My first trip report

Qantas (QF41) Airbus 330-200 (November 2014)
Route: Sydney (SYD) to Jakarta (CGK)
Class: Business

My flight was at 14.25 so I arrived in the airport around noon. There were separate check-in counters for premium economy, business, and first class passengers. After waiting for 5 minutes, I was served and got my boarding pass without any fuss. Using the express path, security screening and passing through the immigration were quick. I immediately went to the Qantas lounge on the upper floor of the departure area (near the duty free after the immigration).

Qantas International Business Lounge in the Sydney airport was fairly big. The lounge had three sections and the entrance was in the middle section of the lounge. The lounge had a runway view although there was a roof of the lower part of the terminal (the lounge was on the upper floor as I said earlier) that kind of disrupted the view. Earlier I read that the lounge offered breakfast, lunch, and dinner services so I was keen to try. Once I sat on the island area, indeed the lunch service began. I expected a full lunch service, but that was not the case. They only offered a kind of entrée through their menu of the day. The menu was salmon tartare with Turkish bread and lemon dressing as shown in the picture. It tasted nice alright, but the portion was tiny. Buffet was of course available. I tried the soup of the day along with beef in red wine sauce and rice, which were satisfying. The berry ice cream was great too. A wide range of drinks was available. I chose the Penfolds Bin 8 Cabernet Shiraz.



Boarding began at 13.25. It was a Airbus 330-200 named Barossa Valley. Her first flight was in December 2007. This was a 2-class flight, economy and business. The business class layout was 2-2-2 and my seat was 6K, a window seat. The interior looked rather old somehow because I could see some signs of wear and tear. The seat could be more comfortable at the upright position. It's a bit difficult to explain. The seat that I sat on had two sections (which could be converted to a flat bed at an angle) and the gap between the two sections could be annoying at first. The same feeling like when you try to sleep between two mattress.



Take-off was on time and the flight duration was about 7 hours 30 minutes. Once the seat belt sign was off, I tried to use the entertainment system. It was malfunctioning so it had to be restarted. It finally worked after 15 minutes. The system was old and slow. The movie selection was rather limited too.

Meal service began about 30 minutes after take-off. I chose the following menu:

• Entrée (they used the term small plate): Smoked cured lamb with roast eggplant and capsicum, pomegranate, mint, and harissa dressing.
• Main plate: Pan fried ocean trout with zucchini, chilli and tomato scapece, polenta and pine nut pesto.
• Dessert: Caramel crème.

The food was good and the portion was big, especially after the lunch that I had on the lounge. I managed to finish everything except one piece of polenta. The presentation of the small plate could be better though. It looked like stuff being put on top of one another with a dollop of dressing on the side. One of the forks was not cleaned properly as I could see a bit of food stuck on it. Well, perhaps it's a bit hard to control when dish washers were used to clean all the cutlery. I don't know, what do you think? Oh, I also chose merlot for my drink during the meal service.





After the dinner service, I watched Maleficent, a Disney movie adapted from the classic Sleeping Beauty. Then I tried to take a nap. The seat could be converted to a lie-flat bed (sloping sleeper?). It's flat but not parallel to the floor so a passenger may slide down when lying on it. Since the flight was in the afternoon, I found it hard to sleep, although I managed to doze off here and there.

After a bit of rest, I watched another movie, How to Train your Dragon 2. Flight attendants checked passengers quite regularly and they also provided snacks and drinks as requested. Prior to arrival (I think about 1.5 hour before landing), a small meal was distributed. It was hokkien noodles with roasted eggplant, Chinese pickles, and chilli. It was quite tasty. I chose Chardonnay along with this meal.

The remaining of the flight was rather boring since I could not find anything interesting from the in-flight entertainment. In the end, I was napping/reading. I took a photo of the sea of clouds above Jakarta below. Landing was smooth and it was much earlier than the original schedule. The schedule was 18.00, while I got off the plane at around 17.45. A flight attendant returned my jacket after the plane was on the terminal. I believe it should have been returned prior to landing, but I might be wrong. Business class passengers were allowed to disembark first as usual.

Below is a picture of the amenity kit containing socks, an eye mask, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a package of Malin+Goetz products including lip moisturiser, face moisturiser, and hand + body lotion.



In overall, it's a pleasant experience. The lounge in Sydney was good with a fast WiFi, plenty of foods, and a good wine selection. The experience during the flight was a standard business class experience. The seat was just ok, while the food was good. The entertainment system was the weakest link.