{"id":6444,"date":"2014-04-29T08:30:25","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T12:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/?p=6444"},"modified":"2014-04-29T00:25:22","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T04:25:22","slug":"fiji-airways-business-class-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2014\/04\/29\/fiji-airways-business-class-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiji Airways Business Class Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently had the opportunity to fly from Los Angeles to Nadi, Fiji and then from Nadi onto Brisbane, Australia. \u00a0On the LA to Nadi route Fiji Airways flies their newer Airbus A330 planes. \u00a0From Nadi to Brisbane they fly their older Boeing 737s. \u00a0There’s quite a difference between the two and between other airline business class products.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_1728\"

Fiji Airways Boeing 737<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Airbus A330 LAX to NAN\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

Official Stats from FijiAirways.com:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Configuration: 24 Business Class seats and 249 Economy Class seats<\/span>
Business Class seating: 60″ pitch, lie-flat 8 degree bed, in-seat video with 15.4\u201d monitors, in-seat power and entertainment on demand<\/span>
Economy Class seating: 31-32″ pitch, 7.5″ recline, in-seat video with 10.6\u201d monitors, in-seat USB power and entertainment on demand<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

The Seats:\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

The website describes the seat as a lie-flat 8 degree bed. To me, that is deceptive as the seats do not actually recline to a true 180 degrees. I would (and have) described the seats as lie at an angle. \u00a0The seats are awkward and took quite a bit of effort to get to that 8 degree position. \u00a0 It’s a shame that in the 12-18 month old planes Fiji Airways chose to go with an inferior seating product compared to other airlines that have the truly 180-degree lie-flat beds. \u00a0The seats themselves were fairly comfortable otherwise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One long thin pillow was on the seat when I arrived but there was no blanket. \u00a0I was informed that I could help myself to a blanket from one of the overheads. There was also an amenity kit in the seat (which I’ll cover in more detail later.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The space in-between the seats is minimal and provides for very little privacy. \u00a0There is a small sliding divider that can be extended during flight, but it wasn’t much help. \u00a0The seats are arranged in a 2x2x2 configuration and there is plenty of overhead space. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a small cubby under the seat divider where you could store something very small – the amenity kit didn’t even\u00a0fit in the cubby. \u00a0I put my charger in the cubby along with the eye mask and that’s all that fit. \u00a0 There is a lack of storage in the seats. In addition, you couldn’t really put anything (like a Macbook Air) next to you in the seat because there was a gap in-between the seat and divider which allowed everything to slide out of reach. There is an electrical outlet in the seat and in-seat monitors with a selection of TV shows, movies and music. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, the A330 business class seats were disappointing because of the lack of privacy, storage and angled “lie-flat” seats. \u00a0 I would rate the US Airways Envoy seats much higher than these because of the space and privacy. \u00a0I would also rate Air China’s Boeing 777 Business Class seats higher because of storage and space. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_1709\" \"IMG_1708\" \"IMG_1710\"<\/p>\n

The Amenity Kit<\/span><\/h5>\n

The small cloth pouch was very, very sad. \u00a0It contained a pair of socks, eye mask, toothbrush and ear plugs. \u00a0That’s it. Nothing else. Even US Airways and Air China give you hand lotion and a few other goodies, like chap-stick. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_1711\"\"IMG_1712\"<\/p>\n

The Food\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Upon taking off we were presented with two menus – since the flight was departing at 11pm a light meal was offered about 1 hour after departure. \u00a0I did not order anything, but saw my neighbor’s meal. It was not served in courses, like some airlines do, but was served all at once. \u00a0There was a main dish in a tin-foil container, a roll and butter, a small salad and silverware. \u00a0The meal didn’t look that appetizing. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another surprise was that we were given bottled water – and it wasn’t Fiji Water! \u00a0For some reason I’d expected Fiji Airways to serve the iconic water onboard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second menu we were handed was a fill-in the blank style order form with breakfast choices. \u00a0The options were a full breakfast served 90 minutes before landing, a continental breakfast served 60 minutes before landing or coffee served 45 minutes before landing. \u00a0I choose the full breakfast and ordered the omelet. \u00a0When the meal was served it was accompanied by a yoghurt parfait, a croissant, a bowl of fruit, hot tea and the main meal. \u00a0 The omelet was served with mushrooms, a potato patty, and sausage link. \u00a0It was all on the cold side. \u00a0The omelet tasted like it was made from powdered eggs and it was filled with a cheese like substance. I’m not convinced that the eggs or cheese were real! \u00a0The mushrooms were good, the fruit was good and so was the croissant. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, the food was fair and bordering on bad. There’s really no comparison to any other international business class product I’ve experienced (and I think the only carrier I haven’t flown in\/to this region is Korean.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0717\" \"IMG_0716\" \"IMG_0715\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Crew<\/span><\/h5>\n

There were four flight attendants for the 24 business class seats. The flight was full with one open seat in business class for the pilots use. \u00a0The flight attendants were friendly and helpful. \u00a0They certainly weren’t as attentive as most Asian airlines crews, but did a good job overall. \u00a0The uniforms are flower\u00a0patterned and match the brown and teal motif of the airplanes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall<\/span><\/h5>\n

It is very nice that there’s a direct daily option between LA and Fiji (they also fly a limited schedule weekly from San Fran to Fiji.) The fight is a codeshare with Qantas and American Airlines operated by Fiji Airways. \u00a0I was able to credit the miles earned from my trip to American Airlines, which was nice. \u00a0 The airport in Fiji is not great and doesn’t make for a great lay-over. \u00a0The terminal is warm and jam packed (even at 6am when I landed.) \u00a0The Tabula lounge was very small, old and smelled like mildew. \u00a0In fact, we had to leave the lounge at 6:30am because the toilets flooded and water was spilling into the lounge. \u00a0We were however given a $20 FJD food voucher. \u00a0 I wouldn’t choose to fly Fiji Airways again unless I really wanted a direct flight to Fiji. I’d rather layover in Beijing or Seoul even though it adds 2 hours to the trip.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Boeing 737\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

Official Stats from FijiAirways.com:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Total capacity: 122<\/span>
Saleable configuration: 8 Business Class | 114 Economy Class<\/span>
Business Class seating: 48″ pitch, 18″ recline, in-seat video with 6 video channels and 10 audio channels<\/span>
Economy Class seating: 29-32″ pitch, 6″ recline. Drop down screens every 3 rows, with main screen video and 10 audio channels.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

The Seats:\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

The seats on the 737 are old, old, old. \u00a0Even though the website said there was in-seat video, there was no video on this flight, there was audio. \u00a0The seats are what you’d see on US Airways domestic first class with perhaps slightly more leg room. \u00a0There were no pillows or blankets and no headphones provided. There was no amenity kit either. It’s a good thing the flight from Nandi to Brisbane is only 4 hours 15 minutes. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_1732\"<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Food:\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Breakfast was served on this flight, even though it was much closer to lunch time. There was a choice of the exact same omelet I’d had on the last flight or egg-free crepes with pineapple and blueberry sauce. \u00a0The crepes were actually edible and made for a nice light meal. \u00a0The fruit served with the plate were not ripe and had very little flavor, but weren’t inedible. \u00a0Again, the food was disappointing for an international flight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Crew:\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

The crew as friendly and did their best to make the flight enjoyable. There were two flight attendants for the 8 business class seats, one of the two was the head flight attendant and didn’t really do much other than make announcements, though she was very friendly. \u00a0There were three pilots on my fight – one of them was a pilot in training. I kind of wish they’d not shared that with us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall:\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

This flight was like any US Domestic product you’ve likely experienced – and in some cases, worse. \u00a0I would not waste money or miles in the future to fly on Fiji Airways Boeing 737 business class. There’s really nothing else to say about the flight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Summary:\u00a0Fiji Airways A330 Business Class vs B737 Business Class<\/span><\/p>\n

I wasn’t overly impressed with Fiji Airways business class products though the A330 far exceeds the B737 experience. \u00a0The direct flight from LA to Fiji would likely be the only reason I’d fly them again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently had the opportunity to fly from Los Angeles to Nadi, Fiji and then from Nadi onto Brisbane, Australia. \u00a0On the LA to Nadi route Fiji Airways flies their newer Airbus A330 planes. \u00a0From Nadi to Brisbane they fly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"Fiji Airways Business Class Review A330 vs B737 #F2B","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10,91],"tags":[43,595,596],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nFiji Airways Business Class Review - VeryGoodPoints<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"fiji airways business class review, fiji airways business class review, fiji A330, fiji B737\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2014\/04\/29\/fiji-airways-business-class-review\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Fiji Airways Business Class Review - 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