Funny, I used to think my mother was a total dag for wearing them. Now, we both change into them as soon as the seatbelt sign is switched off on long haul. Even when not sleeping, they are super comfy, and you don't need to worry about spilling food or drink on your clothes.

Flew QF24 last night and the plane was pretty full, almost certainly in Business.

At check in we were told there was a "special" where we could skip dinner and have our Skybeds made and go straight to sleep which we could select. I couldn't remember the catering of the QF/BA F Lounge so we said we would like to eat. Had to remind the check in agent we wanted First and not Business tags.

We had a great crew, but they were a little flustered. It was obvious that it takes a lot of time to implement the new service.

For their own convenience (which I didn't mind) they offered, and pretty much convince you, to allow them to put the mattress on as soon as the aircraft levels. It slips over the top portion of the Skybed, and is a padded mattress that sits above the rest of the bed. It looks pretty simply, but it certainly does get ride of the bumps that I have always had issue with. It also seems to have more padding at where your pillow sits.

The Express breakfast was a choice of ham and cheese croissant, muesli with yoghurt or yoghurt. Disappointing as I like a decent hot breakfast, but it was served an hour before landing which maximises sleep time.

The highlight was the crew member who described out 1A/B as the Hollywood movie star seats ;)

Also, I noted the rest of row 1 went straight to bed.

On QF52 at the end of January, lights were turned back on for breakfast roughly 60 minutes from touchdown. Very impressive!

That new mattress and doona is very sleep-inducing as well I might add.

My partner just mentioned the lack of hot towels, and he was unimpressed with dinner. There was no second drink service.

I never return the towel (if given out) and use it for a freshen up at the end of the flight ( assuming none in the toilets or if flying on those uncivilised airlines that only have paper towels in the toilets). I also carry a spare in my kit bag in case of "no towels".

On reflection I really don't like this new service. The lack of tray means the food service items can't be shifted as one should you wish to sleep. They take forever to clear them.

My husband said that the JQ flight over to HKT in J- and I tend to agree. the Thai based crew always go our of their way to make sure your drinks are refilled, and I have been impressed with the 2 times I have flown JQi.

QF22 NRT-SYD Row 3 (return sector this week).
We we given a doona/mattress (?) and a blanket.
Dinner was nothing memorable (don't think I got everything as shown on the menu & didn't bother with breakfast which looked the same as Y).
Sleep Experience:
Mark1 seats with poor bed width (squashed at shoulders) and length (got sore feet from pressing against foot support) - & a faulty overhead light that would not switch off all night (but did get some bottled wine when I complained to CSM at 03:00).
Also - the pilot couldn't start the faulty IFE! He eventually got some limited access available (the joys of 20+ year old ac).
The sleep experience may have been enhanced by the older male crew who were rarely seen.

Sector one (in day time) was JQi Business Max.
Much better bang for the buck, almost comparable food & wine (IMO only) & all equipment worked & with QFF sc's.

That's precisely my conclusion. If it's a daytime flight, take JQi in J-. As a WP the F Lounge is an added bonus.

We are considering HNL later this year and JQi will definitely be the option.

If the CEO (AJ) were reading this, he'd probably be rubbing his hands together and saying " another part of the orange star strategy is working - that should be worth a bit more on the bonus next year ". Sad really.

I agree, I will not be surprised to discover this was his strategy all along.

Having said that, I do not believe that the current stellar management team actually know what they are doing.

I think they have a clear and identified strategy that runs for at least a few weeks into the future. Or that's how it seems from a casual passenger point of view. But I may be wrong. I think the marketing department has a longer term view of the world - with news releases on what will happen at some point in the future. Of course the IT department just does what it wants and usually on weekday mornings. Then the hapless cabin crew get to pick up the pieces when everything goes pear shaped. I wonder if there will be a new rule in the Board Room of "don't buy brand new aircraft technology until others have learnt how to make it work first" (of course this translates to "who was the d***head that didn't order the 777).

Does anyone have any recent experience with this, especially on the A380?

Curious how they fit the mattress for window seats if the aisle seat has already been made up and is fully flat..

Self service!

On QF9 a few weeks ago they were prattling on about the mattress during boarding and demoing how to make it up and how much better it makes everything, and encouraging people to do it themselves as soon as the seatbelt sign was off.

On the recent few QF24 overnight flights I took it was mostly self-service as well.
O/T For me the real upgrade to my sleep experience on the QF24 overnighter would be to have options for a quick sanga to eat before you go to sleep (food selection in BKK F lounge is pitiful), rather than having to wait 1+ hours for the full meal service.