Qantas Airways

Melbourne to Darwin breakfast flight at 8.30. Flying into Darwin on morning flights the only city you get a hot breakfast out of is Perth so was expecting another bland offering on this flight and it did not disappoint. Thankfully Melbourne Qantas Club had plenty of nice offerings to fill up on before the flight. Again a boxed meal (if you can call it a meal) served a tub of muesli with yoghurt and a bag of apple slices. Not sure what is going on with Qantas and their catering but it seems like a budget offering and it will be a shame if this is the direction Qantas is going. Bring back proper meal service I don't mind paying extra this is why I have always travelled this airline.

Sydney to Melbourne continuing on from Darwin. Great food in Sydney Qantas Club. Refreshments are advertised on this flight so don't expect anything too much at 8.30pm on a flight little over an hour long. Flight full and service good but refreshment a little disappointing - sweet biscuits and nothing else. Free wine was served so can't really complain. Managed to get an extra leg-room seat which is always good.

MEL-DXB on the A380. Last section of the plane was only a third full thus giving each person 3 or 4 seats usage. Nevertheless the reduced number of passengers didn't mean that inflight service diminished on the contrary service became nearly one-on-one and was outstanding. Good entertainment system although the LEDs are a tad small and are not the best for screen clarity. Music channel options are fantastic. Great flight.

This is the first of my three negative reviews of Qantas. Flew Darwin to Melbourne via Sydney. I fly Qantas domestic refusing to fly Jetstar or Virgin simply because cannot be bothered with budget airlines. Lunch-time flight out of Darwin. New plane nice crew spare seat between me and fellow passenger. Lunch served was appalling! A boxed lunch made up of buckwheat and brown chicken slices hardly appealing. No dressing no bread roll nothing. If this is the path Qantas is taking it's a pity.

QF 824 on 28 Dec 2013 and QF 825 on 1 Feb 2014 BNE-DRW-BNE on B767. In this 4 hours flight a breakfast of muesli and fruit slice was served. For some passengers like myself this was just too small. Service from the cabin crew was quick and efficient so they weren't chatty. Snacks (cookies) was served prior descending. The flight back had less passengers and it was this trip that left a good impression. Ordered a vegetarian meal and was served a quinoa salad. The cabin crew took pity and they serve me the main meal which was roasted vegetables. Ended up chatting with the cabin crew. Ice cream was served prior to landing and I got two servings. The second was placed on my table to my surprise as I got back from the washrooms.

In November 2013 my wife and I booked Premium Economy for return Flights to Hong Kong in late January. In November we accessed the advance seat selection and altered our seat allocation to window side seats in the A380 on both outbound and inbound flights. When checking in on the internet the day before departure we had been relocated to the middle seats on the way out and in separate seats on opposite sides of the aircraft on the way home. On complaining we were informed that I must have failed to complete the seat selection properly. That did not ring true as the reallocated seats were different to the original seats prior to the advance seat selection and the original allocation would have remained so if I had not changed the seats.

Flew economy on QF51 Brisbane to Singapore on a 747. The check-in experience didn't make for a good first impression. The lady at the check-in counter was extremely rude and grumpy. However check-in was the only negative aspect. The flight departed on time. The ageing cabin crew were friendly enough but you got the impression that they were doing no more than they had to. The food and beverages exceeded my expectations. The in-flight entertainment was more than adequate. The seats were comfortable and the 7.5 hour journey seemed to pass quickly.

Tokyo-Sydney leaving 1950h overnight 9 hours. Arrive 0700h. Boeing 747-400. Qantas is not making money and this is certainly reflected in the quality of its business class travel which appears to be cost cutting severely. No champagne offered before takeoff. No dinner! Supper is what it's called. Ran out of the 2 Japanese choices early. Small green leaf salad and 3 other choices. Dessert on menu but not offered. Sake on menu but not available. No hot breakfast available unless you count toasted sandwich. Comfort kit is possibly the worst of any business airline. Some moisturiser toothbrush and paste socks and eye mask. Not a flat bed but reasonably comfortable. Good blanket and cushions. No privacy screen. Crew tried hard but obviously tired. Good range of screen viewing choices.

MEL-LHR on QF9 - A380 on 8 Feb 14 Business Class. The A380 is easily the quietest and nicest airplane to fly on. Staff and service were near faultless on both legs (Melbourne to Dubai and then Dubai to London). They were attentive knowledgeable and efficient. The meals were pretty good in general. I had a rack of lamb for dinner with some quality wine. What I'm not happy with though are the Business Class seats. They are very ordinary indeed and there are much better offerings available from many other airlines. The seats are ageing lack storage space and seem to have functions that no longer work - at least my seat was like this. Wobbly armrest and a TV that wouldn't lock down in place. The footrest is particularly uncomfortable as in its folded position it sits "proud" of the rest of the seat. The tray table was unsteady and made for some interesting balancing acts for food and drinks. There is very limited space to put drinks on the narrow shared arm rest between seats with not enough room for two drinks to sit side by side. If you have a window seat you don't have direct access to the aisle and end up having to leap over the person next to you if they have their seat extended for sleeping. Even with the new "mattress" to put on top of the seat for sleeping the seat is still hard and you end up with sore hips / back after a short period of lying down. The service was great - friendly and efficient. They're charging a premium price without providing a premium product.

Melbourne-Singapore 31 January Economy. A very comfortable flight. Excellent friendly service. The food was good but could have been a bit more substantial. The refreshment on the second part of the tour (a pizza roll) left a bit to be desired. The IFE had a good selection but unfortunately wasn't working properly.