Part One - Pictures now loaded.

On arrival at T3



I'm sitting at the roof pool of a hotel in a city that's 6000 miles from London and very warm.



Arrived yesterday and here are my thoughts on the BA flight that got me here...

Check in was a breeze and fast track truly rapid - opened up another lane and it was freely running. Straight to Lounge for a quick shower and then my head and shoulders rub. I call it a rub as massage seems rather OTT for what was served. Nice enough though for a freebie. Not particularly professional to hear the endless chatter of the shower room staff throughout this 'experience' but not the end of the world.

So champagne poured it was off to peruse the menu for the T3 mini CCR thing. Bubbles were good, usual suspects on offer - Bolly rose, Tait '04 and a new one Castelnau BdB '99 that was delicious. Much smoother and creamier than the other two.

I had the pea soup with a quails egg that was delicious and then the slow roast pork belly which was good but could have done with some potatoes or more vegetables to bulk it up a bit. Had the Chassagne with the former - lovely and the Bordeaux with the pork but I can't recall what it was. Very good though.

The atmosphere in that little room is dreadful. Coupled with broken heating it really was frosty. I ate wearing my coat! Staff friendly though and eager to please. I think it could do with better lighting and some classical music to break the silence. I could not help but overhear others conversations which was a bid odd TBH.

Boarded on time and managed to move into 1K as 1A empty



Crew fantastic, only 7/14 in F which helps. Met by CSD and asked if there was anything he could do at all i only needed to ask ^.Didn't eat dinner so can't comment on food but menu sounded good. NF cabin and 3 crew in F so did get well looked after. Drank 2 (ok might have been 3) glasses of Chablis and then off to sleep.

Didn't eat as very full from T3 but here was the menu...





And the wines...





Slept like a log and woke up in the Bay of Bengal, well above it I suppose - perfect timing for adjustment to time zone.



Straight to destination, no fuss, out first and whizzed through immigration. Bags out within moments and I was on the hotel shuttle bus 20 minutes after touchdown. If only all travel was like that!

Off into town for dinner at about 10pm - great stuff!



Great view of hotel from the bay...



And what a pool...



It's off to SYD tomorrow night so part two after that.

I hope that you bought a rain coat.....

Yes i always find 7/14 helps.

Looking forward to the photos and the rest of the report. And hope you decent weather in Sydney!

It's a very minor judgement call, but you might want to modify your post title (using the Advanced function under Edit) to include the codes for the Four Firsts you're flying: BA, QF(?),...? Down the line as your thread falls down the list, more folks will be able to find your TR (if you care) by searching for those codes.

Happy trails!

Sounds good so far. Look forward to the rest of the TR and of course the photos.

Enjoy the rest of the trip.

Part Two - QF2 SIN to SYD

So after my overnight stay in SIN it's back to Changi for the QF to SYD. I often wonder why this airport is voted best in the world as it is pretty dated, with no natural light and has absolutely no wow factor to me. Having said that, I do like the sit down check in area and it is remarkably efficient.

So checked in I head for the lounge and am told to use the EK one as there is no QF lounge (as many on here will doubtless know). Oh dear I thought, all plastic and gold lame, but in fact hardly bling at all. In fact it's more like a 1970's doctors waiting room that serves food and drink. Not really worth a photo I'm afraid.



I poured myself (or started to) a glass of champagne but the bottle was wrestled from me and I was poured half a glass of Mo�t. I asked for her to keep going but this seemed to get lost in translation and I ended up with perhaps another sip. All very odd but have to say wasn't as vile as I had thought so I must have been desperate for a drink - not a drink all day and even did 40 lengths of the pool and a 90 mon gym session But I digress...

The food offerings looked really quite tasty and there were hot and cold options. I was late to the airport and wanted to eat on board so can't comment on the edibility. This was a mistake as the flight time was under 7 hours and I consequently only managed 4 hours sleep so was hanging yesterday in Sydney. Given that the City seemed submerged in rainwater I was hardly missing the beach though - matthandy you were right!

Boarding at gate C25 was carnage and I remembered the security at the gate from previous trips so went to gate at the proposed boarding time as instructed. Big mistake. Those gates are hardly A380 capable as 450 people rammed themselves into the sardine can that left maybe 150 or so standing. Since many people seemed to be continuing from the LHR-SIN sector, the air was not to be sniffed at.

Longing for a glass of CdC I hear the bing bong of the tanoy and think aha, here we go. Sadly I was not elderly, in a wheelchair or incapacitated by my young children so I was getting ahead of myself there it seemed. Ten minutes later I was racing down the jetty to 1A with quite a spring in my step.



In retrospect this was not a good seat as the wardrobe is right in front of you and is a constant source of banging.

Not been in QF First before and was initially impressed with the amount of room. No personal wardrobe a la BA though and a rather pointless seat set up if you ask me. Heaven knows why they didn't just put them all an an angle in the first place. So plate of warm wasabi peas and a very nice glass of fizz, I settle in with the menu and look forward to supper. Try the 'massage' function on the chair but feels more like a low impact pneumatic drill and worry that if any of that continues I will simply be vibrated into a pool of slush in the footwell.

Leaving Changi



Decide to skip starter (when I get home I will put photos and menus on here but am away without the required lead so you'll have to be patient) and ate the sea bass with ginger and soy glaze and fragrant rice. This is the most delicious fish dish I have ever eaten on an aeroplane. Absolutely perfect. Big thumbs up to QF. The wine was a Leo Buring Riesling that was outstanding - I can still taste it now if I think hard enough.

Menus





Wine list - yum!



By now we are already well over Indonesia and I appear to still be awake. Dammit - got talking to very nice crew member who talked me into trying the iced Riesling dessert wine that really was delicious too (they had my card marked from the start!) clean crisp with perfect acidity and sweetness - not too syrupy, I will look this up when back in the UK. Then the CSD or equivalent came to introduce himself and ensure everything was to my liking. All in all very caring and professional.

After a far too brief sleep I awoke to the smell of breakfast (just continental on this route) and had a cup of fantastic coffee with a couple of pain au chocolate (they called it a chocolate croissant but let's not split hairs) and some fruit. This was served 40 mins before landing and I thought there are plenty of airlines who could learn a trick here. On short flights I really cannot stand being woken 2 hours out for something that must only take moments to prepare.

I have a great shot of the approach to Sydney...



So touchdown on time (left an hour late) to be told the temperature is a massive 5 degrees warmer than London I walk straight off and towards immigration, express lane empty so within minutes I'm in the baggage hall and bags first out. Met by Qantas drive (soon to be a free service to QF F pax connecting through DXB) and cannot believe that 15 mins after tyres on Tarmac I am in a very comfy Mercedes S class zooming through the torrential rain to the Northern suburbs. That speed through an airport is something I have rarely come across and feel unlikely to be replicated in MIA later this month.

So, at the moment my overall feeling is that it's neck and neck between the two. I prefer the BA cabin, even though the QF seat footprint is clearly larger. QF win hands down for F&B onboard even though I didn't eat on the BA11.

"The wine was a Leo Buring Riesling that was outstanding - I can still taste it now if I think hard enough." I like it - sounds great!

"So, at the moment my overall feeling is that it's neck and neck between the two. I prefer the BA cabin, even though the QF seat footprint is clearly larger. QF win hands down for F&B onboard even though I didn't eat on the BA11." A bit unfair given you didn't sample the F&B on BA, but you're probably right. Very few folk rate BA F grub highly. Which is a shame.

Part Three - BA16 SYD-SIN

The sun did finally come out!



A quick taxi ride across the city meant 3 hours in the QF F lounge. Well, quite a step up from the LHR T3 (and probably T5) lounges it is.



It's 30 degrees here and limitless blue skies are making the views from here stunning.



I have just had lunch - 2 starters as I couldn't decide (and the portions are smallish) ceviche of king fish with avocado and red chilli, then salt and pepper squid with chilli dipping sauce and aioli. Second course was a very fresh (wok station visible in kitchen) chicken and cashew nut stir fry. Glass of Taittinger and then a delightful Tasmanian Riesling. Sat in a reclining chair and watching the airport below buzz.





Although I don't travel as much as many on here I must say I don't think I've been to a better airline lounge in the world.

I had a shoulder and back massage and it knocks the socks off the Elemis offerings at LHR. Still more of a rub than a massage but whiles away the time - the running water at the bottom of the living wall is quite special. That said, if you want a proper massage you need to be in Asia IMHO. The therapist was pretty cold/miserable too, which was a shame.

Rubbish photo as quite dark and no tripod but you get the picture...



Sadly I've just seen G-BNLL pass by so it's OF for me this afternoon

OF it was but clean enough and I managed to quickly download 2 films onto my iPad in the lounge.

Straight on to plane and into 1K - 13/14 in F today so tight cabin.



Food was quite good - prawn amuse bouche with samphire, asparagus risotto with peas and followed by Thai green chicken curry which looked like cat sick but actually tasted rather good - nice and hot.

Menus





Wines same as outbound...

LPGS
Chassagne-Montrachet Les Macharelles 2010
Castro Martin Albari�o 2010
Spy Valley 'Envoy' Sauvignon Blanc 2011

Chateau Petit Village, Pomerol 2004
Bannockburn Pinot Noir, Central Otago, 2011
Tapanappa Whalebone Cabernet Shiraz, SA, 2006

Very chatty captain and crew attentive but quite formal/cold compared to the outbound crew. Interesting as I boarded with shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and my flip flops. Met with complete indifference and strange looks - which I thought odd since we were in Australia and when in Rome... Makes me wonder if they thought I was an op-up.

Had seat 1K so great views of city on take off.



Very odd thing happened as a man asked to move to 2K from one of the centre seats and they asked me if i minded (there was a problem with my IFE screen but i said i had my ipad anyway). of course i dint mind i said and he moved in behind me. then about half an hour later I was asked if I could shut my window blinds for the man behind me - why move to a window seat and then close all the windows?

Bumpy flight over Broome but otherwise uneventful. Now back in the rather drab EK lounge in Singapore but may stroll to the BA/QF J lounge to compare notes.

Similar happened to me in the EK lounge in LHR, was pouring a couple of glasses of Veuve and it was wrenched from my hand! Although telling the guy I was quite happy to pour it myself did leave him looking rather stunned.

Weird thing I noticed was that they only did it with champagne, not any other drink

Part Four - QF1 SIN-LHR

So, barely able to keep awake, I drag myself out of the EK lounge and walk down to the gate. No sprawling masses today as I wait until final call before heading out. Not out of choice - the lounge staff said they would announce boarding but they forgot

Bit miffed as I had bagged 2A on MMB but or some reason the computer threw me to the back (5K) - maybe it heard about my flip-flops? So settled in with a nice glass of fizz and an amuse bouche of what can only be described as a cheese straw (sans fromage) and a dollop of baby food (carrot purée) - both tasteless and unpalatable.

Off we go again...



The QF crew were very friendly and professional. Again, formal introductions from all of the F crew and the CSD came to see me both at the beginning and end of the flight.

Boarding was over in a flash but due to the short flight time of 13h we were asked to remain on stand by ATC for almost another hour. We didn't leave until 1am (4am SYD time) so I was feeling pretty exhausted before we even rolled down the Tarmac. Mental note to self - break up the return journey next time.

Now during this delay the crew did hand out menus and keep champagne topped up but no dinner orders were taken. There are times when speed of service doesn't matter so much but with me searching for matchsticks for my eyes I was keen to get some sleep and so I asked the crew if I could eat ASAP after take off. No problem I was told.

Menus





Wine



My dinner arrived just before the film I started watching on take off ended - I kid you not! By this point I was freeing cold and shivering from tiredness. I even said that if dinner would still be a while I would have to just go to bed. One glass of Tazmanian S/Blanc (can't remember what) and I ate the sea bass again - great food and perfectly cooked fish and mange tout - which must be tricky on a plane to be fair.

Dinner finished in seconds and so I asked for my bed to be made up while I went to the bathroom. Came back and my dinner tray was still there and no sign of anything happening. So I was asked to go upstairs to the 'lounge' and they would get me when the bed was made. This seemed to take forever but I was very tired so perception may be distorted.

The odd thing was there were only 10 of us in F - so they were hardly pushed

I slept for about four hours and then was woken to the loud bing bong PA saying "all crew and passengers return to their seats immediately and fasten seatbelts". At this point I assumed we were about to crash/something terrible had happened and so the adrenaline started pumping. Cue some very trivial turbulence and after about half an hour later I was back asleep. Not sure why there was such a dramatic announcement but better to be safe than sorry I agree.

Then about 2 hours later I'm woken by loud noises from the galley as breakfast starts to be prepared - this is about 4am UK time. I'm finally asked for my order at 5am (with some prompting) and eat before landing - not my original plan at all but it became clear there was no way to sleep through the galley noise and constant stomping up and own the aisle. It was like trying to sleep through the migration of the wildebeests.

Breakfast



Coming into London





As you can probably tell, this wasn't my favourite flight. In fact I will go as far as to say this was one of the slowest and most disturbed flight I have ever taken in any class. Shame really as this was the sector I was most looking forward to.

So in summary, the A380 has a beautiful interior with lots of space and is very quiet (well engine noise is ). BA old first is a terrible representation of the airline and desperately needs upgrading - I feel for anyone who has to travel on the unfitted ZZZ aircraft as they are obviously the worst. The QF crew were like a new puppy - bright and keen but lacking in the big picture a bit. The BA crews were attentive and more polished in an old-fashioned way but in keeping with the airlines brand image I suppose. QF food really was good but the lounge at SIN was pretty dreadful. BA food was acceptable and the wines on both were good. Next time I'm going to try SQ and CX - though I don't think CX have an F cabin to SYD.

Thanks badoc!

Really interesting to read your reports, especially as I have not travelled on QF long haul.

You are correct, CX does not have F on HKG-SYD, which I used in November. Pretty good J cabin, but not F, obviously.

Yes, OF, especially on the 777s, is showing its age and really needs to be replaced ASAP. I think this should happen in the not too distant future, hopefully....