Qf/ba Pe Product,worth The Money?

[Nigelinoz]

I was just wondering what are peoples current opinions on the BA WT+ product vs QF PE?.
I had a search through a few threads and there seems to be mixed opinions,anybody have recent experience ,especially with WT+?.
The reason that I ask is I got this email from best flights about earlybird specials for 04 Oct thru 01 Nov in WT+ $3249 + taxes from $558 for SYD-FRA.I'm seriously thinking about it and as I haven't tried the BA product was wondering whether that's a good price.
Any thoughts?
Australian Travel Agent : Best Flights - discount travel - Travel Agent Australia

 

[taswegian77]

Hi,

I have experienced both offerings recently and IMO QF PE is ahead of WT+ from BA. Here are some comments based on my experience.

1. The seat on QF is extremely comfortable, the BA seat is too curved for my liking so it quite uncomfortable when reclined back compared to QF
2. The IFE is much better on QF compared to BA. Now saying that the latest BA WT+ flight I had was from SIN to SYD on a 777-300 and did not have AVOD just a loop system, maybe the 747-400 on BA have AVOD or similar
3. Food and service I guess was on a par with each other, both flights were attentive for a change.
4. Lastly the QF offering is newer and thus probably makes the experience that bit better.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Thanks for your comments,taswegian77,very helpful.
The thing that I find interesting is that from my reading of the email the offer is primarily a BA WT+ offer,yet it also mentions QF and the A380,now clearly QF PE on an A380 is a totally different product to WT+ on BA,
If I thought they would book me on a QF A380 in PE for that price I'd definetly go for it.

 

[taswegian77]

Yes so true. I am traveling on the A380 in 2 weeks and have applied for an upgrade to J as PE is apparently sold out. If I get my upgrade I will have to wander down the back and see what it looks like, I think it should be as good as the 747 offering. If I do not get my upgrade I have been told you cannot get upstairs, so my nice 80K no seat in front of me seat will have to do.

 

[NM]

On paper (or electrons if comparing on-line), QF PE is significantly ahead of BA WT+ at the moment. Of course each flight experience is dependent on the actual crew that operate the flight and will vary from flight to flight and experience to experience.

 

[serfty]

To really experience Y/WT+ you would need to route to FRA via LON as only QF fly Asia (SIN) to FRA and they typically employ 2 class 744 with no Y+ ...

 

[Nigelinoz]

I decided to go via LHR first so I just did a dummy booking on the BA site and got a quote of $3900.22 including taxes etc for flights out on 5/10,returning 19/10 ,the site calls it Premier Economy which is presumably BA speak for QF PE.
The outbound flight is BA 7371,codeshare of QF31,returning on BA 7372 codeshare QF32,yet the QF quote for the same flights in PE is $4657.00?.(This is SYD-LHR ,BTW).
No A380 flights available though on those dates.any idea why there would be such a discrepancy between carriers? QF are calling it a Premium Economy Saver whilst BA just have as a Fare Code T.
Edited to add of course there is always the chance that I have seriously stuffed up somewhere.

 

[docjames]

I thought the general consensus (not that we ever reach consensus on anything on AFF ) was that:

QF is like J- (akin to a regional J seat / starclass seat)
BA is more Y+ (not quite as comfortable or with the recline of the QF seat)

and

QF is consistently priced at a premium to the BA offering which probably reflects this?

 

[Nigelinoz]

I thought the general consensus (not that we ever reach consensus on anything on AFF ) was that:

QF is like J- (akin to a regional J seat / starclass seat)
BA is more Y+ (not quite as comfortable or with the recline of the QF seat)

and

QF is consistently priced at a premium to the BA offering which probably reflects this?

I agree with you,docjames,but I don't understand why the (presumably) same seats on QF metal are priced so much cheaper if I buy them with BA,unless of course,in some coffee induced stupor I have made some seriously obvious error.

 

[serfty]

When Qantas introduced Y+, the cost of WT+ on the Kangaroo route increased to match that ofQF's Y+. I believe this had a lot to do with the QF/BA JSA.

After nearly a year of this BA and QF decided to go their own way with Premium Y pricing, the conjecture being that QF was getting most of the (smart) business.

 

[Kebaba]

I recently did a RTW and paid the surcharges for WT+/PE between

MEL-HKG-LHR (QF PE, 747)
LHR-JFK (BA WT+, 747)
LAX-SYD (QF PE, A380)

The QF product is definitely better that BA and from memory the BA meals were the same as those in Y. AVOD was available on all flights with the A380 having a greater selection.

I found the service on QF to be far superior (but the BA crew to be more friendly) and I also preferred the QF seats. There were only 5 people in WT+ on my flight so I was able to score seat 28J.

Having flown BA and QF Y on numerous occasions I would definetly pay to upgrade on a long haul flight (I would compare the increase against the cost of a J ticket), but I would also pay less for WT+.

 

[JohnK]

I have done 2 return trips in WT+ SIN-SYD on BA 777 and 1 return trip BKK-SYD on BA 747. These were before QF released Premium Economy and were priced from ~$1400-$1700 which I felt was a reasonable price. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the BA WT+ product. The seats are comfortable and the leg room is quite good but service can be hit and miss as there are no dedicated crew for the WT+ cabin.

I have not tried QF premium economy and will not get to try the product, not if I am paying anyway, as long as SYD-SIN/BKK is priced at ~$3,000 and SYD-LHR is priced at ~$5,000.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Thanks JohnK,for your thoughts.
I have booked SYD-LHR and return with Qantas in PE and will use my BMI points for the London to Frankfurt and return sectors.

Booked for October this year,I'll post a trip report on my return if anyone's interested.

 

[Evan]

Ath the old prices WT+ was good value as a whY+ offering.
At the current QF prices.... i would not take the BA product.

QF PE is in my opinion really a good thing, i think it as other have said better than some regional J out there except maybe some regional J the food is better.
I have not flown the A380 version only the QF 744 version, i could only imagine the A380 being better still due to the better overall A380 experience.

Something odd.... I last night managed to get BA to price out a discount price for PE where the Y cabin was 100% full.... but it would not price the return discount... i spoke to QF to see if i could get something the same but QT won't mix the same fares BA will on QF codeshares,... strange but true In the end i did not want the connection on the way bad so i just booked BA codeshares in Y on a day with availability.

E

 

[Nigelinoz]

Ath the old prices WT+ was good value as a whY+ offering.
At the current QF prices.... i would not take the BA product.

QF PE is in my opinion really a good thing, i think it as other have said better than some regional J out there except maybe some regional J the food is better.
I have not flown the A380 version only the QF 744 version, i could only imagine the A380 being better still due to the better overall A380 experience.

Something odd.... I last night managed to get BA to price out a discount price for PE where the Y cabin was 100% full.... but it would not price the return discount... i spoke to QF to see if i could get something the same but QT won't mix the same fares BA will on QF codeshares,... strange but true In the end i did not want the connection on the way bad so i just booked BA codeshares in Y on a day with availability.

E

I agree that there is something strange in the system at the moment as the fare that I booked through BA,flying on Qantas metal,so QF seats etc is priced (or was when I booked it) at $700.00 less than the same flights but booked direct on QF.I triple checked the details before I booked and it is definete,same flights booked direct through QF $700.00 dearer than booked as a BA codeshare.

 

[Evan]

I agree that there is something strange in the system at the moment as the fare that I booked through BA,flying on Qantas metal,so QF seats etc is priced (or was when I booked it) at $700.00 less than the same flights but booked direct on QF.I triple checked the details before I booked and it is definete,same flights booked direct through QF $700.00 dearer than booked as a BA codeshare.

And BA are nice, you can click on the flight number to the left of the "premier economy" and they simply tell you the class, eg T class for discount W (Premium Economy)
It does not work out all the time only on some combinations...

Well all i can say is the BA booking are legit (You can see them and the class on your QF my bookings) so if you really do see the code shares price out cheaper may be an idea to jump at it. Just check all flights are as expected.
In my example QF were charging 2200+ and BA 1700 but i could not get a connectionless return flight on the day i wanted so ended up booking QF whY via BA at $1166 (Still hundred $ cheaper than QF since they would not mix O and V in the same booking but BA would )

Also when i went looking for seats i found MEL-ADL-SIN at any seat on QF in J for 79k points !

E

 

[Nigelinoz]

Thanks evan,
My flight (QF 31.BA 7371) SYD-SIN-LHR and (QF 32,BA 7372) priced out at $3900.22 for BA and $4657.00 booked direct on QF.and it shows up as confirmed on my bookings on the QF FF page.
Seems strange to me,but hey I am certainly not complaining,shame it's only a 744 though and not an A380.

 

[Evan]

The only disadvantage to doing it this way is you get the BA flight numbers and hence using points to upgrade is not possible.
Otherwise if if a glitch or not i consider it a good deal to save the $$ like we have both just done
E

 

[Brisbane Flyer]

Booked today, QF Codeshare w/BA for Brisbane - London - Stockholm, 4 day trip in early April. QF online was $5500+, QF Codeshare on BA online was $4600+, doing SYD - LHR on QF PE, LHR-SIN on QF PE and SIN-SYD on WT+.

If BA wants to sell the QF metal for $900 less, I'll take the money, gives me some extra $$ to buy warm clothes.

Figured I give PE a go, as its not an option on my normal BNE - LAX direct route, which I fly every six weeks or so.

Will send in a trip report in April comparing the two products.

Brisbane Flyer

 

[wantok]

Dont know about BA WT+ but I would be hesitant about wasting money on the QF PE. Flew SYD-BKK in November and decided to try out PE, seat ok, cabin service was good but the meal was slop in a bigger tray. Two of us were travelling together and we asked for opposite aisle seats at check in, to be told sorry its full, on board however, there was us, and 5 other people. Qantas has REALLY gone downhill.