joepatr

Looking to fly Melbourne to Sydney one weekend in October.

I see that most flights are the Boeing 737 but some are the Airbus A330.

In Business, is one better than the other? Searching online and reading the thread on this forum, it sounds like there is quite a good high-quality product on some of the A330s, but would I get this between Melbourne and Sydney? I'm looking at QF430 as an example.

Cheers

thadocta

For such a short flight I don't think it really matters.

Highly unlikely you will get the reconfigured A330's, they seem to be predominately (but not exclusively) allocated to transcontinental flights, so your A330 will probably be the older six-across layout, rather than the newer 4-across.

Also, the higher number of J seats might make for slower service, only 12 J seats on the B737.

Is this paid or award? Stand alone travel or part of an itinerary?

The only reason I ask is that I really wouldn't consider forking out either $$$ or miles for a short flight like MEL-SYD, WHY is good enough on both QF and VA for such a short flight, you will be fed and watered, for QF430 leaving at midday you will get a light meal.

The only way I would consider J on a flight like this is if it is part of a larger J itinerary, and the J flight comes at no extra cost.

Having said that though, the 1200 flight is likely to be lightly loaded, so service should be quite quick in both cabins.

I would go with the flight with the timings which best suits your needs.

Dave

keybo

If you end up on one of the refurbed A330s then you're in for quite a treat. Really, really great product. And yes, they do fly these on SYD<->MEL/BNE.

Unfortunately bit of a lottery with which plane you get for now, though even with the old product, I prefer the A330 J cabin over the B737 if only for the extra spaciousness.

number_6

The product is substantially the same in J on all aircraft, but as stated earlier there is some chance of getting a flat-bed A330 which do fly MEL-SYD as repositioning (not sure if they ever fly SYD-MEL though). Maybe QF does some maintenance work on them in MEL, in any case I am running over 50% flat-bed A330s for MEL-SYD in the past few months (out of about 10 flights) and zero SYD-MEL. The 737 service is better in J if you are in the first row and I do prefer it to A330. But food/drinks are identical and there isn't time to play with the flat bed too much so not really a comfort factor.

m0hamed

This is completely untrue. Some A330s are ex JQ birds which are pretty much the same seats as Y, just difference in service. Others have Skybeds and then there is, of course, the new product. The 738 has a standard hard product across the entire fleet.

You can generally tell which aircraft you are getting based on the seatmap.

To see what the morning A330 flight to MEL often is, as I have experience almost every fortnight, it is this cabin with the dreaded 'workspace' for the middle row. I prefer dual aisle aircraft so specifically book these flights.

NZbutterfly

50% is way better than I'd expect given it seems less than half the fleet done!

joepatr

Hi folks,

Thanks for your responses. I'm booking with my Avios; so the cost is negligible for me.

Sounds as if it's pot luck then really what you get; I suppose I might as well go with a different timed flight.

BD1959

A couple of things to consider:

1. The likelihood of an A330 being subbed to a B737 due to light loads (not sure what the onward pattern for the bird is ex-QF430, but would have thought this possible for weekends

2. Possible delays. I avoid the 6:30pm SYD-MEL during the week because the few times I've taken it, it's been delayed inbound or not turned-around promptly or both. I now book the 6:45pm B737 as this seems to be more consistent and (IME) earlier into MEL.

Regards,

BD

AustralianPoochie

330 of course, unless they do a swappie.
Its such a put down when I have such high hopes of a wide body, only to find a narrow 737 waiting for me in SYDdom!
Have done a few wide bodies MEL/SYD/BNE and vv.

moa999

I could say what you have written is competely untrue.
Those ex-JQ StarClass seats are still substantially better than Y, and with the removal of the fold-out TV are not much different in width to the 2x2x2 J-class seats.

That said the new new product is awesome.

Shareholder

Just booked the 10a MEL-SYD A330 in J as part of my return itinerary from Launceston to Helsinki (via DBX and LHR), QF1 in F. Nice award for a mid-summer visit to Tasmania next February. Hoping it will be a repositioning flight for the A330 so I can sample the new international J seat.

wb1969

Sorry to revive an old thread but I have just booked QF473 for one Friday in August 2017. Flight history suggests it is normally an A330 but the seat map is showing 737. Based in the U.K I know nothing about how QF roster their planes. Is the 737 the default and closer to flight time Qantas upguages to A330 depending on demand?

Really love to fly the A330 as I've done dozens of 737s so interested to know likelihood of getting the wide body.

Dave Noble

It looks like QF473 is scheduled to be operated using a 737 . would think it unlikely that it will change since a 737 is a normal aeroplane for that route, though QF may decide to change its schedules sometime in the next 10 months

shuuy

On SYD-MEL, what I've found: 330s are usually either (a) positioning for trans-Australian and (b) points of peak demand (bearing in mind there are 26 non-stop flights each way daily - one of the busiest air routes in the world).

As a result, 330s are usually morning (8 / 8.30) or evening (5 / 5.30 / 6). Outside these times, very unlikely. I fly this route weekly and never have been upgauged to a 330, only down.

m0hamed

There are some midday flights and afternoon flights as well. From memory midday and 12:30PM and returning 2:30PM from MEL.

You really need to check each flight individually.