After my less than average flight on Lufthansa, I was glad to be in Singapore. On my stopover, I got to catch up again with my good friend Eloy, and we went to look around the Jewel which I personally hadn’t seen before, and wow, it’s pretty damn cool to look at.

I was also able to use the check-in facilities here to retrieve my boarding pass as well as store my luggage instead of having to wheel it around with me for a few hours which I thought is a great idea.

I really haven’t flown economy on international flights in the past few years due to using miles and points effectively and taking advantage of cheap fares, but I was honestly quite looking forward to it. Domestically I fly economy 90% of the time as the upgrade and status game is a whole lot different to the US so I knew already what the seat itself is like and I actually quite like the A330 economy product.

Eloy and Myself at the Changi Jewel

Qantas have both the -200 and -300 variant of the A330, but most of the time you’ll see the extended aircraft on international services, but that doesn’t mean you won’t see it commonly put on domestic routes. There are a few little differences with furnishings which you can pick up on, but overall, there’s nothing majorly setting them apart.

The A330-300 seats 297 seats spread across two cabins, business and economy class. There is a total of 28 business seats and 269 economy seats in the aircraft. The business suites have a pitch of 55” and width of 23” while the economy seats have a pitch of 31” and a width of 17.”

Qantas A330-300 Economy Class

Boarding started about 30 minutes late; however, that was due to quite a massive thunderstorm that hit Singapore pretty quickly, it was pretty fantastic to watch and luckily it ended quickly, once it was over, boarding commenced.

I find Qantas to do their priority boarding quite well Internationally, but this time it was a little messy. Still, It seemed like this was only due to the storm and what seemed like a very rush situation on the ground, which is entirely out of their hands.

Qantas A330-300 Economy Class

For flights over 3/4 hours, I tend to select the aisle seat in economy as It always nice to quickly use the bathroom and not feel like I’m disturbing the passenger next to me when doing so. For this flight, I went with seat 25J which is the second row from the front bulkhead.

Qantas A330-300 Economy Class

This is the row in front and a great option if you can get it with status or last-minute seat selection, for the passengers that love passenger shaming, take a look to your left, cmon… it’s not your living room.

Qantas A330-300 Economy Class

The legroom is reasonable, and I didn’t feel too cramped at all, I am around 5 foot 8 foot for reference:

Qantas A330-300 Economy Class

Here are the menus for the flights:

Menu

Drink Menu

To start off the meal service, I went with a small bottle of the sauvignon blanc as well as a small bottle of water (in the seat pocket).

Sauvignon Blanc

For the main meal, I decided to go with the soba noodles and teriyaki salad which was actually pretty tasty, the sauce especially complimented it well. It was also served with a small bread roll on the side.

Soba Noodles And Teriyaki Chicken

After the main meal service was completed, a dessert was serviced, which was a Weiss ice-cream bar. As the international flights on Qantas don’t yet have their wifi switched on, I decided to relax a bit and watch some episodes of Young Sheldon and also listened to some music.

IFE Screen

After having a small nap for 2 hours or so, I woke up and the crew came around to ask if I’d like a snack or beverage, as the flight isn’t long enough to get a full sleep, I decided just to stay awake and to have a coffee, or 3.

Coffee

About an hour and 45 minutes before landing, the crew started breakfast preparation which consisted of a lemon muffin and a fruit salad. Yes, it’s not a large meal but for the overall flight time and being in economy, you can’t expect too much. The fruit was sweet and fresh, which is always lovely.

Breakfast

On the top of descent, my seat neighbour got up to stretch, and this gave me an excellent opportunity to get a wing view, not a bad view!

Arriving Into Brisbane

Qantas A330 Cabin

Overall

I had a really good time In Qantas economy and can truthfully say; I’d have no hesitation in doing so again. The seat itself is comfortable, the recline is quite sufficient, and the crew were friendly and attentive. If I’m travelling to Asia in the near future and there’s no award space, it’s more than sufficient for the flight time.

After having a positive experience on a medium-haul flight, I’m actually tempted to give the Perth – London flight a go as it would be an interesting experience.