QANTAS AIRWAYS customer review :  24 September 2009 by A James   (Australia)

If you can avoid flying Qantas long-haul do so (many of us can’t), as they really have a second rate Business product which they are charging first rate prices for! I have just returned from a Sydney-London return Business Class journey on the new A380. Although given that the plane is quieter, and does have fully flat beds, the rest is typical Qantas. Besides no chauffeur service, an average lounge in London, and delayed flights (including missed connections and having to overnight in Sydney on the way home), the A380 is a bit of a lemon. To and from London our video system shut down for a substantial proportion of the flights. Next, my dining tables were crooked, to the point that I could not type on my laptop or cut up food without substantial engineering works. Also the tiny toilets in Business on the A380 really shows that their interior designers probably never do long-haul travel on the aircraft.

QANTAS AIRWAYS customer review :  24 September 2009 by K Herringe   (Australia)

Sydney to Hong Kong Return Premium Economy. Old Business Class seats in a private section behind Business. Mature staff, great booze, food by choice with tablecloths. Entertainment was fantastic. Qantas Lounge available, board with First/Business Class (check-in too) and Champagne or juice before take off. Bar, sweets and fruit available thru out flight at bar. Pre Book your seat allocation.

QANTAS AIRWAYS customer review :  24 September 2009 by Dan Ross   (UK)

BNE/SYD-LHR B737/A380 . Online check in let me have a choice of 3 seats on the A380, so glad I pre-selected aisle seat in advance. Got boarding passes for the whole trip when I checked in at Brisbane. Flight delayed a few mins due to faulty aircon unit onboard. Lunch of a warm quiche pie served. Transfer in Sydney needs vast improvement. 20 minute wait for shuttle bus to international terminal. My legal connection was cutting it fine now. Boarding the A380 doesn't take long due to the 3 gangways. Economy cabin looks and feels first rate. The seat is comfortable and AVOD the best I've seen. Very clear 10.1" screen with touch or remote access, extensive range of movies, music, games and tv show. As it was the start of the Qld school holidays, there were loads of children aboard. They were served first and it seemed to take forever to complete the meal service. Food ok, but would be nice if the server a starter along with the main and salad. Ice cream on one leg was nice, as was the hot chocolate after the main meals. The crew were fine, but lacking that edge of experience or professionalism found elsewhere with Qantas. I've heard the crews had to take new contracts to work the A380 at a lesser rate than the other staff. Shame on Qantas for doings so if true. Everyone had to get off at Singapore for about 40 mins before starting boarding again. At Heathrow we were about 20 mins late due to traffic and despite clearing immigration in 15 mins, my bags didn't arrive till 45 min later. A handful of pax were in the same boat as me where all the luggage had come out except ours and we started filling in claims forms when a few more bags turned up. Shame as the rest of the trip was good on the A380, you really feel the difference as its a smoother, quieter flight.

QANTAS customer review :  24 September 2009 by David Charlesworth   (Australia)

MEL-SIN-LHR-HKG-MEL Business Class. Flying with my wife and 2 young children, so trip was always going to be interesting! On all sectors the staff provided excellent service. However poor ground management of aircraft problems, in combination with old aircraft, led to unacceptable delays. We had a 26 hour delay prior to leaving Melbourne. This was due to a dysfunctional entertainment system (2 hr delay in boarding), then a dysfunctional PA system on the 747 (5 hours stuck on the aircraft at the gate), then Qantas forgetting to inform immigration we where coming back through the airport (1 hour delay). My wife an I simply got off despite requests to continue to stay on the aircraft as our 16 month child and 3 year old had had enough - the lack of organization was obvious. They put us up at the Hilton which was a relief, following morning back to same aircraft for an aborted take off 200m down the runway due to engine troubles! Back to the airport, another 4 hours (spent in First Lounge which is the best lounge I have ever been in) then on a different 747 aircraft to Singapore. Good inflight service, great food and wine, comfortable seat and a little sleep. The flight itself was a 9/10, the staff very aware of the stress caused to all. My 3 year old thought it was normal for flying! On arrival in SIN the connecting Qantas flight was delayed for 16 hours. Given my wife was at her wits end I convinced the BA/Qantas lounge staff to get us on a BA777 LHR flight. This was in Club World, good food and some sleep though I found the Club World beds very narrow. The return leg was via Hong Kong in another 747 and my son and I where placed in First Cabin as full First service has been removed from the sector. My wife placed upstairs with the little one in a seat with dysfunctional lighting (on for the whole flight above the baby and no IFE). Overall however excellent service, they had forgotten kids food which the Cabin Manager managed to rectify - you really couldn't fault the staff (just the aircraft). HKG-MEL in an A330, excellent service, attentive crew and on time - if only the first sector had been the same. Overall, the initial extensive delays where due to an 18 year old 747 with aging parts and confusion by ground staff. Qantas need to update their aircraft quickly.

QANTAS customer review :  22 September 2009 by Y Ren   (Australia)

BNE-SYD-AKL Business class. Rude QF staff at BNE airport, never come cross anyone from QF like that. BNE-SYD was standard business class service, good food and wine, nothing eventful. SYD- AKL was outstanding service, food and wine excellent.

QANTAS customer review :  19 September 2009 by Stuart Walker   (Australia)

SYD to JNB Business on B747. Outward flight very good, lunch excellent. As others have commented I found the seat more comfortable for sleeping in the reclined position rather than flat. Nice blanket but this was not required on the return journey as the cabin was too hot. The cotton PJ's are nice but the amenity kit is basic. AVOD is good when it works. The return flight was delayed by over 1 hour. At first this was said to be due to incomplete paperwork but later was attributed to removal of an ill passenger - probably got sick of waiting. The Shongololo lounge at JNB beats the Qantas lounge at SYD.

QANTAS customer review :  17 September 2009 by Dan Ross   (UK)

LHR-SIN-SYD-BNE. T4 at LHR is so different now days due to the refurb in progress, so check in and security was all over with in a few mins. Hadn't flown economy long haul for a long time so was a bit apprehensive. LHR-SIN I got a seat down the back where it's only 2 seats wide. Person next to me tried to use all my leg space with her bags and given that I have the entertainment box underneath my side, there wasn't much there to start. She moved her stuff when I put my feet on it. Food was fine, just not a lot of meat in the chicken chassuear. Loved the hot chocolate served after the meal with a marshmellow in it. SIN-SYD had a spare middle seat which made for a more relaxed journey, this time at the front of the Y cabin. The beef curry need some more flavour and the breakfast was bit light. Nice touch with the snack bag on the first leg and the ice cream on the 2nd leg. Good Avod system with a vairiety of programs on, but they did have to reset it on SIN flight due to issues.Seats ok, but would benefit from a foot rest (these were both 747s) Deplaning at Syd was quick as was customs and baggage and was at the domestic transfer desk within 45 minutes of touchdown. Domestic flight boarded on time with an efficient crew serving a better breakfast than the one we got on the international flight. All in all a comfortable long journey.

QANTAS customer review :  14 September 2009 by M Lee   (UK)

LHR-SYD-LHR A380. Check in and security a breeze, but probably due to T4 at less than 50% capacity with the airline relocation programme. BA Lounge was better than I remembered it to be and pleasantly quiet. Boarding well managed. The aircraft itself is spacious and extremely quiet. Seats comfortable and legroom generous. Food and drinks were good quality. Like others I found the crew proud of the product, which showed in effortless service. I found it easier to sleep with the seat nearly at the horizontal. I would have given this a 10 if not for the awful lounge at Sydney. I appreciate that the airport is undergoing renovation, but come on Qantas this is supposed to be the flagship lounge.

QANTAS customer review :  8 September 2009 by G Harris   (Australia)

PER-MEL B767. Departure delayed 3 hours because the incoming aircraft was declared unserviceable (these 767s are getting old). To their credit, Qantas handled the situation quite well and were reasonably effective in rearranging the flight. There were plenty of staff on hand to deal with seating reallocations, food vouchers etc. The flight itself was fine with the efficient crew offering a choice of hot meals and free drinks. Plane was nearly full, as it seems Qantas have reduced capacity on this route (the earlier flight we originally booked was cancelled some weeks before).

QANTAS customer review :  4 September 2009 by R Claravall   (Australia)

Sydney-Manila and back, Qantas uses their oldest planes in this route, in this case B767s. Old seats and even the earphone given did not work - asked for another and still did not work, gave up. Did not matter as the video itself was fuzzy and not worth the effort. Attendants friendly and seem to go about their business professionally. We were told that there was a problem with the video entertainment and would be delayed by 30 minutes only to be told the next two minutes that it was fixed. Still flight was delayed because of passengers from Perth were delayed. Food was normal economy fare, nothing spectacular. On the flight back, another B767 this one looker newer, seats still old and run down but this time the video was working this time as were the earphones. No complaints about the service and attendants given that the plane was full.

QANTAS customer review :  3 September 2009 by Bill Atkins   (USA)

LHR-SYD on A380. Cabin layout offers plenty of personal space. Seat is comfortable for a very long flight, though the control unit for the many functions does seem overcomplicated. Food and wines of excellent quality with many choices. Cabin crew justly proud of their new product and service was attentive, professional and friendly, though meals were rather protracted. London-based crew seemed more enthusiastic. In all a most enjoyable experience, marred only slightly by a child travelling with a parent totally uninterested in the child's behaviour and the impact on other passengers.

QANTAS customer review :  31 August 2009 by B Saguet   (France)

London Hong-Kong B747. Good flights for the price, only problem I couldn't check in online and was given a wrong reservation number. Food was ok and entertainment too. I had an exit seat, which are more expensive now! Asked for noodles during the flight but Fa forgot, not a big deal.

QANTAS customer review :  31 August 2009 by Masaki Oda   (Japan)

HKG-BNE Economy A330-300 :average for economy class. Aircraft looked very old, especially the seats. Although Qantas economy class has average pitch between seats, the fact it reclines very little makes us very tired, especially on a long flight. Good, and welcoming crew, and decent food. However, you will get virtually the same Chinese noodles with slightly different toppings if you choose 'Chinese' supper and breakfast.

QANTAS customer review :  30 August 2009 by R McCarthy   (Australia)

SYD-SIN, Business Class. I loved the feeling of space on the A380, with the top deck dedicated to Business and Premium Economy. There is a Business Class lounge at the forward part of the cabin. The new Skybed is fully-flat, and the zone incorporates an extensive range of luggage compartments. A great privacy screen and nice large TV. AVOD amazing, as was the food and wines.