PaulST
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
- Posts
- 1,194
I’m continuing my journey around Europe with a brief, errr… tangent… from London to Berlin via Doha to try out the new Airbus A350 (I got a decent award ticket through QF on BA and QR metal).
1 month before my flight, much to my disappointment, QR changed the aircraft from the scheduled A359 to a 788 which somewhat defeated the whole purpose of me flying via Doha. Anyway, I decided against cancelling the ticket as the out-bound flight was in BA F which I was still keen to try out (see other trip report).
I’d just come to accept the disappointment of not flying the A359 when I was looking at my booking and noticed that the seat map had changed and the A359 was now scheduled. As so happened, the flights on both sides of mine were changed to 77Ws which was my ultimate fear!
Anyway, after all of that stress, QR stuck with what was initially planned and the 10th A350 ever produced flew me to Munich earlier today.
The flight was at 0720 but I was keen to check out the lounge so I left my hotel at 0440 and arrived at the premium QR check-in section at around 0500 where I was met by a porter who took my bag inside. The J check-in area had multiple lounge chairs and even a table full of complimentary drinks. Check-in took a minute or two and then I was off through customs, which also took a short time.
Due to QR seemingly ignoring OW’s policy (well, I think it’s the policy) of refusing entry of OWEs into their proper first class lounge (they’ve created a separate inferior pseudo-first lounge), I instead headed to the QR business class lounge (which again, is not open to OWS pax unless you’re flying in QR J) titled ‘Al Mourjan’ which seems to get great reviews.
It’s pretty massive and covers two levels and has two restaurants. The upstairs one offered table service (omelets only this morning) as well as a larger self serving section of hot and cold breaky options. The other restaurant offered several different types of sandwiches and both had a decent selection of drinks, including alcohol.
I explored the lounge for a while and then headed off to the gate where priority boarding was a bit confusing, but worked in the end. I was escorted to my seat, a nice touch that I’ve only ever had before in First class (BA and EK) and offered a glass of champagne. See the video for more details including the full menu (I sweep over it fairly quickly so just pause the video if you’re really interested in the details.)
The crew:
The crew were really good and were quite attentive even though the cabin was mostly full. Interestingly, the seat behind me (8A) was empty and I overheard a FA catching someone (from 22A) sitting in there who was quickly sent down back. It was quite brazen I though! Word quickly spread that I was filming for my Youtube channel and everyone made quite a bit deal about me being well looked after. The take away message is that if you want really good service, tell the FAs you’re making a video!
Eating:
The food and drink was plentiful and more was offered than what you see in the video but I was pretty full after eating in the lounge (and I generally don’t eat a lot of breaky anyway).
The seat:
The suites are really good with heaps of space to store stuff. They’re a good balance between space and some level of privacy. They’re also great for people that want a window view, but don’t want to climb over an aisle passenger. The seats themselves were soft, highly adjustable and offered a massage feature (which was only average). There’s 4 toilets up front for J pax so I never had to wait. There was a bit of a bar between the main J cabin (rows 1-6) and the last few rows which was more of a case of style over substance. There was some fruit and champagne offered but not a lot else. I suspect that there’ll be more offered on longer flights.
Amenity kit:
None was offered. I asked for one and they said that they’re not stocked for such short flights (which is kinda fair enough since it’s a morning flight- 0720-1230) but it would have been nice to get another pair of PJs to add to the collection. ☺ They found me a ‘comfort pack’ which was a material bag which included socks, eye shades, ear plugs and a hair brush. There were tooth brushes/paste and shaving equipment in the bathroom. The CSM was very apologetic about not having an amenity kit and came to personally apologize (my allocated FA must have spoken to him about my request).
The flight:
Left a little late but landed close-enough to on-time. It was as smooth and comfortable as most flights these days.
Conclusion:
It’s a really good product. I still have a soft spot for Qantas, but they really do struggle to compete in may ways. Next time I fly out of SYD in J I’m not expecting to see a QF staff member waiting at the kerb ready to remove my bag from the boot (for example)…
Happy to answer questions!
[video=youtube;hOLTl7ucRY4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOLTl7ucRY4[/video]
1 month before my flight, much to my disappointment, QR changed the aircraft from the scheduled A359 to a 788 which somewhat defeated the whole purpose of me flying via Doha. Anyway, I decided against cancelling the ticket as the out-bound flight was in BA F which I was still keen to try out (see other trip report).
I’d just come to accept the disappointment of not flying the A359 when I was looking at my booking and noticed that the seat map had changed and the A359 was now scheduled. As so happened, the flights on both sides of mine were changed to 77Ws which was my ultimate fear!
Anyway, after all of that stress, QR stuck with what was initially planned and the 10th A350 ever produced flew me to Munich earlier today.
The flight was at 0720 but I was keen to check out the lounge so I left my hotel at 0440 and arrived at the premium QR check-in section at around 0500 where I was met by a porter who took my bag inside. The J check-in area had multiple lounge chairs and even a table full of complimentary drinks. Check-in took a minute or two and then I was off through customs, which also took a short time.
Due to QR seemingly ignoring OW’s policy (well, I think it’s the policy) of refusing entry of OWEs into their proper first class lounge (they’ve created a separate inferior pseudo-first lounge), I instead headed to the QR business class lounge (which again, is not open to OWS pax unless you’re flying in QR J) titled ‘Al Mourjan’ which seems to get great reviews.
It’s pretty massive and covers two levels and has two restaurants. The upstairs one offered table service (omelets only this morning) as well as a larger self serving section of hot and cold breaky options. The other restaurant offered several different types of sandwiches and both had a decent selection of drinks, including alcohol.
I explored the lounge for a while and then headed off to the gate where priority boarding was a bit confusing, but worked in the end. I was escorted to my seat, a nice touch that I’ve only ever had before in First class (BA and EK) and offered a glass of champagne. See the video for more details including the full menu (I sweep over it fairly quickly so just pause the video if you’re really interested in the details.)
The crew:
The crew were really good and were quite attentive even though the cabin was mostly full. Interestingly, the seat behind me (8A) was empty and I overheard a FA catching someone (from 22A) sitting in there who was quickly sent down back. It was quite brazen I though! Word quickly spread that I was filming for my Youtube channel and everyone made quite a bit deal about me being well looked after. The take away message is that if you want really good service, tell the FAs you’re making a video!
Eating:
The food and drink was plentiful and more was offered than what you see in the video but I was pretty full after eating in the lounge (and I generally don’t eat a lot of breaky anyway).
The seat:
The suites are really good with heaps of space to store stuff. They’re a good balance between space and some level of privacy. They’re also great for people that want a window view, but don’t want to climb over an aisle passenger. The seats themselves were soft, highly adjustable and offered a massage feature (which was only average). There’s 4 toilets up front for J pax so I never had to wait. There was a bit of a bar between the main J cabin (rows 1-6) and the last few rows which was more of a case of style over substance. There was some fruit and champagne offered but not a lot else. I suspect that there’ll be more offered on longer flights.
Amenity kit:
None was offered. I asked for one and they said that they’re not stocked for such short flights (which is kinda fair enough since it’s a morning flight- 0720-1230) but it would have been nice to get another pair of PJs to add to the collection. ☺ They found me a ‘comfort pack’ which was a material bag which included socks, eye shades, ear plugs and a hair brush. There were tooth brushes/paste and shaving equipment in the bathroom. The CSM was very apologetic about not having an amenity kit and came to personally apologize (my allocated FA must have spoken to him about my request).
The flight:
Left a little late but landed close-enough to on-time. It was as smooth and comfortable as most flights these days.
Conclusion:
It’s a really good product. I still have a soft spot for Qantas, but they really do struggle to compete in may ways. Next time I fly out of SYD in J I’m not expecting to see a QF staff member waiting at the kerb ready to remove my bag from the boot (for example)…
Happy to answer questions!
[video=youtube;hOLTl7ucRY4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOLTl7ucRY4[/video]
