Review: Qantas International Business Class

This is a bit of a saga 🙂 . During my Mom and my trip Down Under, we decided to give a new-to-us airline a chance: LATAM. But as you can see from the title, this isn’t a review of that airline. So what happened? 🙂

We booked a flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand, 10 months in advance. And a few hours before our flight, we received a text message from LATAM that said our flight had been canceled and asked if we wanted a refund. No flight alternatives were given. WHAT. THE. FUCK?!?!?!?!

First of all, it might be my old-woman-energy, but hearing that my international flight had been canceled from a TEXT rubbed me the wrong way. Not even an email? A text that looks like it could be spam given how many emojis this supposedly professional company is using?

The second part that enraged me is that I wasn’t offered another flight, just a refund. I clicked the “Change flight” link in the text and it said there were NO flights. Really? 🤨

And at the moment of receiving this text, I was dealing with very painful period cramps while sitting in a Sydney airport hotel after flying across Australia to be ready for this flight to New Zealand. So in summary, I was pissed 🙂 .

But instead of letting my rage overtake me, I took a deep breath and got to work with my badass travel companion, my Mom. We knew that if an airline cancels your flight, they usually have a policy that requires they put you on another flight in the same class.

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So we called LATAM and kindly insisted that they put us on another flight as soon as possible. While my Mom was on an international call with LATAM (over Wifi 😉 ), I was using Google Flights to see what airline had the next nonstop flight with available Business Class seats. I then fed the flight numbers to my Mom while she spoke to the customer service agent.

With this system and over an hour of talking on the phone, we finally got a new flight: it was nonstop on Qantas and would leave a little earlier than our original LATAM flight.

For some reason the process of getting us on another flight was like pulling teeth, but after that hour, the LATAM agent claimed that we were confirmed on the new flight. However, we didn’t leave the call until they gave us our new confirmation number and I checked that I could successfully see that information on the Qantas manage booking page with that confirmation number before hanging up. Phew!

After putting down the phone I dug deeper on the Qantas manage booking page and saw that we did have seats, but we couldn’t pick the exact ones online. So we quickly packed up our stuff (it was good we were traveling light 😉 ) and headed to the airport across the street because our flight was leaving to another country in less than 2 hours!

Flights Details

• When: October 2023
• Where: Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand
• Flight: QF3
• Flight Time: 2 hrs 51 mi
• Seat: 10F
• Distance: 1,339 miles

SYDNEY (SYD) AIRPORT

So we headed into the Sydney airport! After finding what section of the terminal housed Qantas was in we headed over there.

Check In

There was a separate Business Class section of Qantas to the right of the Economy check in area, which was dominated by kiosks. Business Class had a solid line and we waited in it for 15 minutes to get near the front.

One employee in the Economy section started offering to take Business Class passengers over there as well since it was more empty so people could check in and drop their bags faster. A real go getter 🙂 !

Once we were near the front of the line, we could see that next to it was an empty First class check in area with their own seating area and a hotel-like bag holder. Fancy!

Maybe I was ogling their amenities too much because one of their unoccupied First Class workers waved us over and checked us in. So kind!

While checking us in, they confirmed that we had previously applied for a New Zealand visa through their NZeTA app, which we had. I described that complicated application process in the post below in case it’s helpful for anyone else.

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The employee also asked to confirm that we had a flight leaving New Zealand and we showed it to them in my TripCase, which was enough proof. In case you want to know more about my favorite free trip tracking app, TripCase I talk about that here:

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Security/Immigration

The First Class check in employee told us that security had express lanes for First and Business Class to the left behind the check in counter exit, so we headed that way.

We followed signs to our own security lanes. Super fancy!

Once we arrived, an employee checked our boarding passes to let us in and then we approached an immigration machine that had a TV showing what to do. Following its instructions, I put in my passport and it went into the machine and then it came back out.

Then the gate in front of me slid open and I walked forward. I then took off my glasses and mask to look at the screen which took my picture. Then the final gate opened and I was free!

Then it was security time. First and Business Class have their own security line to the left where they checked our boarding passes again and directed us to a numbered security line. We had to take out electronics (laptop and Kindle for me), any liquids and take any belts off, but that’s all they asked us to do.

Also an attendant was there to help and guide your stuff through, which I appreciated. We then walked through security and headed towards the lounge, which was forward and up escalators after we went through mall hell 🙂 .

The Lounge

We kept following signs for the Airline Lounges until we found the Qantas International Business Class Lounge.

We entered and they asked for our boarding passes to check us in.

And then we were let loose in the lounge, which was large but also pretty full.

We found some seats by a table and went to grab snacks and drinks to relax for a few minutes before our flight started boarding.

Overall the lounge was fine. The employees were great – very kind and helpful. However, it was pretty full and fairly loud. Some people (aka heathens 🙂 ) were listening to music without headphones for some unfathomable reason and there were several groups speaking loudly.

But I tried to tune all that out and focused on the amenities! The lounge had multiple Baristas throughout the space to make custom brews as well as multiple sections for food besides the main one with hanging lights. There were also showers and attendants there to help you with anything you needed.

Also as I mention in the post below, this was the only lounge I’ve seen in Australia that served alcohol before noon. There was even a self-serve liquor shelf in this lounge. What are the rules?!

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After a short rest it was time to head to the gate. At this point I left the lounge thinking that it might be my least favorite one on this trip, but that’s only because we had been so fortunate with our lounge experiences prior to this. They were immaculate. So overall this less than perfect experience wasn’t a big deal. However, in hindsight, I should have savored this lounge more because after we left the lounge we headed into madness 😉 .

THE JOURNEY

Boarding

We were told by the lounge employees that our gate was a 3 minute walk away so we headed in that direction.

We passed some pretty places along the way 🙂 .

Once we arrived at our gate, we continued following signs telling us where to go until they ended at a roped off escalator. Curious 🙂 . We asked an employee how this all worked and they said to wait here. All the screens around us said our specific gate was open, but apparently it wasn’t and that’s why they had roped off the escalator.

So we waited in a confusing and haphazard glob of a line with people from 5 other flights, none of whom knew what was going on (we asked 🙂 ). So based on the amount of confusion even among locals, I’m going to guess that this is not just about us not knowing how the Sydney airport works.

People kept going to the front of the glob/line to make sure they were in the right place and should be waiting. Yep! I guess a gate being open doesn’t really mean anything in this case. A while later, the screens switched to say our flight was boarding and we were let down the escalator which is apparently where the actual gate is.

We followed signs to our gate number and waited in a long line. Then an employee asked someone else if they were Business Class. My Mom heard them and said we were too so they put us in another line. However, this turned out to be a mistake 🙂 .

When we got to the front, a gate agent said this isn’t a boarding lane. Whaat? Then why were we put in it?? People were walking all over the place and it seemed completely unorganized, but someone else took pity on us, waved us over and checked us in. I don’t even know if they were working at our gate or flight.

Then we exited through the doors behind the gate and it was a bus depot. Interesting. An employee said they were waiting for another bus to take us so we waited. I also heard another employee remark that this was madness because they usually have 5 flights down here and today it’s 45. WOAH. That would explain some things 🙂 .

We were then directed to get on a bus that was packed. We got in and it felt like a NYC subway at rush hour (oh what memories 😉 ).

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We were let on and off through one door and were then on the tarmac ready to get on the plane.

We had to climb stairs to get on the plane so we waited for the people in front of us to board. While doing so, I was fascinated to be on the tarmac of such a busy airport and look at a plane from this angle since it’s rare for me. The wing engine seemed bigger than some bedrooms I’ve had 😉 .

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And finally, we boarded the plane.

The Flight

Once we entered, an FA checked our boarding pass and directed us to our seats. That First Class check in employee did good because they sat us in the smaller, second Business Class section of the plane, which as you can see only has 3 rows instead of the 9 in the front section. So intimate!

We were in seats 10F and 10E and I am a bit of a snob who always picks a window seat, but I didn’t even notice that we were in the middle, possibly because of how small the cabin felt (in a good way).

I also loved that being in the middle allowed my Mom and I to be right next to each other while the window seats are singles.

When we settled in I noticed that the TVs at our seats helpfully displayed our seat number and that a menu was already at our seat.

So I settled in and then started perusing the menu.

While I was doing that, an FA came around offering glasses of champagne – my favorite pre-flight tradition 🙂 . While this was happening, the people from the rest of the plane walked by to their seats. I guess that is a benefit of being in the front Business Class section – no one walks by since everyone is loaded in through one door.

I then checked out the in-flight entertainment, which looked substantial and saw that they had the Australia horror film Talk To Me that I had been meaning to watch. And what better time to start then when I’m still on Australian soil?

I also noticed that the flight didn’t have free wifi, which was a shock to me. And I took reaction that to mean that I had become too spoiled by this fancy trip 🙂 .

Anyway, confident in my choice of film, My Mom and I said “cheers” and then a FA came around to get our meal order.

I chose the Pappardelle and a glass of Australian white wine (I forgot the name 🙂 ).

Then the FAs went through the safety protocols of the plane and we were off! Though to be honest, I actually didn’t notice we took off. I was too entranced by my movie and it was such a smooth take off I didn’t realize until I saw clouds outside the windows.

About an hour and a half after take off, the lunch service started. They brought me wine, sparkling water and a yummy appetizer of a salmon and quinoa salad with green goddess dressing along with warm sourdough bread and butter.

I was then brought my main meal. It wasn’t as good as a fancy restaurant, but it was close! And that’s impressive while I’m 40,000 feet over the Tasman Sea.

Then we got dessert, which was yummy.

The FAs also brought around an Arrival Card that we needed to write our flight and passport info on. We had the option of filling out an arrival card online in advance as a part of our visa, but we preferred a physical one.

And before I knew it, my movie was ending and we were landing. It was the fastest 3 hours I have on memory. The FAs announced that people continuing to JFK on this flight have to leave the plane and take everything with them, so they deplaned with us and I stepped onto New Zealand soil for the first time!

AUCKLAND (AKL) AIRPORT

Landing

So we landed and started deboarding. They did it in a bit of a strange way. The plane has 4 exits, but they blocked all but one including the exit in front of the main Business Class cabin. So we all went out of the doors right by my seat. It was efficient for me, but the other Business section seemed a bit miffed. Maybe they’re used to separate Business and Economy exits 😉 .

We then walked down a hall and employees directed people that were going to reboard the plane and continue on to NYC and gave everyone else instructions for leaving the airport.

Immigration

Then we went through immigration again. It’s all machines and we were a bit confused 🙂 . As I mentioned, we had applied for our visa in advance and it’s apparently attached automatically to your passport, which is nice.

However, apparently that means we could go to the line that’s titled “ePassport” even though I didn’t know I had an ePassport…just a physical one 😉 . But an employee ensured us we should be in that line so we went and it worked!

The machine asked to scan my passport, asked me questions about how long I was staying in New Zealand and if I had a ticket out of the country and asked if I had been convicted of a crime. After I answered all of those questions, the gate opened and I stepped through.

Then it indicated to step on top of a foot shaped sticker. I then took off my glasses and mask and my picture was taken. Then another set of gates opened and I stepped through.

I ended up doing this second part twice because the first time the machine said that I needed to go see an immigration employee, but someone that was standing by the machine said to just try it again. I did and was just told to continue. Nice.

My Mom and I followed signs to “Bag Claim” and there were two directions you could go in based on if you have nothing or something to declare. We turned left for “nothing to declare.” We were then asked by an employee standing in the hall to have our Arrival Card ready.

So we got it ready and showed our Arrival Card to an employee at the front of an empty line and we were asked if we had anything to declare (“Nope!”) They then stamped our Arrival Card and we were told to go to the express lane on the left after we got our bags.

All throughout this maze-like experience, from the plane to customs, there were employees along the way with signs who were happy to answer questions. They went above and beyond 🙂 .

Baggage Claim

We then proceeded to Baggage Claim.

There was screen that said our bags would arrive within 5 minutes…and that turned out to be a lie 🙂 . However, I appreciated the initiative since waiting for bags often feels like staring into a blackhole without a sense of time.

This was somehow worse though since for 25 minutes, the screen said that they were coming any minute, so we were not able to sit and relax while waiting since we thought our bags would tumble out any second now. So A+ for intention and C for execution 🙂 .

Customs

Once we had our bags we headed to the left to customs. It was split by passport types and then if you have anything to declare. However, the previous customs employee told us to go to the Express Lane so we followed signs to it.

There were once again several helpful workers along the way, which I appreciated because it was the most complicated Customs process I’ve seen 🙂 .

Once we found the Express Lane we were through instantly. We just gave them our Arrival Card and were told to leave. There was also an adorable young Beagle working as a sniffer dog that I showed a magazine article about in my Air New Zealand review. So cute! I couldn’t talk to them since they were working, but they’re the most adorable airport employee I’ve ever seen!

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Anyway, after I shook the heart eyes off my face, we headed to Ground Transportation.

Transit

I ordered an Uber and the app said to go to Door 11 and then head outside and to the left so that’s what we did.

We passed the last door (Door 10) and then there were signs directing us to a place to sit and wait for “eTaxis” (whatever that is) and ride shares.

Our ride pulled up a few seconds later (nice!) and we headed off on our 25 minute ride to downtown Auckland. And then our next adventure began!

THE REVIEW

So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience 🙂 .

Customer Service

Everyone that worked at Qantas was absolutely wonderful. Even when the logistics broke down a bit during our boarding for example, everyone was kind and happy to help.

The FAs on the actual flight were lovely and every other employees we interacted with during check in and at the lounge for example went above and beyond. I’m completely happy with Qantas’ customer service and am looking forward to flying them internationally again.

Seat

Despite only booking our ticket that day, we were lucky to be in the much smaller, second Business Cabin, which I loved. Interestingly this is one of the few times I disagree with SeatGuru’s color-coded classification system.

It might have been because this was a relatively short day flight, but I had no problem with the reasons this seat is coded “yellow” instead of “green”, namely its proximity to the galley and bathroom. And obviously the bassinet icon didn’t apply to this flight since my Mom was in that seat.

I also prefer to be in a window seat on planes, but I really enjoyed this seat since the window seats are singular seats and being in the middle allowed me to be right next to my Mom, which was fun! Also the second cabin was so wonderfully small and airy that I didn’t feel like I was far from the windows strangely.

I also usually don’t love bulkhead seats because you can’t keep stuff under the seat in front of you and having a wall directly in front of you can feel restrictive, but none of those problems existed here.

There was so much storage and room for me to park my big Vanguard tote under the footwell section of my seat. I even saw someone easily store a rolling carry on down there. Impressive!

There was also extra storage space that wasn’t originally apparent to me, such as a tray under the TV, a section under the arm rest for shoes and also all this shelf space next to my elbow:

I was in 10F and my Mom in 10E had even more space surprisingly. I also loved that the divider in the middle of my Mom and my seats comes down easily so it felt like we were in our own little world.

The actual seat was also very comfortable. I would happily sit in it all the way to NYC (its next destination). We were also provided with a squishy blanket, a fluffy pillow, a bottle of water and headphones.

In addition to all that, there were places to charge my devices and even more storage by the bathrooms, which FAs were using to put customer coats in a coat closet. In summary, we never had to use the existing overhead bins.

Food

I was very impressed with the food provided on this flight since it was relatively short (less than 3 hours) and we still got a full meal service along with free flowing drinks. The food was also almost restaurant quality so not as good as some of the wildest food I’ve experienced in the sky (like the below), but it was still very good.

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In-Flight Entertainment

So the actual entertainment system was awesome. It worked well, had an easy to use UI and had an abundance of things to watch and listen to. They also have this fun “watch with a friend” mode that I haven’t seen before!

The plane didn’t have wifi, but that wasn’t a big deal for me. However, the headphones they provided were surprisingly horrible 🙂 . They were uncomfortable to wear, had horrible sound and were visually cheap. I actually received better headphones on a Qantas domestic flight (which I’ll be writing about soon).

So that’s not ideal, BUT it was easy to work around because even though the headphone jack was a three-prong, I was able to easily plug in my own wired headphones into one prong and still got audio in both ears and had way better sound. So that’s not ideal, but I’m happy it was easily worked around and I had a great time watching my movie and totally forgot I was using my own headphones.

CONCLUSION

So that was the saga that led me to experiencing Qantas International Business Class for the first time! It started with a stressful event and as a surprise to no one, I’m not planning to book a ticket with LATAM airlines again, but luckily this story had a happy ending.

I had a fantastic time flying Qantas’ International Business product. Even factoring in the small negatives I experienced, I would happily fly this plane again and I’ve actually added it to my list for future preferred airlines for international flights.

Have you ever had a flight cancelled at the last minute? If so, what did you do?