Help and advice LHR SYD 744 vs A380

[Flying Doctor]

I am planning a trip later in the year to SYD. Will either fly QF or BA or a mixture and in F.

When you book there is a clear premium for flying the A380 in F vs. either BA or QF F on a 744/777. I presume that this is because there is A class is highly restricted on the A380.

My question is - has anyone been on the new A380 F seats and is it worth the premium??

Thanks.

FD

[Kiwi Flyer]

Yes I have been on QF A380 F, albeit only for a short flight. Definitely a major improvement on the 747. Report here.

Only you can say if the fare premium is worth it (and there may be other factors to consider such as schedule).

Oh, and I'd also put QF 747 F ahead of BA F.

[Lonely Flyer]

I thought I had read elsewhere in QF forum that there is no A class offered on A380 as of the present and that there is no premium for F class above F on 747-400. Cannot remember which thread sorry

[nonce]

There are three booking classing on the A380 for First being R, F and A with A being the cheapest (and therefore the hardest to find). On a 747 or a 777 (codeshare with BA) R will always be 0 and F is the highest booking class. This enables QF to charge a premium for the A380 without later then being seen as having to back down and admit that people won't pay more for the product like SQ have done.

You could always book F class on a 747 and waitlist for the A380 if F0 is showing but perhaps R9 is showing and then have either yourself or your TA call QF and ask them if they will clear the waitlist? You could try this for A class but it is less likely to clear.

Have you tried the BA code on the A380 to see if BA can clear a waitlist for you in the cheaper fare class?

[number_6]

Originally Posted by nonce

...Have you tried the BA code on the A380 to see if BA can clear a waitlist for you in the cheaper fare class?

Which is an excellent suggestion (if BA offer any F at all on the A380 codeshares) as BA does not sell R only F.

To be fair QF did precisely the same thing in the early 90s when there was P replacing F on the non-stop SYD-LAX flights (and F on SYD-HNL). It worked then (charging a premium fare) and it would have worked now except for the current economic crisis coupled with the media attention on GM execs flying a private jet to hearings in Washington while asking for billiions. Making some US companies quite gunshy about buying any kind of "higher than F" ticket. A sound strategy by QF but undermined by the economic environment.

As for "is the A380 that much better than the 744" in terms of cabin ambiance. Consider just one metric: the A380 has max capacity of 800 (all Y config); QF originally intended to configure it at 550 pax (comparable density to the 744s current config) and dropped it to 505 to match SQ -- and then came out with 450 pax. Most of that extra space (100 pax worth) went into the J and F and W cabin. So there should be no comparison, who wouldn't choose 20%+ more space per passenger? QF has managed to make the A380 interior look a lot worse than it is in their videos -- they really underplay what you get, which is unusual for promotional materials.

[Flying Doctor]

Thanks for all the advice. I make some enquiries tomorrow!

FD

[nonce]

Here is a sample of the BA and QF Flights, in this case both have F6 but A0 but QF also has R9

BA (QF) 7372 1 LHR 24/01/09 11:15 AM SYD 25/01/09 8:05 PM 388 Su,W,Sa NA / NA F6 A0 J9 C9 D8 I5 W1 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 N0 O0 Q0 S0
QF () 32 1 LHR 24/01/09 11:15 AM SYD 25/01/09 8:05 PM 388 Su,Sa NA / NA R9 F6 A0 J9 C9 D9 W1 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

If you are booking A class you could always confirm on the later BA flight and waitlist in A on the 388 flight on the BA codeshare, then see if BA will clear the waitlist for you due to your status. I have started to see more A on SYD-LAX and MEL-LAX on the 388 so it can happen.