should I upgrade to J Mel-Per

[alieninperth]

I have been looking at an award booking that I have from Mel to Per in May and when I called QF to confirm that I needed a bassinet (I had already told them when I made the booking but I wanted to double check) they offered me an upgrade to J, I have to pay with pts of course but still.

The question is: is this a good deal? I know that they are deploying their int. stanard 330 on this route but I am sure that they are also operating the domestic configuration as well. The seat maps show that the plane type is either 2-2-2 or 2-3-2 in J. Given that I will need the bassinet I will most likely be in a bulkhead position anyway is it worth the pts?

Or would I be better putting these towards an int. trip like SIN?

 

[samiam]

I regularly fly MEL-PER in J and IMO definitely worth it on the 332 or 333.

All comes down to personal preference- I like the ability to have a pre-meal bevvy, watch a movie, have dinner and then recline with a pillow and blanket and have an hour's shuteye.

If some time out is your thing, then J is worth it.

 

[tuapekastar]

I have been looking at an award booking that I have from Mel to Per in May and when I called QF to confirm that I needed a bassinet (I had already told them when I made the booking but I wanted to double check) they offered me an upgrade to J, I have to pay with pts of course but still.

The question is: is this a good deal? I know that they are deploying their int. stanard 330 on this route but I am sure that they are also operating the domestic configuration as well. The seat maps show that the plane type is either 2-2-2 or 2-3-2 in J. Given that I will need the bassinet I will most likely be in a bulkhead position anyway is it worth the pts?

Or would I be better putting these towards an int. trip like SIN?

IMHO it's right on the cusp of upgradable distance. I will sometimes upgrade MEL-PER or MEL-AKL which are roughly the same distance.

MEL-PER is definitely a good trip in J. I have had to stop them pouring wine into me (enough! enough! I cried ) and all-round the service and general soft and hard product is good. OTOH it's certainly comfortable enough in Y as well for that duration.

If it will help I'm happy to let you know (via Expert Flyer seat map) what plane config you have scheduled (PM me the details if you don't want to publish them) - there is always the chance of an aircraft substitution, but that is out of your control.

 

[alieninperth]

Thanks tuapekastar, I have PM's you with the details.

Samiam, not too much rest I dont think as I will be with jr.

 

[GCC]

Depends of course on how many points you have.
If you have them take it - have always found the the J cabin and service (especially on the A330) PER - SYD to be worth 16k points or so. Bulkhead seats will be good.
I'm a regular traveler with baby, and upgrading to J on anything over 2 hours makes a big difference to your comfort and sanity. The only problem of course is that once they start getting used to J at 1 YO....

 

[8803]

The question is: is this a good deal? Given that I will need the bassinet I will most likely be in a bulkhead position anyway is it worth the pts?

As a regular SYD-PER flyer with Mrs 8803 & mini-8803, majority of time is spent:
1. Keeping mini-8803 entertained;
2. Allowing SWMBO to have her meal first while I hold mini-8803, me feeding mini-8803, then swapping roles;
3. Requesting hot water from FAs for baby formula.
4. Walking up/down the aisles settling mini-8803;
5. Nappy changing (Went to do a change once without realising no more nappies in change bag; I strategically placed 3 pieces of the blue hand towels front, under & back, & made it back to our seats in time accident-free to put a real nappy back on!).

All this leaves little time to enjoy J. In addition, & speaking from experience, the bassinet seat may be lost when there is change of aircraft (esp to 763 VH-ZX... series from VH-OG...). When this happens, FAs are fantastic & move others around so we can sit together in the DEFG seats.

I'd save your points for an INT trip where flight time is likely to be longer than 4-5 hours.

I booked J seat for Mrs 8803 & mini-8803 in June last year when SWMBO was pregnant with our 2nd child & travelling alone with our son. Mini-8803 screamed most of the way, only sleeping for ~1 hour. Mrs 8803 didn't get much opportunity to enjoy J service. Don't get me wrong, the transcont SYD/MEL-PER is so much better in J with the extra room, but gets flipped on its head when it come to travelling with little ones.

I'll report back later on the trials & tribulations of travelling w/ mini-8803 & his infant brother in about 1 months time...

Hope this helps!

 

[alieninperth]

absolutley it does. I suppose the one thing going for me is that I get to trial Y on the way over to MEL and if all is well then I think that is where I will stay. banking for an longer trip may be the order of the day.

I am thinking about a fairly complex sort of RTW itinery through a DC redemption for later this year, and if that comes off I will probably need a connecting flight. so these may be useful for that.

 

[samiam]

As a regular SYD-PER flyer with Mrs 8803 & mini-8803, majority of time is spent:
1. Keeping mini-8803 entertained;
2. Allowing SWMBO to have her meal first while I hold mini-8803, me feeding mini-8803, then swapping roles;
3. Requesting hot water from FAs for baby formula.
4. Walking up/down the aisles settling mini-8803;
5. Nappy changing (Went to do a change once without realising no more nappies in change bag; I strategically placed 3 pieces of the blue hand towels front, under & back, & made it back to our seats in time accident-free to put a real nappy back on!).

All this leaves little time to enjoy J.


I booked J seat for Mrs 8803 & mini-8803 in June last year when SWMBO was pregnant with our 2nd child & travelling alone with our son. Mini-8803 screamed most of the way, only sleeping for ~1 hour. Mrs 8803 didn't get much opportunity to enjoy J service.

Wow! I'm exhausted just reading the above efforts, and selfishly imagining how disruptive such frenetic activity (particularly the bit about screaming most of the way- which I know cant always be helped), could potentially be.

Glad you fly SYD-PER and not MEL-PER! (Tongue planted firmly in cheek).

 

[docjames]

I'd take almost any upgrade on flights 2hr+, regardless if travelling with child or not!

Having said that, having just done BNE-MEL vv in J with minidoc (8 weeks then 10weeks on the two flights), definitely the way to go. SOOOOO much easier having a bt more room to manoeuvre, FAs were fantastic on both our flights, helped get change table open in bathroom etc after code brown on take off ex-BNE etc etc. With J seats we even had enough room for mrsdoc to have her tray on my table and be able to eat one handed (whilst minidoc sleeping on her lap). This also on the 734:shock: as well as 763.

On the 763 (was dreamtime config admittedly), the bassinet ws great to be able to put him down for about ~1hr sleep and relax a bit before the madness of arrivals. BTW, QF have really nice blankets for the bassinets!

The extra checked luggage allowance ure heped too - who knew something so small needed so much luggage :shock::shock::shock:

Take that upgrade ASAP before you lose it.