QF A380 Refurbishment - RIP the wonderful economy 'mini-cabin'

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Mark1966

Mark1966

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With the newly reconfigured QF A380s to come back into service from September,Qantas Will Revamp Biz Cabin in Refurbishment of A380 Fleet, is anybody else going to miss the little economy 'mini-cabin' at the rear of the upper deck?

For those of us travelling on our own $$ or not having work pay for more than economy this was a boon - especially on the SYD - DFW route. I've even constructed itineraries to Europe to be on QF1 an QF2 out of Heathrow just to be able to sit there rather than downstairs on a direct connection on EK.

Is it just me?
 
Agree it will be a loss.

On the upside, a larger premium cabin should increase the chances of getting an upgrade on the refurbished A380, so I welcome the changes.
 
Mark1966 said:
With the newly reconfigured QF A380s to come back into service from September,Qantas Will Revamp Biz Cabin in Refurbishment of A380 Fleet, is anybody else going to miss the little economy 'mini-cabin' at the rear of the upper deck?

For those of us travelling on our own $$ or not having work pay for more than economy this was a boon - especially on the SYD - DFW route. I've even constructed itineraries to Europe to be on QF1 an QF2 out of Heathrow just to be able to sit there rather than downstairs on a direct connection on EK.

Is it just me?
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I agree. I do the run to the 3-4 times a year, and the company policy is for Y. I do try to get an upgrade to J with points, which I get 50% of the time. My usual 'go to' seat is 33G, as I usually get a ghost next to me and can spread out. If I'm travelling with MrsK, we go for 36J&K. As a WP, the crew always drop off goodies, glass of champagne etc.
I'll be sad to see that little bubble of calm go, and have to sit down with the masses.
 
kookaburra75 said:
I agree. I do the run to the 3-4 times a year, and the company policy is for Y. I do try to get an upgrade to J with points, which I get 50% of the time. My usual 'go to' seat is 33G, as I usually get a ghost next to me and can spread out. If I'm travelling with MrsK, we go for 36J&K. As a WP, the crew always drop off goodies, glass of champagne etc.
I'll be sad to see that little bubble of calm go, and have to sit down with the masses.
Click to expand...

I had to go to AMS for a conference last year. The way there was EK via DXB due to time constraints. Downstairs on those flights was terrible. Both had a toilet out so massive queues, my WP seat selection was ignored and I was shunted into middle seats, until I asked politely for changes at the gates, and it was all together unpleasant.

On the way back I took a couple of days leave and did train and ferry to London to catch QF2 out of LHR. A MUCH better experience upstairs in my little "bubble of calm".

Such a shame ...
 
I agree with the OP.

It'll be a pity to see the end of the small Economy Cabin, but I guess with the extra 6 Business & 25 P/Economy seats, there is probably a chance that QF might release an extra Upgrade.

I much prefer the Mini Cabin to the large Economy Cabin downstairs. I've only experienced it once, on EK (DXB-SIN) & it was not very pleasant,
 
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Yes I will miss it, we put the kids in there with easy access to us up front
 
Yep I will miss it - just flew it the other day on QF93/94.
The FAs were actually talking about the revamp and that it was because operating 2 classes (Y&W) out of a single galley was really hard. The only way it worked was to rush the Y meal service (they literally serve food within 15 mins of the seatbelt sign going off, and clear it almost immediately), so they could get to the W meal service ready. They literally have to pass through mini Y cabin to access W cabin.

This really is depressing news, actually. EK Y is horrible with the 3-4-3 config. And QF will also have that too now...
 
I must have been lucky in the past. Each time on QF7 (and QF8 but not as often, loads have always been higher for some reason) I've pre selected 34G and after sitting down an FA come and offer me a row of 4 downstairs. Once accepted the FA would place a towel across the row, indicating to other FA's the row was "blocked" until after take off.
 
Have booked QF127 next March, and at this stage of course it shows the current config so have selected in the mini-Y cabin. Guess it will be down to about 50/50 whether our plane will be old or new config by then.

P.S. Has anyone seen an official seat map for the new config yet?
 
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Nothing official. Just the version that was posted here some weeks back.

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Correct from what's been said Economy cabin isn't being touched (though I'd assume it will get a deep clean and probably new seat covers).

First is getting minimal changes including a new larger TV.

I don't think Airbus has offered the 3-5-3 option as a retrofit (was part of their proposed A380 Plus alterations) and would be a similar seat width to the 787 - so the A380 and A330 should remain the aircraft for economy comfort.
 
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