I was wondering if anyone knew the latest situation on MEL/PER (and vv) as to which flights were more likely than others to have the new seats? I'd seen mention of the last one out of the day (QF653 MEL-PER) and the overnight back (QF648 PER-MEL) but wondered if there were any others that were more likely to have the new setup. I appreciate things always very much subject to change on domestic but availability seems not bad and keen to book something before the BAEC Avios devaluation hits at the end of this month! (although would be booking for later in the year)

Best way is to look at the recent flight patterns of the two domestic aircraft
VH-EBA and VH-EBV

on Flightradar24 or Qantas Source Tracker
http://www.theqantassource.com/qijettracker.html

Sadly there is not much of a pattern

But by the end of the year there will be a lot more refurbs, so would expect the hit rate to be much higher

OK, thanks moa999 :)

Very useful, thanks. Due to change in previous plans, I now have a SYD-PER planned on QF569 A330 on 24 May. The seatmap (viewed via my booking on QR site) is currently showing 2-2-2, so I guess either old skybed or ex-JQ. Is there any likelihood of an aircraft change to one with the new layout, or would it be pretty much set at this point?

Nothing is set. QF seems to be operating them as they can, so subs are happening.

I had booked my sister-in-law on QF773 yesterday and the day before the flight it showed as 2-2-2 in manage my booking but it appears to have had a late change to VH-EBA. Had a nice thank you email off her but she would not have had a clue what to expect in J anyway.

I'm looking at booking PER-MEL-PER flights in January 2016 for my sister with Avios as a wee birthday present (10k Avios each way + a few £'s is a real bargain!). What are the chances of the new J seat being on all PER-MEL-PER flights by then? I'm just wondering as if there is a very probable/definite chance, I'll book the return from MEL in J for her, but if it is an exJQ bird it wouldn't be as worth it and I'd instead get her a gift voucher for Longrain.

Thanks again for this. Had a look at the website and did a quick PivotTable in Excel:
Looks like QF481/485 MEL-PER and QF802/648 PER-MEL are the ones to go for to get the highest chance of new biz, however when going to book they also seem to the be the four flights that are permanently showing zero availability for redemptions (when it's wide open on the other flights). Think I'll just book for later in the year and take my chances hoping for an aircraft swap!

That's a great PivotTable analysis. Thanks!

No probs, YYCOllie :)

Interesting to see the skew towards MEL-PER flights - I guess QF want to put the best product where they have significant corporate contracts from BHP and RIO perhaps?

I think there were a lot from SYD too but I was only looking for MEL-PER so took other locations out the dataset ;)

That makes sense now, for a second I thought SYD was not getting any attention from QF :D

I remember reading somewhere QF were actively trying to schedule the refurbished aircraft on the red eyes, so it makes sense that QF648 is one of the flight numbers where the new seats feature most prominently.

As of today we are now at 6 reconfigured aircraft - 3x330-200 and 3x330-300 out of a final expect fleet of 28

VH-EBV 330-200 - 1mth 15days - In 16/11 Out 31/12
VH-QPA 330-300 - 2mth 13days - In 3/11 Out 16/1, C8 check
VH-EBA 330-200 - 1mth 12days - In 1/1 Out 13/2
VH-QPC 330-300 - 2mth 6days - In 17/1 Out 23/3, C8 check
VH-EBJ 330-200 - 1mth 3days - In 14/3 Out 17/4 (fresh from SIN repaint from JQ from 27/2-13/3)
VH-QPB 330-300 - 2mth 7 days - In 16/2 Out 23/4 (fresh from SIN repaint, C8 check)

330-200s - 28J/ 243Y, J Panasonic ex3 16" IFE, Y Panasonic exLite 11" IFE
330-300s - 28J/ 269Y, J Panasonic ex3 16" IFE, Y Panasonic 9" IFE (EBM-EBV), 8" iPadMini (EBA-EBL)

QPD and EBN are in the hanger.
Based on prior history EBN should be complete end-May and QPD end-June.

EBN is currently flying BNE-PER...

EBR is still in BNE however that may also be a quick maintenance check.

Managed to be on QF802 recently (booked via USDM months ago) and it was excellent, except that those huge screens cause havoc for some travellers. It is really hard for someone with a disability who needs assistance from a companion to receive it. It is also really hard for parents with children. We had a family up the front with a 3yo who the parents could scarcely even see!

I wonder if Qantas will eventually realise that it would be better to get rid of the extraneous extra-big barriers or at least make them retractable?

I believe I read somewhere that they are an integral part of the seat shell.

I wonder why? The ones on the outer edge alternate between large and small depending on which side is to the window and which is to the aisle. The larger size one doesn't seem to do anything apart from being a barrier.

They also support the storage on the other side.

That table is really helpful. If it's not too much trouble, maybe you could update it occasionally so we can see if anything changes?

QF481/485 MEL-PER and QF802/648 PER-MEL have no availability any more for J award bookings, so those are obviously the ones QF intends to consistently be the new config.

You're welcome - doubt I'll get the chance to update it that much I'm afraid, being kept busy with work! Have got my trip next month, am doubting it's going to change but looks like aircraft swap is the only way to get it just now as you say, they seem to be blocking redemption seats on the new aircraft.

So what happens when eventually all 330s are retrofitted?

Guess. ;)

Seems to be happening pretty quickly at the moment. News story here:
More Qantas A330 Business Class seats are revamped

Interesting data point:

That news article is not quite accurate though as so far only four A330-200s have been retrofitted - EBA, EBJ, EBS and EBV. EBN is still flying around with the old 36J / 265Y configuration, as is EBM.

EBB has been in BNE for more than a week now so I am guessing we can assume that it's in for its refit, with QPD due out any moment now.

QPD is back in service today as 51 to SIN. That makes 4 333's now.

Lucky swaps
 

Well I flew Melbourne to Singapore last Friday and returned on Sunday night. Between booking, both seatmaps changed to the new configuration.

I have to say that the seat/bed (was in 2A both directions) was superb and I slept all the way back last night. Very comfy and private (I'm 1.88m/6ft2 and have big feet). The new screen is huge and easy to use too, though the content was less than I expected.

Finally, the food on the way up to Singapore was much improved from my last Qantas Bus flights a year ago - actually quite creative and tasty too.

If only they would put these seats on the rest of the fleet.

Patience...
Let's get all the A330s done first.
Then some news about long-haul fleet replacement (eg. 789s, 777s, 350s) to replace the last 747s
Then we can talk about mid-life refit for the A380s

Flew BNE-SIN a couple of weeks ago and had a swap to the new config - very impressive seat and IFE system and screen. Plus the food was excellent for an airline meal. Only minor bugbear is that the seats are almost too private - if you're sitting next to a companion in the middle pair then you need to walk all the way around through the galley to access the aisle by their seat (e.g. for assisting with stuff in the overhead lockers, or if travelling with kids). On the return flight it was swapped back to the Mk I Skybeds - awful by comparison! I can see what people have said here before about the breakfast on the overnight Asia-Aus sectors - it's not really sufficient to get you through to anything near lunch. Quality was good, just the quantity that was off.

I was connecting to and from BA (LHR) on my recent trip, and QF's new BS knocks the socks off BA Club World in many ways, which is really starting to show its age. Small screen, dodgy IFE with poor selection of movies etc. And the QF crews were great, whereas the BA ones were so-so. I suppose where BA win is the more family-friendly config and the consistency of the flat bed across the long-haul network.

First-world problems as always though...;)

Booked QF for next May traveling BNE-SIN. Seatmap shows the new configuration but who knows if that will stick or not. I currently have us reserved in a middle pair - would we be better off with a window/center aisle combo?

For next May, I think you cam be reasonably assured of the new config, they will have enough of them out there to give a little bit of certainty.

Dave

I think the new config should be pretty much done across the fleet by then (famous last words!).

I think that in terms of privacy etc a window-aisle pair will be the same as a centre pair, but the centre pair has the advantage that you can learn forward and talk round the dividing screen - or just chat quietly across it without doing so - whereas with the window-aisle pair you might have to talk slightly louder.
If you want access to your companion's seat area then window-aisle is the way to go otherwise I don't think it would make much difference. YMMV.

New A330 Business Seats
 

How is the new business seat revamp into the QF A330s going?
I read somewhere that all their planes will have been upgraded by the end of the year. Is that right?
I'm looking to get business BKK-SYD mid Dec., but only if the plane has the new seats.

Woops. Found a post that answers that question.

Won't be end of the 2015.
Currently 4/10 333s
and 4/18 (ultimately) 332s with one more due out in the next week or so.

By end of year would expect it to be something like 6/10 333s, 9/18 332s based on what has occured to date (but its all guess work)

Completion probably by mid-2016.

It does appear as though they are doing the jetstar recliner's first (for 332s)

So hopefully by the end of the year we are left with a scenario of only 2 or 3 recliners and the rest either the new product or the Mk 1 skybed product which is still reasonable for domestic

If you want face to face conversation then an Odd numbered A and E seat combination (e.g. 3A and 3E) permits this across the aisle. (It does not work as well with the K seats as the odd numbered F seats are away from the aisle.)

For an E seated PAX to access the area of an F seated PAX, they need to go though a galley.

Sadly, an upcoming SYD-BKK flight on a 333 has reverted from the new format back to the old 2x2x2 SkyBed Mk I. This is about 3 months out. So, the only sure thing is that there is uncertainty until the whole fleet is done.

Same for me. I was looking forward to trying out the new J seat on SIN-SYD later today, from my research, this had been a good route for the new refits. Alas, the seat map now shows 2-2-2 :(

I checked in earlier this week @ T-22 seeing the dreaded "DF" for a SYD-PER flight earlier this week (that's typically skybed one).

Walked onto the plane for the glorious surprise of new J.

These things change hourly methinks.