That was precisely my point. This is one of the few SMH reviews I actually trust.

By this logic you also wouldn't purchase air fares from a TA who has done a familiarisation tour as a guest of an airline?

FWIW I know the EY person who regularly talks AMEX Centurion/Platinum Travel reps on F flights to encourage them to sell their product to their customers. Would you refuse to purchase from them because they are being flown for free by the airline and paid commission?

Absolutely there are - done by staff flying away on holidays, which is how it was all done back around 2001 when the SMH got all Uber-ethical for a few years (I was an editor there at the time) and still happens today from time to time.

There are also reviews by journos attending an international event but with their ticket paid for by an agency other than the airline (for example a motoring journo might fly Etihad J from Sydney to some European city for the launch & test-drive of a new BMW - their ticket will be paid by BMW, but they'll review the flight and it won't need a disclosure because it wasn't Etihad who paid for the ticket).

Totally understandable, and a bit of scepticism is always healthy! I have the same vibe a lot of the time on not just travel but a lot of other topics... it then comes down to how I feel about the 'brand' of the masthead or publisher as to the weighting I give that.

I wouldn't trust the impartiality of their opinions and wary of any encouragement to use them

If I was to contact a TA , it would be with the flights I wish to book all known and wouldn't be relying on a TA who might try pushing towards a carrier where they make more money

For any review, if the company knows that it is being reviewed and has funded the reviewers travel, is it not perhaps beyond the realm of reason to suspect that the service might not be typical level

Why do you assume that all readers of FT know who you are and that your return flights have been covered by the airline? They would HAVE to link to the original article to find that out if they hadn't come across you before...

IMHO you haven't proposed a compelling argument to omit a disclosure statement on your FT post and I can't see what you have lose by presenting one (unless, perhaps, you feel that might lessen the through traffic to your own web site). Others may agree or disagree.

I think that we are all agreed the information itself is interesting and beneficial (and perhaps that alone would encourage people to proceed to the full article and explore the other great content on the parent site).

A traveller web site such as AusBT is dependent upon both the information flow from the airlines and other traveller product providers such as credit card companies (via press releases, free travel, inside contacts, etc), quality (accuracy, etc) and relevancy of its content to attract and maintain its readership and thereby make money.

David himself said:

"...nobody gets rich doing this gig. There's no way I or any journalist could afford to buy our own airfares for reviews, especially when it comes to J and F travel. Ditto for attending lounge openings, Airbus & Boeing media briefings etc..."

The challenge therein is that it tends to entangle the web site into the "establishment": if the content strayed too far from the "straight news" into more critical analysis, investigative, consumer focus, etc., it MIGHT put pressure on the "relationship" between the author and product provider.

Perhaps a web site like AusBT simply can't afford to operate effectively without a "working relationship" with Qantas: a significant amount of content is inevitably going to need to have been sourced from the nation's most patronised airline.

Thats said, an independent web producer can set his/her own goals and standards: publish content of limited "controversial" nature, or not, etc...and that, in part, must be driven by commercial reality...

As I've said, if FT mods require it I'll naturally do it. Over you you, mods.

It does state at http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#externallinks

IMHO it is fair observation that the normal journalistic standard is to declare a commercial interest against your copy (QF paid for my return flight). This avoids the "cash for comment" issue.

I assume you agree with this since you do actually do it on your commercial web site, AusBT (a valuable asset to business and other travellers).

This allows you to run your commercial operation economically (accept the freebies on which your business depends) and the reader to enjoy and benefit from your endeavours with due consideration to the potential for bias.

Yet you are refusing to do that in the case of your FT post unless compelled do so by the Mods on this forum.

Don't make sense...there is also a theoretical risk that by declining to add a disclaimer on your FT post that some readers may "misjudge" your level of journalistic integrity.

In any case, if David Noble is right, you've broken the FT rules anyway.

[mod hat] Closed for moderator review [/mod hat]

EDIT

[mod hat] After reviewing the thread I will re-open it. Djsflynn's review is within the rules of FT when it comes to commercial posts. At the same time I think it is good practice and in the interest of everyone, especially djsflynn himself to disclose any sponsorships. So I would ask to include such notes in future posts.
Also, lets get back to topic of A330 J seats. This is not the place to discuss FT rules. If you have questions, please PM me. [/mod hat]

Easily done, thanks Dave.

Okay, kicking things off again: the Qantas' A330 Business Suite is very soon to see its international debut on the Melbourne-Singapore route, but I'm sure by now more than a few FT folk have flown it domestically - any first thoughts on the seat?

Sure David, I would love to fly this new product, but with that in mind it would be very helpful to know the following:

• How many aircraft in the A330 fleet have the new seats?
• What is the roll out schedule?
• When does the MEL-SIN service kick off?
• Which flight numbers on the PER-SYD and MEL-SYD transcon are currently serviced by the new product (as far as I can tell only one per day)?
• Has QF adopted a policy of blocking out the new product from reward seat redemption (it seems so on the days I want to travel across a broad date range in the "quiet" month of Feb)?
  At what point will the QF schedule match the VA schedule for lie flat product?
  I'm looking at doing a SYD-HNL later in 2015 - when will this route be serviced by the new product?

As someone booking transon flights to PER over the next two months it looks like I am way better off sticking with VIRGIN AUSTRALIA with a guaranteed flat bed and giving QF a miss? Wouldn't you agree with that conclusion from the perspective of a frequent flyer?

That said the new product does look awesome and i would love to try it on the basis of your various reviews - I just don't think I have any chance of experiencing it on the typical CNS-PER return routings....perhaps your insider information can guide myself and other readers on these basic questions...

ALL QF's 330's to get lay flight Business seating - Including Domestic
 

Platy, it looks like at the moment it's scheduled on QF575 and QF583 daily along with those respective returns from PER

Finally, something less interesting than Media Watch.^

How many aircraft in the A330 fleet have the new seats?
Two (one A332 domestic already flying, one A333 international which is very soon to fly)

What is the roll out schedule?
Five by March, 11 by August (both a mix of A332 and A333) - I'm told that the second A332 will be done end of Jan, the third end of Feb.

When does the MEL-SIN service kick off?
Qantas has previously said "mid-January", I'm not at liberty to share any more specific dates.

Which flight numbers on the PER-SYD and MEL-SYD transcon are currently serviced by the new product (as far as I can tell only one per day)?
Don't know (but with only one A332BS right now, it's not gonna be many).

Has QF adopted a policy of blocking out the new product from reward seat redemption (it seems so on the days I want to travel across a broad date range in the "quiet" month of Feb)?
Don't know.

At what point will the QF schedule match the VA schedule for lie flat product?
Don't know, and it depends on how many A332s Qantas has done by the time Virgin's A332 upgrade is complete.

I'm looking at doing a SYD-HNL later in 2015 - when will this route be serviced by the new product?
Qantas hasn't confirmed timing for any A330BS routes except MEL-SIN ('mid-Jan') and BNE-NRT (Aug 1).

As someone booking transon flights to PER over the next two months it looks like I am way better off sticking with VIRGIN AUSTRALIA with a guaranteed flat bed and giving QF a miss?
If you want the best transcon seat then yes, for now Virgin Australia will give you 100% on any given route.

Many thanks.

I think I am seeing the new products on the following flights in early Feb around my own dates of travel (I think it may changeover to the QF575 etc thereafter)...

SYD PER
QF569 1630 1830
5/2/15, 6/2/15

MEL PER
QF485 0835 0940
5/2/15
QF769 1305 1410
7/2/15

PER SYD
QF580 1110 1820
9/2/15, 10/2/15, 11/2/15

Many thanks indeed, David, for the heads up.

Will be looking to fly BNE-SIN (and onto LHR) in June so fingers crossed they focus on the SIN routes as previously mentioned in AusBT.

David, is there any mechanical linkage between the end of the seat, when fully flat, to the footstool that would eventually stop the seat end from sagging, as has happened with the Skybed IIs?
I'm also interested in J upgrade availability with the new seats.

If you look at the pics the seat slides up the slope and is supported by a raised section, preventing any droop, so essentially Yes

This pic (from the AusBT review) shows it best:
http://www.ausbt.com.au/photos/view/...a330-1500x.jpg

As for upgrade availability - difficult to tell with only 1 of 28 aircraft converted and only flying for just over a week
but there are less J seats per plane, which will undoubtedly mean less upgrades

Assuming you mean 'physical' linkage - i.e. the end of the seat sitting on the footstool - I didn't crawl around that end of the seat-extended-into-a-bed during my SYD-PER flight, but will see if I have time on my QFi flight to do this (without getting in the way of or alarming passengers!).

I have tracked down the transcon flights with the new seating for a 2-3 week period in early/mid February.

I cannot find a single award seat in business class, even on days when every other flight on a route does have plenty of award seat inventory.

This raises the question of a strategy by QF of not releasing any award seats on the aircraft with the new seating (although this may not be the explanation). Others might find availability if my suspicions are ill founded.

I am not paying $2,000 for a one way transcon just to try out a seat, so unless there is opportunity to use the current business sale fare of a little of $1000 from PER to AKL via east coast, the new seat will have to wait until the fleet has been substantially refitted and we are debating the norm rather than the rare exception.

Such is the difference between the fanfare/excitement on such things generated by the highly effective QF PR machine and the reality for the frequent flyer. ;)

To be fair, who do you think that Qantas will be trying to target - upgraders or those paying for business class?

I assume QF see a selling opportunity with these new seats (as said earlier). That makes the FF point redemption "charity" a certainty for the old seats.

I agree with you David and og.

I'm simply saying that IF they have decided to "block" the renovated birds it might be nice to know, if only to avoid wasting time tracking down the rare birds and searching for inventory, which simply doesn't exist.

I do expect QF to be conservative in providing reward opportunities to their "loyal" customer base, which is why I'm happy to have spent my 800,000 QF point stash over the last 9 months and would use 17,500 AAdvantage points rather than >50,000 QF points to travel between PER and CNS with or without the new seating. ;)

In terms of revenue inventory, if I decide to pay for seats, now there is a new product, I would want to be sure of accessing it, given it is greatly superior to the domestic standard (accepting some flights may be Intl config) - there are two very different quality levels for the same price as the fleet transitions. Otherwise, VA is the better choice for lie flat seating because it's on all flights.

QF would never disclose if they did choose to do this.

Plenty of J award seats PER-SYD showing for September.

Whar are the odds of BNE-HKG being operated with a retrofitted A333 in late May? It has the new seatplan as per the schedule, but I have no idea how accurate this is.

If all aspects of operations and refurb happen according to plan over the four months (probably unlikely), then yes, you would have the new config. Given the time line being so far out, I wouldn't bet on it either way.

How can you view QF seat map for a certain flight?

I have a QF97 booking for early April but both QF MMB and KVS still show I have the old plane.

Using a paid tool like ExpertFlyer you can access it easily.
Alternatively you could progress a dummy booking up to seat selection.

As for BNE-HKG, by late May you are only 5mth in to a 20-24mth job for 28 aircraft, so at best you are looking at 6/7 330s total and probably 2/3 333s so I would not like the chances

In place of EF I have KVS

Can I select seats on QF fake booking without payment?

Not with Qantas.com ... where can you do this?

KVS can look up seatmaps fine by right clicking on the flight in question and viewing the seat map.

Alternatively the mobile KVS site can also look up seat maps easily

Now that Red Roo is back posting here, perhaps he/she can keep us abreast of the rollout over the coming months. :)

As jozdemir had already mentioned, you can view the Seat Maps for your QF flight via the KVS Tool.

Well this has been fun catching up reading... goodness.

Well the new BS is set for QF426 tomorrow MEL-SYD which I'm on (and I've paid my own way, on a a J sale fare, just for the record :p ) so I shall be interested to try this product again. - unless there's a sub of course, since it was already subbed from the scheduled 333 which was also supposed to be the debut of the new BS 333 product, but clearly that got changed back in late Dec - but I digress :)

Currently in 1A (since David mentioned the extra legroom at this seat in his report) though also interested in 7A/K as the mini cabin so I'm not sure which one to try lol

(first,no,businessclassworldproblems right? :))

Reported on AFF that the new seatplan
on QF35 for 15/1 has been switched back to the old one

QF35 on 17/1 still shows new config

I can now confirm that the A333BS schedule is locked down with QF35 MEL-SIN on 17/1 as the first commercial service; it'll then turn around to become the overnight QF82 Singapore-Sydney redeye.

[Disclaimer: I'll be flying to Singapore and returning on QF82 as a guest of Qantas]

The first of the refurb'd A330-300s will alternate between the Sydney-Singapore (QF81/82) and Melbourne-Singapore (QF35/36) routes. More on AusBT at http://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-singa...business-class

[Disclaimer: I'm the editor of Australian Business Traveller]

Added value: Qantas tells me that following this weekend's twin-city debut the first A330's rotation pattern is planned to run as MEL-SIN-MEL-SIN-SYD-SIN-SYD-SIN-MEL and then starting again (flights are QF35/36 and QF81/82).

If you want to set your Singapore travel schedule to try out the new Business Suite, obviously you'll want to double-check dates against seatplans.

[Disclaimer: I'm sharing this because I'm a caring sharing kinda guy]

Here's a simple little 'best seats' guide to the A330 Business Suites which I penned for Fairfax – may prove handy for FT folk looking to book onto an A330BS.

(Note for PLATY – there is no commercial benefit to me for traffic to The Sydney Morning Herald. They pay me per word, not per click.)

http://www.smh.com.au/executive-styl...13-12n89k.html

The main takeouts from this, I'd suggest, would be that bulkhead rows are best for big feet, while a handful of A/E and F/K seats (3K/4F and 5K/6F on the A332; 1A/1E, 3A/3E, 5A/5E and 7A/7E on the A333) are the best you can get for travelling with a partner in the otherwise solo-minded Business Suite layout.