Fiji Airways
Business Class (U)
LAX-NAN (Los Angeles International TBIT – Nadi)
FJ 811
June 2, 2017
Booked: Airbus 330-200
Flown: Boeing 330-200
Departure: 11:30 PM
Arrival: 05:50 AM + 2
We left the lounge at T-50 and walked over to Gate 130. The concourse had thinned out quite considerably as we neared 11 PM. Boarding time was set for 10:45PM
The boarding line management was pretty much a mess tonight and it was an Indian or Middle Eastern crowd rushing into the boarding gate. The gate agents weren’t making announcements or really enforcing the boarding priority. Surprisingly, there were also no signs, ropes or boarding zones, which really made it for a disorganizing process. Like having a microwave, you certainly noticed it when it was gone.
Once we were through the scrum, it was a proper, but unmarked double jet bridge boarding today with business class boarding through 1L.
On board, the business class cabin makes a beautiful first impression; nice light colors and the signature patterned cushions on the seats. The Airbus 330 cabin is configured in a 2-2-2 configuration. The seats are similar to the product on the Singapore Airlines A330’s that are used for mostly regional flights from Singapore.
We found our seats 3K / 3J which we had selected in advance. The seats are an angled flat seat that does not fully recline. The load in business today was 20/24. Being an A330 aircraft, the overhead bins on the outsides are smaller than the bins on the Boeing’s. I had to turn the carry on rollie lengthwise of the plane to get it to fit. It wasn’t an issue as there was tons of space. I checked out the features of the seat, which included a reasonably sized screen, some gimmicky storage compartments under the monitor screen, a remote, and in seat power that actually worked.
On our seats were an amenity kit, Fiji Water and a pillow. The pillow was firmer than usual pillows; similar to a memory foam type. The amenity kit had was lightly branded with some Pure Fiji lotions, which I haven’t been able to locate anywhere for purchase outside of Fiji.
Blanket packs were handed out, in addition to printed dinner menus and a self scribe breakfast order (check sheet). Both these food orders were promptly taken at the gate.
The breakfast card for food orders in the morning; with the order taken at the LAX gate.
They had some okay Australian and New Zealand wines on this flight. Unfortunately, there was no Shaw and Smith (a winery that we had previously visited) like on past Fiji Airways flights.
A pre-departure beverage was offered of the Paradise Cocktail (Fijian Rum, Liqueur Rare, Fiji Coconut Rum Liqueur, lemon syrup topped up with ginger ale), a mocktail (lemon and barley syrup, squeeze of lime and orange, lemonade finished with cherry), or ice water off a tray. All were served in a proper glass. It was a refreshing change other than the usual orange juice or water? During the pre flight service, Fijian newspapers were also offered.
The cabin purser made the departure announcement of our flying time to Nadi of approximately 10 hours and 40 minutes. The cabin purser sounded Australian based on his accent.
We got underway immediately with a departure from LAX over the water. At about midnight our time, I was pretty tired from the travel today and from the day earlier (my cancelled Newfoundland segments) and nodded off to sleep as we climbed to altitude.
Once we were at altitude, a towel service was offered. The towel was unusually thick compared to the tired towels that you usually get on an plane. It had a hotel resort type feel to it-the quality of something you’d find in a hotel resort bathroom.
The crew was exceptionally pleasant and service oriented. It was far more enjoyable that our last flights on Air France and even on First Class on Emirates. The dinner service started about 45 minutes into the flight. It started with pretzels and champagne.
It went with the seared scallops with mesculin, endive lettuce, artichoke heart and julienne sun dried tomato. It was just okay.
I had the main of braised miso sea bass served with miso sauce, steamed seaweed rice, rice, sugar snap peas and carrot florets. Not bad – I picked away at it. The miso intertwined with the rice made it have an odd taste to it which I still remember to this date.
I fiddled with the entertainment system but there wasn’t too much there to keep me interested.
I skipped on dessert and opted for sleep right afterwards.
The angle flat seats are tough for tall side sleepers like me. I don’t find them comfortable at all. The seat seems to recline to about 172 Degrees; it’s described on the Fiji Airways website as an 8 degree lie flat bed. Despite this, I slept for about 6 hours as I was pretty tired. The volume of the cabin was pretty loud throughout the night. I remembered my sleep being punctuated with lots of flight attendant chimes and other travelers accessing the clicking of the overhead bins. I would attribute the noise to the actions of other travelers and not on the part or of any fault of the crew. It made it a bit hard to get a proper deep rest.
I woke up about 3 hours from Nadi as they started the clinking and clanking of the breakfast service. A second towel service was offered. Breakfast was served in a two course offering. It started with a yogurt parfait which wasn’t on the menu (but welcomed regardless).
Surprisingly, the coffee was powdered; even though it was nicely presented in a jazzy Fiji cup. I had to switch back to the default of Buck fizz of champagne and orange juice to start.
A cheese omelette with seared chipolata sausage, blistered tomatoes and roasted potatoes.
After breakfast service, there was a very through preparation of the cabin for landing, including all items being put up in to the overhead bins. These included all pillows and we’ll have that sleeping blanket, whether you are done with it or not, thank you!!
We landed and pulled up next to one of Fiji Airways Boeing 737’s.
As we stepped off the plane, we were welcomed off the plane by 5 ground crew agents on the jet bridge welcoming us all to Fiji. It was definitely a first for me to be individually welcomed by ground crew; usually it’s a general announcement via the plane’s public address system. It was a great first impression. Fiji airport has outdoor walkways so I was able to snap a few photographs of the plane before heading to immigration.
Once inside, we had a live band playing music in the hall welcoming us to Fiji. This was an impressive feat as it was 5:50 AM. They were more dedicated that I am to be at work at that hour. LOL. Unfortunately, the immigration queue was quite long and it took us about 30 minutes wait to get stamped in to Fiji; my 62nd country!
We collected our bags, changed some money and purchased a few bottles of wine at the Fiji Duty Free on arrival where there was plenty of staff available to help with selections. The wine selections were pretty mainstream, but I think that’s to be expected when you’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
We had a bag x-ray and an arrival into the public side of Fiji Airport. We met our driver who took us straight to the marina for our transfer to the Sheraton.
Overall, the Fiji Airways flight impressed me. I had some pretty low expectations going in. What can you expect from a carrier that only has 4 wide body jets and flies only to a few destinations? Despite the angled flat seats that just don’t cut it anymore in today’s long haul travel, the crews were excellent. They seemed genuinely interested in their jobs and were keen to serve. The whole experience was much more pleasant than our recent Air France flights and the service was more personable than our Emirates First Class flights when the cabins were full and the staff are running around trying to deal with everyone.