by atrecord » Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:52 am
Just took Qantas to Brisbane. So so, not near SQ. In-flight entertainment screen was small, just between the size of my Note 3 and the 7" tablets size... didn't require too much service, but given that the flight was at 8.30 pm, there was not even a napkin for passengers to freshen up after boarding.
So it wasn't that impressive.
Came back on Emirates. flight was 2.35 am! Airport was quite small, and empty. And as we reached the airport around 7 pm and had dinner there, the long wait proved to be really cold! The eateries were almost all shut by 10 pm but that's understandable i think, given the lack of human traffic.
When it was finally time to check-in, the Emirates staff who manned the counter were friendly and helpful. An hour or so later, the same batch of staff appeared at the boarding gate to see to boarding! Was not impressed there, though:
The staff used the PA to ask for a few families to board first. There was little movement for the next 10-15 min, and since it was only about 20-30 min before scheduled take-off time, a lot of the passengers were gathering near the start of the queue already. I have elderly parents and young kids with me and had always been ushered in first previously in other countries, but the staff there only gave priority to families with young kids. But the worst thing was that the staff called for the few families at least 4 more times on the PA system (with at 2-5 min intervals), and because they have not shown up, all the passengers were kept waiting (queuing and standing) at the entrance... This could have been better managed.
Once on board, i could feel that legroom was marginally roomier, although only just. The in-flight entertainment screen however was really impressive. It's like an iPad, much bigger than the ones on SQ 747 flights i'd been on. We were joking that the business class might get 15" monitor and maybe first class will get 21" TV... Fully touch-screen too.
And this time they served napkins. Food however, was not very impressive. Not sure whether it's because of the flight time, or is the same in general.