The days of sardine-like economy class travel are over, as long as you fly on an A380.
The A380 economy class is the new not-economy-class and has me wondering why, up until now, I have paid for “better” seats on long haul flights when A380 economy is fine. It’s more than fine. It’s…actually…enjoyable! It’s been a month since our flight home from LA to Sydney on QF12 and I am still buzzing about how un-economy-like the flight was. It’s like a whole new world has opened up for me –as long as that world is serviced by a nice big A380.
I hadn’t been down the back of the bus with Emily on a long haul flight since she became mobile, scared to manage a toddler in cramped uncomfortable conditions for up to 14 hours.
Long-haul economy has always seemed way too scary to manage. Traveling from Sydney to Los Angeles is a long flight, and topping and tailing a trip to Disneyland means I have an over-excited and then over-tired child on my hands in each direction. And being that it’s just me and Em, I need to make sure we can be as happy and self-sufficient as possible – I have no one to hand her over to, no-one to give me downtime – I can’t take a break.
Why I loved QF12:
- Emily could use the in-flight entertainment from the time she sat down all through take off. Parents will agree the time when tray tables are up, games and bags are stowed and all devices turned off can be the most difficult for entertaining little travellers, so this scored highly with me. Inflight entertainment that plays from the minute you sit in your seat and DOES NOT have to be turned off until you are disembarking. Awesome.
- Extra space – a good four centimetres of leg room whooo hoo. It really does add up to a lot of space. And I don’t know what it is about the seats but they are comfy and spacious. A big tick from me.
- Emily’s extra distractions, space and entertainment that meant I could sleep, watch a movie and actually relax. The extra room meant Emily comfortably slept…for 10 HOURS! Which meant I slept for eight. Omg.
- The days of ringing for a flight attendant for a snack or going without after sleeping through the meal service are all over too – self service snacks and drinks are in each galley and it’s a good selection too – nuts, crackers, biscuits, soft drinks. Water unfortunately is tap only, so take a bottle if you don’t want to have to get up for a cup every time you need a drink. And if you hunt around you might find a kitkat like I did.
- Weiss bars of course! Yummo. Who doesn’t love the Qantas Weiss Bar delivery.
And of course the Qantas crew is just as friendly as ever. We’ll be seeing a lot more of the A380 economy seats, and now I realise, that’s not a bad thing.