REVIEW: Qantas Business Class
(SFO-SYD), February 2016
Qantas only just returned to SFO this past December after a near five year hiatus that began in May 2011. Eager to use my AA miles before the devaluation in March, I was reminiscing about how much I loved Australia when I visited last May so I wanted to come again. Last month, I was lucky enough to find a Business award flight available, and decided to extend the trip to Perth since the miles would be the same, and I had never been. It was a good thing I booked when I did because I continued to look at award availability during the next month and wasn’t able to find any other Qantas award flights open up.
The Flight:
The 747 used for this flight is interesting in that it is a 2-level plane with a 3-class service consisting of only Economy, Premium Economy, and Business. The Business class seats are split amongst the Upper Deck and the Lower Deck. I had read that many flyers prefer the Upper Deck for its increased privacy given that it only seats 18, all of which are Business.
I was happy to know that my AA record locater worked on the Qantas website, which I used to make my seat assignment — an Upper Deck window seat, 15K. Also available online, between 7 days and 12 hours before my flight, I was able to peruse the Q-Eat pre-order meal option. Doing so allows you the select some online exclusives (if available), of which on this flight there were two: Warm salad of halloumi with tomato, grapes, olives and pomegranate, Pan fried halibut with gnocchi, roast cherry tomatoes, salsa verde and zucchini. I decided to pre-order the halibut. You also can choose the “No Meal — maximize my rest” option if you won’t be eating, given that it is a red-eye flight and most would have already had some dinner.
Boarding was done on time with Business Class passengers having their own line and airplane entrance, which felt very exclusive. Upon boarding, I was directed towards the stairs to the Upper Deck, which only thinking now in retrospect allowed me to forget about all the other passengers on the flight — more so than most flights I’ve been on considering that other than First Class or some front area Business Class seats, all other passengers will walk past your seat during boarding. The experience just felt cozier, especially with no middle seats like there were in the back Business section of the Lower Deck.
The first thing I noticed was how different and bulky the seats were. I had also never seen anything like it so I was just confused at how anything worked and didn’t want to look stupid learning all this airplane’s bells and whistles.
My favorite feature of this flight were the ample bin space that lined the sides. They were enough to store small carry on items since you can’t place much under the seat in front of you. I used them for my jacket, backpack, and shoes.
There were two attendants for the Upper Deck. When one attendant came by, I was welcomed warmly and offered a champagne. He was very friendly but his accent was quite thick so it took me a few seconds each time he spoke to register what he was saying. He also came around later and passed out Jack Space and Kate Spade amenity kits and pajamas. The man seated next to me asked for a woman’s amenity kit for his wife since he didn’t need one. The attendant gave him two, which I thought was very kind (although slightly jealous I didn’t do the same).
The attendants were very generous with the pre-flight beverages, refilling them very often, which they let us keep well into taxiing. They only took them away in the middle of the safety demonstration.
After takeoff, the attendants went around setting up the mattress pads for everyone, and then passed out custom forms. They were noticeably slow with the beverages post-takeoff, so I actually used the call button. A minute or two after I got my drink, they actually rolled out the drink cart and I felt a bit bad. But they did serve the front first so it would have taken even longer for them to get to me in the back.
The TV screen is stowed in one side of the seat, which you can angle to best suit your view. The screen was a good size and distance with no brightness or quality issues I could find. The one problem I had was that the touch screen required hard pushes to register any action. There was a good variety of entertainment — new movies, TV, etc. I ended up watching The Intern, The Martian, and half of Spectre.
The lie flat seat, even with mattress pad, wasn’t the most comfortable. My arms always felt awkwardly raised and the seat was a bit narrow. Lengthwise, it was fine and adjustable. One nice feature of the seat is that there is a massage capability, although not the most deep.
The Food:
Upon boarding, I was instructed to fill out the breakfast order form hanging on the coat hook in front of my seat. It was actually quite cute because it was designed to look like a room service hotel-like ticket. I checked the boxes for my order, placed it back, and they came to collect it later.
I didn’t figure this out until later but there were two large printed out pictures of flowers on the communal table and I wasn’t sure what they were for. I realized later that they were menus and I wasn’t able to look at them before the person sitting next to me put them away somewhere. The attendant also didn’t ask me for my order because I had already preordered my dinner. Before I left the flight though, I found a menu and took it with me but upon reading it later, I realized it was from the previous SYD-SFO flight instead.. but that menu did look good.
The table setting feels rather luxurious — I think because of how big the table, dishes, and portions were. They first came around with beverages and large pieces of beautifully browned and warm sourdough. My halibut portion was huge but really tasty. The dish was a great temperature but although crispy on the outside, my halibut did get overcooked probably during the reheating. The exterior portions were on the drier and tougher side but the middle was pretty good. The salsa verde was deliciously herbacious and was a great dip for the sourdough as well. The gnocchi resembled polenta more than the traditional version but it was still good. I loved the long strands of shaved zucchini because they had great flavor and texture and made me feel like I was having pasta.
After dinner, the dessert cart rolled out with fruit, cheese plates, pudding with raspberries and praline, Haagen Dazs dulce de leche ice cream. I opted for the pudding, tea, and some dessert wine. The pudding reminded me of a Chinese dessert — steamed milk, so I enjoyed it.
About two hours before landing, I got my breakfast — Free range scrambled eggs on toasted brioche with Applewood bacon, braised beans and potato cake. Overall, everything was a little underseasoned but it does come with a salt & pepper packet. The fruit salad — consisting of honeydew, pineapple, cantaloupe, raspberries, and blackberries — was very fresh and sweet.
The Details:
Qantas Business Class — San Francisco (SFO) to Sydney (SYD)
Flight #: QF 74
Duration: ~14 hours estimated; 11:25PM-9AM scheduled
Price: I used 62,500 American Airlines miles and $32.80 in taxes and fees.
Final Thoughts:
This was my first time flying Qantas and overall, I was impressed. In general, the food quality, flight attendant’s attitude and service, and even the Qantas lounge experience and design felt very similar to Virgin Atlantic. This flight schedule is great too where you fly at night and arrive in the morning, even though on paper, you skip a day entirely — but that can’t be helped when there’s a 19 hour time difference between the two cities.
