Sector - HKG-MEL
Flight number - QF30
Class - Business
Aircraft - B747-400
Seat - 3E
(most pics by
otherhalfofQF009)
It was a few days before, sitting down at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the middle of a long layover, that I saw an aircraft of the Flying Skip. And its sleek, stylishly dressed crew. After 3 weeks of flying various exotic airlines around the world (not that I’m complaining, as it’s good for that ‘something different’ novelty factor mind you), I could literally feel my entire body expand in relief at that welcoming sight. The boarding announcement for the Qantas flight to Sydney boomed over the PA, and I veered towards the boarding gate assigned to the Qantas flight.
But then it hit me. My next Qantas flight wasn’t due for a few days, and it’s out of Honkers, not Manila. I was supposed to be waiting for an Asiana flight to Seoul which wasn’t departing for a good few hours. Bugger!
Not that Asiana is any bad, in fact I quite enjoyed my first experience on that lovely little airline. Nor were most of those >15 flights I’d been on in the past 3 weeks at all shabby (for those who followed my FB updates – I’d get into that thoroughly unimpressive JFK-HKG segment on Cathay another day when I have time to do a proper rant, complete with the hyperbole that someone who’s finished a Law degree can manage... after all this TR is about my Favourite Things rather than Things That Get On My Nerves). On the other hand, nothing in my experience compares to the relaxed atmosphere and amenities on a Qantas flight, and being pampered by a Qantas crew.
[fast forward to boarding of Qantas flight 30 HKG-MEL]
How does one summon up the will to book flights that leave before midday? Even flights on their favourite airline. Honestly, if I had enough DONE4 segments to go via SYD on that much nicer late evening QF128 departure – I would. But somehow I’ve managed to depart HKG at 9am on QF30 quite a few times now, and I’m doing it again. It was 6am when the breezy (almost too enthusiastic for that time of the morning) wake up call came from Whatever/Whenever, and by 7.30am the other half and I had somehow managed to make it from our Marvellous Suite at the W Hong Kong to our Flounge buffet brekky at The Wing. I supped gallons of coffee and the odd glass of champagne to kickstart my body for the day, and scoffed down some v nice baked eggs on muffins. And somehow made it to gate 24 on autopilot.
I have a confession to make, despite my
QF009 handle on several travel forums and always proclaiming how wonderful the airline is, this is my one and only Qantas flight of the trip. It’s not my fault that Qantas isn’t some Pam Am clone that flies anywhere and everywhere despite sharing the “most experienced” marketing tagline; for most of the rest of my trip I’ve been thrust on to the alliance that revolves around you – in theory at least – whilst other flights have been on BMI diamond club redemptions. So hopefully you can understand my almost-too-excited musings when relating my experience aboard this flight.
As we walked down the jetway to board the aircraft, my steps suddenly had more spring in them. Despite having had less than 4 hours’ sleep the night before, my energy has miraculously returned. The feeling is akin to checking in at a W Hotel after going without them for too long a time, or walking into Prada when the new season’s collection has been launched. My other half and I were greeted enthusiastically by one of the FAs who showed us to our seats. We stowed our stuff, and sat down to seats 3E and F. I enjoyed these seats more as they feel more social than other FCL seats, and they’re a must-have when travelling with someone else as there’s nothing more enjoyable than sharing the fun of flying with a loved one. Like doing simple but fun things like clinking champagne glasses together. The downside is that shelf space to store paraphernalia accumulated during the flight was more limited than seats by the window.
First class without the price, hey? A curious little-known phenomenon known as the Global Economic Hysteria (which actually suits me just fine as massive discounting beckoned no matter where I shopped, and I never tired of seeing my favourite 4 letter word in the English language,
S A L E – the fact that it just happened to be sale season made it all the better) had battered Qantas, which responded by eliminating FCL service from several routes, including QF29/30 to and from Hong Kong and London Heathrow, mini epicentres of the GEH. However they’ve continued operating these routes with 4 class aircraft, so lucky peeps ticketed in whY and whY+ got to sit in and enjoyed the service of whY+ and JCL respectively, and even luckier peeps like ourselves ticketed in JCL got to sit in FCL. The service was still JCL but a half upgrade is better than nought!
As soon as we sat down, one of the crew members came around to offer pre-take off drinks. We both wanted champagne, but there was only 1 glass of bubbly on the tray. The other half, bless him, graciously reached for the water, which produced a horrified reaction from the FA who would have none of it and quickly brought out more bubbles from the galley. Exhausted and thirsty from the epic hike through the airport, we downed the bubbly in a hurry. In one seamless, well-rehearsed motion like Bond in Casino Royale, another FA had appeared in front of us with a bottle of Charles Heidsieck to top us up. Neither of them ever faltered despite our great thirst, and we knew we were set for yet another fully sick Qantas experience. The FAs then went around making sure that people were familiar with their seats, and as the other half hadn’t yet sat in QF F one of the FAs elaborately explained the various features of his seat. The menu was then handed out (unlike in regular JCL service where the menu would already be at the seat), and we were prepped for take off.
The safety demo was manual. The FA doing the demo was clearly a little rusty and had the life jacket inside out, which he quickly rectified – but not before giggles reverberated around the cabin when he discovered that there was no whistle or light on the underside of the life jacket. A rather long taxi and an uneventful take off followed. We flicked through the duty free catalogue during take off - normally I never really buy anything from inflight duty free but I’d chanced upon a simply
gorgeous Kenneth Cole dual time zone watch. And it was a ‘retail exclusive’ which means I’d probably rarely see it elsewhere. At $150 it represented fab value as I could simply bring it on my trips and have it banged around without feeling guilty as I’d do with my other watches. Really, it’s a worthwhile, long term
investment that I simply
had to make! It’s much more expensive (and heartbreaking) to lose or ruin a Cartier for instance, so I’m actually
saving money. Becky Bloomwood would be proud of my
inventive ways of justifying any sort of shopping acute sense of financial prudence. The other half plumped for a set of Calvin Klein travel-sized fragrances, as well as a universal adaptor.
Very soon after take off, amenity kits were handed out and the first bar service occurred. I had yet more champers whilst the other half had moved on to whisky. We were topped up v promptly even without the use of the call bell despite the fact that frantic preparations for lunch were being made in the galley.
The meal services felt a little first class-y – as the trolleys could not be pulled through the FCL cabin, the FAs had to carry the trays out and present them to us individually. I passed on the starter, a Chinese style abalone soup due to my shellfish allergy – but apparently I didn’t miss much as the other half declared it “weird and disgusting.” The FAs served my main course of beef earlier than the rest of the cabin. We’d both ordered the beef, which we agreed was beautifully cooked – tender and yummy. It was complemented superbly with both the Shiraz and the Cab Sav. The meal concluded with dessert, pineapple and ginger pudding with crème anglaise – an extremely well done affair. A fellow flyer had remarked that the dessert and cheese plates were the best bits of a Qantas meal and I’m inclined to agree – my problem is that i sometimes feel overly stuffed after the entree and main course.
abalone soup
beef
pineapple/ginger pudding
My only quibble about the flight was that it was treated as a night flight and the cabin was darkened outside of meal services, due to the fact that 80-90% of the pax had originated from London Heathrow and were all zonked out. Indeed most of them went straight to bed after the lunch service had concluded and it wasn’t long before snores echoed around, including from the other half who was worn out from the lack of sleep. I had a little lie down but couldn't get to sleep. The FCL seat made for a rather comfy lie down, even minus the usual FCL trappings though we did have a large FCL-sized pillow in addition to the standard JCL one. The other half commented that he preferred the Skybed when in a sitting/lounging position as he'd found the last-gen FCL seat rather narrow.
On the other hand, the FAs didn’t take this as an opportunity to slack off and hide in the galley – although they had to grope in the dark and stumble around in pitch black with torches, drinks were most promptly topped up and my glass was never empty (aside from when I’d decided to move on to a different wine obviously). However, sitting in the dark got to me eventually and I’d decided to drink in the galley where there was an abundance of sunlight. I had a nice chat with the FAs there, one of whom agreed with me that the W Hong Kong is a totally fantastic hotel despite the less-than-ideal location.
Shortly thereafter, the second meal service commenced and we were served a light dinner. I had the Asian-style pork on the FA’s recommendation – it was nice and fragrant however a tad spicy so my glass of ‘poo was topped up more rapidly than ever. My partner enjoyed his chicken, though personally I thought it looked a little dry. The cheese plate that followed was yummy as always with lots of choice. We were offered some port, which I’d declined at first as I’m not much a fan of sweet wine but at the insistence of both the other half and the FA – I decided to try some of the stuff. It was quite pleasant albeit a little sickly sweet towards the end, and I don’t think I’d be tripping over myself to try it again.
pork with rice and bok choy
chicken
I got to check out a little of the IFE during the meal services - great content as always with lots of great Aussie tele (and no I watch neither
Neighbours nor
Home and Away) like
Thank God You're Here. I also watched
Confessions of a Shopaholic starring the totally beautiful Isla Fisher, which is rather disappointing if you've read the novel but otherwise fun, light-hearted guilty pleasure. Bad wardrobe not withstanding. The other half quipped that he didn't need to watch it as he's already living it and that I might as well watch an autobiography of my own life. Not that I hide AMEX bills under my bed or anything! I always thought the best way to get rid of bills is to pay them off - simple!
Our duty free orders were delivered to our seat by an FA from another cabin shortly after dinner, and we promptly racked up some more AMEX points. A third bag of duty free was then handed to us by one of 'our' FAs, containing stuff we hadn’t ordered but nonetheless gratefully accepted (JCL PJs and a bottle of CH).
All too soon it was time for landing, and we arrived at Tulla as scheduled. I have shopped till I nearly dropped, drunk till my liver has gone into hiding, danced till my legs are practically lifeless and all in all had a totally all-out fab trip – but nothing quite compares to the feeling of arriving home after a few weeks abroad.
Yet another memorable, top notch and all-too-short Qantas experience enhanced by being served by some wonderful personalities, and hence another excuse to book another trip fast!
And that concludes yet another TR – hope you’ve all enjoyed it.
THE END