Good evening from Singapore! I’m presently in transit on QF009 from Melbourne to London, and am in Singapore for about 60 minutes. I was hoping to post pictures of the phenomenal tasting menu I had aboard, but that will have to wait, since the internet here is far too slow.

I’ll share one quick lesson, though. The flight from Melbourne to Singapore took 7hr30min, and I was offered pajamas shortly after takeoff, which I changed into immediately, despite it being a day flight. As we approached Singapore the seatbelt sign wasn’t turned on until seven minutes before landing, and for whatever reason I made the decision not to change out of my pajamas. They were so comfortable and it was late at night, so I figured I’d stay in my pajamas, go to the first class lounge, take a quick shower, get back on the plane, and sleep.

What the hell was I thinking? You know those high school girls that fly with shorts that read “PINK” on their rear, wear bunny slippers, carry massive pillows, and pack about 10 pounds worth of snacks and 18 gossip magazines for a 52 minute flight? Well, I felt like one of them as I walked through the terminal in my Qantas pajamas.

The funny thing is, the reaction was actually the worst in the lounge. I got looks of pure horror from just about every person in the lounge.

There’s a simple lesson here — don’t friggin’ wear your pajamas in an airport, let alone in the lounge. No clue what I was thinking, but I certainly learned the hard way…

Best. Flight. Ever.

According to The Telegraph, Justin Bieber was flying Qantas from Sydney to Melbourne, and as the plane was taxiing out he decided to go to coach with his bodyguard to talk to some of the people in his entourage.

From there, The Telegraph reports:

Cabin staff demanded the pair return to their seats in the pointy end of the plane, with Sky News reporting an attendant told Bieber he was breaching security – and that he had been acting like a child and would therefore be treated like one.

I’m just shocked to hear he flies commercial sometimes.

There goes my Bieber Fever…

Earlier in the year I posted that I had three huge trips planned, all of which would be on new airlines to new destinations.

My first mega trip was in March and took me to Doha, Qatar, in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and Qatar Airways first class. I enjoyed both products, though surprisingly enough was blown away by Virgin Atlantic, and not so much by Qatar Airways. The full trip report of that experience can be found here.

Well, my second mega trip will take place in a few weeks, and some people have asked me for the details on that, so I figured I might as well share them now.

The trip started off innocently enough last December. As I posted last year on December 3, Singapore Airlines had just announced that they would be replacing the Boeing 747 with the Airbus 380 on the Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore route. There was a bit of lag in updating the system, so for a couple of days there was the opportunity to book business class on Singapore Airlines on the Airbus 380, which is otherwise blocked for partner award redemption. I’ve had the opportunity to fly Singapore’s new business on the 777 in the past, and it really is just about on par with most other airlines’ first class products.

I made the booking speculatively using my United miles, since I could always cancel closer to departure if I changed my mind. Once I had that reservation ticketed I decided to “maximize” it. I added the segments from Tampa to Washington to Los Angeles to the itinerary, and then considered where in Asia I wanted to go. One of the few major Asian cities I’ve yet to visit is Kuala Lumpur, so I decided to add on a segment from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, again on Singapore Airlines in business class. I’m quite looking forward to a 185 mile flight where a meal is served, just out of spite for all the US airlines I’ve flown that claim there’s not enough time to serve a drink on a flight double that length.

I left the reservation alone for a couple of months, as I really wasn’t sure where I wanted to go from there. I figured I’d maybe book a Cathay Pacific first class award back to the States, even though I’ve flown them several times before.

One afternoon while on the phone with a fellow FF-nut friend, I mentioned that I wanted to try a couple of more A380s, and he suggested I look at Qantas A380 award space between Asia and Australia. I had a bit of a “yeah right” response, since anyone that has looked at award space for Qantas from the US knows how stingy they are, so I wasn’t expecting them to be any better between Asia and Australia.

Sure enough I plugged in my preferred date, and what do you know, there’s a first class award seat on the Airbus 380 from Singapore to Sydney. Holy cow! While I had been to Sydney before, I hadn’t been to Melbourne, so I decided to book Singapore to Sydney, have a 23 hour layover in Sydney, and then fly Sydney to Melbourne in Qantas business class. The award cost me 45,000 American AAdvantage miles.

I was feeling awfully spontaneous at this point, since I still hadn’t decided where I wanted to go from Melbourne. I was thinking of doing Air New Zealand back to the US, though examined all of my options carefully. After playing around with just about all the options out there, I noticed that Qantas had A380 first class award space from Melbourne to London via Singapore for a few days after I arrived, allowing me to see the city. For the geographically challenged among us (myself included), that’s a 22 hour one way journey. I couldn’t turn down the opportunity, so immediately put the ticket on a five day courtesy hold with American for 80,000 AAdvantage miles.

I thought this one out strategically. For those of you not familiar with UK air passenger taxes, the UK charges a nearly $200USD tax for those departing the UK on a longhaul flight in a premium cabin. However, that tax isn’t charged if you’re just connecting in the UK.

So over the next couple of days I examined my options for getting back to the States, and eventually stumbled upon Air New Zealand Business Premier award space on their brand new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. I didn’t want to continue on straight away after a nearly 24 hour flight from Melbourne, so figured I’d spend a night in Europe between those flights. The obvious choice was to spend the night in London, but like I said, I would have been charged the $200USD tax if I did that.

So instead I decided I’d visit Vienna. I added a segment to my OneWorld award on British Airways from London to Vienna after I arrived from Melbourne, and then added a segment from Vienna to London on British Midland the following morning before continuing to Los Angeles. Two more flights, two more products to test, a new city, and $200 saved. I booked the British Midland/Air New Zealand award through British Midland Diamond Club, where the one way business class award cost me 33,750 miles.

I’m still finalizing hotels, though it looks like I’ll get to try out a few nice hotels as well. I’m quite looking forward to actually spending some time in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, and Vienna.

In the end my routing will look like this:

The irony in all of this is that due to the Japan earthquake, Singapore Airlines actually downgraded my Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore flight from an Airbus 380 to a Boeing 777-300ER. Fortunately even that plane features their new business class and I managed to snag the best business class seat aboard, so I’m not too bummed about it.

Questions, comments, complaints, requests, critiques?

Starting May 14, Qantas will discontinue their San Francisco to Sydney service, and instead add four times weekly service between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Sydney as of May 16. The flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Sydney will stop in Brisbane, while the return flight from Sydney to Dallas/Ft. Worth will be nonstop.

The flights will operate with the following schedule:

Qantas 8 Dallas/Ft. Worth to Brisbane departing at 10:00PM and arriving at 5:00AM (+2 days) [16hrs]
Qantas 8 Brisbane to Sydney departing at 6:30AM and arriving at 8:05AM [1hr35min]

Qantas 7 Sydney to Dallas/Ft. Worth departing at 1:25PM and arriving at 1:50PM [15hr25min]

On one hand this decision makes perfectly sense, since Dallas is a huge American hub, giving Qantas plenty of feeder traffic. San Francisco isn’t a hub of American’s, so connection opportunities on Qantas were somewhat limited, at least as far as nonstop destinations out of San Francisco went. At the same time, I assume there were a fair number of people originating in San Francisco, not to mention a ton of cargo.

The question is, is the new flight really any more convenient for those that are connecting? Assume you live in a city that requires a double connection to get to San Francisco on American, like Kansas City. Previously you had to fly from Kansas City to Dallas/Ft. Worth to San Francisco to Sydney, and now you have to fly from Kansas City to Dallas/Ft. Worth to Brisbane to Sydney. Is that really any more convenient? Yes, the return would now be a one-stop itinerary, though the outbound is still two stops. I assume this is largely a marketing tactic, since the Dallas/Ft. Worth to Sydney flight is considered a “direct” flight, so psychologically maybe many won’t think about the stop in Brisbane.

Furthermore, from Qantas’ perspective, the outbound segment from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Brisbane is blocked at 1hr20min longer than the San Francisco to Sydney flight, and the Sydney to Dallas/Ft. Worth is blocked at 2hr longer than the Sydney to San Francisco flight. I assume the extra fuel will come at the expense of some cargo, since Sydney flights are often weight restricted to begin with, no? Not that I’m suggesting airlines do this, but there’s a reason that several cargo airlines have a base in Anchorage — it’s expensive to carry extra fuel!

Most interesting (to me at least), is that the return flight now seems to be the world’s third longest flight in terms of distance. Sydney to Dallas/Ft. Worth clocks in at 8,578 miles, exceeded only by Singapore’s nonstop Los Angeles to Singapore and Newark to Singapore flights, as far as I know.

Then there’s also an implication here for United flyers. Expect upgrades to get just a bit tougher on the San Francisco to Sydney route, as undoubtedly some Bay Area locals will start flying United (for the convenience of the nonstop). Who knows, maybe United will add a second frequency out of San Francisco.

Anyway, I’m sure Qantas thought this one through, since it wasn’t a decision they made overnight. Apparently they’ve been considering Dallas service for about a decade now. I’m just not sure I see all that many benefits to consumers at large (I suppose with the exception of those living in Dallas/Ft. Worth) and also to Qantas… but I suppose it’s all about the marketing.

For those of you that haven’t seen it, there was a “special” fare (some might call it a mistake) last night on Qantas for US to Australia flights for about $550 each way in first class. The key was to book them as American Airlines codeshare flights. I’m guessing this was meant to be a coach fare, but booked into first class for one reason or another. It was even possible to book the A380.

I was lucky enough to see it almost immediately, although apparently not soon enough. I managed to get it to price out several times, bit was apparently about a minute late, as the fare changed on the last page.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how this is handled. Tickets were issued. This was booked through multiple sources. It’s worth noting that if this is honored it would be very expensive for American given that all passengers are booked on American Airlines codeshare flights. Although I don’t think that many people got in on it, so they might just take the high road.

This is different than other mistake fares where airlines were filling seats they might not have otherwise sold.

I’m rooting for those of you that managed to ticket!

Qantas has long done “tour” flights to Antarctica from Australia, whereby they basically fly there, circle around for a few hours, and fly back, totaling around 12 hours. Well, this year it’s going to be a bit more special. Qantas will be operating this flight with an Airbus 380, and the flight will be over Antarctica at midnight, so the passengers will see the first sun rise of 2010.

If only there were a way to use miles for this flight, cause there’s no way I’m paying $6,000 for first class and I sure as heck am not flying coach….

I got an email from Qantas last night which is pretty exciting:

The new Qantas A380 is now on sale with the first passenger flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles taking off on 20 October 2008.

The Qantas A380 is on sale for selected flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles for travel from late October 2008. It is also on sale for selected flights from Sydney to Singapore and London for travel from mid January 2009.

With supremely stylish and comfortable interiors designed by Qantas Creative Director Marc Newson, the Qantas A380 sets a new benchmark in air travel.

When travelling on the Qantas A380:

• First passengers can expect privacy and luxury in their own First Suite
• Business passengers will experience the comfort of the new fully-flat Skybed and an onboard lounge
• Premium Economy passengers can enjoy a dedicated 32 seat cabin with spacious seats
• Economy passengers will experience ergonomically-designed seats and self-service snack bars located throughout the cabin
• All passengers can enjoy our on-demand entertainment system with over 1000 entertainment options; as well as connectivity via onboard internet and webmail (charges apply).

The new Qantas A380 is now on sale with the first passenger flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles taking off on 20 October 2008.

The Qantas A380 is on sale for selected flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles for travel from late October 2008. It is also on sale for selected flights from Sydney to Singapore and London for travel from mid January 2009.

With supremely stylish and comfortable interiors designed by Qantas Creative Director Marc Newson, the Qantas A380 sets a new benchmark in air travel.

When travelling on the Qantas A380:

• First passengers can expect privacy and luxury in their own First Suite
• Business passengers will experience the comfort of the new fully-flat Skybed and an onboard lounge
• Premium Economy passengers can enjoy a dedicated 32 seat cabin with spacious seats
• Economy passengers will experience ergonomically-designed seats and self-service snack bars located throughout the cabin
• All passengers can enjoy our on-demand entertainment system with over 1000 entertainment options; as well as connectivity via onboard internet and webmail (charges apply).

Experience the new Qantas A380 before you fly.

It’ll be cool to have an airline other than SQ flying the A380, and it’s especially cool that it’ll be flying to the US, so we finally get a nice chunk of big bird sightings. I’m surprised their setting exact dates this far out, considering how many delays airlines have in general with delivering a new product. I’m crossing my fingers for them, that’s for sure!

My friend Zach sent me a link to some pictures of the A380 interior that Qantas chose. Now I’m anything but an expert on fashion/what colors match, but that interior makes even me cringe. First looks fine (although nothing spectacular), but what’s up with the business and coach interior? Heck, I can kind of live with business, but look at coach! Yucky green, are they serious?!?! You’d think they’d want to showcase the best they have with the new aircraft, but I guess they tried to stand out and failed miserably.

I don’t know, maybe I need my eyes checked out, or maybe Qantas needs a new interior designer. Am I totally off base?

Update: Just saw that The Flying Critic blogged about it as well today, and it appears I’m not the only one that finds the interior hideous.