I am frequent traveler or should I say wanderer and used Qantas on ultra long hauls from London to Sydney via Singapore for the first time. And this review is based on my personal experience. I usually use BA but I have nothing say about them :)
The check in: it was pretty straightforward, simple efficient and baggage handled with care atleast until I could see it. Note that I did not carry more than 20 kilograms in my checked in baggage and my hand baggage was not more than 3 kilograms. So I did not have to fight for my right to carry more than what was allowed. The staff were very polite and the process of checking in my baggage was done in less than 5 minutes since I already got my boarding pass from one of those checking in machines. Oh by the way I am not going to rant about the long queues at Heathrow because that is out of scope for a review on Qantas.
The boarding: The flight was on time and boarding was the usual nothing to complain. Since it was an A380 it took a while to stuff everybody in. The seats were pleasantly bigger than the usual 747s which fly long hauls on a lot of other airlines. I unfortunately got a very odd aisle seat that was right behind the pantry area and probably I would trample anybody who went for a glass of water if I stretched my legs. I didn’t complain and never really thought of asking for a different seat, but the stewardess said there was an empty seat on the other end of the row that would be more comfy. I agreed to move my home for the next 22 hours to the other seat and was pleasantly surprised all 4 seats where empty. Thank you very much for making me comfortable lady.
The Journey: Buckled in and took off from Heathrow and dinner service started. Food was the same average as any other airlines. Got the chicken breast which was cooked to perfection with some par boiled carrots, broccoli and mashed potatoes (yes even though I am Indian, I like the so called bland food). I did like the mashed potatoes very much. Had a couple of beers and I did notice I was missing something very obvious. That God awful buzz from the engines was not there at all! It is a good selection of aircraft for a long haul and thank you for being thoughtful about that Qantas. The stewardesses were very polite and helpful with all my pestering needs to be watered, fed and wrapped in blanky till about 1 AM. After that passengers should just go get whatever they need from the pantry areas. I like that idea than being a pompous a*s pushing the button for every need and bothering my fellow passengers who just like me wouldn’t want the stupid light to be turned on frequently. The selection of entertainment was decent had around 17 movies and a bunch of music albums and some documentaries and stuff just like most other airlines. Since I am not into watching my favorite show on a small screen on a plane, I gave it pass until I noticed there was a channel showing the outside of the plane. It seems the camera is mounted somewhere on/close to the tail of the aircraft. Too bad it was dark at this time and could only see the blinking lights. Thought to myself "Soon my panoramic cam soon, I shall see what you see". Since there was no engine noise I could catch up on some quality sleep on this plane which by itself is a big + for an airline. within 3 hours of flight we hit the sunrise (yep when traveling towards east, time changes every 30 mins). Good thing the flight crew requested everybody to close their shades and try to sleep through the "London night" when flying over Romania I think. But that’s a very good idea though and I was annoyed when the couple sitting behind wouldn’t close the damn thing. Yes sweetie I know you paid for the tickets. I did too and everybody else did too so close the bloody shades already. Yet I was amazed how the stewardess made her feel like a queen by providing champagne to drown her sorrows of not looking at the nothingness outside the window. But she also gave everybody who was annoyed by this prancing queen champagne too and apologized for the bad behavior. Thanks again for the bubbly stewardess lady. After that sweet dreams for the next 6 hours and landing in Singapore at 7 PM. yes I skipped breakfast and they did have a meal ready for me when I woke up, but I didn’t feel like eating anything so the stewardess gave me 2 glasses of orange juice and a glass of guava juice. The crew promised our hand baggage will be safe and we could unload ourselves in singapore and relax for an hour. Boarded the plane and dinner was served but too bad I had some Assam Laksa (No it’s not indian. It’s a thai chinese fusion I think) at the airport and skipped it. Singapore to Sydney was pretty much the same with a different crew who were equally polite and attentive. watering, feeding, blanket rolling all done skillfully and let everybody sleep. 7 AM landed in Sydney, immigration and baggage claim were as usual nothing extraordinary. After the sniffing doggies (which were quite friendly when I petted them. probably it would’ve been different if I had coke in my bag though), explosive residue test and money change, I was out feeling fresh with a little jet lag and thinking how not so awful the trip was.
Overall, Qantas is a pretty good airline with good service. Would I go for another trip with them? yes I would. I don’t expect to be treated like a king, but you treated me very well for the 22 hours I was on board. Would I recommend Qantas to others? yes I would. for the price and service it’s quite pleasurable and a relaxing journey especially on an A380. Why can’t Indian or Jet get one of those to fly people to Newark and Brussels? As for the panoramic tail cam, "we will meet again my friend and I will see what you see" ;)