanks for your reply.

 

[greenfish]

Oh I'm sorry, I've misunderstood, I thought you were in the BNE lounge, thanks for your reply.

Starclass / Business Class does not provide lounge access unless you've also bought the Max bundle - which also provides status credits and points.

 

[morfergus]

I have flown JQ long haul in both J and Y (that was a mistake) as well as QF Y, PE, J (and F) so can compare them all. Like others I found JQ J to be superior to QF PE - better seat but food and drinks similar.

We did OOL-NRT-OOL on the max bundle to get the status credits because it was a revenue booking. Not sure I would would use points for JQ J, even with the 20% discount on QF J, if my recollection of how it is calculated is correct. Clearly the lack of fully flat bed, and not quite QF J leg room, makes it inferior to that product. But I was pretty disappointed with the QF PE due average seat and pathetic leg room, barely more than Y. Food and drinks fairly close across with QF J slightly superior if you want to enjoy all courses and a better wine selection.

We did try JQ Y for SYD-HNL-SYD on a very cheap fare a few years ago (before I discovered AFF) and I vowed never to do that again, especially with a toddler. A few years later our then 5 year old daughter had a great time in JQ J to Japan, but thanks to AFF has become used to flying J, a problem I am sure many of you share.

One thing to watch out for for on the JQ 787s if you are sensitive to light is that the electronic dimming of the windows does not completely block out the sun's rays, which becomes quite annoying when that great blinding orb is low in the sky and shining straight in from the side when you are trying to sleep or watch a movie. We also had entertainment system failure on the outbound flight to NRT but our iPads were fully stocked and paired with Bose NC headphones made it a minor issue.

Overall go with JQ j for a good option between QF PE and J, provided the price is right, and a good source of points and SCs.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Like others I found JQ J to be superior to QF PE - better seat but food and drinks similar.

I think it's also fair to add that if you are in the top class of service on the plane (JQ J) you're going to get the best service the airline can offer. QF PE can still feel distinctly 'second class' - especially these days when they have removed the 'luxuries' of champagne and made-to-order hot sandwiches (which they shared with business class at the beginning).

 

[mannej]

Isn't the QF PE seat and the "star class" aka QF workstation J seat fairly similar in both design and pitch?