QF / Thai in F

[Storyteller]

Have 2 upcoming award bookings, can't decide which to keep. I've have done the QF SYD LHR before, and it was nice. Extras of chauffeur & Flounge add a bit to the experience

QF BNE SYD in J, QF SYD LHR in F in seat 4A, BA LHR MXP in J, 80,000 AA miles + $170, depart 11:25 am, arrive 4pm next day, around 36 hours, including 3 hours in SYD, & 6 in LHR.

TG BNE BKK in J on B777 seat 12A, TG BKK FRA in F on A388 seat 1A, LH FRA OSL in J, 90,000 UA miles + $115, depart 2pm, arrive 9:25 am next day, around 31 hours, including 3 1/2 in BKK & 1 1/2 in FRA.

 

[samh004]

On the face of it, the Thai trip takes less time and the immigration/customs time in FRA would probably beat the pants off of LHR.

 

[Happy Trails]

I would definitely go with TG, especially if you haven't yet experienced their A380 in F.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Have 2 upcoming award bookings, can't decide which to keep. I've have done the QF SYD LHR before, and it was nice. Extras of chauffeur & Flounge add a bit to the experience

QF BNE SYD in J, QF SYD LHR in F in seat 4A, BA LHR MXP in J, 80,000 AA miles + $170, depart 11:25 am, arrive 4pm next day, around 36 hours, including 3 hours in SYD, & 6 in LHR.

TG BNE BKK in J on B777 seat 12A, TG BKK FRA in F on A388 seat 1A, LH FRA OSL in J, 90,000 UA miles + $115, depart 2pm, arrive 9:25 am next day, around 31 hours, including 3 1/2 in BKK & 1 1/2 in FRA.

you can't really compare QF F and TG F.

TG F is great and wins hands down on the crew, but catering and even the a380 is absolutely nothing to write home about (they have one of the most disappointing first classes of anyone on theirs... and if you can probably see if you can move away from 1A )

three hours in the qf f lounge is probably a good thing, and flying F the whole way is better than business on the BNE-BKK sector. TG business is good, but not worth it.

6 hours in LHR... you don't give your status... but even if you are not platinum (OWE) you still get to use the galleries first lounge by reason of your incoming long haul F.

the only downside... no buggy transfer in BKK on QF.

agree it is five hours longer... but three of those hours is in a good lounge in sydney. and saving two hours is not worth flying business for for such a log sector.

 

[Storyteller]

Thanks all for your perspectives so far...

Was auto allocated the 1A & not able to change myself. It may be possible with a phone call though.

As you say, MEL_traveller, I get lounge access from flying in F. Am WP, so am used to spending time on planes & in lounges. I figure that I may be able to get an earlier flight out of LHR, but if we are a bit late, immigration is backed up, & allowing for reboarding, & a bit of shopping, I may get around 3 hours in the lounge. The FRA connection is actually a bit tight for my liking, even though the System booked it for me!

In what way, crew aside, why do you feel TG F is disappointing? And it would then mean TG J isn't a patch on QF F for the long J sector, just so I can say I have experienced it. As much as I like comparing products, maybe I don't need to sacrifice myself for science . This time. If TG F was great, & J very good with great food & service.....

The buggy ride would be fun, but then I have had that with AA a couple of times .

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks all for your perspectives so far...

Was auto allocated the 1A & not able to change myself. It may be possible with a phone call though.

As you say, MEL_traveller, I get lounge access from flying in F. Am WP, so am used to spending time on planes & in lounges. I figure that I may be able to get an earlier flight out of LHR, but if we are a bit late, immigration is backed up, & allowing for reboarding, & a bit of shopping, I may get around 3 hours in the lounge. The FRA connection is actually a bit tight for my liking, even though the System booked it for me!

In what way, crew aside, why do you feel TG F is disappointing? And it would then mean TG J isn't a patch on QF F for the long J sector, just so I can say I have experienced it. As much as I like comparing products, maybe I don't need to sacrifice myself for science . This time. If TG F was great, & J very good with great food & service.....

The buggy ride would be fun, but then I have had that with AA a couple of times .

well... business is business. the 777 just introduced ex BNE has the full flat beds... so that's good... provided they don't substitute the aircraft which is a real risk with TG, especially as they only have a couple of them at this stage I think.

as i said... TG F is great... but they're one notch below other carriers such as QF. they have caviar, but you're not going to find any 'name brand' chef with culinary oversight. the food is good cafeteria style food. qantas is probably good bistro style food.

tg wins on the crew because of better consistency. a bad Thai crew is rare, and even then it's not the end of the world. a bad qf crew on the other hand can make you wonder why you bothered

as for the whole TG J to TG F... my parents did that once because they try and avoid transferring via sydney (less flights the better). but after they did it once they said they would take the sydney option in future! the service is still good on TG business (certainly better than most QF flights) but it's significantly below F (as you would expect). couple that with the potential for an aircraft equipment change to angled beds and QF F all the way wins.

a phone call can sort seating. row 2 is the pick of the bunch. why is their a380 disappointing? because they didn't push the design envelope in any way. still very little privacy (although slightly better than the current old first class). and being on the upper deck it's a narrower cabin compared to say SQ.