My review on the inaugural Qantas new A330 Business Suite Singapore trip

What's better than flying (using your reward points)? It’s when you get a VIP invitation to fly.

With thanks to Qantas, I embarked on my first media trip from Sydney to Singapore to experience the new A330 Qantas Business Suite. (in Jan 2015)

It was enlightening to share the trip with five other media guests: Jamie from Fairfax, Steve from The Australian, Jordan from Australian Aviation Magazine, David from Australian Business Traveller and fellow entrepreneur Darren from The Flight Doc.

Running iFLYflat I’m lucky to deploy my strategies to accumulate reward points and fly First and Business all the time across various airlines. Surprisingly I hadn’t flown Qantas in a while so the Singapore trip was a unique opportunity to try out the new Marc Newson designed Business Suite.

Here’s an insight and behind the scenes look at my recent Qantas A330 experience.

I break this down into three parts – so skip to your favourite bit if you like:

1. It begins - Breakfast and briefing in the Qantas First class lounge
2. The return trip with a visit to the - Qantas Singapore Lounge
3. We are flying - On-board the new Business Suite cabin

BREAKFAST IN THE QANTAS FIRST CLASS LOUNGE

My journey starts at one of the best locations in Sydney - the Sydney International Qantas First Class lounge.

The pre-flight sanctuary for Qantas and One world First class and top tier frequent flyers. The lounge has a stunning visual design and recently named #1 in the Top 10 Airport Lounges 2015 list by TheDesignAir.

I arrive with David Flynn, editor of Australian Business Traveller and I can tell he is a frequent visitor from the warm welcome he receives from Qantas lounge staff as ‘Mr Flynn’.

Breakfast is on the agenda and among the frequent flyers, there are particular menu favourites including the salt and pepper squid. I ponder the champagne choices and after consulting social media to reassure me that 8am is considered ‘champagne time’, I order a glass of Taittinger. It would be rude not too (a glass of French champagne in a hotel restaurant could cost around $30! In the lounge, everything is completely free)

THE LOW DOWN

The rest of the group soon arrive and we move over to a quiet end of the lounge for a briefing with Kylie Morris - Qantas Head of Customer Development and Creative Experience and Jackie Kempler - Qantas PR, to hear the interesting facts and the level of considerations put into the development of the new Business Suite seats, things such as:

• Over 700 hours of human testing was undertaken, with people of various heights, ages 20 to 75yrs and weights 48kg – 105kg.
• The seat was tested for up to 12hrs flight time to ensure comfort was guaranteed for long haul flights.
• Sleeping patterns were monitored and analysed to develop more advanced cushioning for side and back sleeping and bigger pillows.
• Inflight entertainment has been taken to the next level with the latest Panasonic high definition entertainment system with 16inch touch screen and 700hrs of content with monthly updates and TV show box sets available for binge TV watching.
• The new recline on take-off and landing and the ‘sleep sooner’ service was explained. Selected when in the lounge, the passenger will eat a bigger meal before boarding and their seat will be premade Upon boarding you only need to change into your pyjamas, perhaps have a light meal and then rest and go to sleep straight away.
• Kylie slept in an earlier prototype to test it out herself.

We also got to touch and feel the new limited Oroton amenity packs which are only available for red-eye flights departing from Asia on the new business class suite flights. (and we have secured two to give away – see the competition link at the end of the post)

Refurbishment of the planes is at the rate of one plane per month and we tried to get the scoop on the next regional international destinations for the new cabin. My gut feel is Hong Kong as the next logical destination.

Really, so much information, but an interesting insight into what it takes for an airline to release a new cabin and seat design and the level of customisation and passenger feedback that went into the process to achieve the best comfort and design.

After all that info – I was eager to try the seat for myself, but first we need to go to Singapore. We fly to Singapore in the ‘old’ business class seat, and return home on the ‘new’ business class suite – to experience directly the old and the new.

THE WAY BACK - QANTAS SINGAPORE LOUNGE

I felt like I was a VIP when I arrived at the airport early and was met by Shirley, the concierge, and she gave me a surprise tour of the lounge.

At the bar I met Ronaldo, the Bar and Duty Manager who made us some amazing cocktails and looked after us like it was his home. (many people tweeted me during my visit to say hello to him - so he is certainly well liked and remembered. Do say hello to him next time you visit - say you know me and he'll make you an amazing drink - on the house!...)

The shower facilities are spacious, clean and functional including a family shower room where parents and their children have the space to all be in together. I’m sure this would be pretty popular.

The lounge has multi-function power points and USB chargers built throughout with different zones of leather and soft-felt seats rest areas with and without TV and work areas. (ensure you bring your own cables)

A striking feature of the lounge is a long communal dining table and bar seats in front of the ‘show kitchen’. The two made-to-order hot food dishes available at the time were Kung Pao chicken with Jasmine rice and Pulled pork with creamy polenta & caramelized vegetables and a big selection of buffet food.

With the smell of the Kung Pao chicken being cooked frequently filling the air, it makes it near impossible to order anything else, as the cycle of (food order > cooking smell > food order > cooking smell) encourages repeat cycle of orders for the Kung Pao chicken.

But it all seems too short, as its nearly boarding time. I head to the gate before it is called, as I like to be first on the plane to take some pictures before the crowd arrives.

ONBOARD THE NEW QANTAS BUSINESS SUITE CABIN

Stepping on-board, I’m greeted warmly and shown to my seat with pride. It’s the brand new business suite and the crew is pumped. I can tell they’re enjoying showing off the new product.

I’m given a run through of the functions of the seat controls and other features. This is a nice touch, which I hope they continue beyond the new product honeymoon to help passengers get familiar with the seat as they are often hesitant to ask.

The seat lived up to my expectations and I can say with confidence that I enjoyed the flight.

What I liked about it

• Multiple seating positions, both pre-set positions and infinitely adjustable
• Fully flatbed position
• Comfortable foot resting positions built into the floor (seriously good)
• Simple to open tray table that slides out from under the console. It’s easily adjustable to the table space you want, from full size to cocktail or nut tray sized
• Large ‘console’ space or your phone, iPad, book glasses etc with secure stowing for when you sleep
• The 16inch high definition touch-screen was crisp and easy to use and the viewing position was adjustable for sitting up and when the seat was a flat-bed
• Flat-bed was comfortable for sleeping on your back and enough room for twisting to rest on your side
• Adequate privacy, you cannot see other people unless you really tried
• Nice mood lighting and reading lighting brightness and adjustability
• In-seat power with USB
• Do not disturb indicator which I saw a few people use
• As I largely ate in the lounge, I tried the light meal on-board with a few wines which was tasty and of a high quality
• Service was enthusiastic and prompt

What I didn’t like? Only a few from this first trip.

• The sash seat-belt was hard to find behind the doona, even though I knew it was there – it took me a while to find it and put it on though it didn’t feel strapped tight like a car seat-belt (maybe a safety concern?)
• The TV operates much like any touchscreen. Though the content advertised on the ‘homepage’ is limited and failed to hint there was 700hrs of shows. By accident, I moved into the main menu to see TV shows and found a treasure trove of extra content. I wonder how many people thought whatever listed on the homepage was ‘it’.
• The entertainment system crashed a few times, with one slight interruption to my show. It wasn’t a problem for me, as I was keen to try out the bed and put the 700hours of development testing – to the test…

This trip was courtesy of Qantas with no requirement to promote the trip. (and no - I didn't accrue any points from this trip either)

I love the experience to fly flat and I make it my job to try as many airlines as possible. I’ve flown on many first and business class cabins across many airlines (Qantas, United, Singapore, American, Asana, ANA, Thai, Lufthansa, Air China, Cathay, Virgin Atlantic etc).

With every airline now upgrading their aircraft and cabins - its an exciting time ahead for passenger comfort.

Any questions – let me know via any of the social media channels (below), and of course by regular email.

Cheers

Steve Hui

Founder and Chief Executive of iFLYflat

iFLYflat.com.au is a Reward points optimisation consultancy, helping businesses and their owners with a strategy to maximise and use the reward points they earn from their spending power and help with finding & booking reward flights.

iFLYflat - We make your reward points FLY.

Contact: Instagram - @iflyflat / Twitter - @iflyflat / Web: www.iflyflat.com.au

Link - Win one of three Qantas new Business Suite Amenity packs (ends 11/3/2015)