Tokyo to Sydney/Melbourne Business Class

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bullerdude

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Hi All!

Long time VA flyer but not so much on the QF side so seeking some advise.

I'm hoping to book 2x J Reward flights from Tokyo to Melbourne for early next year - Preferably I want to ensure that we get a flight with a proper flat bed and not one of the old MK I QF 747's.

Are there any of the old 747's running on the Tokyo route?

Would it be safer to book Tokyo - Brisbane - Melbourne instead which I think would be the new A330 business class?

Hoping for some suggestion / ideas.
 
At the moment, the QF flights to NRT from SYD are on the 744. Most of these are refurbed, but sometimes you get one of the old versions (with Skybed I). Whether that will still be the case in early 2016 is anyone's guess.

Both the SYD-HND and BNE-NRT flights are on the A330. Given that the refurbed aircraft are gradually coming online, the only way to check if you are getting the new version is to check the seatmaps. But be aware that until the whole fleet is done with the new config (estimated to be late 2016), there's always a chance one of the older config aircraft could be swapped in.
 
At the moment, the QF flights to NRT from SYD are on the 744. Most of these are refurbed, but sometimes you get one of the old versions (with Skybed I). Whether that will still be the case in early 2016 is anyone's guess.

Both the SYD-HND and BNE-NRT flights are on the A330. Given that the refurbed aircraft are gradually coming online, the only way to check if you are getting the new version is to check the seatmaps. But be aware that until the whole fleet is done with the new config (estimated to be late 2016), there's always a chance one of the older config aircraft could be swapped in.

When did they confirm that SYD-HND will be A333 rather than 744?
 
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At the moment, the QF flights to NRT from SYD are on the 744. Most of these are refurbed, but sometimes you get one of the old versions (with Skybed I). Whether that will still be the case in early 2016 is anyone's guess.

Both the SYD-HND and BNE-NRT flights are on the A330. Given that the refurbed aircraft are gradually coming online, the only way to check if you are getting the new version is to check the seatmaps. But be aware that until the whole fleet is done with the new config (estimated to be late 2016), there's always a chance one of the older config aircraft could be swapped in.

The current SYD-NRT 747 is moving to SYD-HND. After this occurs there won't be a SYD-NRT flight. There has been no announcement on whether the SYD-HND will shift to an A330.

In relation to the OP, I would suggest your best bet is going via BNE as this is definitely an A330 and there is a better chance it'll be upgraded (cannot be guaranteed though).
 
There’s no schedule as to which destinations will get the refurbed A330s yet – all they’ve said is SIN will be first. I think HKG will be next rather than Tokyo because the competition (CX) offers a much better product on HKG than NRT (JL).

My prediction for the order would be as follows:

SIN
HKG
NRT/HND (if QF decide to change HND from 747 to 330)
BKK
PVG
MNL
CGK
HNL

Any destinations I’ve missed.
 
Maybe i'll stick with the 747's out of Hanada and if I end up with the old config I'll try to get allocated the old first class seats.
 
Hi Buller, I've just flown QF21/22 these past two weeks. Scored the old First outbound which was great (horrible coffee though) and then attempted upgrades of what turned out to be a refirb coming back. For a while I was sitting there holding a Y+ boarding pass while my wife was stuck in Y. That horrible circumstance was changed at the gate, thankfully. More importantly, got in some epic powder days at Nozawa & Hakuba.
 
Hi All!

Long time VA flyer but not so much on the QF side so seeking some advise.

I'm hoping to book 2x J Reward flights from Tokyo to Melbourne for early next year - Preferably I want to ensure that we get a flight with a proper flat bed and not one of the old MK I QF 747's.

Are there any of the old 747's running on the Tokyo route?

Would it be safer to book Tokyo - Brisbane - Melbourne instead which I think would be the new A330 business class?

Hoping for some suggestion / ideas.

also consider something like HND-HKG-MEL - full flats all the way.
 
There’s no schedule as to which destinations will get the refurbed A330s yet – all they’ve said is SIN will be first. I think HKG will be next rather than Tokyo because the competition (CX) offers a much better product on HKG than NRT (JL).

My prediction for the order would be as follows:

SIN
HKG
NRT/HND (if QF decide to change HND from 747 to 330)
BKK
PVG
MNL
CGK
HNL

Any destinations I’ve missed.

I think you're pretty on the money... though I suspect QF will do whatever they can to put a new bird on BNE-NRT
 
I think you're pretty on the money... though I suspect QF will do whatever they can to put a new bird on BNE-NRT

Any reason why? Japan is a route with very little competition, and BNE-NRT has no competition. From March also, JL reverts back to the 772 on SYD-NRT with a product which at best is on par with a Mark 1 Skybed.

I think PVG would come after SIN/HKG. The PVG schedule last time I checked slots quite well with the SIN services in and out of SYD.
 
Well they specifically made mention of the A330 upgrade and BNE-NRT in the route launch PR release. Granted that they would use any opportunity to highlight a better product at the moment... but also, as it will be a new route, I'd suggest there is some free publicity that comes with that and you'd want to put your best product on it.

Sure CX has a better product that QF. But it has had a better product than QF for years and another couple of months won't make much difference. You don't get to launch new routes all the time (particularly routes flown by Roos).

I don't think PVG will come after SIN/HKG. Just my opinion though.
 
I was able to get was 2 business class seats from Tokyo (Narita) to Brisbane, so really hoping it will be a new A330!!!

Missed the HAN-SYD ones unfortunately.

Now just to add the domestic BNE-MEL when it becomes available.
 
I've had one flight with the newer dark red seats and I found that to be very very comfy for a 1-2 hr flight; the let down was the 'cheese box' for the food service. Didn't realise Qantas has snapped up Virgin's speciality of service cheese boxes/plates when they should be serving dinner.

On the plus side i've since managed to get Qantas to change it to the HAN-SYD-MEL without change fees! Plus the 747 currently showing has the newer MKII seats which will be excellent if that stays the case next Feb.
 
In the spirit of the gentleman on FT who continually requests an AA 772 on Little Rock-Narita, I suggest that PER-HND will soon (you pick the definition of that word - somewhere between pre-teenage outlook and geological epochs) see the re-furbished A330s.

Happy wandering

Fred
 
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