Qantas A330-200 business class with 2-2-2 seating

Hi All,

I'm due to fly BKK to SYD in early September, I only just noted my flight QF24 has been changed from a A330-300 to a A330-200 (configuration 1) with business class seating consisting of 6 rows of 2x2x2 seats.

Although I've booked a economy class flexible seat (Qantas Gold Status), in the original booking I was planning to upgrade to business class (using points) in the excellent A330-300 with 1-2-1 seating with direct aisle access. So I'm really disappointed in this change of plane type.

I note in the A330-200 2x2x2 seating there is no window next to seats 4A and 4K. 

My questions are: 

1) What would be your preferred seat (single passenger, not as a couple) in the A330-200 business class section where there are 6 rows of 2x2x2 seating?

2) How many of these older Qantas A330-200 aircraft (with business class 2x2x2 seating) remain? (Compared to the numbers of refurbished A330-200s and A330-300 type aircraft)?

3) What is the planned Qantas upgrade schedule regarding refurbishment of this aircraft type to 1x2x1 direct access business class seating?

https://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/332-36J199Y.pdf

Thanks. Your advice & expertise would be much appreciated.

Ok I'm going to go through the questions in order.

Thank you Snowy - very useful information

My preference with this seat configuration is one of the middle seats in the 2-2-2. Guaranteed aisle access, no one climbing over you and I don't think there is much to view on an overnight flight.

Also I think the bassinets are at the front of this configuration... So I'd sit further back.

I've had this old equipment too often on SYD SIN. Skyseat 1 is ok for daytime but impossible to sleep in overnight due to slope on the bed. Agree any seat in the 2 or 3 row is better.

QF had a few 747 with old seating for a long time. They may still have one. QF delays or doesn’t bother to upgrade seating in some old aircraft to save money but it causes a lot of angst for their customers when they feel they’ve got inferior seating to what they’ve paid for.

Yeah I meant bassinets instead of whatever I said.

Seeing as you are flying economy and hoping for an upgrade your chances have increased with this config. And as much as people dislike it, it is still a vast improvement over economy and is something just a few years ago we were all happy to fly on.

Just found out that we’ve had an equipment change to a -200 coming back SIN to MEL on 4th September. We’re in economy so I’m not looking forward to the crap IFE, but I’m hoping the loads so light (hence the downgrade) that we can score an Economy Flat Bed (4 across) for the night flight!

Was looking at an A330 flight to Auckland in September with biz class marketed as lie flat with direct aisle access in the booking area. Booked it today only to discover it's the 2 2 2 config. Changing aircraft later is one thing but it's a bit cheeky to describe it as something else from the start. Just checked again and it's still saying the same thing.

I think a reasonable consumer would infer from the Qantas web pages titled "A380 Comfort now available on our B747 fleet | Qantas" and "Qantas A330" that: