Arrived in Hong Kong

We've arrived safely in Hong Kong and are in a beautiful hotel room, but I have to say I'm not in a rush to fly Qantas internationally again.

It's been a while since we flew overseas with them and, though the flight was fine, their standards seem to have dropped dramatically. 

IN FLIGHT MOVIES

Qantas has always trumpeted it's award-winning in flight movie selection. Normally we get set for a non-stop marathon of latest release movies. Not this time. Though there certainly is an extensive selection of movies and TV shows, there was a distinct lack of "latest releases". We both chose to sleep instead.

FOOD

The less said the better. Sue-Anne tried the "healthy" option of the vegetarian meal, but it consisted of a very limp salad she thought must have been a week old, some rice and beans, and some hard old melons.

I chose the chicken and rice, which also came with a salad. The salad was inedible (though Sue-Anne said it look much better than hers) and the chicken was mostly fat coated in sauce and the rice was cold. 

I didn't bother with breakfast. Sue-Anne did, but she regretted it.

Whatever happened to the Neil Perry gourmet meals Qantas used to be so proud of?

Or even freshness?

Only a year or so ago I remember the staff serving us ice creams and treat packs throughout the night.

TOILETRY PACK

Now the only pack we get is the toiletry pack. This used to be a branded kit with a comb or brush, socks, some sprays or lotions, a toothbrush, a sample size of Macleans toothpaste, maybe a razor, a blindfold and ear plugs all in a nice toiletries case you can keep and use later. (We have dozens at home we still use to keep small props in).

Look at what we got this time...

 

A cheap plastic ziplock back with a blindfold that smells like weird plastic and the thinnest, cheapest looking toothbrush with a tiny tube in no-name paste. I've seen better (and bigger) toothbrushes made for children to use on dolls!

And yes, the plane was generally untidy with the inflight magazines in my pocket looking dog-eared and covered in scribbling from a previous child passenger.

We used to always travel Qantas. But since they've made it much harder to accrue or cash-in frequent flyer points, and they obviously aren't making any effort with their inflight services, we'll give all the other airlines a try from now on.

It will be very interesting to see what V Australia comes up with when we fly to the USA next month.