This review comes from one of our Senior Consultants who recently travelled to Europe via Tokyo – enjoy!

22 July 2015

QF21: Sydney – Tokyo (Narita)
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400

Seat: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Entertainment: 2/10
Meal: 8/10
Beverage service: 7/10

Boarded late but left on time and looks like we're going to land a bit early. Seat 58a, exit row but bulk head, actually not that bad as I had extra leg room but didn't have to pay the full 90 dollar fee. The proximity of the galley was very very bothersome, and it seemed to be where the crew congregated so there definitely was extra noise. Although I brought my own eye mask and that worked a treat, I managed to get 6 hours of sleep. No amenities kit to speak of. Blanket and pillow provided. I had brought my own scarf to act as extra padding.

There were two food services, a supper and a light breakfast 2 hours before landing. Crew also handed out small bottles of still water on arrival and came round with grapefruit juice. I didn't hear her and thought it was alcohol. It wasn't. The coffee was average. Q eat was not available on this flight so I just had a regular paper menu.

My entertainment was a bit troublesome, it skipped quite a few times which made watching anything relatively difficult and just plain annoying (especially because I was so excited about watching the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). I really wanted to get some sleep anyway (I didn't have a choice, I took 2 sleeping tablets) so it didn't bother me too much. I mentioned it to the staff at breakfast and they reset it immediately. It still didn't work but with only an hour to go until we landed it didn't affect my overall experience. Although I do love watching the flight path on the way in. A USB port in the seats would have made a big difference and it's sorely missed compared to on the A380s and the new A330 seats.

Staff were excellent. Due to where I was sitting I had about 6 of them taking care of me (mostly older men) but that didn't feel like I was being handballed around or anything. Service was very good throughout and I definitely was very impressed, a huge step up from the old Qantas economy service. Uniforms are simply not flattering on the women but we'll leave that debate for another day.