FJ811
LAX-NAN
Takeoff: 2245
Landing: 0545 (+2 day)
Business Class
December 2, 2023
We spent some time in the Star Alliance Lounge before freshening up and heading to our gate. Boarding time was scheduled for 9:35, about 70 minutes prior to departure.
Since we were not boarding, I tried to get a decent picture of the sleek Fiji Airways A350-900. The cat eyes around the cockpit is legit but the glare from the monitors left something to be desired.
Boarding for our flight to Fiji began at 9:40, a mere five minutes behind schedule. The first customers welcomed aboard were those needing extra assistance and those traveling with small children. Business class was next, as we had “upgraded” for $1000 USD each thanks to the Bula bids process.
As we made our made down the jet bridge, there were two doors, the left/forward for business class and right/middle for economy class. We went left through the forward door and made a right into the cabin. We were welcomed aboard with a “Bula” from the two flight attendants at the door. They reviewed our passes and pointed us to the seats.
The cabin was arranged in eight rows of 1-2-1 configuration, while the ninth row was only two center seats. I have read a lot of reviews calling the cabin bland and the reverse herringbone seats subpar, but not for this guy. I loved all of it!
I took two videos. The first was posted on Meta.
The second was posted on TikTok.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8uDySDA/
Which one do ya’ll prefer? I like the second one because I was able to get situated before recording.
As you can see, the seat was spacious, with plenty of storage. There was an amenity kit with socks, toothbrush/toothpaste, eye mask, and revitalizing spray. A thin blanket was also on the seat.
I could not help but fall in love with the huge Inflight Entertainment (IFE) monitor.
The tray table, as you can see above, slid from under the screen. It could be used halved or whole. the full tray table is down where I talk about mimosas.
The flight attendants brought around champagne and orange juice within five minutes after boarding. The champagne was pre-poured so I did not get to catch the name.
After sipping on the drink for a couple of minutes, I went to change into comfortable in the front left lavatory. It was really small…I kept bumping into the walls. The lavatory felt like a ERJ-175 or ERJ-145.
During my hectic stay in the lavatory, Matt was able to order his dinner and breakfast on a card the flight attendant provided. This was a great idea! As it was getting closer to departure, the flight attendants did not provide mine.
However, they did come by to refresh the drinks. At this point, I asked if they could combine the orange juice and champagne to make a mimosa (thanks for the pro-tip Matt!).
It took us an hour to board but we still departed five minutes ahead of schedule. I was given the menus as the doors were closing so I tried to use the scan function on my iPhone to save them. Well, the scans are not that bad and not that good either. The first breakfast photo was without my options selected.
The safety video was played at this point. After a quick pushback from the gate, we were airborne within 10 minutes. There was a long announcement from the purser. She pretty much gave us a brief history of Fiji for about 5-10 minutes. Not that I did not want to hear about it but I was hella tired.
The seatbelt sign was turned off right after the purser’s announcement and the flight attendants went to work. The flight attendants issued customs forms five minutes later. I wondered aloud why transit passengers needed customs forms but did not get a response.
Then there was another long announcement, this time from the first officer. This lasted another five minutes, no kidding.
Once he was finished, another five minutes passed. The flight attendant came by to take my supper, pre-supper drink, supper drink, post-supper drink, and my breakfast order. It was a bit overwhelming to say the least.
To be specific, I ordered a fiji bitter accompanied by mixed nuts, vodka sprite, and baileys with coffee.
The Fiji bitter and Chex mix, instead of a ramekin of warms nuts was delivered five minutes later as I watched The Batman, it eventually watched me as there was a limited movie selection. The breakfast menu was taken at the same time.
The lamb entree I ordered was delivered 18 minutes later. As you can see on the menu above, I was given the menu for Nadi to LAX, instead of the other way around. I went with the flight attendants suggestion of lamb. Bad idea, it was very dry, salad lacked flavor but the potatoes smacked. They were so delicious…or maybe it was the vodka.
It took nine minutes to navigate the supper, then I went for dessert, which was a fruit plate. It was not too bad. The fruit was stiff, if that makes sense.
At this point, I was provided with a Fiji water. I would not have had it any other way.
Then my second drink made it which was a Buck’s Fizz. I was a feeling pretty good at this point. Drinks coupled with tiredness had me ready to sleep.
Dinner service was over one hour after takeoff. It felt like so much was crammed into the one hour but it was a great experience.
The flight attendants came by twice and asked if I wanted my mattress made. I said “no” because I felt like I had some more left in me. After just a few minutes, one of them brought a complimentary WiFi card. I did not use the WiFi.
I was feeling stuffed after the lamb and vodka sprite so I ordered a baileys and coffee. The baileys coffee arrived two minutes later, which happened to be one and a half hours into flight.
Apparently, I knocked out at this point. This meant my bed did not get made. Le sigh. I still slept well though. It had to be six hours or so. I woke up almost two hours left and immediately ordered breakfast.
The map view was my go to most of the time I was awake.
This was the view I was blessed to witness.
It arrived five minutes later.
Omelette and fruit were really good the parfait left a lot to be desired. I do not know how it could be so bland.
Mimosa came 10 minutes after being served.
Pilot announced the descent into Nadi 22 minutes before landing. I checked out the tail and nose camera while landing.
The views from the cameras and touch down from the pilots were perfect.
We had a relatively short taxi to the gate. Once we deplaned, I was greeted to some beautiful views of the A350.
Final Word
For what averaged out to be $1500 USD for the two segments between LAX to NAN to SYD, this was perfect.
The catering could use some work but the food was not inedible. The flight attendants did make sure I had copious amounts of alcohol so it balanced out, right?
The hard product, while the lavatories were small, stole the show. The seat was spacious, semi-private, and gave me the chance to relax during a long day of travel. I appreciated it and was well rested when we landed in Fiji. I would definitely take this trip
