Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Qantas A380 First Class Melbourne to Singapore

Awesome report, as usual! I love ALL of the details, the food and other photos and especially the thought of you wandering all around the plane in your PJ's. Great work Ben - thanks for sharing it with us!

Nice report, Lucky.

I also like the food on QF premium (J and F) - it is some of, if not the most, innovative food I've had in the sky. It does involve more risk (i.e. you either impress people highly or completely disgust them), but I haven't been disappointed so far by their offerings.

I've only had the experience of the tasting menu once. If you can eat and drink it all, that's an achievement in itself. I drank a wee bit too much that time.... 🙂

As for the boarding process, there should be a dedicated bridge for F class. It is not a "straight from terminal" bridge, however; rather, there is a short common section of jetbridge which then splits off into three bridges - one for F (front / first door of main deck), one for Y (second door of main deck) and one for J and W (upper deck). The common section should be wide enough that you can walk alongside the other crowds and head straight to the F section.

Boarding should also be in 4 lines at least - one of them F dedicated.

Of course, this is my experience the last time I flew QF A380 F, and this was ex-SYD rather than MEL. The latter may have a different set up / procedures.

@ Suzanne -- Thanks!

@ anat0l -- You're totally right, and that was my experience at the other airports (SIN and SYD). But have a look at picture three above, and you'll see there was a single jet bridge to the main deck. There's no jet bridge at door 1L.

Lucky, your next report better include a photo of you wearing the PJs in the lounge! 😉

Great report and awesome detail Ben. Loved reading about you making a fool of yourself to the 737 pilot! LOL

Just curious Ben, you've flown so many airlines first class biz class and experienced so many lounges.

Where would you say Qantas ranks compared to the BAs, Cathays, Emirates, Qatars, Thais of the world etc.

Overall, lounges, food, service etc

I'm curious because most Aussies moan and complain about the quality of QF. But I find them to be up there with the worlds best

What are your thoughts?

Indeed most Auusies complain about QF. I have three guys from oz who work for e in NY and after a year or so travelling here, they all say, "Maybe we were being a little hard on QF after all." QF has an easier operating model (far fewer domestic cities) than US-based carriers and a market that gets more paid j travel.

When you get to London, a flight on Ryanair would be appropriate to help average your experiences.

@ Tim -- Great question, and I suspect it's because for many, the grass is always greener on the other side. I feel like Qantas delivers an excellent and consistent product across the board.

Let's start with where they shine -- the meal service. Hands down, Qantas has the best meals in the sky, as far as I'm concerned. I feel like so many airlines base first class meals around what's "expensive (like caviar) as opposed to what actually tastes good. Some of the Qantas I had on dishes were the best I've had in the air, and probably among the best on the ground too.

The lounges are great too. The only lounges I'd rank higher are Lufthansa's First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and Thai's first class lounge and spa in Bangkok. And keep in mind I didn't even visit their "flagship" lounge in Sydney.

The bedding was also the best in the sky, bar none. I literally thought I was in my comfortable bed at home.

The seats were also awesome, though lots of airlines have great seats.

Lastly, the service. They were very, very good, though not as attentive as what you'd experience on Singapore, Asiana, etc. Of course that's a cultural thing, since you can't really compete with the flight attendants on Asian airlines. As far as "western" flight attendants go, they were among the best, though.

On the whole, even over a month later, I think Qantas has my favorite first class product, at least on the Airbus 380. I'd take them any day over Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, Swiss, Singapore, etc., though it's a close call.

This part of the trip is absolutely impressive. The A380 looks amazing and the hard and soft product look very impressive. The menu and food make me hungry right now.

Lucky, What kind of bubbLEE does QF serve in F & J? I think you should start posting the beverage menus. I for one am trying to find any airline outside of 9W that offers Dom in J class. Pretty incredible when you consider it.

Best,
JRL

Awesome trip report there, Ben. I reckon that first wine you forgot to note looks like a Schuh (from Germany, so you can probably decode their German-only website better than I can!).

Thank you very much for this outstanding report. I had lots of fun reading!

@JRL Lucky could probably qualify this correctly, but the last time I flew QF and pretty consistently before that, the J offering is usually Charles Heidsieck or Piper Heidsieck Brut, whilst the F offering is currently my favourite, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1999.

The J selection I'm not too certain as the flagship ultra long haul might do better than NV selection. But I'm fairly sure I haven't seen Dom being offered in QF J in recent times.

Coins, Not that I don't believe you when you say you were sitting in the upper deck lounge in your pajamas... but I'd like to see that photo if you don't mind. Cough.

@Ben/Lucky

Thanks for your reply. I agree it's hard for a western airline to match the service level of Asian carriers. It's in their culture.

But glad to hear you think so highly of Qantas.

Their hard and soft product as you say - seems to be up there with the world's best.

Their Frequent Flyer Programme however is another matter. It's a complete rip off. Look at their mileage chart, and for any given route QF requires people burn (on average) about twice the amount of miles a US carrier would. In Business and First it's even worse!

For example you flew MEL-SIN for in Qantas First for 45,000 American Miles. Qantas requires it's own members to burn 90,000 miles for the exact same route!

It's also a lot harder to get to elite status on QF than US carriers. You have to fly a lot more than 25k/50k/100k etc to reach toe same levels on Qantas.

But perhaps that's why their product is so good. Qantas and Asian carriers have First Class whereas US carriers have upgrade class.

I also think Aussies complain about Qantas as they feel ripped off by the fares they charge Aussies travelling abroad.

Stupid question, but, what's the difference between the tasting menu and the dinner?

Also, I'd love to see you on a trip containing Singapore, Jet, and Emirates' first class suites, to see how they compare to each other and to Qantas...

@ Tim, to be fair the USA based FFPs give the best value in terms of earn and burn compared to most of the other FFPs around the world. Mileage amounts are smaller, routing rules are generally more generous and in many cases redemptions are also easier, especially for non-elites. So most of the world is a 'rip-off', so to speak.

One thing to keep in mind also is that QF members flying QF flights get a minimum of 1 point per mile (i.e. even the lowest Economy buckets earn a minimum 1 point per mile flown). A small thing, but for non-premium flyers the difference can add up between crediting an Economy flight to QF vs, say, AA.

Most Australians don't have an easy way of racking up AA points (the 'best' most of them can do is Amex -> SPG -> AA) aside from flying. Depending on their flying patterns, it may pay for them to credit to AA and get their status accordingly, but in other cases QF can work either equally or better.

Ditto comment about qualifying for status. There are cases where flying through QF can actually be a lot easier to achieve oneworld Emerald compared to trying to achieve the same on AA. This is due to the differences in how status is accumulated (QF doesn't use qmiles or segment count). The whole situation is complicated further when you try and consider the benefits of the relevant status levels in AA and QF. Generally AA has a much better value proposition, but it really depends on where you travel and what you can get out of the program.

@ Andy: the tasting menu is a bit like a degustation, i.e. small amounts of each of the selections is offered, so you can "taste" everything. In practice, in QF F the taster servings are a bit larger than that of a real degustation at a restaurant, and also the time frame is shorter, so you do get full quickly. Now if your idea of a meal is not "sampling" every plate on offer, then you can just pick and choose a la carte as normal.

Lucky: Thanks for the great report!

Did you consider boarding with Business and then taking the forward internal staircase down to F?

@ Andy Bluebear -- I think @anat0l covered it pretty well. I'd also add that a different wine is paired with each course, which isn't normally the case (though you can always request them otherwise).

@ Buster -- I had thought about it at first, though it hadn't occurred to me until I was in the jet bridge that they didn't have a separate jet bridge that divided off into first class, as was the case in Singapore.

Nice report. I'll be taking a QF A380 in F later this year, which Im looking forward to. Why not just board through the Upper deck with J Class, and walk down the stairs into F??

awesome report as always but the best line of the whole report came at the end of your conversation with the pilot..." he finally talks about what he does..... FML". I burst out laughing as I would have said the exact same thing...FML 😀 lol

Lucky... you left me hanging on one topic: the visit to the cockpit the captain ordered. I take it you forgot, or decided not to visit?

@ Jordan -- Most airlines are pretty "by the book," in my experience, so I was scared I'd be rejected and then end up even further back in line.

@ nycflyer75 -- Hah, thanks!

@ Todd -- Given that I had forgotten to change out of my PJs, I was a bit embarrassed to visit the cockpit!

Did the pilot really say Ayers Rock & not Uluru? Does Qantas have Coach Class or Economy? Was this written for an American audience? Other than those points, quite an interesting article

"I had waited about 10 minutes beyond the initial boarding call in the lounge to head to the gate, though that only resulted in longer queues. ..."

Hmmm ... what you did not know is that at MEL the elevator outside the First class lounge has direct access to the boarding level where the VLA gates (9 & 10) air-bridges connect to the terminal. You could have completely avoided the queues on the departures concourse by using that rather then heading through and down the escalator.

@ serfty -- Good to know, thanks! Wish I would have known (or would have been told that).

I took flight QF 10 from singapore to melbourne on 2nd july 2011. As I was late to Airport on my way back after sightseeing, I didnot have time to take my Lunch. When AIr crews distributed Dinner, I requested them to give one extra cup Rice with curry which they Obliged. i appreciate their Great hospitality.

Hi, I am University Student, looking into Qantas and the flaws they have as an airline. I came across your travel experience and wanted to know a few things.

Seeing as a First Class Passenger you were able to board any time you wished. However, on the boarding call was there any call for a particular travel class? (economy, premium-economy)

If so, who was first?
If not, was it a free-for-all?

When boarding, did you have a priority boarding lane?

Also, in your opinion do feel that you should board with fellow first-class and even business-class passenger?

@ Sam -- Yes, they board by travel classes, though that doesn't stop people from cluttering around the gate. There is a priority boarding lane on Qantas longhaul flights.

Lucky, I came across your review in the archives, and it was interesting to contrast your opinions from several years ago with my own recent experiences in Qantas F. Unlike you, I finished both of my international flights feeling a bit let down.

My flights were LAX-SYD and return, both in F on the A380. The service was - IMO - rather poor on the LAX-SYD segment, with several lapses by the attendant. Some examples include forgetting to bring dinner items that were ordered, not being attentive to refilling beverages, needing to be asked to make up the bed -- all of which were particularly annoying because the guests on the other side of the cabin were getting much better service.

The return from SYD-LAX was better from a service standpoint, but still not on par with what I've experienced on numerous flights in F with BA and EK. And the food? Perhaps I have a bit too much of a relationship with food, but I simply wasn't wowed. It also appears that Qantas has cut back on the number and variety of the inflight offerings - both wines and food items - as compared to the menus you've posted. I found the meals ... sadly disappointing.

Later this year I'll be back on Emirates for a couple of flights and then my first experience with Cathay, a trip that I'm very much looking forward to. Will I spend my miles to fly QF again? Perhaps, but only if there's no other acceptable carrier that will get me to my destination.

@ Lyn -- Thanks for the feedback, very interesting to hear about your experience.

The most detailed review of yours (and the best first class meal) I read of yours yet as I browse the archive and dream of First Class One Day. I wonder, given a few problems at Qantas in the intervening six years, and the re-route of QF9/10 via Dubai (and, if memory serves, also a terminal relocation at Heathrow), if all would be so good now. Some Australian media guys I know always spoke highly around the time of your review of their QF first upgrades from business.

Riding normally at the back of the bus, I'd be interested to compare QF steerage class as depicted in this review with EK's, my usual ride of choice, as I can get to the DBX hub direct from my local airport instead of travelling hours to London.

Agree with you and the Aussie 737 chief on Queenstown. There's a great Air NZ 320 approach (in cloud) on YouTube; I have also done a take-off from there in a DC-3.