Above: Only snacks served on a 5h55 international flight; unusual for Qantas.
Flying to Auckland
Today, I finish my trip with a flight back to Auckland via Brisbane on a Qantas redemption ticket. I was very lucky go get a redemption ticket as I wouldn’t like to have chanced a long weekly B737 flight on standby with weight restrictions.
And the redemption ticket was also good value compared to the commercial prices. Tickets typically cost over NZD535 oneway (inclusive of NZD180 of Palau taxes including an environmental one), or NZD939 oneway to Auckland. Of course, the route is better value purchased as a return trip from Australia or New Zealand.
The Palau to Brisbane route is a temporary one, made possible with the help of the Australian government to support the Palau economy.
Getting going
I woke before 0550, before my alarm went off and had a coffee before my pick-up at 0600. This time, the driver didn’t ask for the supposedly compulsory tip.
I was at the airport at 0615 and with no bags to check-in, the mobile boarding pass was good to go airside. I was settled airside 2h before the 0830 departure time.
On the airport wifi, I could see the seatmap filing up and kept reselecting my seat in the hope of a spare seat nearby. I kept moving back from the 4th row and eventually ended up in the second to last row of the B737-800.
The crew turned up at boarding time with Styrofoam boxes which I presumed were their seafood purchases but onboard, I realised they were probably their hot meals.
We boarded late and there were a few unhappy people around my area that had been shifted from the front of the cabin due to aircraft balance.
My seat which was meant to next to a vacant one was no longer, but I managed to get the same one row in front.
Over-fuelled aircraft
After push back, we sat with the engines running on reasonable power, not idle with brakes on for 20 mins. My neighbour and I both thought it was a bit strange at first but the captain came on to explain.
The aircraft was now too heavy for the changed weather conditions and we needed to burn some fuel before take-off.
It seemed odd to me that the we did this with the aircraft pointed towards the edge of the apron which sloped into a deep valley. I’m surprised they didn’t do it somewhere else. There are no other flights for hours, so perhaps the runway?
We eventually took off at 0915.
Unusual catering (or lack thereof)
As soon as we were airborne, the crew came to tell the passengers across the aisle from me not to recline their seats as it goes into their curtained rest seats. That’s funny, since crew always tell passengers that the row in front are entitled to recline, except during meal service!
It was freezing in the cabin and I had three layers on! The inflight service came and consisted of a large snack pack and a cold drink for a 5h55 min flight. And that was it! While this might be the norm in North America, it isn’t over this side of the Pacific.
The crew apologised to disgruntled passengers for the limited catering with no fresh items (except for an apple), but I wished they had explained it to everyone over the PA. This was due to:
- No catering facility in Palau, and
- No refrigeration on the overnighting B737, meaning it cannot be double-catered from Brisbane.
I’m sure there could have been workarounds (e.g. sandwiches supplied by a top hotel) but I don’t think Qantas tried very hard. They appear to have sourced hot meals for their crew but couldn’t managed sandwiches for passengers. I do remember in historical times Air New Zealand did have Japanese meals and Wellington Business Class meals catered by hotels.
I asked the crew what Business Class passengers got today, and was told they had muesli with UHT milk. She also explained that a hot meal was serve in the opposite direction.
Transit in Brisbane
The flight went reasonably quickly despite the lack of seatback entertainment but there was streaming entertainment and then wifi once we got near to Cairns.
We arrived in Brisbane only 20 mins late around 1545. The transfer process was swift and painless with just a security check with no queues. I had time to spend over an hour at the lounge, eating my first meal of the day before continuing on the 1830 flight to Auckland.
The home run
Due to late arrival of the aircraft, we pushed back at 1855 bound for Auckland after a very short taxi.
This aircraft, like the last, was equipped with Qantas B737-wifi system which doesn’t have global coverage (only in Australia and Tasman) but is super fast, supporting streaming. That’s different from most longhaul aircraft currently, which bars streaming but has global coverage. This helped me while the time away even though this aircraft had seatback TV.
The inflight meal was a hot meal, cheese and crackers plus a chocolate ball. On China Eastern Airlines from Sydney to Auckland recently, they also gave a cheap potato salad and canned fruit salad. They tried but Qantas doesn’t bother.