QF 1 J to Tromso, Norway

[smckay]

Yes, the title is clickbait as you don’t actually get to Tromso on QF1 but now you’re here, read on…

The trip started many months ago when we booked J award flights through JAL routing SYD-HND-HEL-OSL and then SAS.
With Japan closed, we got the now-familiar Qantas email “your flights have changed, but that’s cool, we‘ll fix it for you in 72 hours”

73 hours later I was on the phone and to cut a long story short we were placed on QF1 in J SYD -LHR with a BA connection to Oslo. Big Tick to QF there, we had a Cape Town operator whom knew and could do, so we were lucky.

The day of the flight, a Tuesday, we arrived to check in at 12:30 and were straight to the desk, Check in was quick and friendly, and we then rushed through priority boarding and hit the main queue. And I got picked out for the body scanner. Merrill hiking boots are considered high-risk by the Sydney airport scanners as red lights flashed and the kind man told me my shoes were alarming. So off they came and back I went, this time winning the approval of the scanner.

Off to the lounge - international, no F for this infrequent flyer - and it was full, eff you ell ell. Found a spot to sit and perused the food and drink situation. Main options were carrot & ginger soup, eggplant lasagne and Korean beef with rice. Due to small warming pots the beef ran out- and people were selecting the beef and leaving the potato. It’s was good, had a mild, sneaky chilli kIck to it. There was a special of the day which appeared to be chicken schnitzel sandwich, but they were not placed in the food area and by the time I wondered where they were they all had been taken. The explanation from the Sofitel staff was a mumbled something. Grabbed a James Boag premium over a little creatures pale ale and the Heineken twins and the beef. The beef was quite nice, had a subtle chilli kick that snuck up on you.

Beer was cold.

Tired old Sydney lounge, lack of power points, tables too small and just old. I wonder what other country FF think of the premium One World lounge here?

Boarding the flight was painless - ignoring the fact that everyone ignored the boarding instructions and rushed the gate together - and we arrived at our seats, 24 & 26. Being a full flight and only SG I couldn’t get any further up front.
At the aircraft door received a warm welcome back but no individual welcome from the CSM afterwards.
Champagne and sparkling water offered. Champagne quite nice
1950’s amenity kit on the side table, along with pillow, comforter and blanket.
Menu at seat which was nice.
CSM advised masks must be worn to comply with Singapore government requirements during the whole flight. As we are joining a cruise and need to be Covid-negative at least 24 hours prior to embarkation, this isn’t an issue.
Heavy rain prevented refuelling so being done whilst boarding, delaying us slightly.
16:00 last pax boarded and doors closed.
The cabin crew walked the aisles and took lunch orders - chicken salad and beef fillet for me.
Push back 16:10, Moving to taxiway 16:19
Looks like we are 4-5 in queue to go
Heavy rain falling, the runway looks good all lit up. Aircraft is being moved about in the wind as we wait
16:32 moving onto runway for takeoff
A380 takeoffs are not an ‘event’; they just eventuate and after a long roll we lifted off at 16:34. Bit bouncy on the way up, but I guess it would be worse in a smaller plane.

No PJ’s offered as daytime flight and there wasn’t a Qantas magazine in seat pocket - maybe it had been sacrificed after someone read AJ’s little touching piece.
The CSM was Daniel Porter - extremely professional and a perfect host. Organised drinks whilst we were climbing for me, with a no-trouble attitude
18:15 lunch service started
The starter of salad of chicken with wombok and dressing was excellent; lettuce leaves crisp and zesty vinaigrette very nice

Beef tender if a bit cold. Mash good and asparagus firm and fresh. It was to have beans according to the menu, no issue for me as I’ll have both.


Offered a Forester 2019 lifestyle Shiraz from Margaret River, which turned out to be a very nice wine

To finish a nice little cheese platter.


No snacks in the front lounge 4 hours into flight, no booze, etc.
Uneventful flight, little turbulence in the air or the cabin.
Landing in Singapore was smooth and straight to the gate.

SIN-LHR
The Qantas international Lounge is a long long walk from the gates. The staff were very friendly, all saying hello. Limited food on offer and we didn’t eat as we’d had enough on the plane.
Temperature in whole terminal too warm for us, and a number of people were sweating.
Having not been to Singapore before, the boarding security was painful and slow. We now understand why we were told on the plane to be at the gate 45 minutes before departure. I had to remove my shoes again, even though it was only a X-ray machine.
When boarding was called, the premium boarding was ignored with multiple economy pax surging forward as soon as 1st and Business boarding announced. One family missed the split ramp, got as far as the upper deck door and had to do the walk of shame back past the queued masses to go to the lower deck. Great work Qantas.
This flight was manned by a British crew who were friendly and efficient.
No masks required on this leg but many were wearing them including the crew
Pre departure champagne and water offered
500ml bottle of water from Malaysia in the seat
IFE issue, rebooted twice. No power to seat or power ports whilst this was ongoing.
QF magazine loaded in the seat pocket.
1950’s amenity kit again
PJ’s offered, although calling them ‘sleep suits’ confused a few folks.
To be completed before liftoff, the breakfast menu offered multiple choices; juices, fruits, yoghurt, then larger warm meals. I requested the bacon, egg and hash brown brioche along with tea. It does not look like espresso coffee is available and I certainly have not smelt it.
Doors closed at 00:05
Push back delayed for 10 minutes, ETD 00:30, ETA into LHR 07:00
Pushing back @ 00:35
Long taxi
On runway 00:55 and liftoff

Drinks and dinner service started about 1 hour in, I didn’t have any as I had been eating all day. Cabin lady very concerned about lack of my needs, offered drinks, snacks, tea and coffee. Nice to be cared about.
Watched half of Pulp Fiction before sleep hit me. Made my own bed and lay down. Whilst dinner/lunch service was going on didn’t get much sleep but managed about 5 hours sleep in 2 sessions.
7 hours in got up and requested tea. Lovely cabin lady suggested I while away some time in the front lounge, which was a nice way to get out of the seat. Had some ginger nut biscuits. The bar & snack fridges were filled; wines, soft drinks, beer and pringles, almond and pretzels mix, toblerones and ginger nuts.
Note that the fridges here are cold, and the James Boag is at a very appropriate temperature as a result.
The leather seats have power ports and music jacks along with volume and channel controls.

Investigated the first class toilets; slightly bigger in size, leather toilet seat cover and a full length mirror seem to be the distinguishing facets, with the photo chromatic window centre stage.

Breakfast served about 2 hours from landing. It is a bit of a slow process as meals are ferried from the galley to each seat. But, it was delivered with a smile and did the job. The hash brown was a thick little round thing that I ate seperate to the bun, as it would probably have ended badly if I didn’t.



Heathrow T3 lounge

Quick access through flight connections. Security were more worried about LAG’s than my boots, which had to be removed at both Sydney and Singapore. Thankfully the security man will call both and let them know to cease and desist.
Lounge is busy at periods as it serves all T3 traffic. 11am food changed over to lunch from breakfast; now have sandwiches, salads and pasta’s along with hot meals such as pies and curry.
Large bar area with plenty of options . Beers seem to be Heineken mainly.
The showers are reasonable sized with Elemis brand pump bottles for shampoo and soap.



BA766 LHR - OSL

Small A320 with usual centre seat converted to a table. Basically economy seats with a price premium.
Norwegian CSM and English crew in this section.
Drinks offered just after takeoff, meal service soon after. Two choices of meal, a salmon salad or a vegetarian with feta and beetroot, accompanied by a light mousse and dessert.
Flight was quick and smooth, drinks offered again after meal along with tea and coffee.
Landing in Oslo was the beginning of the troubles. The airbridge broke down half way to the door, so after 5 minutes the rear door option was taken.

The queue for immigration was the worst I have had by far; at least an hour to get processed mainly due to only two windows open for the bulk of the incoming planes. About 40 minutes later another window opened and we were through, to the next trouble. Having been stuck in the queue for so long -and we were effectively last off the plane due to being foreigners in row 2 - the flight had been taken off the baggage carousel indicator’s. A visit to baggage services later we grabbed our bags off the carousel just as it stopped.

Electing to take a train to the city, we used the local VY train which was cheaper than the flytoget version.
2 stops later we were in Sentrum.



SAS SK4006 OSL-TOS

This flight was 8am so an early start, again using VY trains to the airport, which was again easy to do.

The airport uses self service exclusively from what I saw, with boarding passes and check in via terminal and bag drop done by scanning your bag docket.
One failure for the non-Norwegian speakers, the screens are only in Norwegian so with a bag that was 400 grams over the allowed 23kg, we had a delay whilst a local helped us out.
It is rather disconcerting seeing your bag disappear down a dumb waiter to ????

Our class is SAS+ so we were able to use fast track security, which was a dedicated entry and lane meaning a fast transit to airside. Lounge access Also comes with the deal and is accessed by scanning your boarding pass at the gate. As we arrived at around 7am the lounge wasn’t full but by around 7.45am it was pumping. Plenty of food options from cold to hot and fish. Juice on tap via an iPad along with beer and wine on tap, as well as bottled.
Boarding the plane was something Australian airports could adopt; you have to scan your boarding pass to access the gate, and only the folks in the announced zones rushed through the gates. So much easier and user friendly.

An A320 Neo greeted us, with a 3 x 3 seating arrangement. No business class on this flight and we were the only row to have all 3 seats occupied.
The crew were not great English speakers but we got by as tea and coffee are fairly common across the world.
Meal service gave us a small box with cheese, lettuce and capsicum to go into a nice hot bread roll, accompanied by a small bag of muesli and yoghurt and a container of juice.
Tea and coffee also offered.
The meal was quite nice for the 8am departure, but in economy they got a smile and a coffee.
Another round of rolls and drinks and we had a great trip through the hills to land in Tromso.

Bags came out reasonably quickly for a major airport, probably slow for a small regional airport.

The dedicated bus service was at the door, but for 250NOK for the two of us, the local 42 bus would have been better value

 

[DC3]

Yes, the title is clickbait as you don’t actually get to Tromso on QF1 ….

And we never would have guessed.

 

[ellen10]

sounds like a great start!

 

[Scr77]

Common @smckay, don’t forget us!

Are you heading down to Lofoten Islands?

 

[Must...Fly!]

Electing to take a train to the city, we used the local VY train which was cheaper than the flytoget version.

Well done on not falling for the flytoget marketing plastered all over the airport and walking past their well placed ticket machines. Most do fall for the "scam"

 

[craven morehead]

Hectic start!!

 

[smckay]

Common @smckay, don’t forget us!

Are you heading down to Lofoten Islands?

Sorry for late replIes. We actually joined a cruise across the Northwest Passage, ending in Nome Alaska in about 3 days and the satellite interwebs is melting with everybody on it. 25 kb/s is fast . That’s a whole TR in itself as we are on Ponant and it has been a bit of a stuff up along the way.
Next flights are Alaska air OME-ANC-SEA and then AA SEA-LAX joining to QF12.

 

[drron]

I hope you weren't impacted by the weather and damage in Nome.
Silversea Wind was delayed there and passengers said there was a Ponant ship as well that was delayed.

 

[smckay]

I hope you weren't impacted by the weather and damage in Nome.
Silversea Wind was delayed there and passengers said there was a Ponant ship as well that was delayed.

We are still 2 days out from arriving. The Bering sea is a little bit choppy but not enough to spill the champagne.
The Captain has not made any announcements of issues affecting disembarkation.

 

[Growing Older]

Click-bait? Perhaps not as far fetched as you may think!

These were the last flights out of SYD domestic on Christmas Eve 2021... without that cursed PCR test result, I had a much greater chance of getting to Tromso than into QLD!

And, yes, the PCR did come back negative, some 15 minutes after the SYD-BNE flight departed!!!

 

[smckay]

Okay, time for the return trip; Nome-Anchorage-Seattle-Los Angeles-Sydney.
Nome was whacked pretty hard by the hurricane the week before and they had lost power and some buildings.
Nome airport is basically a tiny thing that typically gets an Embraer 175 daily, or about 25 seats. Sophisticated, large or efficient it is not.
There are 3 check in positions, checked baggage is done directly behind them and security for the pax is beside the check in. 2 self service kiosk‘s are available. Food and beverage is handled by vending machines and there is also a water bubbler which can contactlessly fill your water bottle.
Security wants you to remove shoes as well as laptops. They do conduct bag testing randomly as well. All service facilities are before security, which becomes clearer on entering the gate waiting area….

….which holds about about a dozen people.

The waiting area is a sight to behold. To the left, the security conveyor. To the right, the tarmac. Behind is an overflow area for pax to wait.
A short walk across the tarmac and we board AS96 our Alaska airlines flight to Anchorage. This was upgraded to a 737 due to our cruise ship booking it, otherwise a ERJ175 does duty.
As this was the final legs of our OWE booking, we were jammed firmly in Main cabin, although I was able to select exit row seats for both flights and despite all efforts couldn’t move further forwards. The seats were good for leg room and were actually quite comfortable, being a Recaro seat which was leather and no back adjustment.
Boarding was typical not staggered as is normal, and no groups were called. Boarding started around an hour before departure and was purely 1st in line goes first.
No check of your seat by the hostess, but they did make it very clear one bag universe, the other under the seat. Our CSM did point out if you load your cabin bag like a book in the overhead more could fit. Simple’s.
All exit row passengers get the regular can you, will you assist in an emergency but we also had to verbally say yes to her. The guy beside me was more interested in his phone at the start of the lecture but she soon sorted him out and his head was up.
I selected these seats via the Alaska MMB and we were the only exit row (2 of) that had 3 pax. All the others had the centre seat empty.
We left bang on 12:55 and being a regional airport we did a lap of the runway, a upturn; and we were off.
Soon after levelling snacks were offered along with drinks. Only non-achoholic were complimentary with beers at 8 bucks and wine 9 bucks.
Needing a decent tea I choose that.
The flight was non-eventful until the landing when we hit hard and stayed down. The CSM then announced “if you didn’t realise it, we are in Anchorage. Be sure to let Captain Jason know that”. All done very nicely but. Great to see humour has returned to the American skies.
The disembarkation was a slow shuffle as people got bags and the like, but there seemed to be an acceptance of that.

Anchorage - Alaska Airlines lounge.
With a 2.5 hour wait until the next flight we hit the lounge. Access was painless; it was literally beside the gate, we showEd our boarding pass, QF card and we were in.
The lounge is quite small but was busy to full most of the time. No showers but it had a bar, coffee and soft drinks and food areas.

The all-important bar. 4 beers on tap offering Pilsner, IPA, cider and a dark.

I accessed the Pilsner and IPA and they were both good.

The food offerings were basic. I had a bowl of the seafood chowder which was more potato than seafood, but it was thick and tasty. Next up a chicken salad with one the best best chipotle dressings ever.
As it faces the sun, it did get hot inside. The fake fire was putting out a lot of heat as well so don’t wear your ski gear in there.
The wifi was fast enough to work with.
One perk is access to the Press Reader app, which allows you to download magazines and newspapers onto your device. It was hidden with the only reference a small sign on a wall behind the bar so we were lucky to have spotted it.
I downloaded about 12 items at this lounge. Basically they are the digital versions and there is a large range of magazines and topics to choose from.
I announcements are made so you look after yourself.

Next; Alaska flight Anchorage to Seattle.

 

[smckay]

Our Anchorage to Seattle flight AS96 left at 17:30, arriving into SEA-TAC at 20:55.
Boarding was scheduled for 16:50 and it was a quick thing. First class was called then groups A-F. We must have been the only Group A peeps, as before we had made it to the desk Group B had been called and it was Qantas domestic boarding all over again- bodies were everywhere. But, we made it through and resumed seats in row 16. We got our bags into the overheads and settled in. This time all exit row seats were full.
Boarding was a slow shuffle but they got it down and we were all settled by 17:20. We got the verbal exit row lecture again and had to say “yes miss” to acknowledge.
This was a newer 737 as it has the flush air vents and reading lights, but the same Recaro seats. A bit of a delay and at 17:40 we push back and are off.
Same sort of snacks and drinks service, but this time they went through twice due to 2:50 flight time.
21:00 we were on the ground and then the drama started. As soon as we went off the runway we stopped. El Capitan advised us the gate wasn’t ready and we'd have a short delay. JFK Steve from YouTube flashed through my mind. Little did I know. And luckily I had the presence of mind to record the following sequence of events.
21:18 moving.
21:20 stopped.
Scooted across the main runway after watching about 6 planes roar past us. Pretty exciting really.
21:27 moving.
21:32 stopped.
21:42 moving
21:48 at the gate
21:50 the doors are open!
Alaska have a 20 minute luggage delivery guarantee so our bags were out fairly quickly.
We we’re staying at the Crowne Plaza for the night, and it was very easy to get to. I had done research beforehand on how to get there and the signage to the 1 line was good enough to get us there without concern. Walking with 2 large bags and 2 cabin bags was easy with elevators at all points.

I didn’t take any pictures of this leg.

The run home - QF4632 (AA6287) & QF12.
We spent a day in Seattle (went to Macy’s where they had 30% off ) and headed to the airport about 2.30pm using the hotel shuttle.
This leg was not on our award ticket and was a cash ticket, so we were in domestic first and Qantas business. The shuttle dropped us in the parking garage and we headed upstairs to check in. This was easy with a premium lane, although no one was there so it made no difference. The counter lady was pleasant, my check in bag was 60lb but she was happy when I told her I was Sapphire. She did ask customs questions and confirm3d that we would not have to clear customs and immigration at LAX. I think we won that one, we cleared customs and immigration as quick as checking in for a domestic flight.
She directed us to the premium security lanes and we hit the front.
Shoes needed to be taken off here (as in Nome) along with jackets. This was a full body scanner where Nome had just the X-ray.
Due to concerns about Covid we had bought along a 100 pack of disposable wipes (from Aldi, cheaps) and this was picked up in my cabin bag, but not my wife’s. The security guy explained it scanned different to hers. No big deal, he was very friendly with it and we were off.
No American lounge her so we hit the Alaska lounge, which was between gate D1 and D2. Very friendly greeting, but again had to prove Sapphire status which I thought was interesting given we were in 1st. During the conversation she happened to mention that the N terminal lounge was better, being newer and bigger. She gave us a pre-printed slip of paper with instructions. Basically, catch the connecting train, up a escalator and you are there. So off we set, and had a 2 minute wait for the connecting train.

Luck was on our side and Security rode with us;

A short walk upstairs and we entered the Alaska lounge. A bit more effort to access this lounge, the computer initially said no but dropping the QF card got us there.
I’m not sure if the1 percenter also came in to the lounge. They were ahead of us and I saw his lady in there but not him. Perhaps there are rules after all.
The lounge is big, but was also full. Hard to get a seat but we were lucky a bloke was just leaving.
Food was very disappointing - 2 green leave salads, a broccoli salad, carrots and the like. There was a soup and a large rack of cookies. I took a cookie selection (which were stale) and an airline Pilsner and then returned for a chicken and spinach salad which was simple but nice.
In the Land Of The Free you can take your pet flying with you. They even have pet relief stations complete with a red fire hydrant, and in the lounge we sat next to this little cat

He is a Mancoon(?) and is 3 months old. One of the most laid back, chilled cats I have ever seen.
Anyway, back to the lounge.

This section overlooked the runway so you could see all the coming’s and goings but also the full sun so it was warm.
At most lounge seats there was power outlets and USB ports so you could recharge.
One disappointment was the Press Reader access was not available in this lounge, only the D lounge we just left. And, when speaking to people later in the LAX lounge, they said the N lounge was very pleasant. So, maybe stay at the N lounge if you like smaller spaces. And free magazine downloads.
Back on the train we went and minutes later back at the N terminal and heading to gate D11. The flight was delayed but the announcements were great, they let us know the aircraft was on the ground and coming our way. As it was a small plane they expected it to be ready to go not long after landing.
As it was we pushed back at 17:45 so only 10 minutes late.

This is an Embraer ERJ175 in a 2-class config; 1st and main. We had 2A and 2F in 1st which is a 1x2 seating arrangement. Nice wide leather seats in the 2 seat side, not sure if the single seat was as wide.
Overhead bins on the single seat side are manbag size only and the one up one down rule was enforced.
Wheels up at 17:55 after a loop around the airport. As an aside you know you are taking off in one of these, they simply rocket down the runway. My first time in an Embraer and they are quite nice. Arm rest tables, power and USB between the seats and a decent size seat pocket. They backs do recline and are comfy. No IFE on board, but there is wifi which gives access to the aa.com app where you can stream shows. Interesting I could not log into the American website as it was too slow, but my wife watched a couple of episodes of a tv show. Go figure.
we were offered plain water in a large cup before departure and meal service started as seton as we were up. The female hostie to orders for all of the 1st cabin then returned with drink selections and then the meals.
2 meal choice’s on offer, a “pm protein” pack with chicken or a vegetarian.


We both took the protein, and it was a good choice. The chicken was tender, the couscous well cooked and the dressing very tasty. The endame beans were a winner, fresh and the dressing was a vinegar base and went down well.
The watermelon was crunchy. The only letdown was the cookie which was soft and too sugary. I donated the muesli bar to my missus as she loves them.


Again, booze was charged for so I had a Canadian ginger ale. Very weak and watery.
They did a second snack and drink run as well.
Smooth flight, non eventful and we seemed to go straight into LAX without delay.
Disembarkation was by bus, as the hostie explained they arrive into a satellite terminal and then are bussed into the main terminal.
We came off via a ramp, not stairs which was an easier way to do it with a cabin bag, and then onto the bus.
Once inside the terminal there were clear directions to Terminal B to catch QF12.

 

[smckay]

QF12 to Sydney.
Using the back passage (sorry, hijacked that term form another thread) we stumbled our way to the One World stroke Qantas lounge.
Access was simples as we were in J. Straight off to book a shower, which was about a 10 minute wait.
I saw in other threads that the shower rooms were ‘excellent’. The one I was allocated was not. Apart from being tired, as in my opinion the entire lounge is, the water delivery, temperature and pressure was cr*p. I must have spent 5 minutes trying to to either scald or freeze myself before I met some sort of compromise. The amount of water coming out of the shower head was akin to a bush bucket arrangement. The stall was also not clean as I had foreign matter on the floor.
I will admit to being a perfectionist so can be harsh, but I always view these facilities as a reflection on Qantas and Australia and I don’t think they reflect well.
Anyway, now showered and clean I made my way to the bar to find no Australian beers on offer. A missed opportunity, or a reflection on the ’World’ part of the lounge? Discuss.
The food I also thought underwhelming. On offer that night was a chicken and chickpea curry, a pan eggplant lasagne and other items. I tried the curry and it was so bland as to not even be rated as a type or representation of a flavour.
Also, the Bain Marie was being cleaned so the salads and other plates were off on the side. I find it interesting that in the 90 minutes before the Sydney flight, the Qantas lounge staff start cleaning. Surely this could be better timed?

Boarding QF12
If ever you needed confirmation you were about to board a Qantas flight, here it was.
In the lounge the boards all showed a 20:55 boarding for a 22:55 flight. Desk folks advised us it was 21:55. So at the appointed 5i e we trudged off to the gate which was #150 and close to the lounge exit.
Whilst there were the pop up signs with First, Business and Economy, there were so many sheeples around they could not be seen so the queue was more like a gathering at an auction. Staff let it be until the sheeples encroached into the gate area then tried to herd us back into the lines. Which then resulted in about 4 wide for business.
Boarding had also been delayed but the speakers we so quiet they could not be heard unless you were listening for it.
In addition, the upper deck had an issue not further described that prevented its being boarded, so when they announced 1st and Platinum boarding, half of them were denied. Then the announcement was made no business boarding yet, but that was heard as business was boarding so the crowd surged forward. Then the lower deck pax on the other side to the boarding gates tried to go through the DYKWIA people who resisted.
Anyways, they finally sorted it out and we all went through the new gates.
These are like the immigration gates where you are photographed, but you don’t scan your passport.
A bit of confusion for some as you then had to go up a set of stairs or an escalator to the next level where a screen states Premium Economy, making the Business class folk think hard.
On arrival at the seat (23K) the mattress topper, blanket, pillow and menus were waiting along with bottle water and the amenity kit. The kit is the same as as the ones in August to London, so we now have 3. First world and all that but I wouldn’t have minded a different one.
Pre departure drinks offered and accepted.
’Sleep suits’ delivered soon after. I think this is amusing as crew don’t refer to ’sleep’ on long haul flights, preferring to mention ‘rest’. I guess a rest suit didn’t make it past marketing.
The CSM also made an appearance with the immigration cards. No warm status greeting for me as a lowly Gold, but 2 rows forward enjoyed a chat.
Breakfast cards were collected before departure




I choose the scrambled eggs but that was a bad choice.

The captain came on the PA and advised of a delay, but not to worry as the flight time would be 14 hours not 15 and we’d still be on time.
At 23:30 we pushed back with an engine start 3 minutes later. Two minute later we taxied off to arrive at the runway at 23:45.
As before, an A380 liftoff is more of a procession and not an event and 2 minutes after getting in position we had wheels up, straight out across the bay on a course below Hawaii and above Noumea (if I remembered that right).
15 minutes later crew came around for dinner orders. Both myself and my wife just wanted some simple food so we both asked for the chicken schnitzel sandwich. I guess my reader should have gone off when I was asked for a second choice if that was not available, so I asked for the flat iron steak.
I understand that meals are limited but if they had said to us we’re keeping them for snacks then we would be OK, but to just diss us outright was annoying. *Disclaimer; we had just come off a month long cruise where communication was non-existent so we’re we’re feeling a bit touchy about being kept informed.

As I was hanging for a decent beer I shuffled off to the galley and requested a James Boags. Now this is a beer that used to be very well made, but since Covid, production has moved solely from Launceston with that wonderfully clean water to around Australia and the quality in my opinion has dropped dramatically. It also needs to be served at 2 degrees or lower, which doesn’t happen in an aircraft. But, it was delivered with a glass and pretzels and I was happy once again.

The meal tray and drinks were delivered first. The Neil Perry greens are nothing to put a name to and the vinaigrette is routine. Bread was ok.

On delivery, lo and behold I had a steak, no explanation from the CSM, just dropped without flare onto my tray.
The steak was not big and was surprisingly tough at the edges, but it was cooked to just under well done. In spite of obviously being prepared a long time prior, the snow peas were crunchy so marks for that. The mash was just that.
The first wine was a Dandelion cab sav, and a nice drop it was. when offered a refill, my next choice was a Peter Lehman Shiraz, and it was a big old earthy red.
The dessert cart duly arrived and I choose the mango sorbet. This up was produced in the US and was quite good.
The dinner service was efficient if not personal. The crew had to get us meals and they did, but that was it. The obligatory cabin dragon met her title with ease. I am usually a fanboi of QF international crew but this one was below par, and it was every person on the plane. Early in the morning I went to the galley to request a coffee and it was clear I had disrupted/disturbed/annoyed them.
On a positive note it was an espresso or something resembling one so QF are coming closer to the opposition on that matter.
After dinner I was tired so made up my bed. As others have commented this used to be offered by crew but this time no sign of them.

Sleep. Well, my sleep suit must have had flat batteries as I didn’t sleep or get much rest due to 2 toddlers being in the front row. They yelled, screamed and basically did what kids do. I will create controversy here but I think something needs to change in regards toddlers on planes, and especially in premium cabins. As an aside, I tried to get into the front part of the J cabin but it was always locked out. As a Gold I thought I would have had a chance, especially as this was a paid ticket but no doing.
How does one access the front cabin in J??.

I wandered to the front lounge during the flight to grab my share of wine, beer, soft drink, chips and chocolate but the fridges were bare. Nice on.
Back in the main galley they were on the side of a cabinet. Reminiscent of the good old days.

During the night I think 2 of the chicken snittys were delivered to my fellow pax as I could smell food, and it woke me thinking breakfast was being served. I am comforted to know my inability to access them has benefitted others. Maybe chicken snittys are like J reward seats and QF only puts 2 of each on each flight?
Around two hours later some dufus decided to stir their sugar into their hot drink extremely diligently. Clink, clink, clink, clink.

Breakfast started to roll out about 90 minutes before landing. As noted above, my scrambled egg choice was a bad one.

The bacon was rock hard - no cutting those rashers, they were all hand-held. The kale was cold and unsure if it was boiled or steamed. The toast was hard and cold.
However, the juice was a standout and the fruit and yoghurt was tasty and fresh.
At 0648 our wheels gently touched the tarmac on Terra Australis and we were finally home after 36 days travel.

Some observation’s on the flights;
Qantas domestic economy is on par with overseas carriers, being a basic service offering a seat, hot drink and a snack.
Qantas domestic business is probably better than US carriers by offering a hot meal all day and alcohol where appropriate. Lounge access is also a bonus based on our AA experience.
Qantas business class could be improved in my opinion. For a flight costing $5,000+ each I would have expected better lounges and meals within, the ability to receive a snack instead of a meal if I choose and a bit more warmth from the crew.
The boarding process for Qantas should replicate the Euro and US method, which is clearly defined by group and is orderly and not a scrum some flights can be. Not having to fight for a queue is pleasant and a change.