Melbourne to Los Angeles
Qantas Business Class: Melbourne to Los Angeles
If you’ve flown internationally lately you might have noticed that business class cabins have been getting a glow-up. Seats are becoming suites, as airlines race to retrofit their planes with privacy-enhancing features such as sliding doors, while keeping passengers entertained by providing fast wi-fi or oversized entertainment screens. Qantas will follow on this path when its new, cutting-edge A350 aircraft arrive to operate its “Project Sunrise” direct flights from the east coast to New York and London, scheduled to launch in 2027.
But how does Qantas’s current business class product stack up against the big guns? We put it to the test on a B787-9 flight to from Melbourne to Los Angeles.
Different planes, same seat
Qantas flies three different planes on its international routes (the A380, B787 and A330), but business class seats are pretty much the same across all of them. Your overall experience however may vary markedly. Size is a big factor. The A380 has 70 business class seats compared with 42 on the B787 and just 28 on the A330, so service can sometimes be stretched. The toilets to passengers ratio is also far worse on the A380. One advantage of flying the A380 is that as a business class passenger you have the chance to upgrade to first class (there’s no first class on either the B787 or A330) and you can enjoy the on-board lounge, which the other planes don’t have. Qantas flies both the A380 and the B787 on the Melbourne to Los Angeles route, so it pays to check in advance which plane is scheduled for the date you’re flying.
Qantas Melbourne Business Class Lounge
As a business class passenger I can access the Qantas Melbourne International Business Lounge, which has a bit of a bunker feel, buried downstairs with no windows or natural light. The food and drink selection however is far superior to what you find upstairs at third party lounges such as The House or the Marhaba Lounge. I order a barista-made coffee (just what I need after an early morning airport arrival) and enjoy a buffet breakfast before boarding.
Qantas Business Class Seats
Seats in business class are arranged in a 1-2-1 formation, all with direct aisle access. The layout in terms of the seat and console position is staggered, however, meaning every alternate seat benefits from being more private (further away from the aisle). Check the layout on aerolopa.com and then choose your seat on the Qantas website accordingly.
The seat comes with a pillow, a cotton duvet and a soft mattress pad that makes for a luscious lie-flat bed. I find the seat adjustment buttons a bit bewildering – lots of arrows that don’t always move the seat in the way you’d expect – but a bit of random jabbing eventually gets me the result I require.
While there’s no sliding door, I’m in one of the more private window seats (7A) with the console acting as a buffer between me and the aisle, so I feel nicely cocooned. I have ample storage, a personal reading light and a generous leg-well so my feet don’t feel cramped while I’m sleeping. Some people complain that when in lie-flat mode the seats are too close to the floor, but it doesn’t bother me. There’s a USB-A charging port and an AC power outlet, plus an amenities bag with Li’Tya hand cream, face cream and lip balm. The famous grey cotton Qantas pyjamas are sitting on my seat waiting for me, folded up and tied into a neat bow, still one of the loved (and simplest) premium cabin perks. I get changed into them straight away, even though it’s not yet 10am.
Food and drink menus in Qantas Business Class
A glass of Lombard extra brut Champagne is served as we take our seats, followed by gin spritz or margarita aperitivo with salted nuts once the flight is under way. Menus in Qantas’s premium cabins are designed by celebrity chef Neil Perry, and while the food will never soar to the heights of the opulent Middle Eastern carriers, it holds up well against the US airlines plying the Pacific.
For lunch everyone is enjoying chargrilled barramundi, roast Bannockburn chicken breast, or a vegetarian option of pan fried parmesan polenta with braised beans. The wine selection is slender, but the quality is good. I finish with a cheese platter (the Berry’s Creek blue cheese is just divine) accompanied by a glass of Seppeltsfield grand tokay Rutherglen. At this moment, lying back with my feet up, wrapped in a blanket and watching a movie, life at the pointy end is pretty darn good.
Qantas inflight entertainment
Qantas’s partnership with Paramount Plus is a boon for screen junkies, and there’s an extensive selection of Hollywood new releases and TV box sets, so you can binge for as many hours as you’re in the sky. Noise cancelling headphones are provided, along with a convenient hook to hang them off when not in use, a nice piece of attention to detail. Wi-fi is still not available, but we’re told is coming (and when it does it will be free for all passengers).
Qantas Service
The cabin crew on this flight are outstanding: personable, relaxed, attentive without being intrusive, and displaying genuine warmth. Passengers are addressed by name and nothing seems too much trouble. I wake up refreshed after a blissful sleep as we descend into Los Angeles, arriving twenty minutes ahead of schedule. While it might not have sliding doors, this Qantas business class experience is still a flying pass. A frequent flyer, she ranks Delta’s Premium Select above premium economy offerings of several other major US airlines mainly for comfort and more generous and delicious dining options.
