Having heard a wealth of good things about the Qantas experience, I was absolutely delighted when I found an incredible deal on a business class ticket from Auckland to New York on the 787.
My expectations were high – this is a flagship flight for Qantas, and the 787 offers a brilliant product (when it works). At over 16 hours and 15 minutes of scheduled flight time, this is one of the world’s longest flights and a superbly quick way to get from down under to the east coast. I was ecstatic to try it out.
But as you’ll soon see, the experience definitely did not go as I expected.
An incredible business class redemption from New Zealand to New York
Qantas Business Class from Auckland to New York for only 55,000 Miles
I finally did it. I found a unicorn. The unicorn of flight award bookings, an insanely lucrative redemption on Qantas from Auckland, New Zealand, direct to New York’s JFK Airport in business class for only 55,000 miles + $59. An insane deal, especially when you compare it to the cash fare of over $8,000.
Of course, unicorns are naturally hard to find. And getting a great flight award redemption on Qantas these days is notoriously difficult.
So how do you get the best flight award deals flying on Qantas? There’s truly only one way, but it’s sadly in its final days.
The only way to get a spectacular flight award on Qantas long haul business class flights is to book through Alaska Airlines. Unfortunately, this can be spectacularly difficult for most, as Alaska does not have any transfer partners except for Marriott Convoy (at an unflattering conversion rate of 3:1).
The second best way to accumulate the Alaska miles for an epic long haul business class award? Open an Alaska co-branded credit card and use the bonus miles.
However, Alaska is soon overhauling redemption rates. Though some rates will go down, ultra long haul routes like these will require many more miles.
How I found award availability with Qantas using airline partners
Even if you can get Alaska miles, you might have difficulty finding business class availability on long haul flights. You may be wondering how to sneak a Qantas business class award via Alaska Airlines.
I had been searching for weeks, and on my last attempt, and only 2 days before departure, I finally found it. It’s likely that Qantas had just dropped some last minute award availability, which is fairly common.
American Airlines also had the same award availability – except for 85,000 miles. Good to know in case you carry extra AA miles. Even at 85,000 miles, this would still be a steal.
And as soon as I booked the award… it disappeared from search results. This means it was likely the last award available for this route.
Airport Experience
Qantas Business Class Lounge (Auckland International Airport): why Priority Pass is better
I transited Auckland from Brisbane, arriving 4 hours before the 14 hour trek across the Pacific over to New York’s JFK Airport. I had already previously explored Auckland’s international terminal, a bright, open space with high-end brands (and some local ones, like Icebreaker) and decent food and coffee (my favorite: Windmill!), so I wasn’t sure what to do at first.
Since I had so much extra time, I decided to use Priority Pass and compare the complimentary award-winning Strata Lounge with the Qantas Business Lounge. Can you guess which lounge ended up being best?
If you answered with the Qantas Business Lounge, you’d be…
…wrong! In all honesty, the Strata Lounge experience as a whole is simply nicer.
Reasons I preferred the Strata Lounge over the Qantas Business Lounge in Auckland airport:
- The Qantas business lounge was surprisingly more crowded
- Shower rooms in the Strata Lounge are much larger than in the Qantas lounge
- The food is arguably better in the Strata Lounge
- Chairs and sofas are significantly more comfortable in the Strata Lounge
Views are quite good from both, but a larger area within the Strata lounge overlooks both the terminal and apron, and since the loungers and chairs are more comfortable, it’s simply a nicer place to spend time.
I will say that the shower water pressure and temperature control in the Qantas Business Lounge were fantastic.
But if I was paying $8000 for a ticket, I’d definitely be disappointed with the Qantas lounge. Especially when you consider that PriorityPass can be had starting at $69 per year.
Boarding: not an $8000 experience
One of the reasons you book business class is to have a better boarding and deplaning experience. Sure, it’s not a huge reason. But it can certainly save you 20-30 minutes on the front end and an hour or more on the backend.
Personally, I want to spend the least amount of time sitting down, a known health issue when flying. When flying business class with a dedicated overhead locker, I feel no need to board early – which brings me to my next disappointment with Qantas business class. Although there was a separate line initially for business class travelers, everyone convened in the jetway.
In my past experiences in business class, even on Thai Airways flying out of Bali, there was a more streamlined entry path to the aircraft. I missed that.
If you feel like Qantas shouldn’t be blamed for this, recall that Auckland is actually a crew base for both pilots and flight attendants, and they serve several important markets from there.
That being said, it’s not an easy solution. But perhaps in the future, they can tailor the experience to the price point. (Or I can just board early *tear streams down face*)
Preflight experience
Seat selection on the Qantas 787
The Qantas 787-9 features 48 business class Thompson VantageXL seats, similar to the ones on Delta’s A350s (minus the ‘suite’ door). With access to 23″ of width, converting into a full 80″ flat bed, I was excited to get some sleep on this ultra long haul flight.
Business class on the 787-9 is split into two cabins, with a mini-cabin in the back (behind door 2L) from rows 10 to 12. It feels like an exclusive 3-row cabin, with one downside – since premium economy passengers don’t have their own dedicated lavatory, they come up to use the two lavatories between rows 9 and 10 quite often during the flight.
The odd number A and K seats from rows 1-8 (front cabin), and seats 10K & 11A in the rear cabin are tucked in to the window with a large tabletop area on the aisle side. I find this much better for privacy and most importantly for true window views.
There’s a caveat here: what the A and K seats get in privacy, they give up in terms of the footwell. It’s actually slightly recessed and even offset – which can be an issue, as you’ll see shortly.
E&F are good for couples. But I’m so pent up on the window that I’ll book a window seat even when traveling with my partner. Sorry, not sorry.
Additionally, bulkhead seats 1AK, 2EF, and 10AEFK have wider footwells and an additional secure storage drawer beneath the IFE display.
In-flight entertainment: definitely a highlight
The entertainment system features a 15.5″ touchscreen HD display with tons of movies – new and old – and a quite nice flight map (my kind of in-flight entertainment!)
With movies like Wonka and Dune, there was definitely enough Timothy Chalamet to last an entire 14 hour flight.
Seat comfort: hard to fully enjoy
I made myself comfortable in seat 12K, all the way in the back of the back section of business class. There I was happy to find a pillow, duvet, and seat cover, and especially thankful for dedicated overhead lockers (even in the center) and individual vents. Downside? The overhead locker for seat 12K is locked for crew use (medical equipment, etc), so I had to use the one over 11K.
The seat was decently comfortable even in its fully upright position, with ample legroom, but the slightly offset footwell that would end up feeling quite uncomfortable whilst laying down.
I found the seat controls intuitive and simple, and having a ‘Do Not Disturb’ button is a gem.
You can see that the footwell is slightly off to the right side compared to the seat, a bummer if you’re a side-sleeper like me – it makes laying on your right quite uncomfortable. Even laying on your back will your legs pointing towards the right – which is quite a bizarre feeling (unless you enjoy having your spine canted!)
However, the biggest issue had yet to present itself. I ended finding the seat pad a bit hard, even with the mattress pad. This resulted in somewhat poor sleep and having to change position at least once every hour for the entire 14 hour flight.
Unfortunately, to top it all off, instead of offsetting the seat qualms, the bedding did little to help. The pillow seemed to be made for kids. It was the thinnest I’ve ever had in business class, and even the blanket seemed to be tailored for midgets.
Qantas 787-9 Seat Ratings:
- Upright: 8/10 – relatively comfortable sitting upright, which is good for working and eating
- Reclined: 7/10 – the tray table doesn’t move enough to make the reclined position feel optimal while eating or doing work
- Flat/Bed: 6/10 – the offset footwell and hard seat padding were so uncomfortable they actually impacted my sleep
Storage space: nothing extraordinary
In seat 12K of the 787, you’ll find a small storage folder on the seat in front, as well as a built in open storage for small personal items and a water bottle on the side. There really wasn’t any additional storage.
It was enough for a small laptop or iPad, charging devices, a water bottle and maybe some headphones. There wasn’t really any good place to store shoes, or a bag.
787 Dimmable Windows: a blessing and a curse
When the 787 first rolled out, there was a lot of excitement for the dimmable windows. Maintenance-free, weight reducing, and kind of magical, it seemed like an amazing idea.
I also think the technology is amazing, and I love being able to look outside even at full-dim. The problem came being on the right side of the aircraft as we crossed over Mexico, when the sun decided to wish me a good morning – with 4 hours to go. Thankfully, I brought my own eye mask, otherwise I felt like that meme guy getting shined on in the middle of the night.
The greatest insult though, was flying over the eastern seaboard of the United States with the window dimming still locked in the full dim setting. As an aviation enthusiast, I definitely felt like I was missing out!
In flight service
About 5 minutes after settling into my seat, the inflight manager came and introduced herself, offered some champagne, and offered me the menus for breakfast and dinner.
She was friendly enough, and we chatted enough for me to learn about the Auckland base and amazing 96+ hour layovers they get in cities around the world. I usually only get 24! Yes, call me jealous.
Unfortunately, the champagne was pretty bad. I didn’t even want to finish my glass.
The breakfast menu came in a hotel room service-like card, with boxes to fill. I loved that you could tailor the breakfast however you liked, with options like decaf coffee and flat whites, fruit smoothies, and more. Truly fantastic.
The dinner menu offered several different appetizers and mains, all of which sounded good. I opted for the pumpkin soup and the snapper.
We ended up leaving about 30 minutes late out of Auckland – for an ‘engineering’ issue, as well as waiting for some last-minute bags.
Dinner time: how does one meal take up almost a third of a 14 hour flight?
The meal service itself was the slowest I’ve EVER experienced in business class. It took about 45 minutes for the first drink service, another 15 minutes for the tiny amuse-bouche (a tiny quiche), another 30 minutes for the pumpkin soup.
I enjoyed the sauvignon blanc, but the chardonnay was truly not great. Would not recommend.
Unfortunately the soup was so bland, I used the entire paper pepper bag to spruce up the flavor. It was a lost cause.
A forgettable dinner
The main arrived nearly an hour later. As a seafood lover, and knowing that fish from New Zealand would probably be delicious, I selected the snapper. Unfortunately, I was again wrong. By the time I got my dish, it was tepid, and nothing on the dish tasted particularly great. The fish was dry and the green beans were stiff, yet chewy. Don’t get me wrong – it was edible, but again, I’d be fairly disappointed had I paid full fare.
Additionally, all of the dishes were exceptionally small. Luckily, I was not too hungry.
For desert, I opted for a strawberry parfait – which was quite good, if too sweet. As an accompaniment, I went full Australian an ordered a (decaf) flat white. I love the fact you can order espresso-based beverages on Qantas.
By the time I finished eating, 4 hours of flight time had passed and I had already finished two movies! It was even slower than on United. I was thankful it was such a long flight so I still had time to sleep.
One other noticeable exception was a lack of hot towel service. It’s a small thing, but it’s always a nice touch.
It may seem like I’m on a mission to complain about the Qantas experience, but I was truly surprised and disappointed so far. Perhaps my expectations were too high, especially after my recent incredible experience on Thai Airways.
Breakfast: a surprising delight (and patience pays off)
When I woke up an hour and a half before landing, I found that some passengers had eaten while others were still not served. I wondered if I missed the service, so I decided to wait for a flight attendant, but nobody showed up. For the first time in years, I had to use the dreaded flight attendant call button – and even then, I waited 5 minutes before someone showed up.
Thankfully, they were able to serve breakfast shortly thereafter. I opted for scrambled eggs – a daring choice on a flight – but I ended up being very happy with that decision. It was probably the best and ‘freshest’ tasting eggs I’ve had on a flight! The decaf coffee was decent (and not instant, at least I think), and the sausage tasted great too.
How long does Auckland to New York on a Qantas 787 in business class actually feel?
Although I spent most of the flight after dinner trying to sleep (in spite of the hard seat), I did have time to enjoy a couple movies. Tons of both blockbuster and classic hits were on offer, and the IFE was nice, crisp, and sharp.
Other notable I noticed about this flight and the Qantas 787:
- The two lavatories often had a wait because of premium economy passengers.
- I did not see flight attendants checking on passengers very often.
- The cabin was pleasantly quiet and a very comfortable temperature.
- Seatbelt sign never came on, even in light turbulence. I consider this a good thing for sleep.
- We were to land one hour before our takeoff time on the same day, due to crossing the IDL, which is pretty cool!
- The lavatories are very mundane, and seem no better than in economy class.
That being said, the 14 hour flight did pass by quite quickly! So it couldn’t have been too bad.
(Or maybe it’s because half the flight was spent waiting for food!)
Arrival into New York: unspectacular (again)
Perhaps it doesn’t come as a surprise, but the arrival didn’t feel special. The preparations begun at top of descent, with the seatbelt sign coming on as we crossed 18,000 feet. I think the inflight manager came to thank us individually, but I honestly don’t remember. If she did, it was very cursory and rushed.
It was the best way to sum up the flight – spectacularly unspectacular.
Where did the Qantas Business class experience excel?
- Very quiet cabin – no excessive chattering by the flight attendants in the galley
- Nice lighting – 787 mood lighting makes the experience much more relaxing
- Breakfast order menu – very thoughtful
- Check-in experience online: efficient and easy
Where does Qantas fail with their business class offering from Auckland to New York?
- The hard seat and small pillow make sleeping more difficult than on other airlines
- Service is disappointingly un-special and not unique
- The meal service is flabbergastingly slow, especially for dinner
Where could Qantas improve?
- Qantas could offer a better lounge experience in Auckland with more comfortable seating and privacy options
- A much more significant mattress pad could dilute the hardness of the seat on the 787
- A larger pillow could make sleeping easier and more comfortable
- The meal service process needs to be streamlined, and catering needs serious improvement for business class
- A snack/drink area in one of the galleys would be a nice touch
- The inflight service could be more personalized and overhauled
- WiFi (which is reportedly coming in 2025)
Overall Qantas 787-9 Business Class Ratings (AKL-JFK):
Seat: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Meals: 6/10
Inflight Entertainment: 9/10
Lounge: 5/10
Value: 8/10
Overall Rating: 7/10
Have you flown on a Qantas 787 in business class? Write about your experience in the comments below.
[…] Qantas 787-9 Business Class Review: A Surprising Experience (AKL-JFK) […]