Their F fares are particularly high for there to be such an abundance of criticisms.Very good review Brandon.
I flew in unrefurbed F to Dallas two days ago, and my seat was very glitchy. Fortunately, my partner's food was much better but sadly, didn't come close to the first-class menus on Lufthansa or Qatar. The SYD and MEL and SIN F lounges are also F level and right up there too. The food was a real let down, given we were flying in first and the plane departed Sydney we both had much higher expectations.
Firstly, the seat regularly got stuck and took several attempts before it would swivel. But, like The Pier's foot massage service, the cabanas are in high demand and there's often a waiting list – so it's best to make a booking as soon as you arrive at the lounge.
But the f&b is where Qantas First loses out, they used to have an amazing 'degustation menu' but over the past few years the first class menu seems to have more and more of the same dishes as business class. Apart from the uninspiring dining and minor faults in the seat mechanics, the rest of the experience was up to scratch.If taking this flight again and knowing the above, the best approach would be to enjoy a full dinner on the ground in one of the lounges, and maximise sleep onboard for seven-or-so blissful hours of rest, concluding with just a light brekkie before landing.Based in Perth, Brandon enjoys tucking into local delicacies, discovering new cocktails, and making aeroplane food look good on camera.My experience with meals on both Cathay and Qantas out of HKG has usually been average, so this is not surprising. !The 'proteins' were not awesome but they were good and especially tasty and tender.Breakfast was the full issue from muesli through to poached/scrambled eggs, pork sausages etc and very good as well. The original Airbus A380s are fitted out with one not very comfortable lounge, whileThere are 14 spacious first class suites here in a 1-1-1 configuration – five on each side of the cabin, and four seats in the middle. I would be interested in hearing ABT experience with rejecting QF (or any other airline for that matter) meals due to poor quality. When I looked at the flight attendant with a confused smile she just seemed to get flustered and began to mumble.Seemed at odds with my experiences with service onboard qantas which is usually great!Paying up to $17000 for an F fare with Qantas, relative to the hard and soft product, you'd have to never have flown SQ, EK or QR to know how cheated you've been.
As business class continues to evolve – with more space and at-seat storage, larger video screens and even sliding privacy doors – dining will remain one of the strongest differentiators in first class, yet this is where Qantas appears to be letting things slide.Qantas' refurbished Airbus A380s offer larger 18-inch high definition screens at full HD (1920x1080) resolution, replacing the previous 17-inch, lower-resolution panels.Despite sounding rather small on paper – particularly when compared with the likes of the 32-inch screens in Singapore Airlines' A380 suites – the updated screen in Qantas First proved to be a perfectly good size for the viewing distance.Seasoned Qantas travellers will be familiar with the carrier's inflight entertainment system, which is identical to those found on the newer Boeing 787s and Airbus A330s. I took my first flight in First on QF's A380 flying SYD to DFW in 2019. I'm amazed they didn't install wifi while the jets were in the hangar getting a refurb.At least one or two of them should have satellite and wifi installed already - they already did a trial years ago and I remember flying to the US on an A380 that was part of the trial.Qantas has apparently signed up for the ViaSat3 satellites (three high speed sats that launch in 2021/22)Completely agree with the steady decline in food and wine over the years (Qantas used to serve a "6-pack" of Sydney rock oysters with French champagne on some of its international config 767's from Sydney to Perth in the old days!). The bigger screen was appreciated too however the control panel barely worked.There were a few service issues with the timing of the food. And yes I remember the old days of first class with a trolley full of appetizing food - lobster etc - from which one could choose anything and be personally served.
Even as a traveller with little interest in 'fine dining' in the air (and on the ground), I was taken aback by your meal. The 14 suites are part of a multimillion-dollar investment the airline has made into its new fleet of 12 planes. CX F catering from LHR is better than from HKG, which is astonishing, but it still doesn't justify QF needing to make the effort in F (albeit on a route that doesn't consistently have a F service offering from QF).I have never seen the benefit of paying the extra $$$ for first class, when the business class product of the top airlines is at such a high standard.Thanks for the review Brandon. (If they did call it Business Class it would be worthy of 5 stars, no question! lounge areas in a more social configuration of cafe-style tables.2F (sometimes called the Harry Potter suite, due to its location under the stairs leading to the upper deck).Although the Qantas suites don't have sliding doors as seen in the flagship first class products of and others, they remain roomy while retaining an element of privacy.
We don't all fly in first but it sets the standard for the rest of the airline and signifies whether management is serious about delivering excellence and taking it to the competition.
Service is super friendly but too casual and always very slow. It was also clear she didn't seem to understand much about wine either.