Journey –
SYD-HKG
Flight no. –
QF127
Class –
First
Seat –
2K
Time ticks slowly by in that three days before the trip. Well in fact it doesn’t – I barely have time to scratch myself getting many things ready before I go away – the last thing I really need to be doing is wasting time on mileage runs. The first speed bump though is that my Parent’s are now going to be in the UK at the same time as me and my Sister is also going to be there and is planning to surprise my Grandmother. At this point I am feeling a little selfish planning to spend the day browsing comic shops rather than visiting my aged Grandmother – so that’s one relaxing weekend out.
I am still though anxious that my upgrade hasn’t come through until I check at about 8PM on the day before the trip that it has come through – I am now in F to HKG. Although I am looking forward to F it no longer has the mystique it used to. I am not saying it’s a bad experience but for me the jewel in this crown is the new QF F lounge at SYD. I have been to HKG and done the Wing and Pier and loved them more than each time I went – the new SYD F lounge will have much to live up to.
I wake on Saturday morning to a beautiful Sydney winter morning. Blue skies above, Kookaburras laughing in the background, Skippy nibbling at the shoots in the garden – oh wait that was a TV show. The weather was great though. As ever the driver was there slightly early but did not knock or disturb knowing that when I said 7:30AM I meant 7:30AM. Into the car and it’s only 10 mins into the journey that I realise I left my new GPS device at home – the GPS that had been bought for this specific trip. Back to the house and we are off again.
At the airport I search for the kerbside check-in that is talked about and find nothing so I troop off to the new F check in – a walled off area away from the proles in Business class. There are people in front of me so the business class chick calls me over. After a minute or tow of explanation that “Yes – I really am flying to London via HKG, FRA and HEL” she prints my BPs and luggage tags. She realises that you only have a max of 3 locations on the tags so will need to print two sets of bar codes. She then proceeds to staple them together at bizarre angles so that it appears there is just one tag. My spider sense starts tingling a little but I have never had problems with my baggage before so this wont be a problem I am sure.
I ask for the express immigration and security clearance and am advised they have run out of the cards so am out of luck. So far I am not blown away by my pre-flight experience – check in was slow, queues can not be jumped and I didn’t have time with the “late” request for F to book a spa treatment.
Thankfully immigration is painless and at security I at least get a laugh. I was a little concerned about my new carry-on bag. I have bought a Tumi 20in rollaboard and this is the first test run. It looks bigger than the gauges but I am not checked thankfully. The amusement starts with a mouthy little DYKWIA at security. I don’t get the whole story but because of a bottle he is trying to get through security which I assume QF haven’t told him wont be able to be transited (supposition on my part) that he is now delayed and might miss his flight. He pipes up with “I have spent $20K on QF flights in the past couple of months and this is how I am treated” followed by “Can I speak to your supervisor?” I am struck on a couple of points – firstly security don’t work for QF so don’t care how much you have spent and as they probably make less than you – you aren’t endearing yourself to them by bragging. Secondly if you are in a hurry why are you getting into a debate with security? Then I realise – there are two ways of spelling DYKWIA – the alternative is IDIOT.
Suppressing my burning desire to get to the F lounge I troop off at that to the Tourist Refund Scheme to get the money back on the Tumi luggage (forgive if I often repeat Tumi – I just love this new bag and it in fact becomes critical to me on this journey as you will see). It is amazingly slow as people seem to not understand some basic concepts – you can’t use TRS if your flight is boarding, refund needs to be paid in certain ways and you need to show the goods. When I finally get to the counter it takes 30 seconds and the staff remark how they wish they had more of these
Finally, and I am almost running now it is time for the F lounge. I walk past the staffer and flash my BP and finally I am in and I am stunned from the start. Now if I seem gushing in praise then I apologise – I was obviously predisposed to like this despite the hype but because of the positive reports. The entrance itself is a marvel – the wall of plants is a green Taj Mahal, a temple of flora – one might even stretch to call it a cornucopia of leafy lovelies.
Up the escalators to the entrance and I stunned even further. The gulf between this lounge and the old F lounge and the current J lounge is vast – it is the Grand Canyon to the Wye Valley, Everest to Ben Nevis, Wallmart to 7-11. I love everything from the ticking flight status boards (although they could get a little annoying – and they do), the views of the tarmac (just wish there was a QF A380 sat out there for me to be boarding), the shape and curve and line. I am offered a tour of the lounge but prefer to explore.
I decide on some bacon and eggs (all organic) and a glass of bubbles (Veuve) and settle down to some nosh. The service as reported is not incredibly quick but the faster the service the more bubbles at 9AM I might polish off and I am still to enjoy the F flight. After breakfast I explore a little and then just sit and relax. I note that the bar is almost as long as the long bar in HKG and looks very similar. Not a bad thing though
As I sit I realise now that my only conversation for the next 40 hours is going to consist of “Would you like the beef or the chicken?” and “Please could I have another glass of Shiraz?”
Eventually I have to leave my haven and join the little people – as I walk out I look back and it really feels that the lounge captures the spirit of the golden age of air travel. It is simple, elegant and memorable. QF – well done!
Hmm – that was a little longer than planned
Onboard the story is the same as normal for QF in F (bwahahahaha how things have changed that I think of QF F as the same as
normal). I note that the seats are blue rather than the brown fabric I am used to. I take my seat and find the sleeper suit bag is now stocked with the toiletries – I am not sure whether the staff did this or this is the new way.
The staff are excellent from the get go – (Seftan and Brian) – from the comment not just my shirt is nice but commenting on the particular brand (the logo is subtle so you would actually have to know who it is to comment) of my shirt.
The food is ok (the lamb is a hint overdone) but the cheeses are the best in-flight cheeses I have had in some time. My Shiraz is refilled without asking and after watching a couple of movies and perhaps a glass too many of champagne I wake about a couple of hours out of HKG. I am not offered any more food and I wish I had asked for a steak sandwich. I also think that the Bubbles and Shiraz are blended a little heavily and HKG for 5 hours could be dangerous…
I reflect back on the trip as we land and wonder – was it really worth it? Is 25k points a better use of my $200 Amex membership fee – I guess it is and I am already planning when I can request my next upgrade…
Finally we are landing at HKG and I realise the journey has barely begun…
Linear Mode
