TLV-BNE the longer way

[Daver6]

Bit disappointing that they only have village level Burgundy for both white and red.

 

[Must...Fly!]

An interesting observation, out of 8 seats in the cabin, 4 were occupied by MH staff dressed in pilot uniforms. Not a good look, especially for a struggling airline. I thought MH changed the product name to bring more corrupt government money, not to let their own sit there for free. The J cabin wasn’t full, they could sit there and maybe upgrade some of MH elite members instead. For the record, they all acted professionally, were well behaved and last to take orders and receive meals.

Normally if staff are in uniform they are paxing. Employment agreements often (but not always) state highest class of travel available and/or guarantee at least J.

 

[boomy]

Bit disappointing that they only have village level Burgundy for both white and red.

Hard to find an airline that has all quality wines in F apart from champagne. Emirates is an exception to the extreme but with all the rest you’ll be lucky to get one quality red on the list.

 

[boomy]

Normally if staff are in uniform they are paxing. Employment agreements often (but not always) state highest class of travel available and/or guarantee at least J.

That’s fair enough but MH is struggling for cash and occupying half the F cabin by non-revenue staff when there are J seats available looks not right to me. I’ve never seen so many staff in F on other airlines.

 

[Daver6]

That’s fair enough but MH is struggling for cash and occupying half the F cabin by non-revenue staff when there are J seats available looks not right to me. I’ve never seen so many staff in F on other airlines.

Qantas staff (at least pilots) are strictly not in uniform when paxing. So easier for them to fly under the radar, so to speak.

 

[Must...Fly!]

That’s fair enough but MH is struggling for cash and occupying half the F cabin by non-revenue staff when there are J seats available looks not right to me. I’ve never seen so many staff in F on other airlines.

It's space available in most cases, though there are times when paying pax will be displaced.

In a lot of scenarios the crew on board are going on to operate another service either immediately, or the next day. How many AFF members would insist on J travel if they had to go straight to the office .

Anyway - sorry to divert from your TR which I have been following since the beginning - very interesting itinerary and am enjoying reading!

 

[boomy]

Qantas staff (at least pilots) are strictly not in uniform when paxing. So easier for them to fly under the radar, so to speak.

Yes, true. I’ve seen two staff members yesterday on MEL-BNE in J in wite shirts with all badges removed, could see the small holes where their name badges usually are. Was obvious they are staff because they got to chose meals last (although sitting in row 2).

 

[boomy]

We landed in KUL on time, I had 6.5 hours layover, enough time to go out and catch up with an AFFer mate in Sentral. Lucky I had the orange card which saved me valuable time because the non-priority queue was long.

I was back at airport 2.5 hours before departure, through priority security, train to satellite terminal and up to visit the F lounge.



Both MH lounges share the same reception, right for F and left for J. I turned right

As soon as I entered was greeted my one of the hosts who asked where I’d prefer to sit. I had a phone call to make and asked to sit in a quiet area, the host offered me to use the first class suite. It’s a large room with comfortable chairs and sofas, two TV screens, private toilet and shower. Perfect!











This suite is reserved for F pax on first come first served basis. There was another flight going to LHR at that time (with F cabin) so I was lucky it wasn’t occupied.

The host who greeted me also came back and brought f&b menu, took order and brought back the food.



She returned from time to time to make sure everything is ok, and refill the water jug (had a break from alcohol between the two flights).

At one point the host came to say my flight to SYD is delayed by 30 minutes and she will come to escort me to the gate when boarding starts.

“Do you prefer to board first or last?”
I was never asked that before.
“I’ll just go together with the other F pax.“
“There are no other pax in F tonight sir, it’s only you.”
“Oh wow ok, I’ll board first then!”

Second flight this trip I’m only passenger in the cabin, what are the odds??

It was time to board and the host took me to gate, said a few words to security which allowed us to bypass the queue but when we reach the gate we’re told there is further delay of at least 30 minutes. I suggested to stay there and wait but the host said no need, lets go back to lounge, it’s more pleasant to wait there. So we did.

 

[boomy]

By the time we’re back the lounge was completely empty so I could take some photos.

Entrance to F lounge.



It was actually my first opportunity to check out the lounge itself which is very nice with plenty seating areas and separate dining room. Looks like good place to be for an hour or two before departure.







Relaxation area



Dining room





One hour late boarding was again announced for real this time. The host took me to gate again, this time no queues to bypass because everyone were in the secure area.
Due to all the delays I didn’t end up boarding first but it was fine as I had the F cabin all to myself.

I must say the service I received in MH F lounge went above and beyond my expectations. As mentioned previously I’ve never flown MH before so I’m obviously not a valued customer on their list yet they still offered true VIP service, something I had not experienced in other airline lounges, including QF even when flying F as P1!

 

[boomy]

Flight #6

KUL-SYD MH A350
First class (AKA Business Suites)
Seat 1A

Flight time:
8 hours 20 minutes

I was sitting in the same seat in the same type of cabin as on my previous A380 flight but the hard product on A350 looks completely different.

The most obvious difference is the size of cabin, just one row with 4 seats in 1-2-1 config.



The suite has a door which is usually good for extra privacy BUT the walls and door here are very low and and the suite is not very spacious.



The seat was very narrow, in complete contrast to the extra wide seat on A380. The A350 F is basically J seat with extra padding (similar to what BA did).





Amenity kit and PJ were exactly same as on previous leg.

Since this was late departure (very late after today’s delay, past midnight) the dining menu was more focused on breakfast. Limited supper and no caviar.



After takeoff the good stuff was popped open.



When the seatbelt sign got lighten due to expected turbulence the CSM left the bottle on my table saying: “It’s all yours and I’m sure you’ll know what do with it”. Now that’s my kind of service!

 

[boomy]

Satay to start



My pre-ordered lobster tails were surprisingly delicious (had low hopes after they overcooked my steak on the previous leg). Good thing that I’ve ordered a main as they only offer satay and light bites for supper.



Was still feeling peckish so I finished with Nyonya Mee Siam from dine anytime menu. It was very nice.



The bed was done with proper mattress and was comfortable.





Modern controls for IFE and seat.



The door closes with automaticity but opens manually.





I slept ok but woke up few times when my elbows bumped in the walls. Such a shame they insisted on the enclosed design on the expense of space.

Yogurt with fruits and granola for breakfast.



Nasi Lemak for main.



While MH A350 product better than any J currently on the market, it’s not good enough to be competitive F product. Changing the name from First Class to Business Suites was a wise decision in this case. If they price it right MH can offer good alternative for pax who are looking for something more exclusive than J yet significantly cheaper than F.

 

[boomy]

Flight #7

SYD-BNE QF B737
Business class
Seat 1A

Flight time:
1 hours 30 minutes

My last flight of this trip was the most uneventful.
QF domestic J is nothing special, wider seats, Y food served in nicer plates and reasonable plunger coffee.

Was nice to get retro Roo II for this leg.



It was supposed to be another ordinary trip back home, one of many I’ve done over the years but this one was quite memorable and I’m happy for taking the longer way. Tried telling about it to my non-FF friends but all just stared at me like I’m crazy not understanding why I would want to fly longer than necessary. Oh well, I gave up explaining...

 

[boomy]

If this trip wasn’t already good value, the cherry on the cake was getting refund miles from AA for the “downgrade” MH did from first class to business suites.

It practically meant doing F trip for the price of J

 

[Josh Hamilton]

Great trip report thanks for sharing

 

[JohnM]

Only just aboard after seeing the link in Community News today.

Thanks for a great report.

 

[craven morehead]

Woke up at 5am for 8am departure. Grab was surcharging so took taxi to airport which came out cheaper. Very low traffic at that hour, arrived in 20 minutes.

No queues in the business line at JAL check in. Was surprised to get invitation to Dnata lounge, is this what they use in SIN? Must be better options... Well there weren’t at that time as both QF and BA lounge were not open yet.

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For a non-airline and PriorityPass lounge it was better than I’ve expected. Nice modern decor.

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Australian also got representation.

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In the spirit of Japan, my next destination, I went with Udon soup for breakfast.

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I find that lounge quite reasonable certainly not the worst around.

 

[craven morehead]

We landed at 4pm in NRT and with an early departure the next day there was no point taking the 90 minutes shuttle to Tokyo. Instead I took the shuttle to Hilton Narita. Hotels in Narita are significantly cheaper than Tokyo and very convenient to get from airport with free shuttles.

I booked the cheapest room and got an upgrade to higher floor. There’s nothing special about this hotel or the rooms but it’s cheap and comfortable enough for short stay.

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The hotel offers free shuttle to town. There was some traffic on the way and it took about 45 minutes to get there. By the time we arrived it was dark already and very cold outside.

I’ve been to Narita previously and had a tour around town during daytime. The biggest attractions are AEON mall and Naritasan Shinsho-ji Temple and gardens. Another thing Narita is famous for is food, particularly eel. I wasn’t hungry and don’t like shopping so the choice was easy.

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The temple is quite impressive and it felt completely different visiting during nighttime. Unfortunately the gardens were not lighten properly.

After an hour of wondering around it became too cold for me and I headed back to the station. This restaurant I saw on the way doesn’t make you guess what they are selling...

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Back at hotel I’ve used the complementary drink vouchers they give diamond members for some good Japanese beer on the tap before going to sleep.

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Is that the Asahi Super Dry Black ?

 

[craven morehead]

Only just aboard after seeing the link in Community News today.

Thanks for a great report.

@JohnM making me look decidedly proactive of late albeit I've had a few weeks between comments.

 

[craven morehead]

Very unusual routing but very interesting TR. Many thanks I really enjoyed following along. CM

 

[boomy]

Is that the Asahi Super Dry Black ?

Yep. They serve it very cold on tap (more than usual) which explained why I was the only one in the bar drinking it on that chilly winter night.