After our two hour Amtrak train ride from NY State to Penn Station, we caught the E train to uptown Queens getting off at Sutphin Boulevard for the JFK airport. The ride took about half an hour and from there we took the elevator to the third floor (C floor). After putting $5USD onto our AirTrain card we checked the terminal we needed which was eight and hopped onto the AirTrain. I love seeing all the different airlines on the way to our terminal.
Airline and Flight #
Qantas QF12
Aircraft
Airbus 787-9 Dreamliner
Airport, Terminal & Gate
JFK, Queens New York | Terminal 8 | Gate 47
Scheduled Departure Date and Time
21st October 2018 | 6:10 pm
Flying Time
5 hours 50 minutes
Luggage Allowance
Carry-on: 1 x 185cm (45in) bag or 1 x 185cm (73in) non rigid garment bag up to 7kg
Checked baggage: 2 pieces up to 23kg (50lbs) each
If you are a Qantas club member or have silver or gold frequent flyer membership you are allowed an extra piece of checked baggage. Business and First Class passengers are also allowed 3 to 4 pieces.
Fun Facts
- Qantas is the third oldest airline in the world and Australia’s largest airline
- Qantas is an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services
- Qantas is the founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance
- Qantas’ main hub is in Sydney, Australia
- Eight Dreamliners were delivered to Qantas by end of 2018 to enable the retirement of five of its 747’s.
Website
The Qantas website is easy to use and provides plenty of details when booking flights including type of aircraft, flight duration, any meals and snacks, stopovers and even how many frequent flyer points and status credits you will accrue on your chosen flight. If you pay by BPay there are no extra costs incurred. Unfortunately for international flights, you can’t book seats without incurring a fee of $35 if you’re travelling on a sale fare unless you wait up to 48 hours before departure. Extra legroom seats cost an extra $20 per person on top of the $35.
Check-in and Security
Check-in for Qantas international flights opens from 24 hours up until 90 minutes prior to departure. This can be done on-line or at the airport using the self-service kiosk or at the check-in counter. You can check-in three ways:
- Mobile check-in – by downloading the Qantas app you can check-in and access your digital boarding pass without the need to print it out. Other benefits of this method include being alerted to when check-in first opens, access to real time flight data in case of delays and the ability to view any entertainment options prior to your flight. You can also choose your seats.
- Desktop check-in – by logging on to the Qantas website http://Qantas.com and entering your booking reference and last name to bring up your booking. Select the Checkin/Print Boarding Pass button and remember to take your boarding pass with you to the airport.
- At the airport – via the self-service kiosks or at the desk in the Departures area prior to passing through security. Here you can also select your seat, enter your frequent flyer number, upgrade your flight using Qantas points and print out your boarding pass and bag tags so you can drop off any bags at the bag drop. Otherwise you can check in at the counter.
When checking in, if you are going right through to Australia with Qantas then you will be given boarding passes for JFK to LAX as well as LAX to your destination in Australia. Your luggage will also be checked right through to your Australian destination so you don’t have to collect and recheck it at LAX in Los Angeles. We weren’t able to select our seats online due to flight QF12 being two flights.
Seating
Layout – The Qantas B787-9 is a wide bodied jet with 236 seats. These are made up of 42 Business class seats, 28 Premium Economy class seats and 166 Economy class seats. Economy is set out in a 3-3-3 configuration. We were seated in row 50 of 59. The interiors and seating were shaped by Australian industrial designer David Caon in collaboration with Marc Newson who designed the Qantas A380 interiors.
Features – The seats are made from maroon cloth with maroon leather headrests. Each seat has netted foot rests and winged head rests that you can adjust to support your neck better whilst sleeping. Armrests are fully retractable and the tray tables are spacious and folding. There is a shelf below the entertainment system for storing personal devices or belongings which I found really handy. The seat pocket also had a good amount of storage space. Seats are equipped with individual easy to reach night lights on the screen so you can have yours on without disturbing the passenger next to you. The other nice thing about the Dreamliner is its oversized dimmable windows which are 65 percent larger than those on other comparable aircraft.
On each seat – On our seats was a good quality maroon blanket sealed in plastic, a set of headphones also sealed in plastic and one of their new plush pillows.
Specs – Seat pitch 32 inches (81cm), seat width 17.2 inches (44cm), recline 6 inches (15cm).
Cabin Comfort
- The air in the Dreamliner is taken from outside the aircraft and passes through two filtration systems before it enters the cabin allowing for fresher air inside the cabin. The air is also at a higher pressure (pressurised at 6000 feet rather than 8000) and due the composite materials the air can be made more humid, reducing the effects of dehydration and jet lag.
- The Dreamliner is quieter than its predecessor due to quieter engines and better soundproofing making the flight more comfortable.
- More fuel efficient and generates fewer greenhouse emissions than similar sized aircraft
- Ride dampening technology is used to detect and counteract turbulence
- Meals are timed in such a way as to reduce jet lag
- Big overhead bins make finding room to store your luggage easier
- Headrests are adjustable with six inches of vertical travel
- Netted footrests help to enhance ergonomics
- The tall ceilings and large windows give the feeling of spaciousness and alleviate any feelings of claustrophobia.
- Mood LED lighting provides an aesthetically pleasing ambience as well as having the ability to mimic natural sunrise and sunset, and hence reduce the effects of jet-lag.
Safety Demonstration
The safety demo is done by cabin crew whilst the safety video plays on your screen in front of you. The video is quite long at seven minutes but I think they have done a really good job with it. Some can be quite tacky and over the top but this isn’t one of them. The video jumps to some of the various locations which Qantas flies to and someone there will relate something in that location to one of the safety do’s or don’ts on the aircraft . For example a man in Kruger National park puts out his campfire before talking about smoking in the aircraft and a woman on safari drops her phone out of the jeep beside an elephant and the tour guide tells not to retrieve it as he will. She then talks about not retrieving mobile phones if they fall between the seats in the aircraft and to call a crew member to retrieve it as there’s less chance of it getting damaged. The video is quite clever and there’s even some humour too. Throughout the video they sing parts of the song “I still call Australia Home” which would bring out the patriotism in any Aussie.
In-flight Entertainment
Electronic Devices
- Electronic devices can be used whilst boarding using the aerobridge but not if you’re using the tarmac to board.
- Once doors on the plane have closed you need to then switch your device to flight mode
Power
- Shared AC power and high powered USB ports are available in Economy class (two per every three passengers).
Reading Material
- Qantas’ Spirit of Australia is the inflight magazine found in the seat pocket along with the safety card and air sickness bag.
WiFi
- WiFi is not available on this flight. Qantas has decided not to offer inflight internet as a result of a trial it conducted back in 2012 where less than five percent of passengers took up the service. The demand for internet on international flights is a lot lower than domestic flights given the majority of international flights are overnight and most passengers prefer to sleep or use the Entertainment system.
Entertainment System
- Each seat has a Panasonic eX2 inflight entertainment system with a large 12 inch personal high definition fully interactive touch screen. There are over 100 on demand movies to watch and over 500 TV shows. There is up 1500 audio CD’s as well as a selection of audio books, language tutorials, destination information, business education and radio channels.
- The screen also has a Flight Path allowing you to see details including where you are, the time and distance to your destination, air temperature and speed you are travelling at. A camera situated outside the aircraft enables live views from outside the plane.
Catering
Menus
Qantas’ menus contain new lighter and healthier options designed by Neil Perry. Qantas usually have menus when there’s a meal to be served but this time the crew had not been given them for some reason. What would have been on the menu however was a choice of three meals: Beef Salad, Roast Chicken or Mushroom and cheese pasta.
Food/Drinks
7:15 pm – 355ml bottle of Crystal Geyser spring water was handed out.
8:00 pm – Dinner and drinks were served followed by tea and coffee. I had the roast chicken with mushroom sauce served with broccoli, carrots and cocktail onions. This was tasty and I enjoyed it. Each meal was accompanied by garlic ciabatta and blueberry cheesecake. The garlic bread is always nice but I found the dessert a bit dry on this occasion.
Just prior to descent – Valrhona chocolates and Fantales were handed out to passengers.
Restrooms
There are seven restrooms on board Qantas’ 787-9. One up the front for Business class, four towards the middle and two at the rear. The sinks are a mottled black colour which is better than the grey as it doesn’t show up stains so easily. The toilets were kept pretty clean for the duration of the flight. There was a fold out baby change table above the toilet.
Service
The service on board our Qantas flight from New York to Los Angeles was friendly and professional. Nothing more, nothing less.
Scheduling
Scheduled Boarding 5:40pm – On time
Scheduled Departure 6:10 – On time
Scheduled Arrival: 9pm (LA time) 12pm NY time – 2 minutes late
The gate at LAX was occupied by another aircraft which meant we had to wait 15 minutes before we could pull up but that was not the airline’s fault.
Pros
- This plane was new so everything was in excellent condition
- Complimentary meals, snacks and drinks were served as is the case on Qantas
- The fresh cabin air was definitely noticeable
- Felt a bit more spacious than on the Dreamliner we flew on with AA
- Good storage and large overhead bins
- No delays or cancellations
- Love the large windows
Cons
- No menu on board this flight
- The cheesecake for dessert was dry
- No towelettes were handed out to wash your hands before meals or freshen up
Conclusion
I enjoyed this flight and would definitely fly Qantas on the 787-9 again. It was nice to fly on an aircraft that was still new and to enjoy all the comfort features built in to the Dreamliner. If you sit on the right hand side of the plane you might be lucky to catch a nice sunset as we did.