PaulST
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
- Posts
- 1,194
Afternoon everyone,
Thanks for some helpful members on AFF I managed to snag a J award between SYD and MEL yesterday and put together a video review of the new Boeing 787-9 Business Suites.
Obviously it’s not a fair review of the service and food as it was only a 60 minute flight (one of the FAs said they were used to at least 3hrs and it was visibly a rush for them), so I was more interested in looking at the seats and the aircraft itself.
Being QF domestic, boarding was a mess but ah well. Interesting one guy had to do the ‘walk of shame’ but that was because a feisty status passenger (she’s the one talking loudly as I boarded about premium economy) told him to. The QF staff found it all rather humerous, as did the guy in front of me in the line who interestingly enough was bronze and travelling in Y (I saw his BP)…
So my seat was 6K and it was reasonable for a 60 minute flight although it’s probably not one of the best J suites in the new 789. As most of you are aware, they window seats alternate between having a privacy screen and arm rest between the seat and the aisle or under the window, and 6K is one of the less private suites. It certainly wasn’t terrible, but it’s also not the best.
The seat is perfectly comfy and while there’s a lot of ‘open storage space’, there’s nowhere to put a small bag other than in the overhead storage bins. I feel this is a pity as I really appreciated the storage bins in the QF 747 and A380 window seats, and many of the reverse herringbone J suites. Having said that, you can store things in the ledge (see my video for footage of my laptop sitting reasonably well). The leg room for fine for me although I’m a fairly small chap and it’s worth noting that if you need extra leg room, select the front row of either J cabin as the leg recess is wider.
The IFE was fine although I didn’t get to look at it a whole lot since the flight was so short. Anything would be better than those old screens in the skybed mk2! Once you recline your seat you actually move towards the screen so it’s comfortably close to your face (unlike those skybed mk1 screens where you have to strain to keep focus!)
From a service point of view, it looks as if they serve in two groups from row 1 to 6 and 7 to 12 so, you guessed it, I was service last! For such a short flight this wasn’t ideal, but as I said, this isn’t really representative of what you’ll get on board the 787-9 from December.
The FA and CSM were great and took me for a tour after the flight. I didn’t include that in the tour although some of the footage I took of the PE seats will feature in my review of the inaugural flight to LAX on Dec 15th.
I asked about the middle loos and if they’re open to PE pax and the FA wasn’t sure. It’ll suck for J pax if they are, but having said that, it’ll also suck for PE pax having to share them with the great hoards of pax in Y.
Tips:
- There’s no bad seats, but every second one has more private. Look closely at the seat map on the Qantas website as they show which side of the seat the ledge is on.
- seats appeared to be served 1 to 6 and 7 to 12 so if you urgently need to eat, sit in row 1 or 7. Apologies I should have clarified if this was going to be the practice on long-haul flights although I assume it was as the crews were all long haul.
- all of the front row seats in either the main or mini J cabin are wider leg recesses.
- enjoy! The crew are all very proud of the new product and it’s a great aircraft (yes I know, it’s a decade old, but come on things could be worse)
- 5A and 5K only have one window verses the rest with 2.
The video:
Thanks for some helpful members on AFF I managed to snag a J award between SYD and MEL yesterday and put together a video review of the new Boeing 787-9 Business Suites.
Obviously it’s not a fair review of the service and food as it was only a 60 minute flight (one of the FAs said they were used to at least 3hrs and it was visibly a rush for them), so I was more interested in looking at the seats and the aircraft itself.
Being QF domestic, boarding was a mess but ah well. Interesting one guy had to do the ‘walk of shame’ but that was because a feisty status passenger (she’s the one talking loudly as I boarded about premium economy) told him to. The QF staff found it all rather humerous, as did the guy in front of me in the line who interestingly enough was bronze and travelling in Y (I saw his BP)…
So my seat was 6K and it was reasonable for a 60 minute flight although it’s probably not one of the best J suites in the new 789. As most of you are aware, they window seats alternate between having a privacy screen and arm rest between the seat and the aisle or under the window, and 6K is one of the less private suites. It certainly wasn’t terrible, but it’s also not the best.
The seat is perfectly comfy and while there’s a lot of ‘open storage space’, there’s nowhere to put a small bag other than in the overhead storage bins. I feel this is a pity as I really appreciated the storage bins in the QF 747 and A380 window seats, and many of the reverse herringbone J suites. Having said that, you can store things in the ledge (see my video for footage of my laptop sitting reasonably well). The leg room for fine for me although I’m a fairly small chap and it’s worth noting that if you need extra leg room, select the front row of either J cabin as the leg recess is wider.
The IFE was fine although I didn’t get to look at it a whole lot since the flight was so short. Anything would be better than those old screens in the skybed mk2! Once you recline your seat you actually move towards the screen so it’s comfortably close to your face (unlike those skybed mk1 screens where you have to strain to keep focus!)
From a service point of view, it looks as if they serve in two groups from row 1 to 6 and 7 to 12 so, you guessed it, I was service last! For such a short flight this wasn’t ideal, but as I said, this isn’t really representative of what you’ll get on board the 787-9 from December.
The FA and CSM were great and took me for a tour after the flight. I didn’t include that in the tour although some of the footage I took of the PE seats will feature in my review of the inaugural flight to LAX on Dec 15th.
I asked about the middle loos and if they’re open to PE pax and the FA wasn’t sure. It’ll suck for J pax if they are, but having said that, it’ll also suck for PE pax having to share them with the great hoards of pax in Y.
Tips:
- There’s no bad seats, but every second one has more private. Look closely at the seat map on the Qantas website as they show which side of the seat the ledge is on.
- seats appeared to be served 1 to 6 and 7 to 12 so if you urgently need to eat, sit in row 1 or 7. Apologies I should have clarified if this was going to be the practice on long-haul flights although I assume it was as the crews were all long haul.
- all of the front row seats in either the main or mini J cabin are wider leg recesses.
- enjoy! The crew are all very proud of the new product and it’s a great aircraft (yes I know, it’s a decade old, but come on things could be worse)
- 5A and 5K only have one window verses the rest with 2.
The video:
