Qantas domestic business class
Jan 22nd, 2008 by Nick
I flew Qantas back from Ayers Rock yesterday. The plane was about 85% full in economy, but business was virtually empty. Out of a possible 12 seats, there was me, and an older Australian couple who booked a weekend away at the last minute and were shocked (!) to find out that Ayers Rock would be this (!) hot in January. No! They yammered about it to everybody they could find, fortunately I had the presence of mind to put on my headphones before they got to me.
My flight was a little better than a corresponding US domestic flight. The plane itself was a 737-800, and it was almost identical to an American Airlines plane of the same type. The only differences were 3 rows of business instead of 4, legrests that didn’t do much, and an in-flight entertainment system. Qantas makes the effort of loading new videos twice/day with a 15-minute national newscast from one of the broadcast stations. Of course, their relatively small domestic network makes it easy to day.
Lunch was a choice of either a fish or a salad with lamb. I took the fish - it was ok for airplane food. The movie was The Darjelling Express, which looked extremely stupid.
Upon landing, I collected my bags and found the airport shuttle bus service. The round trip is $22 vs. about $95 by taxi. Of course, it takes much longer, almost an hour from the time I got to the stand to the time I got to the hotel.
I probably would have yammered back about how incredibly hot it was in the MIDDLE OF WINTER, and how global warming is going to put all of Australia underwater just like New Orleans.
I’m glad you weren’t in a 747 flying over water.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/powerhit-qf2-finally-touches-down/2008/01/09/1199554718579.html
Apparently, Qantas has switched from using filter packs to ground coffee; and they have a cappuccino machine in first class. Both of which may have contributed to the clogged drains in the galley. Or may not.