Qantas Business Class A330 – Hong Kong to Melbourne

After a slight delay we were called to board our flight home to Melbourne. Our Hong Kong adventure was over.

As we were flying Business class we were able to skip the long queue and get on board a bit quicker. However, we still had to go through another security check where our carry-on was searched and bottles of water were removed. I am not sure why this was done as everyone had already gone through the normal security scan.

After an overseas trip it is always nice to be greeted by an Australian accent when you get on the plane, and the G’day we got from the Business Class manager was great… except it was in a British accent!

The crew were all British and it was a little jarring to see them in the Qantas uniform. We presumed they had come through on the London to Hong Kong flight (which is no longer in operation).

Anyway, we got settled and had a glass of champagne before take off.

Everything seemed to move quite slowly on this flight and we eventually got our pajamas, handed to us wrapped in plastic, and the amenities kit.

It was really hot on this plane. J asked about the temperature and was told it would cool off once we too off. It did, for about half an hour and then went back to being stifling. A request for water and a glass of champagne for us made at the same time was ignored.

On our seats was a menu, which listed the options for dinner as well as the available beverages. The cabin manager took our order for main course and the entree was served straight from the cart.

There were two entrees on offer. I had the hot and sour Chinese style chicken soup.

It was OK.

J had the nicoise salad with seared tuna.

For main course we both had the roast pork with plum sauce, egg noodles and choy sum

The pork wasn’t what we expected, it was quite fatty. I had two bites and then ate some noodles and left the rest.

I was full so didn’t have any dessert. Plus I was sick so I just wanted to go to sleep. Before I went to bed I filled out my order for breakfast. This is done on a sheet similar to what you see in hotels for room service. I ticked the boxes for what I wanted and hung it on the hook on the bulkhead.

The seats in Business Class on the A330 are referred to as flat beds. They recline and you are cocooned in the hood. However, these are the first incarnation of these seats and they do not recline to fully flat, you still lie on an angle. But I didn’t think it affected my sleep and it is still better than not reclining at all or very little.

I was in the aisle seat and was worried about being disturbed by passing people and carts, but I felt the blanket I was using being brushed twice and that was it for the whole flight. There is plenty of room and the seats are very comfortable. They include reading lights and massage functions, none of which I played with.

I got a few hours sleep (it is only a 9 hour flight) and was woken by a crew member shaking me. I was not impressed by this. Surely they could wake people for breakfast by being loud or turning lights on etc. There is no need to touch people. J felt the same.

J had scrambled eggs with bacon and a hash brown, as well as vegemite toast.

I also had vegemite toast, as well as sausage, beans, potato and a egg and mushroom mix thing.

The egg and mushroom mixed tasted really good, much better than it looked!

I can’t tell you anything about the entertainment on this flight. I didn’t even look at what was on offer, let alone watch anything.

J and I both thought the service was pretty average for an international business flight. Half the time the crew were totally absent, nowhere to be seen. And they were pretty abrupt when they were around, not like the friendly happy staff we are used to.

I only took one photo of the cabin. This was partly because it was a night flight and the lights were off for most of it, and partly because being sick I really couldn’t be bothered.