Wish me luck on QF to LAX

[drewbles]

Is this in J or F? Looking at AA.com for March it appears to be 'Business Standard' for $1475 and not an instant upgrade to F.

There is no First class on the flight from the Mainland to any Caribbean destination. It's an F cabin but it's sold as Business, so you get J SC's.

 

[blackcat20]

YMMV, I have no problem with the seat hardness (nor the 744 seat for that matter).

Very true; I have a boney butt so I find most seats uncomforatble after a while, but I found the A380 particularly so

 

[MrJetset]

There is no First class on the flight from the Mainland to any Caribbean destination. It's an F cabin but it's sold as Business, so you get J SC's.

And that equals 630 SCs? I''m just surprised because SYD-JFK return in J is 480.

 

[serfty]

And that equals 630 SCs? I''m just surprised because SYD-JFK return in J is 480.

You look for routings where you travel in A/P class for the Domestic USA legs (i.e. where there's no 'business class' cabin they booking into A (or P) class.)

So LAX-(A)-xDFW-(P)-xMIA-(I)-AUA earns 270 SC's (120+90+60). (That was not my routing BTW)

 

[clifford]

Very true; I have a boney butt so I find most seats uncomforatble after a while, but I found the A380 particularly so

My wife and I absolutely hate the 380. We have only flown in Y (SQ and EK) and find it very claustrophobic and nauseating. We will never fly another one. Hard to beat the 777 (not QF of course).

And don't think it's because we are infrequent flyers (UA 1k, QF Gold, EK Gold).

 

[ozimax]

I like the 777, and I used to love the TN 727. Now that was an aircraft.

But alas, here I be, sitting in the LAX lounge, waiting to board the A380, for the mind (and rear end) numbing trip to Sydney. Only 28 hours more until a bed is in sight...

 

[ozimax]

Btw, the tucker here is pretty good, but why oh why is there NO place in all of America that can make a decent coffee? Surely it's not that hard....

 

[straitman]

Btw, the tucker here is pretty good, but why oh why is there NO place in all of America that can make a decent coffee? Surely it's not that hard....

It's not that hard.

We found a place in Waikiki if anyone ever needs the details. On the cruise out of Honolulu we actually taught the coffee lounge how to make (proper) coffee.

 

[anat0l]

Btw, the tucker here is pretty good, but why oh why is there NO place in all of America that can make a decent coffee? Surely it's not that hard....

It's not that hard.

We found a place in Waikiki if anyone ever needs the details. On the cruise out of Honolulu we actually taught the coffee lounge how to make (proper) coffee.

It's not spectacularly difficult to get a good coffee, but obviously not as easy as in Australia.

Mind you, however, for those of us who do drink coffee with some reverence in Australia, with the proliferation of coffee machines, trained-in-a-hurry baristas and so on (even kebab shops have a coffee machine!), some of us have become more discerning about our coffee. This just makes the hunt for a 'good' coffee in the US that much more difficult.

The US tends towards more brewed coffee, and even then usually weak. Espressos, without a good prompting, also tend towards the weak (read: watery) side (even for someone like me who still has milk coffee, not black). The hotels I went to often had Starbucks coffee and a brewing (drip filter) machine in the room. Sometimes I tried filtering coffee twice to get a stronger taste, with limited success.

Personally I wished that in my hotel rooms instead of only exotic flavoured tea (read: Starbucks flavours of Tazo tea), what about some regular flavoured teas (e.g. green, peppermint), including a decent black tea?!

 

[blueflamenco]

Btw, the tucker here is pretty good, but why oh why is there NO place in all of America that can make a decent coffee? Surely it's not that hard....

Have you tried Seattle?

 

[blueflamenco]

It's not spectacularly difficult to get a good coffee, but obviously not as easy as in Australia.

Personally I wished that in my hotel rooms instead of only exotic flavoured tea (read: Starbucks flavours of Tazo tea), what about some regular flavoured teas (e.g. green, peppermint), including a decent black tea?!

I feel your pain. I am a crazy tea drinker, mainly black and green. I ended up purchasing one of those travel kettles in Australia and usually travel with a tea supply... I know you can boil water through the coffee makers but there seems to be a coffee taste to it.

A good many Hilton hotels I have come across have the Starbucks hot water boilers (?) in the lobby during the morning hours with a selection of tea. They usually have their black brew - "Awake" available. It's not bad.

 

[casanovawa]

if your not a tea or coffee drinker even fewer of these hotel rooms have a supply of hot chocolate!!!! even the machines in the QP do everything under the sun apart from some nice hot chocolate!!!!

 

[blackcat20]

I know you can boil water through the coffee makers but there seems to be a coffee taste to it.

Youd think given that they supply tea bags that you might get a kettle too. Even running water through those coffee machines several times cant get rid of that coffee tang.

 

[ozimax]

It's not that hard.

We found a place in Waikiki if anyone ever needs the details. On the cruise out of Honolulu we actually taught the coffee lounge how to make (proper) coffee.

This is a real handy tip for when you're stuck in suburban mainland USA; just hop on a jet to Hawaii for a coffee....

 

[ozimax]

I ended up purchasing one of those travel kettles in Australia and usually travel with a tea supply... I know you can boil water through the coffee makers but there seems to be a coffee taste to it.

I have one of them thar contraptions, but as is to be expected, I forgot to take it on my recent trip to the USA.

 

[ozimax]

I have just returned home from 3 weeks in the US of A, flying both directions in an A380.

To summarize the experience; fairly good with the exception of the completely disinterested QF staff. Meals were OK; entertainment is great; my views on the seats have already been posted earlier in this thread. It's just the staff. If only we could transplant some of the better Asian carrier crews onto Qantas, what a good airline it could become!

I think it goes beyond Qantas to the whole Australian mindset, and being a 6th generation Aussie of 1806 convict stock, I am as qualified as most to comment. We aren't very good at the service industries. Fly ANA or JAL or SQ and see how good the service is. Generally speaking their service staff seem happy to serve you; you are not an inconvenience in their day and even the slightest, inconsequential request is met with a smile.

Just my two bob's worth of comment.