Trip Report: Trying to try Qantas' new economy! Part 1 (SIN-SYD)

[Julian L]

The old, the new, and something in between with Qantas - Part 1

Hi, and welcome to this journey on Qantas!
I haven’t written a trip report in a long time but I’ve found some time to do this write up.
Part 1 will contain details from the journey from Singapore to Sydney. Part 2 will soon follow with details from my return flight.

Background

I have been living in Singapore for the past 2 years and finally got some time off to visit my family and friends back in Sydney. In the months before my trip I did a comprehensive search to find the perfect combination of when I am free, the airlines and of course price. Late November had the best prices and surprisingly Singapore Airlines was the cheapest full service airline. I booked my leave and once that was approved a few days later I went to book my flights. To my disappointment SQ had increased their prices by $300. Time to find a plan B. After considering all my options I finally settled with Qantas, as I wanted to try out their new seats on their refurbished A330’s.

Qantas was also the cheapest “full service” airline to fly to Sydney, when booked under an Emirates flight code. Meaning I wouldn’t get status credits, but I’m nowhere near silver, so that wasn’t a big deal. It was also cheaper to fly my return flight via Perth, a recently re-introduced route using a 737 rather then the A330.

Flight 1
Date: 19/11/15
Airline: Qantas
Flight: QF 82
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Registration: VH-QPG
Seat: 36K
Route: SIN-SYD
ETD: 19:15
ETA: 06:10

Fun Facts
17th Flight on Qantas
4th Flight on an Airbus A330-300
1st Flight on VH-QPG

Before The Flight

The new cabin for international A330’s would be first flown between the east coast and Singapore and the deployment of future reconfigured aircraft would be focused on Singapore to achieve product consistency.

I bought the cheapest economy fare with Qantas, meaning seat selection on international routes comes at a premium. Even though they are now making a profit they still decide to charge AUD $30 or 4000 points to select a seat per sector, which for me, is one of the most off putting things when deciding to fly Qantas. Deciding to save the $60 for my flights I put my faith with the auto assignment system and took a chance with my seat, hoping that with any luck, they will assign me my favourite window seat.

Exactly 24 hours before my flight when online check in opens, I log onto the Qantas website and check in. With great joy I find that they have given me 36K, fantastic! But then I realise that the seating configuration is that of an un-refurbished aircraft. My attempt to try Qantas’ new economy seats has failed.

I arrived at Changi’s Terminal 1 a couple of hours before my flight and due to Project Jewel, a shopping mall under construction at the airport, the Terminal 1 car park is closed and one of Terminal 2’s car parks has been designated for Terminal 1, with the Sky train being used to transport people to Terminal 1.

Since I parked at Terminal 2, and being a massive Star Wars fan, I walked a short distance to see the half scale model TIE Fighter, which is part of the promotional activities of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens at Changi Airport. There is also a full scale X-Wing Starfighter model at Terminal 3.


First Order Stormtroopers and a TIE Fighter

I then proceeded to drop off my luggage at Terminal 1, and as expected from Changi, check in is quick, despite 3 Qantas flights departing within an hour or each other.


Panorama of Terminal 1

Immigration was also a breeze as usual and since security at Changi is done at each gate I was exploring airside in no time!


Airside


C Wing


Obligatory boarding pass photo

I was to depart from Gate C22, which luckily for me is one of the closer gates. Security was also very quick and I was done within minutes, which unlike the rest of Changi can sometimes take a while, especially for wide body flights.


My aircraft for today, named Mt. Gambier