cavemanzk

Also the same ice-cream that NZ gives out in short-haul economy

kakes88

Amazing trip report - thanks for sharing! Will the QF part come up soon?

ngfan

Absolutely amzing report !! And good to see that you had the exact same Porsche (LB-PF 2538) as me while making use of the LH AVIS First 99 EUR offer and took the same Rhine River route.

hilltopper

Unlikely when the OP is suspended

greg0ire

I wonder why. I don't see anything to support it in his post history. This is disappointing. I was looking forward to the final entries.

matthandy

Unfortunately oneworld82 broke the rules of FT and had to be suspended. Those same rules also prevent any further discussion regarding his suspension.

Let's just say that like you I am also disappointed.

matthandy
Moderator: Trip Reports

oneworld82

And so, time to go back home finally arrived. I am sad. Super sad. I love Australia to death – I am pretty sure I will move here someday, hopefully soon. But my sadness is smewhat mitigated by the fact that I would be returning home on Qantas First Class… on the A380!
After flying on the Big Bird in Business Class last year on this very same MEL-LAX route, I became obsessed with flying QF First. The quiteness of the airplane, the service I received… everything made me want to fly QF again.
As anyone who has ever tried to book QF First Class using AAdvantage miles knows, well, the task of finding a Trans-Pacific seat is quite daunting. In fact, I was able to snag this seat 331 days prior to departure… and I built a vacation all around it!
But let’s go in order.
I had booked a 5am pickup through qantas.com, so to have 3 full hours to enjoy the First Class lounge in Melbourne – supposedly one of the best lounges in the World. My car was ready to go when I left the hotel, and in no time I was at the Tullamarine Airport. One surprising thing of this airport is that QF doesn’t have a separate check-in area for First Class passengers – either that, or I wasn’t able to find it. Check-in was fast, and I was handed a fast-track card to go through immigration. After walking through the usual maze of duty-free shops and miscellaneous restaurants, I finally got to the lounge area. Finally, here I am… Qantas famed First Class lounge. Granted, everyone talks about the FC lounge in Sydney… But I have no doubt that the Melbourne lounge be just as good!
I was greeted by a front desk agent, who checked my documents and then proceeded to escort me into the lounge. The first impression was very positive: the lounge is modern, clean, with great views of the tarmac. I was literally the first guest of the day, which was awesome. The agent asked me whether I wanted some breakfast, and after I said that I certainly would like some he brought me to the restaurant area. One thing that many people don’t know is that all the Qantas First Class lounge staff is professionally trained by Sofitel. Hence, the level of service you get is really superior. The agent introduced me to the restaurant host, who welcomed me and asked me where I wanted to sit. I picked a table near the window, and the host proceeded in bringing me a menu and taking drinks ordered (I went with a safe orange juice and cappuccino). The breakfast menu looked extensive and complete – and read as shown in the photo below.









While it was early in the morning, I felt like it would have been shameful not having a proper brekkie! I consequently ordered eggs benededicts and a cup of fresh fruit.



The food didn’t take long to arrive – perhaps 10 minutes. Let me tell you: both presentation and taste were exceptional!





The eggs benedict were neatly poached, and with right amount of a not-too-buttery sauce. The salmon was fresh, the english muffin toasted to perfection. The cup of fruit was surprising as well. It wasn’t “just a cup of fruit”… it was a cup of fresh, seasonal fruit cut that very same morning, tasting very fresh and ripe, and presented with style (note in the picture the passion fuit seeds sprinkled on top… small things like this one make all the difference!).
After indulging in a second cappuccino, I decided to walk around the lounge a bit to check it out. Considering that there are only 2/3 flights a day with First Class on Qantas out of Melbourne, it’s truly remarkable that the company decided to invest in such a beautiful lounge. Like I mentioned earlier, the modern tones and furniture, the spotless ambiance, and the magnificent views over the tarmac make this place the perfect avenue where to spend a few hours before a flight.







One of the real highlights of the lounge is the complimentary, 30-minute massage that QF First Class customers get. I had proactively called the day before my flight to book a spot about 90 minutes prior to my flight, but usually the lounge attendants would call customers 24 hours in advance to do the same (I just didn’t have a working phone in New Zealand).
I proceeded to the spa area – small but really nicely appointed – and checked-in. A menu with 5-6 different treatments was handed to me, and I decided to go with a back massage. The treatment room was actually very nice, with a closet to hang clothes up.



The therapist – a jolly, mid-aged Australian woman – was friendly and very professional. The massage was a blast, and it surely beat the similar services offered by British Airways and Etihad Airways.

After the massage I had the change to check the lavatories out – again, I was impressed by the size and style. I didn’t check the showers, but I am sure I wouldn’t have been disappointed if I had done it.







I then sat down and browsed the internet for some 25 minutes, before boarding announcements for my flight started to be made.





Super excited to be trying Qantas First Class, I left the lounge (picking up my weekender bag that I had left at the reception desk to store) and proceeded to the gate to board what is hands down my favorite airplane in the World; last year, on this very same flight I sat upstairs. This time, I would be downstairs. In the pointy end of the plane. I can’t wait to tell you how it went…!

oneworld82

Flight QF93, MEL-LAX
Aug 22nd, 2013
First Class, Seat 2A
A380-800

The long-awaited moment had finally arrived… it was time to jump aboard Qantas’ A380… once again… but in First Class this time. Thinking in retrospective, I quite cannot believe that I had booked this flight 331 days in advance and that built my vacation around this one single flight. Crazy stuff we frequent flyers do, I suppose. Yet, it was totally worth it. I feel I can now tick off my bucket list yet another one of the World’s best first class products. Granted, having flown Lufthansa AND Etihad first class on this very same trip somewhat reduced the anticipation generated by this flight. Yet, it was quite a flight that I will cherish forever.

I was among the last passengers to board – why hurry up out of the wonderful First Class lounge after all? I love boarding in first class, too. Bypassing the long line of all those poor, economy class passengers always feels good (and I have done a huge number of Y flights in my life, so I know the pain!). Once aboard, I was directed to my suite by one of the flight attendants. The impression of the first class cabin was very good: it is a big, well laid-out space, although I must admit I liked the tones, layout, and overall feeling of LH F and EY F better. Nonetheless, my suite was spacious, with enough storage space for a little army! I sat down my chair – very comfortable indeed – and while I was orientating myself my assigned flight attendant came by to introduce himself and to offer me a pre-departure drink. I had some champagne, which was promptly served and accompanied by some tasty olives. Now, I liked (a lot) how the olives were presented all soaked in extra-virgin olive oil (and the taste was great as well, just like home in Italy)… but the fact that no toothpick or other instrument to pick the olives up (without messing all my hands up) were provided was a little negative note.



Back to the suite: my carry-on fit perfectly under the ottoman in front of the seat, and there was a lot of space where to store my computer and other random items I wanted to keep handy. The seat itself is similar to AA’s flagship suite seat on the new 77W, although the layout is clearly different and more private. The FA brought me a pajama and an amenity kit. Qantas offers pjs in business class as well, but the quality of those isn’t very good. First Class ones – instead – are very good (nice fabric) and comfortable. The amenity kit featured SK-II cosmetic products – high-end Japanese stuff that would hit your wallet hard were you to buy these creams yourself. Overall, I was very pleased with the amenities we were offered.

















We pushed back on time and took off smoothly. I was once again impressed by how quiet this plane is! Such a delicate giant of the skies. Once airborne and once the seat belt sign had been turned off, a first round of (many) drinks was offered – I got some champagne. Then, the flight attendant came by to take lunch orders. For those of you who don’t know, Qantas offers a tasting menu crafted by top chefs on its long-haul First class cabin. The menu is of course customizable, although I opted to keep it as presented on the menu, which by the way read as follows:

AUSTRALIA TO LOS ANGELES

TASTING MENU

—————————————

Smoked Ocean Trout Crostini with Pickled Cucumber

Grilled Corn and Pine Nut Empanada with Coriander Sour Cream

Cauliflower Soup with Gruyere and Herb Crumbs

Salad of Beetroot, Rocket and Goats Curd with Toasted Almonds and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Pan Fried Blue Eye with Moroccan Lentils, Carrot Puree and Cafe de Paris Butter

OR

Rockpool Bar & Grill Style Seared Beef Fillet with Green Beans, Potato and Cabbage Gratin and your choice of Horseradish Cream, Hot English Mustard or Seeded Mustard

Salad of Baby Cos, Radicchio and Frisee with Palm Sugar Vinaigrette

Quince, Lemon and Almond Upside Down Cake with Double Cream

Three Seasonal Cheeses served with Accompaniments

Cacao Handmade Chocolates

LUNCH

CANAPES

Smoked Ocean Trout Crostini with Pickled Cucumber

Grilled Corn and Pine Nut Empanada with Coriander Sour Cream

SOUP & SALAD

Cauliflower Soup with Gruyere and Herb Crumbs

Salad of Beetroot, Rocket and Goats Curd with Toasted Almonds and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Salad of Yamba Prawns with Perino Tomatoes and Palm Sugar Vinaigrette

SMALL PLATES

Big Bowl of Porcini Mushroom and Pearl Barley Soup

Baked Spinach and Feta Tart with Leaf Salad and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Chicken and Rosemary Pot Pie

Our Signature Steak Sandwich with Tomato and Chili Relish

MAIN PLATES

Creamed Spinach and Pumpkin Lasagna with Roasted Tomato Sauce

Steamed Blue Eye and Vegetables with Lemon and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pan Fried Blue Eye and Vegetables with Lemon and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pan Fried Blue Eye with Moroccan Lentils, Carrot Puree and Cafe de Paris Butter

Cassoulet of Murraylands Lamb with White Beans and Snow Peas

Rockpool Bar & Grill Style Seared Beef Fillet with Green Beans, Potato and Cabbage Gratin and your choice of Horseradish Cream, Hot English Mustard or Seeded Mustard

All main plates served with a side salad of Baby Cos, Radicchio and Frisee with your choice of Palm Sugar Vinaigrette, Aged Balsamic or Lemon Dressing

CHEESE

Three Seasonal Cheeses served with Accompaniments

DESSERT

Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding

Quince, Lemon and Almond Upside Down Cake with Double Cream

Nice Cream Chocolate Coated Vanilla Ice Cream

Whole or Sliced Seasonal Fruit

PETITE FOURS

Cacao Handmade Chocolates

Oatmeal Cookie

The trout crostini and the empanada were actually amuse bouches brought with my bubbly before the meal. Both were tasty and high quality.





I would say that about half a hour passed before my table were set up for lunch (which gave me time to start watching The Great Gatsby). The table presentation was absolutely neat – very similar to what I got on Lufthansa 10 days earlier.



Then, the food started coming. The soup was delicious – right consistency, good texture, nice flavor. It’s the second soup (out of two that I tried) that Qantas gets right. Kudos to them indeed!





After the soup, a tasty beetroot and goat cheese salad was delivered. I liked the complexity of flavors in it and the vinaigrette complemented all the ingredients nicely.



After a 10 minutes hiatus, the main dish was served. I opted for the Rockpool fillet. It was good. The dish came together very well; the meat was cooked medium, and was tasty. I wouldn’t rather this steak dish as highly as the one I had on Etihad, but it certainly stood its ground.







The baby cos salad that came with the steak was very good as well.

oneworld82

At this point I was quite full. And with quite, I mean a lot. Yet, cheese and dessert were still to come. The former was well-presented – the selection of crackers and dried fruit was satisfactory. The upside down cake was delicious – moist and sweet right to the point.





I ended the meal with a much needed espresso, followed by a glass of Hennessy XO. Which quickly became two.





I think that – by the time I was done with my coffee – I was sweating and I had accelerated heartbeat. I sat happily (re: in a food come) finishing my movie, before getting up and roaming around the plane a bit. I went to the galley and then upstairs to check the “lounge” out. Quite spacious indeed – a great place where to work or unwind.











The lounge area is definitely one of the nice(r) things of an already amazing plane (A380). Different airlines utilize this space differently, but the sense of space and openness that this airbus plane gives is unmatched in the industry. Kudos to Airbus indeed.

After returning to my seat, I asked to have my bed made. I went to change into my pajamas – comfortable but not as nice as Cathay Pacific’s – and when I came back the flight attendant was finishing up with mattress and linens. The bed looked luxurious, the mattress was comfortable… but I felt odd having an empty space behind my head instead of some sort of headboard – it didn’t help the feeling of being on a “real” bed. Overall, I’d say this is a less comfortable bed than LH’s or EY’s, which is too bad. I tried to sleep, but given that it was mid-day Australia time I couldn’t even nap. I decided to watch more movies (The Aviator and then Psycho) trying to fall asleep, but nothing significant happened. Boy, 14 hours are surely long when you don’t sleep… even in First Class! I hence opted for a cappuccino, nicely served with some biscuits.



One of the things I didn’t necessarily like on Qantas First Class was the absence of a dedicated “snack” section in the menu for such a long flight. Granted, there was an asterisk next to some of the lunch dishes which meant that those particular plates were available anytime during the flight. Still, I think that wasn’t enough for such a long flight and for first class. I wasn’t – of course – hungry the least; but assuming I were hungry, I wouldn’t have liked it too much.

Anyways, about 90 minutes before landing it was breakfast time, and the flight attendant suggested I had “breakfast in bed”. He literally prepared my table while the bed was still made, allowing for the cool feeling of really having brekkie served in all the comforts of my very own suite’s bed. Although it wasn’t a particularly comfortable proposition, I liked the idea.

The breakfast menu, by the way, read as follows:

BREAKFAST

BEVERAGES

Orange Juice

Apple Juice

Tomato Juice

Cranberry Juice

Santa Vittoria Peach Nectar

Santa Vittoria Pear Nectar

Berry Energiser

FRUIT & CEREAL

Seasonal Fruit Salad

Bircher Muesli

Cereal Selection

Brookfarm Toasted Muesli

Meredith Dairy Sheep’s Milk Yoghurt and Honey

BAKERY

Toast

Croissant

Berry Jam, Marmelade, Honey or Vegemite

Pain au Raisin

MAIN PLATES

Organic Scrambled Eggs on Toasted Brioche with Smoked Ocean Trout, Spinach and Lemon Creme Freche

Ricotta and Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Caramelised Pears and Mascarpone Cheese

Leg Ham and Gruyere Croissant

(A comprehensive selection of hot beverages accompanied this menu).

As I did not feel really hungry I went straight for the main dish (eggs and trout) with a cappuccino. Boy, this dish delivered! The brioche was lightly toasted, the eggs tasty, the trout fresh. It was one of the very best egg dishes I had on a plane (if not the best).







The cappuccino was good – better than on LH but not as good as on EY. The plates were cleared promptly (I like when flight attendants don’t leave all your mess around for long), and after about 30 minutes the captain announced that we would be making an on-time landing in LAX.

A long flight indeed – but a delectable one. After trying QF J class in 2012, I was very excited to be trying its first class product. Is it a top notch product? Well, it certainly is. I still rate it below CX, LH, NH – for instance – but the experience provided on the ground (lounge) was top-notch (too bad I could not find the first class check-in area – that should be marked better) and the onboard experience was up there with the best as well. Certainly, it is nice to see a carrier from the West still be able to compete head to head with the fierce Asian competition. One has only to hope that this will continue – a big question mark indeed given the financial struggles of Qantas. But for now, well done, Flying Kangaroo. I hope I will get to fly you again soon!

SW7London

Great update Oneworld82! I look forward to QF First trip reports now as the days of me flying J and using points to upgrade to F, or finding a cheap EX-EU First fare are sadly over.

QF F + J class breakfasts are the best I've ever tasted in the air, both the egg and the pancakes dishes are consistently good IMO.

Good point about the empty space behind the pillow when the seat is in bed mode - I mentioned this to a CSM back in 2010 and he said then it was a common complaint - not sure why they haven't fixed it yet - annoying when you wake up to find your pillow has fallen into the empty space!

oneworld82

Thank you
I have just tried LH FC lounge breakfast once again and BA Concorde Room one and I can tell you that QF lounge is still on top. BA was very good, a positive surprise given all the bad press given to it here and elsewhere.

Thunderroad

Haven't yet had time to read the whole report, but just looked at the EY section and it's great! Thanks for posting this.

Kangol

Excellent report!!

FYI for next time - there is a kerbside F check-in at MEL T2, it is on the side closer to T1. See the lower right corner of the image below. My guess is you were dropped off too close (assuming you were taken to departures, top level) and went into the terminal without seeing it. Surprising how the staff didn't say anything about using the F check-in?

oneworld82

Some photos of QF seat in bed mode:

oneworld82

Once landed I quickly proceeded through immigration and – after collecting and re-checking my bags – I was on my way to American’s terminal. LAX layout – where you have to exit the international terminal and walk to the other terminals – is simply insane. But this is nothing new, so I will not digress.

Once I got my AA boarding pass I proceeded through a busy TSA Pre-Check lane and made my way to the LAX Aadmirals Club. This lounge is rather large, but overall uninspiring. Being LAX a sort of hub for AA, it always feels busy. I asked for a shower, and I was given a key to a private room. The shower room – just like the one in Dallas that I experienced a few months earlier on my way to South Africa – was large and nicely appointed. I like Dermalogica products – I think that was a good choice on AA’s side.





But the business class lounge, overall, is nothing special. Food options are extremely limited, the bar is – well – limited, and every area feels quite busy and cramped.









Anyways, I only had a hour or so to kill, which I did blogging using the free wifi offered. At boarding time, I proceeded to my gate and I got on board of the B738 that would take us home to DFW.

The flight proceeded smoothly, and we were offered brunch. The sort of cake/quiche that was served was tasty and plentiful. I have noted a marked improvement in the past year or so in AA’s quality of meals. Overall, I cannot really complain.





Overall it was a decent experience with AA – a carrier that hardly inspire but almost never disappoints me.

And now, on to the next trip report!