Guava

As promised a few months earlier, I will be writing a trip report about my adventures in the South Pacific for the longest vacation I have ever taken. For that, I call it an 'odyssey'. In this report, I decide to change my usual writing style a little bit, to make it more entertaining and descriptive. Although it might lose some of the usual objectivity when it comes to evaluating the services received, I found that Flyertalkers much prefer entertaining reports. This is for your reading pleasure, please enjoy!

July 22, 2002
AA 4837 from YUL to JFK
American Eagle Commuter Class
Depart: 3:05 PM Arrive: 4:30 PM (On time)

Getting to the Montreal Dorval airport just before 2PM and used the First/Business Class check-in at AA - got a very friendly female agent, very smooth process. AA doesn't have a lounge in Montreal b/c not enough flights to support an Admiral Club. I think they could still have a contract with another carrier who has a lounge there for their premium pax, but I guess AA isn't in the mood of spending. There weren't that many people but a commuter flight like this with a small Embraer Jet is almost always close to full capacity. Carry-on cannot be stored in the plane b/c space is too small, but AA has a luggage trolley waiting just outside the plane for you to store your carry-on and will be given back to you once you step off the plane on the arrival.

The flight was short, but pleasant even in coach because the F/A (Boston based crew) is noticeably friendly and polite. Snacks and drinks were served and for a short commuter flight at 3PM, this is largely sufficient. The pleasant attitude of the F/A made a huge difference in the overall service of this flight despite the equipment is not the most comfortable. Overall, I really enjoyed this commuter flight, it couldn't have been better. Sure seats are small but if there is no one besides you, you actually have a fairly wide seat for yourself.

July 22, 2002
AA 17 from JFK to SFO
American Airlines Transcontinental First Class
Depart: 5PM Arrive: 8:15 PM (On time)

After getting off the Eagle flight, there was barely enough time for me to get to the gate of my next flight. For some reasons, AA thinks 30 minutes is enough to go from Terminal 9 to 8 - I was literally running! The security check point in terminal 8 is tedious to say the least - again!? I just went through security in Montreal (which took a long 30 minutes)! But according to AA, the connection is legal and given the flight before would result in a long layover, I took my chances. I made to the gate in one piece, that's the good part. Everyone else has boarded already. As I approach the gate, the AA agent immediately knows who I am by calling: "Mr.'Guava', we are waiting for you!" I replied: "I just got off an Eagle flight, only 30 minutes to connect." The other friendly agent who took my boarding pass said: "You did fairly well then." I don't know how the AA agents were able to recognize me and I wasn't the last pax to come on board, wow, that's something.

Once on board, I quickly get to my seat: 2A The First Class cabin was about half full. We are using a B767-300 Jet so, the First Class cabin is equipped with Int'l First Seats (coffin style). The seats are fairly new, but a bit narrow and the seat pitch is just O.K, maybe because this is a 767-300, not a B747 or A343. Drinks were offered before departure. The purser is male. Though overall, the service was a bit lukewarm or indifferent. He told the First pax (including the one sitting besides me) that he has to pick up the DVD Player one hour before landing - but as you know, that was unnecessary because he doesn't need an hour to put back the DVDs. So of course he didn't pick it up an hour before but he keeps looking at us as though he is doing us a favor for allowing us to use it 'longer than it should be'. Some fruits, snacks and drinks and reading materials were placed just below the main screen (which has a small table space) after take-off, just like Int'l premium cabins. Then, of course, it was dinner time so let's have a look here:

The AA Transcontinental First Class features the American Gallery Collection. In the month of July, "Little River Bridge" by Artist William Stallings was on the cover the First Class menu. A very tasteful piece I found, I like it.

Appetizer

To Start

Warm mixed nuts and/or fresh vegetables and dip to accompany your preferred cocktail or beverage

Salmon Appetizer

Smoked salmon accompanied by capers, red onion and sour cream garnished with lemon wedges and served with toast points

The Salad Cart

Seasonal mixed greens with simple red wine vinaigrette or creamy garlic with dill dressing

Lobster tail and claw with lemon wedges

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Bread Basket

Assorted warm breads


Entrees

Filet Mignon
"Filet of Beef enhanced by a smothered onion demi-glace, served with roasted root vegetables and spinach garlic mashed potatoes"

Vegetable Sacchetti
"Vegetable Sacchetti enhanced by a tomato cream sauce, roasted chicken can be added to the entree upon request"

Chicken Caesar Salad
"Oven-roasted chicken served hot over romaine lettuce accompanied by a creamy Caesar dressing and parmesan cheese"

Memphis Barbecue Chicken
"Grilled chicken flavored by a Memphis barbecue marinade served over a bed of wild rice, complemented by a sweet dipping sauce"


The Dessert Cart

Fresh seasonal berries with pound cake and whipped cream

Vanilla ice cream with a choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or seasonal fruit toppings and fresh whipped cream

cordials


Prior to Arrival

Freshly baked cookies


WINES


Sparkling Wine

Domaine Chandon Napa Valley Brut

White Wines

Rusca Gavi di Gavi 2000

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay 2001

Santa Rita Valle de Lontue Sauvignon Blanc 2001

Red Wines

Villa Mt. Eden 'Old Vines' California Zinfandel 1997

Chateau Los Boldos Requinoa Cabernet Sauvignon 2000

Rosemount Diamond Estate Bottled Shiraz 2000

Dessert Wine

Graham's Six Grapes Port NV

Beverages

Spirits, Beers, Brandy, Liqueurs and others

The menu doesn't look impressive when you read it but the truth is, AA manages to turn simple items into a very delicious meal. The salad cart, especially, is of very high quality. While the entree is relatively simple, I had the Memphis BBQ chicken, it was interesting - not just any BBQ dish. The desserts were all right. Overall, it’s a very pleasant meal. Delicious is the word to describe it. I have no particular comment about the wines.

On arrival, I quickly got my luggage and head for the exit to go the Park Hyatt. It was almost 8:30 PM local time.

Evaluation
Scheme

A+: Highest Standard of the Industry, near Perfection
A: Excellent Standard, among the industry leaders
A-: Very good quality as you would expect from this service class
B+: Good quality with more than satisfying performance level
B: Satisfying and consistent with the industry’s average
B-: Product needs improvement in order to offer a competitive product
C+: Product is below standard but some basic elements are present
C: Mediocre product or performance that needs serious improvements
C-: Poor product or performance
D: Very bad product or performance
E: Junk

Departure’s Ground Services (including check-in, limousine/airport transfers, concierge greetings, lounge facilities and any other value-added services) = 10% of Final Score

On-board Seat Comfort and Cabin (the cabin and toilet maintenance, cabin facilities such as a bar, decoration, general comfort, quality of the seat such as recline, pitch and width and etc.) = 20 % of Final Score

On-board Catering (main meals, snacks/beverages, wine list) = 25% of Final Score

On-board Service and amenities (service of flight attendants, amenities provided such as slippers, pyjamas, amenities gifts to be taken off plane, pillow, duvets, turndown services and etc.) = 20% of Final Score

On-board Business facilities and Entertainment systems (reading materials, noise-cancelling headsets, audio and video systems, fax, e-mail, telephones, laptop plugs, games and etc.) = 15% of Final Score

Arrival’s Ground Services (express line, limousine/airport transfers, concierge greetings, arrival lounge facilities and any other value-added services and etc.) = 10% of Final Score


Type of Service Evaluated: Transcontinental Premium Class within the U.S.

Depart: New York (JFK), NY at 5:00PM
Arrive: San Francisco (SFO), CA at 8:15PM
Duration: 6 hours and 15 minutes

Departure’s Ground Services (excluding lounges b/c not used): 75% (B)
On-board Seat Comfort and Cabin: 77% (B)
On-board Catering: 83% (A-)
On-board Service and amenities: 68% (C+)
On-board Business facilities and Entertainment systems: 79% (B+)
Arrival’s Ground Services: 75% (B)

Overall Rating: 76.60% (B)

Comments: The overall rating B is defined as: “Satisfying and consistent with the industry’s average” is representative of this flight. While the catering was of fairly high standard in terms of attention to details and quality of food, AA needs to improve the overall cabin comfort and its service level for premium pax on this route if it wants to be more competitive. This flight lasts more than 6 hours – the longest transcontinental flight across North America (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), yet there was no amenities provided to make the travellers’ experience more comfortable. Other than the noise cancelling headsets, the amenities on this flight were not much different to other class of services. In such a long flight, pax have to deal with the issue of dehydration and jet lag (from East Coast to West). Moisturizer for face or hands would be greatly appreciated or simply eye shades for those pax who would need a nap due to time differences. While pyjama would be unnecessary, other amenities such as toothbrush, soxes or slippers would enhance the experience so that pax don’t have to wear their shoes during the whole 6+ hours. AA is capable of friendly and efficient service without a doubt as has been demonstrated by the Eagle flight earlier. But, the JFK-SFO segment failed to display the normal courtesy and enthusiasm that is expected at this level of service. Might be just the fault of that individual – the purser alone – but at this level, you can’t afford making mistakes like this. Last but not least – you can always forget about those lukewarm smiles and go for the DVDs! There are over 20 choices in the catalogue and for a 6 hours flight, this is sufficient. If they could install video games with a personal monitor, then it would be better still.

-------------------------------
-------------------------------

Stay tune for the next installment, there are still many to come.

P.S. Edit to emphasize certain points and correct typos.



[This message has been edited by Guava (edited 09-07-2002).]

RTW4

I plan to use your grading system on my next RTW segment at the end of Sept. THANKS FOR THE EXCELLENT REPORT

greg

A "B" seems pretty harsh to me, unless one understands that just about any other domestic transcon experience in F would have been lucky to have garnered a C. You were very lucky to have been on the 763 with true International style seats. Most of these flights operate with 762s (whether AA or UA) and the seating difference alone on these birds would have dropped the overall score significantly. Based on this rating scale, the average US domestic transcon (757, A320, 738) would be lucky to get a D. I find AA's Flagship transcons (3-class aircraft) to be about the nicest thing going domestically. Although the wine selection is best characterized as "frugal" considering the fare is around $3K, it's still much better than the regular domestic stuff. And AA's wines are much more thoughtfully selected than UA's (though I hear DL does an even better job at this). I'm not arguing these flights deserve an A, but shouldn't there be some compensation for just how bad the competition is?

mad_atta

I'm surprised to see that your scoring system rates catering (25%) as a higher proportion of the total score than seat comfort / pitch / cabin (20%). An interesting and very thorough report, though - thanks. Where are we off to next?

Guava

Feel free to borrow any ideas that you read here. One thing though, the percentage awarded to each category is variable. As I will be answering mad_atta's post (related question), the importance of each category should be weighted accordingly to the needs of that particular flight. On certain flights, the comfort and seat will be the priority (in fact, I think in most cases, but not here). In a previous trip report, between USA and Brazil, I gave the seat and comfort 30% of weight because it's an overnight flight and comfort is crucial. Use your judgement to award the weights of each category, I think this way is more accurate.

Guava

I do consider myself a strict but not 'harsh'. One thing maybe I failed to emphasize is that the grades awarded to this JFK-SFO First Class in a 3 Class cabin flight is not the same (not relative to) as judging the other 2 class cabin F class flights. Note this:

Transcontinental Premium Class: This category is very specific, only those flights between East Coast and West Coast (from Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean or vice-versa) qualifies in this category. Chicago-San Francisco for example, doesn't make it but Miami-Los Angeles would made the list. This is for the word: Transcontinental A few more examples of Transcontinental flights: JFK-SEA, JFK-LAX, JFK-YVR. Premium Class: Notice I didn't say First Class, that is to differentiate from 2 class service cabins within the U.S. and to include flights like Delta's Business Elite or Continental's Business First across the U.S. because those are essentially Int'l Frist-Business hybrid cabin. The latter is clearly different from the regular domestic First b/c for example, Continental doesn't allow domestic elite upgrade to their transcontinental Business First cabin. For these reasons, the word 'Premium' is used here to categorize any service class that is above the normal domestic First class in a 2 class cabin. That's why you can't compare the grading system used here for those transcontinental in a 2 class cabin, it's like apple and oranges. Naturally, if I were to evalute those, they would have their separate scheme. It's like getting 75% in an exam in high school school can't be compared to getting 75% in University. I hope you see the point.

Another reason that I am strict is I have flown many carriers' Int'l premium cabin so I might be strict but I am consistent on how I mark. The links to the other recent trip reports will be included at the end here.

B is not a bad mark by any means, I gave very specific reasons why AA could improve. For example, their Int'l 767-300's First Class Suite doesn't even have a personal video monitor which Cathay or Japan Airlines has one for every single coach pax on their 747-400. Yet, I still gave AA 79% for the entertainment portion, a B+, because they had an adequate alternative - DVD Player. However, no games and no air show. To make a point though, I haven't yet been to a Int'l First class cabin (or most Business class cabin for that matter) without a personal monitor.

Thank you for the comments though.

P.S. Edit to add the links

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/002662.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/002683.html

[This message has been edited by Guava (edited 09-06-2002).]

Guava

That's because this 6 hours flight doesn't involve sleeping and is essentially a dinner flight. When you don't need to sleep (no need for Suite) and when most premium pax just finished their days in NYC and heading to San Francisco, most of them want to relax on the flight and enjoy a nice meal as good as they would otherwise have done on the ground, in NYC, then, catering becomes very important. Due to the time of the day, pratically no one slept at all on the flight. In this case, seating comfort is still important but not as much as an overnight flight. Notice though the weight is still a good 20%. If you read my other trip reports, you'll notice seat comfort gets the highest percentage over anything else.

Here is my itineary to give all the readers a preview of what to come:

In airport language:

YUL-JFK-SFO-LAX-SYD-AYQ-ASP-CNS-BNE-AKL-PPT-RAR-NAN-AKL-CHC-AKL-SYD-LAX-JFK-YUL

In English: Montreal - New York - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Sydney - Ayers Rock - Alice Springs - Cairns - Brisbane - Auckland - Papeete (Tahiti) - Rarontonga (Cook Islands) - Nandi (Fiji) - Auckland - Christchurch - Auckland - Sydney - Los Angeles - New York - Montreal

thadocta

Looking forward to the Australian legs.

Dave

tfung

great report! enjoyed reading that a lot, and the grading scheme sounds quite useful.. maybe I'll use it in my next trip report when I get around to it...

Guava

To receive compliments from the Greats like tfung is such an honor, I am really flattered… Now, let the odyssey continues!

SAN FRANCISCO

Once I step of the taxi into the Park Hyatt San Francisco, I was quickly greeted by some friendly bellmen of the hotel. I have never stayed at a Park Hyatt before – all I know it is a boutique hotel. I don’t usually stay in Hyatt but wanted to try something different so I got comped for HH Diamond status and present myself at the check-in. There was a queue, waited for a good 10 minutes. In essence, the agent decided to give me the smallest possible room of the floor as opposed to the best available room, late check-out to 4PM was refused saying they are too busy, when asked for Diamond amenity he replied: “What do you want?” I said: “You ask me what I want, don’t you have some choices?” He said: “We don’t, that’s why I am asking you…still water maybe?” At that point, I tell him to forget about it. I took the key and went to my room. Five minutes after I got into my room, he called to ask if I want some wine and fruits instead. I replied: ‘I drank too much on the plane, no thanks…” At the end, they send up a big bottle of still water and some fruits and I accept it. My first time with Hyatt didn’t go too well then…not impressed at all. I went to bed soon after due to jet lag although I did think about hailing some Flyertalkers in the area and maybe to do something together for the night but that never materialized.

Next morning, just before I started my day, I decide to give Hyatt Gold Passport a call, asking them some questions b/c I was really confused and somewhat frustrated yesterday night about my check-in experience. A responsive male agent handled my call, it was basically an information gathering call as I tell him and it really was because I am not expert with Hyatt’s program. I told him what happened (e.g. smallest room of the floor, no breakfast, amenity no choices but still water and no late check-out and etc.). Though he sounded professional, he changed some of his answers afterwards…suffice to say, Park Hyatt hotels are basically exempt from honouring most if not all of the above benefits if I understand him correctly. But he did offer to contact the hotel on my behalf and see what the hotel is willing to do. I told him explicitly not to do that as this would sound like begging and I thanked him for offering to help but if that’s the way the rules really are then, I’ll just have to live with it. Just before I step out of my door, the phone rang – guess what, the manager on duty called, a female. She sounded quite apologetic about I don’t know what… Asked if I have already ordered breakfast and if I gave my GP number when making the reservation (of course I did) and if there is anything she can do for me. At this point, I pause…why is she apologizing if what they have been doing is follow the rules other than the room was obviously the smallest of the floor? Then I thought maybe she would honor the late check-out and of course she did, till 5PM actually. What does this say about the check-in agent’s: “We are full” argument? When I checked out, she personally came to the front desk and greeted me and apologized again. She also gave me her card and asked me to contact her personally the next time I frequent Park Hyatt. Nice save from an earlier not-so-pleasant experience, obviously the check-in agent totally failed the courtesy test and the manager had to cover his back but they say first impression is everything and given the fierce competition in the San Francisco area and the abundance of good Starwood/Hilton alternatives, that’s just one step too late…I am afraid. For what it is worth, this also caused Hyatt to lose my business later in the South Pacific as I don’t know what kind of ‘exemptions’ are they going to have there. The strength of this hotel however is that the rooms are quite stylish, not too old and although smallest room of the floor, is large by SFO standard. But I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.”

Now, I spent the day in San Francisco. This is a city that I always feel very comfortable, something I can’t say about the rest of California. I didn’t accidentally stop here on my way down under, it was a planned stop to visit this great city. I have contacted Ms. Trevor Hailey for her famous “Cruising the Castro” walking tour. So I asked the hotel concierge how to get there and he explained me in a thorough manner exactly how to get to Castro by subway. It was my first time in SFO subway, quite advance transport system I found. The meeting point wasn’t obvious and Trevor was late. There was already an Asian young lady waiting there but I didn’t know she was part of the tour and then, a young 30 something man showed up with his parents. We were 5 that morning and Trevor really showed us around Castro. For the morning part, we mostly sat in a garden and Trevor explained to us the historical background of the Castro area. I love history and all those info and emotions and side stories that she talked about were fascinating. For example, the part Trevor talked about herself, she was a navy nurse in her late 20’s in the early 1970’s when she got here in San Francisco…she then realized why all these years, she didn’t find the man of her life like her girlfriends yet she didn’t quite know why…because she is lesbian. She then decides to quite navy and stays in SFO. When asked if she could choose to live her life again, would she want to live her life the way she did… Her reply: “It’s about overcoming our own homophobia, isn’t it…if you asked me then, I probably would say yes, I would prefer to be non-lesbian but now, not after all those years of fights and struggle…no way, I can’t imagine otherwise.” I notice several shops near Castro have been closed so I asked Trevor why are they closing…she said: “It’s a phenomenon called: ‘economy’.” Then, when we are about to cross a street, I saw some trees being shaved off from the top, I turned to Trevor and said: “I hope you don’t call this ‘economy’ as well.” She had a giggle and tapped my shoulder said: “No, that’s b/c we didn’t give them enough water…”

In the afternoon, we had lunch in a restaurant called Firewood. There all six of us had some really nice conversations. Patrick (the 30 something young man from New Jersey) and his parents talked about how the issue of homosexuality has affected their family – his uncle (his father’s brother) is gay and had hard time with it (back then) to the point he almost committed suicide. So when Patrick and his brother are both gay, the issue didn’t hit their father and mother as much. As a result, his father and mother are very open minded and the three are on Transamerica tour from coast to coast by car before going back to New Jersey. The young lady, a Korean-American, said she works in the psychiatric clinic of her husband. One day, a known local politician brought his 16 year old son to her clinic and told her: “I give you 3 months to fix this problem!” What problem? She said the boy just affirmed himself to be homosexual and his father cannot accept it and thought his boy is sick or something. She said: “The father thinks his son is questioning but he isn’t, he clearly knows what he wants, he isn’t questioning and I felt sorry because the boy was often in tears b/c his dad would yell at him even in my clinic. His father wants even to bring his son to female strip bar thinking that could ‘cure’ his son.” Of course everyone present found the idea ridiculous. She explained the father made a big deal about it because his public image is at stake apparently. Being Canadian, I found this concept difficult to understand, maybe one of the noticeable differences between the two countries is that being gay or having a gay relative will have almost zero impact on your public image if not giving you more chance for publicity whereas in the USA, people still fear it like pest, what a contrast.

After the lunch, we were cruising in the most popular street of Castro, I notice there were significantly more people than morning…now that makes more sense. Trevor asked me if I am going to stay for the weekend and I had to tell her I am leaving tonight for Australia. It’s unfortunate I know, given everything Castro has to offer, I am sure it will be an awesome weekend but I made my plan and it was great to be there. Somehow, Patrick asked me the same question later (with a small tap on my shoulder). We chatted a little bit and I noticed he seemed to know the area well and he said he has some friends here. Later, we went to the Castro Theatre, which is thought to be haunted. Time passed quickly, it was time to say good bye, unfortunately. I head back to downtown on foot and shopped around for a pair of new sunglasses and then head back to the hotel for a quick shower before my ‘big’ flight tonight.


AUSTRALIA HERE I COME!

Got to SFO airport about an hour before my 7:15 PM connecting flight to LAX on AA, the female check-in agent was again, very friendly and she really knows what she is doing. I wanted to change my Qantas flight to the earlier one (from QF 108 to QF 12) and she knew exactly what to do and also called QF for me. However, the computer just wouldn’t issue the QF boarding pass so I had to get it in LAX. Head straight through the security, no hassle, no lines and then to Admiral Club. I am flying domestic First Class but have no Admiral membership because I usually fly Star Alliance carriers but I told the agent that I am flying QF internationally today in First class and she had no problem whatsoever to let me in and she even gave me a drink coupon and marked QF on it. This is reminiscent of the old CP/AA relationship where we would also get complimentary drink coupons, how nice to be back to Oneworld (I have always preferred Oneworld over Star-Alliance). Used the internet in the lounge before heading to the gate. The agents were trying to get the First class pax ahead of the long queue, which was a nice touch. But can’t say much about the old MD 80 plane:

July 23, 2002
AA 1943 from SFO to LAX
American Airlines Domestic First Class ~ MD80
Depart: 7:15 PM Arrive:8:36 PM (On time)

Other than the plane and seats are quite old, this is an uneventful flight. The FAs are rather lukewarm. Sure a short flight, but attitude can make a huge difference. Because this flight is under 2 hours, no meal service but some beverages and snacks. Listen to the audio program and look out at the sunset over California’s Pacific coast is interesting. When we are about to reach LAX, there was a sudden turbulence during our descent and for a few seconds, it felt as though we were in a free fall and one of the female F/A screamed as though she just got out of a nightmare…of course the pilots managed to keep the plane floating and landed quite smoothly actually. I found the experience funny like in a roller-coaster ride actually, it was fun!

[This message has been edited by Guava (edited 09-08-2002).]

Guava

July 23, 2002
QF 12 from LAX to SYD
Qantas Airways International First Class ~ B747-400
Depart: 10:30 PM Arrive: 6:10 AM +2 (On time)

AA and QF are not in the same terminal at LAX. I had to walk a bit to get to the Int’l terminal. Once there, head straight to the QF First check-in, handled by QF’s own crew. The first question was: “Are you flying First Class.” I am used to being asked this question as I am only 20 something and people had a hard time imaging a young man of this age to be flying premium class all the time (this later gave me some nuisances when I go back to Australia after visiting the Pacific Islands, but we’ll save that for later). But the agent was friendly and efficient nonetheless. She also gave me a First Class Lounge pass as the QF/BA lounge in LAX is now exclusively for First Class pax only and QF Platinum. Business and Oneworld Emerald, Sapphire and Qantas Club all go to somewhere else. QF had 4 flights that day, two to Sydney, one to Auckland and Melbourne each. But the QF First lounge is rather empty, with mostly the people for QF 12 that I can see of. I imagine the other flights must be rather empty in First. The lounge is spacious enough, had several choices of salads and cold meats. Several drinks stored in the fridge but don’t interest me much. The lounge was also well stocked of reading materials. While seating there, I notice a teenage girl, I say no more than 16 travelling with, I presume, her parents, sitting in the First lounge. The girl seemed curious to see me there for some reasons. I however, wasn’t very comfortable being watched so I deliberately picked up an Australian newspaper and read the financial section.

When it’s time to board, I was in the toilet so an agent already accompanied the pax in the lounge to the gate. So I walked there myself. But while I was waiting in the ‘zoo’, yes there were so many people that it was really a zoo and the First/Business queue was not discernable. So I just waited in the queue that looks like the premium pax queue but the agent working at the lounge spotted me and came over and wanted to bring me to the front. At first I declined as I told her I can wait in the queue no problem but she insists politely and said it’s her job to make sure I got on board and after that, her day is finished (implying there is no First pax on QF 108 an hour later), so I accepted. I didn’t feel very comfortable cutting through the lines with so many people watching and the agent is being quite loud in her greetings, so I quickly sneaked on board!

Once on board, a similar scenario occurred, the F/A was surprised to see me settling at seat 3A but first came over to ask for my drink order and discreetly checked my boarding pass while I turned aside. Even though I always dress up nicely (no suits, not on plane anyway) and usually look more mature than my real age, a lot of people are just not used to see young pax in First. No wonder, everyone else in the cabin except that teenage girl were like 40 and 50 year old and up and mostly couples only. Feel very much like a classic but old style like the 19th century if you allow me the expression. QF 12 is not allowed for award, it’s black-out year round in First/Business class with good reasons because 10 out of the 14 First Class seats are occupied. When asked the F/A if Krug is available, he said yes but not before they escape U.S. air space (just like fellow Flyertalker, AshleyF told me!). We were a bit late however due to some delayed luggage or simply too many people. But the take-off was smooth and swift as I watched the continent and lights drifting further and further away from me. At that point I can’t believe I am leaving home for 5 weeks, seemed so long… Soon after take-off, the menu was distributed, here is a look:

Qantas features Neil Perry of Sydney’s renowned Rockpool Restaurant and their menus have a distinct Australian flavour. The cover is grey-black with a small notation of First near right-center while inside, you find several pages of full page (a bit larger than 8 X 11 inches) image of food and Neil Perry himself overlooking the Opera House and Sydney Harbor.

SUPPER

Canapé

Foie Gras on Sourdough

Entrées

Gazpacho

Smoked Trout, Potato and Asparagus Salad with Herb Dressing

Main Courses

Beef Fillet with Butternut Squash and Mushroom Sauce

Marinated Lime Chicken with Roasted Corn Polenta and Black Bean Salsa

Sea Bass with Potato Gratin and Roast Tomato Tarragon Sauce

Vegetable Ragout with Parmesan and Pine Nuts

Green Leaf Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette comes as a separate course with the choices above

A selection of mustards and condiments is available

Cheese

Hand selected blue, soft and hard cheese served with accompaniments

Dessert

Pistachio and Honey Semifreddo

Fresh Fruit

Petits Fours

Dark Chocolate Semi Dried Figs

Biscotti


REFRESHMENT
Available throughout the flight

Cauliflower, Gruyere and Mustard Soup

Toasted Chicken, Capsicum and Roast Tomato Focaccia

Walnut and Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Fresh Whole Fruit

Ice Cream Tubs


BREAKFAST

Orange, Apple Juice

‘Sunraysia Liquid Fruit’ Pear or Mango juice

Berry Energiser Drink (dairy based, with honey, fresh fruit and yoghurt)

Fruit Salad

Birchermuseli

Granola

Cereal

Yoghurt and honey
Warm baker items with conserves

Scrambled Eggs

Roast Vine Ripened Tomatoes

Bacon

Sautéed Portobello Mushrooms

Smoked Salmon

Sausages

Potato cakes


BEVERAGES

Include a variety of Aperitifs, Spirits, Beers, Liqueurs, Cognac, Non Alcoholic, hot drinks, coffees, teas, hot chocolate and hot mocha…many many of them.


AUSTRALIAN VINTAGES

Champagne

Cuvee Diamant Bleu Vintage 1995 Reims, France

White Wines

Mount Plesant – 2000 Maurice O’Shea Chardonnay Hunter Valley, NSW

Wolf Blass – 2001 Gold Label Riesling Eden & Clare Valleys, South Australia

Tower Estate – 1999 Sauvignon Blanc Adelaide Hills, South Australia

Red Wines

Mitchelton – 1995 Print Shiraz Tasmania

Corton Grand Cru 1996 – La Grande Famille des Domaines Burgundy, France

Wynns – 1997 Coonawarra John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra, South Australia

The catering was just fine, for a late night supper, the portions were made lightly. While the food are certainly exclusive, for example, the Gazpacho soup I had is a cold fruits liquid soup, very interesting, I can’t help but notice some downgrade such as the canapé of Foie Gras never happened – it was replaced by some kind of cheese/mushroom thing. I had the Sea Bass, delicious, I was hungry anyway so anything goes well I guess. The pistachio semifreddo tart was again, exclusive and delicious. I only had the champagne, nothing else – no Krug, only the Diamant Bleu, which was fine. When I woke up during the night, I order the Cauliflower, Gruyere and Mustard Soup + the Chicken Focaccia, the soup was warm and very tasty while the Focaccia was good too. The breakfast is self-explanatory just by looking at the menu, very complete breakfast only if the F/A would be more generous in the portions. Had several mango juices, love them.

The Suite is just a bit less than 2 meters long. While it’s fully flat, I wouldn’t say it’s the most comfortable First Suite I have been to. This model is about 4 years old now, one of the first to come out. The pillow is not soft enough and the head-rest is a bit hard when flat. Most importantly, the seat is a bit narrow. I am not fat by any means, about average build but not athletic but I still find the seat to be narrow – you can’t fully rest both of your arms in the seat, not wide enough. They don’t have the turn-down services like some other airlines so no covers for your bed, just plain seat. Pyjamas were offered however and almost everyone in First changed into them prior to take-off. I try to avoid the head-rest by sleeping just below it and I found my feet touching the seat in front of me and I am not giant by any standard. For those of you who are 6 feet or 1.9 m and up, you might have trouble settling fully into the Suite. In this respect, UA’s Suite seemed more advanced and more comfortable. While the control of the seat is electronic with a large table in the seat, the personal monitor is quite small and old showing its age. I understand Qantas is upgrading its entertainment including larger and newer monitor: Qantas Total Entertainment – the flights to/from USA don’t have them yet. So no video games on board and had to deal with that small monitor but was O.K. There were over 50 films to choose from in the catalogue – enough to kill this 14 hours flight. For some reasons, no noise-cancelling headsets on this flight but they were available on my other QF First flights later. The amenity box is relatively simple: eye shade, soxes, razor, toothbrush, Care products (moisturizer and cream) – nothing impressive but practical.

The service overall is quite professional, very old style I found – a la 19th century. Maybe it’s just that particular F/A. The younger F/A is more casual but still quite tense, not smooth enough. Service is attentive but they don’t try to anticipate your needs like the Asian carriers nor do they express the same type of enthusiasm as some other carriers. The service is just fine, no complaints (except – please be more generous in your food portions next time!) On arrival, I quickly got my luggage with no hassle.

Evaluation
Scheme

A+: Highest Standard of the Industry, near Perfection
A: Excellent Standard, among the industry leaders
A-: Very good quality as you would expect from this service class
B+: Good quality with more than satisfying performance level
B: Satisfying and consistent with the industry’s average
B-: Product needs improvement in order to offer a competitive product
C+: Product is below standard but some basic elements are present
C: Mediocre product or performance that needs serious improvements
C-: Poor product or performance
D: Very bad product or performance
E: Junk

Departure’s Ground Services (including check-in, limousine/airport transfers, concierge greetings, lounge facilities and any other value-added services) = 7.5% of Final Score

On-board Seat Comfort and Cabin (the cabin and toilet maintenance, cabin facilities such as a bar, decoration, general comfort, quality of the seat such as recline, pitch and width and etc.) = 30 % of Final Score

On-board Catering (main meals, snacks/beverages, wine list) = 20% of Final Score

On-board Service and amenities (service of flight attendants, amenities provided such as slippers, pyjamas, amenities gifts to be taken off plane, pillow, duvets, turndown services and etc.) = 20% of Final Score

On-board Business facilities and Entertainment systems (reading materials, noise-cancelling headsets, audio and video systems, fax, e-mail, telephones, laptop plugs, games and etc.) = 15% of Final Score

Arrival’s Ground Services (express line, limousine/airport transfers, concierge greetings, arrival lounge facilities and any other value-added services and etc.) = 7.5% of Final Score

Type of Service Evaluated: International Long-Haul First Class

Depart: Los Angeles (LAX), CA at 10:30PM
Arrive: Sydney (SYD), Australia at 6:15PM
Duration: 14 hours and 40 minutes

Departure’s Ground Services: 80% (A-)
On-board Seat Comfort and Cabin: 75% (B)
On-board Catering: 83.5% (A-)
On-board Service and amenities: 80.5% (A-)
On-board Business facilities and Entertainment systems: 72.5% (B-)
Arrival’s Ground Services: 80% (A-)

Overall Rating: 78.175% (B+)

Comments: About 3 years ago, Skytrax survey ranked QF First product as being #1 in the world. I wouldn’t have disagreed with Skytrax if we are in 1999 but no, we are now in the 21st century. You would expect a higher score for a renown airline like Qantas but looking at the score given above, it’s not difficult to see the age of the equipment and seat is the main reason QF First is unable to get an A grade and above this time. Particularly when most airlines have developed more areas for their premium pax to socialize such as bar table facilities or in-flight business centers, all QF have is seats and small/crampy toilets. Pax don’t have much option but sit and watch movies and only movies using screens that are often older and smaller than some Business class products. While the upgrade is coming, in the meanwhile, the mark will reflect what is available between USA and Australia at this time. Omitting the noise-cancelling headsets is those small details that could make a difference – for first timers, they might just assume QF don’t offer those headsets. Some people have found QF First to be a bit open or not private enough, that was true – there was very little privacy as the screens between seats were non-existant, something you wouldn’t see on BA flights. Seat comfort, more advance communication and electronic facilities are crucial to make QF more competitive not just to Europe and Asia but don’t take North American clientele for granted because a damaged reputation is difficult to build back. Nonetheless, as the grade of B+ implies, this flight was more than satisfying.
---------------------------------------------

Could have used the lounge for a shower but as I exited the plane, my first task was to grab a QF agent and contact Air Canada because I am receiving my companion who is coming from Canada via Honolulu on AC flight in just less an hour. QF said they don’t talk to Air Canada so I have to go to AC office myself but they point me the way. Once outside, I head straight for AC’s terminal office and quickly bumped into an Air Canada employee who is getting ready to receive the flight. I explained to her I need to see the Concierge so that he can go to the gate and greet my companion. She pointed me where their office is located and I quickly met the very professional AC Concierge, Mr. Robert Hay and he understood exactly what I want and all I have to do is wait for him outside as I can’t enter inside again. So about an hour later (yes, Air Canada flight is late again, as always), Robert came out with a trolley and my companion. Robert also brought us to Air New Zealand b/c I had to make some changes to an itinerary and NZ took care of that in seconds. After that, we thanked Robert and headed straight for Qantas Domestic transfers.

To be continued…


[This message has been edited by Guava (edited 09-08-2002).]

RTW4

CONGRADULATIONS. This segmental reports is even better than your first segment. I have flown LAX-SYD , LAX-AKL, and MEL-LAX in QF first and agree with your assesment completely. except that I found the video collection excellent as one has a choice of over 30 current videos to choose from . Screen is tiny however in the older 747-400 IFE systems. Food on QF is excellent especially the steak sandwich with chili sauce that I had as an entree on my last flight from MEL-LAX in early July. THANKS AGAIN for the report

Seat 2A

Thanks for your report and innovative grading system. I definitely look forward to more!
Enjoy Australia and the South Pacific!

number_6

You must have gotten the 744 leased from BA (the QF planes have a spacious bathroom in F with a window, 20% bigger than any other 744 configuration). That plane is in awful shape, very beat up and overdue for a refit -- yes, I've had the pleasure of flying on it. This also accounts for the poor F seating ... all the other QF planes have better seats. They also have privacy dividers that can be extended from the seat back and the arm drops down (making the seat wider for sleeping, also easier to get out into the aisle). The leased plane expires soon and you can review a real QF plane instead of this poor substitute. Shame on QF to offer substandard equipment without explaining the situation (sounds like your original flight QF108 would have been flown with a nicer F cabin).

airbus320

Guava: Great report.