Here’s another travel saga for you š . So my Mom and I originally booked a non-stop flight from Cairns (CNS) to Sydney (SYD) as part of our trip Down Under. However, a few months before the flight, we got an email that the non-stop flight we had booked no longer existed and we were now stopping in Brisbane along the way.
Later research would uncover that we wouldn’t be able to make the other non-stop flights on that day. So it’s good that we had built wiggle room into our plan because we had just turned one flight into two.
So I got to see Brisbane – if only from above and through the airport lounge. This change also allowed us to have almost twice as long to experience Qantas Domestic Business Class for the first time so that was a win! Doubly so because we paid for the flight with points š .
Flights Details
- When: October 2023
- Where: Cairns to Brisbane to Sydney, Australia
- Flight: QF709 & QF 557
- Flight Time: 2 hr 2 min & 1 hr 25 min
- Seat: 3F
- Distance: 1,055 mi & 455 mi
- Points Used: 41,500 Qantas points
- Taxes: $31.65 USD
PRE-FLIGHT
When we originally booked our tickets, we picked our seats, but when we went on the Qantas website the day before our flight, they told us we didn’t have a seat and had to choose a window or aisle preference, but couldn’t choose a specific seat. Weird.
Then when we arrived at the airport and received our tickets, we were in the original seats we chose when booking. Very weird š . So the website gave us worries for no reason.
On the plus side, I was excited to try Qantas Business Class for the first time because I had heard that they serve a meal on every flight (even domestically) and have free wifi. So let’s see what happened!
CAIRNS (CNS) AIRPORT
Check In
We arrived at the adorably small Cairns airport where there were many open kiosks in front of the Qantas check in counters. However, we had a question that would determine what tag our bags needed so we headed to the completely empty Business Class line.
We had arrived at the airport really early out of caution and wanted to ask if we could get on another flight. Interestingly we were told that since we booked our flight with points, we would have to call the points department instead. Naw š .
Even though there were earlier direct flights available, we were happy to keep our current one since it’s the seats we wanted and despite having an extra stop, would allow us to experience two new Qantas lounges that we could chill in until our flight. No hardship at all š .
So we checked our bags and headed towards security. Qantas tickets include bags on every domestic flight within Australia (economy included) and in Business our ticket included 2 checked bags each up to 70lbs, 1 carry on (22lb) and a personal item (8lbs). So overall all carry-ons must be equal to or less than 14kg/30lbs together.
Security
Then we arrived at security, which had a giant sign for Domestic Lounges instead of security. Interesting š . There were 3 lines, but we were confused because two of them had a big red STOP sign in front of them saying personnel only. It seems others were confused as well because the first line was filled and the other two were empty.
There was an employee going by and we asked about our assumption with the STOP sign and they clarified that actually all lanes were open and the sign is for the area behind the stanchions which is off limits. Cool! Iām glad we asked.
So we headed to one of the empty lines and were through in seconds. I also appreciated this little button asking how our experience had been:
Qantas Club Lounge
And finally we arrived at the lounge!
When we reached the lounge check in counter, they had us scan our ticket. Heads up, the bar code had to be dead center in the scanner to work and if you have multiple people booked on the same reservation, they only need to scan one ticket.
We headed into the lounge and took in all it had to offer. It had lots of different seating options including many along the window overlooking planes taking off. There was also a buffet with food, a bar and a hallway leading to bathrooms and showers.
Once picking our seats we joined the Wifi, which didnāt have a password and was just called āQantas Lounge Wi-fi.ā I then headed over to check out the food options.
The buffet had an “all day” menu with a salad bar, which starts at the far right and moves to the left – another thing thatās different from the US right-side driving I’m used to š . They also had fruit, bread to make your own sandwiches, hot soup, soft drinks and a barista that prepared coffee to order.
There was also a bar that opens at 12pm. This is something I found unique to Australia. In my travels, every other lounge Iāve ever been in, even in Muslim countries where most people donāt drink alcohol, are open 24/7 since people’s bodies are in all different time zones.
However, I noticed this 12pm start time at Virgin Australia Lounge in Sydney and now here. I wonder if it’s an Australian law or something.
Anyway, after 12pm I checked out the bar section and I didnāt realize until then that the bartenders make cocktails as well. Fancy! Thereās also an additional self serve coffee machine that has teas as well, located directly past the check in desk if you keep walking that way.
After gathering some food and sparkling water, we settled in by the window to enjoy the beautiful rainforest view that was also next to outlets and the coffee machine. It was also away from the kids play area that we expected to get loud and it was a great place to watch planes take off and roll up to the gate.
However, if youāre coming to the lounge for a long time and intend to relax like we did, I would recommend bringing noise canceling headphones. I obviously always have mine (#nomad š ), but this lounge did have more babies and loud children than I’ve ever seen in a lounge. I didn’t notice though and had to be told about it by my Mom because: headphones š .
I suspect this abundance of children might be because Qantas lounges are for everyone who is a paid member of Qantas Club instead of just for Business/First Class customers, which are sometimes (but rarely) children. (Side note: Itās hilarious when I see a toddler in a huge First Class seat). Oh well – itās all good with some handy dandy headphones.
My only other critique of this lounge would be that power outlets were a bit more scarce than I prefer, but as I mentioned, I picked my seat intentionally to be near outlets so it wasnāt a problem for me this visit.
Overall though this was a very nice lounge. It looked much better in person than the pictures I saw online before arriving. We ended up hanging there for 5 hours, so I feel like an expert š . And time seriously flew by. Staff came around to clear tables regularly and I got to stuff my face with yummy food while sipping some local wine. Perfection.
The lounge was pretty empty when we arrived at 10:30am and then started filling up and was pretty full around 1pm before petering off again. However, we later learned that we were traveling on an Australian school holiday (oops) so maybe that level of people and children is not normal for this lounge. Regardless, Iād happily hang there again the next time I visit the Great Barrier Reef.
THE JOURNEY (CNS-BNE)
Boarding
Boarding was set to happen 20 minutes before the flight was set to take off, which surprised me. So we headed to the gate 15 minutes before boarding and discovered the gate was right next to the lounge so it barely took 2 minutes. However, it’s lucky we left early because my Mom likes to collect a magnet from everywhere she goes and she was barely able to buy one before we boarded. Down to the wire š .
The gate had a Business Class boarding line, but we didn’t hear any boarding announcement until after people were already lined up. Whatever š . After they announced our group, we joined the line. Once we reached the front of the line they scanned our ticket and then we had to wait for a light to turn green before proceeding.
Interestingly the employees started checking in people in Economy in a separate line at the same time as Business, so we zipper merged with them and that created a bit of a wait to get on the plane.
When we were through, we went down the jet bridge, which was open air so I’m glad I had dressed for warm weather. I also saw other people boarding other planes that had to walk directly on the tarmac to their plane and climb stairs to enter.
The Flight
Then we entered the plane and a FA looked at our boarding passes and directed us to our seats, which was a nice touch I didn’t expect on a domestic flight.
However, I noticed that the plane didn’t have seat back TV’s like I expected and some planes in this Qantas fleet do. Then an announcement said you have to download the Qantas Entertainment app to watch anything on this flight, AKA a separate app than the regular Qantas airline app. *Deep sigh*.
The only positive here is that they did have free wifi that was available from the minute you get on the plane so I downloaded the app over that wifi. Otherwise I wouldn’t have used my Google Fi data to do so.
I then tried to use the app and it didn’t work. I guess I needed to be in the air? So I waited to see. Interestingly we were not offered water or juice or anything in Business Class – I can’t remember that ever happening even on domestic US Business Class flights…Uh Oh. We’re not off to the best start on my first Qantas flight experience š .
We then watched a safety video on dropdown TVs at the top of the cabin a la the 1990s. The screen was so dark and small I couldn’t even really see what was going on. Then we took off and the Wifi stopped. However, it started up again after the seatbelt sign went off. There appears to be rhyme and reason to this that I just don’t understand š .
I then went to the Qantas entertainment app and selected a movie to watch and it opened in my browser…which means the app is not actually necessary. Grrrr! So the entertainment was working for me, but strangely never worked for my Mom. I have no idea why.
However, I told her she wasn’t missing much because the interface for these movies was not ideal. It either cut off captions or doesn’t show the full video, which was weird and obviously less than ideal since I would prefer to watch the entire movie. I decided then that I would be deleting this app as soon as I left my last Qantas flight.
While that was going on, it was announced that meal service was beginning. We had the choice between Veal Ravioli and Jasmine Pork. The FA was going back and forth across the aisles…until she reached us.
Then she switched and went to our neighbors across the aisle, which made us last to order and we were then told the previous people chose the last ravioli. So by default I received the pork. We also got bread and butter with the meal, but the bread was so hard I was a little worried about chipping a tooth.
Strangely this pattern continued of being treated differently than the other passengers by this one FA. She asked everyone but us if they wanted a refill of water and after the meal asked everyone but us if they wanted tea or coffee. It was obvious we were being left out when we were all in a 6 foot space and could hear all this happen. I wasn’t sure why we were being treated differently since we’re kind and friendly, but I have a theory since we were the only people of color there *Deeper sigh*.
Soon after that, we were landing and we got off the plane fairly quickly. Strangely, Economy merged with Business again on the way out even though they had a separate door to exit through. It wasn’t a problem, just different from how I’ve seen separate boarding being handled in the past and it seemed less efficient overall.
BRISBANE (BNE) AIRPORT
Before starting this trip I had looked up our lounge location and as a result knew to look for the Qantas Lounge Precinct signs. So after leaving the aircraft we saw a hallway with that signage and started down it.
We then found the entrance and went into the lounge. They scanned one of our tickets, which was linked to both of our reservations, and we were good to go.Ā We were then directed to walk past the Qantas Club (that any Qantas member can enter) to the back where a separate Business Class lounge was. Fancy!
Once we reached that desk, I had been warned that people had been asked to present their boarding pass again, but instead there was an employee doing something else and waving everyone in. No redundancy here – nice!
The Lounge
Basically, this:
My Mom and I headed left when we entered the lounge because a random travel blog I had read mentioned most people go right and there was more privacy to the left – and they were correct š . It’s definitely quieter there in terms of people.
However, the music playing in the lounge was a bit too loud and club like for my tastes. I’m not sure if it was louder in the left section because it’s smaller or what, but that was distracting for a bit. But luckily the music calmed down around 6:30pm. Maybe someone more chill took over as DJ š .
My Mom and I settled in and then I went exploring. I checked out the showers, which had a kind attendant who told me that they provide towels if I wanted to shower. There were also fancy bathrooms with some lovely smelling soap.
For sustenance, there were two sections for food as well as sections for a salad bar, snacks and fancy non-alcoholic beverages. There was a long line for what looked like hot food, so I decided to check that out later.
It turns out that they had one hot item (beef lasagna) as well as 2 types of salad that people could choose from and that’s what the line was about. I stopped by a little later when the line was much smaller and snagged my own lasagna – it was yummy!
There is also a mini coffee shop on the left side of the lounge that was empty of a barista when I arrived in the evening, which I understand given the hour. However, there was a spout at the coffee stand that said it was self-serve seltzer, so I used that and it was awesome. Seltzer without having to go to the other side of the lounge – nice!
There was also a bar withĀ beer, wine and standard cocktails by the main food area.
The free wifi in the lounge didn’t work for me for the first 20 minutes we were there and I have no idea why. And once I got set up, I tried to help my Mom but it didn’t work on her phone. The ad to enter never showed up. We seemed to be having some issues with her iPhone playing nice with Qantas technology.
Anyway, the lounge had lots of places to sit with different vibes and chairs. I tried them all, out of curiosity, and they were all comfortable – even more so than the Qantas Club in Cairns.
We were not in this lounge very long compared to the last one, but the two hours we did spend there flew by, and after I had eaten a bit and gone to the fancy bathroom, it was already time to head to our next gate, which was helpfully only a few steps from the lounge.
THE JOURNEY (BNE-SYD)
Boarding
We were scheduled to board at 7:20 for a 7:40pm flight. However, a little before boarding started, I got an alert from TripCase that the flight was delayed 15 minutes.
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Interestingly, my Qantas app didn’t alert me to the delay, but a TV in the lounge listed a new departure time instead of calling it a delay. Suspicious š .
Regardless, when we arrived at the gate, there was a sign for Business Class and people were lining up there so we joined the line. Once we reached the front of the line, we were asked to scan our boarding pass using the same kind of technology used in the US by turning our boarding pass upside down.
The Flight
We boarded the plane and the FA tried to welcome me by name, which was a nice gesture. We settled into our seats, the safety video played on the overhead TVs and then we were taking off.
I then opened my tray table and discovered it was broken.Ā Oh my. So that was my challenge of the day – not spilling all over myself š .
We then had a meal service where the FA went back and forth fairly, which I appreciated. Our options were Chicken Soup or a Ham and Cheese Croissant. I chose the soup. While that was happening, I realized that unlike the last flight, which was 2 hours, Economy didn’t get a meal on this 1.5 hour flight. Maybe the cut off is 2 hours?
Luckily, I got through the meal without spilling it on myself because of my warped tray, and the food was good. When our tray was cleared, the FA asked if we wanted tea or coffee. Yay to being treated the same as everyone else! And then we were landing about 30 minutes behind schedule, but the flight was still not listed as delayed. Strange š .
SYDNEY (SYD) AIRPORT
We arrived at Sydney airport for the third time so far during this trip and headed to Domestic Baggage Claim.
Domestic Baggage Claim
We had previously only been to the international baggage claim section, so this was new. Once we arrived, I went to a nearby bathroom and after I returned, we only waited a few minutes before our bags came out. So we grabbed our bags and we were off to our next adventure!
THE REVIEW
So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience š .
Customer Service
Qantas’ customer service was pretty good. There were a few people that seemed to not want to be there and that one FA that treated us differently than other passengers, but that’s it. Overall, people were kind and helpful and I did appreciate that one FA tried to greet us by our names when entering our second flight, which isn’t something I usually see on domestic routes.
Seat
I enjoyed the Qantas Business Class seats overall. They’re definitely bigger than US Domestic Business and are wider than standard, but Virgin Australia’s seats were wider and nicer if I’m comparing.
We chose to sit on the right side of plane for both of these flights, which turned out was a mistake on this route because the Great Barrier Reef can be seen on left side of the plane on clear days. Oops!
However, I was happy that we chose the 3rd row of seats since they were away from the old overhead TVs we couldn’t control. But Row 3 does leave the possibility open that you won’t get your chosen meal since you’re often the last to choose.
Food
Overall I am very impressed that Qantas lived up to the promise to provide a meal in Business no matter how short the flight is. The food tasted good and was well cooked outside of that one piece of strangely hard bread on my first flight.
I was happy to be fed at all and am always happy when the food is nice to eat.
In-Flight Entertainment
As I mentioned above, the Qantas entertainment system didn’t work well for me. After about 30 minutes of not seeing the whole movie I was annoying enough that I stopped using it. However, their interface was better than Virgin Australia’s so there’s that.
We were also provided noise cancelling headphones that only worked on their small overhead TV, which was a strange choice, but a kind gesture. Overall though Qantas’ entertainment options were lacking for me based on the amenities listed when I bought the ticket.
CONCLUSION
And that was my first experience flying Qantas domestically. I like their promise to feed their Business Class passengers and mostly enjoyed their customer service, but the older planes that didn’t fully work combined with their annoying entertainment options means I won’t be going out of my way to fly their domestic product again. However, I’d gladly fly them again internationally based on the below experience š .
Domestically, I did enjoy their lounges and I was happy I got from Point A to Point B safely, but I’m curious what other airlines I can use the next time I fly across Australia.
How was your latest flight experience?
The flight logistics wouldāve given me a panic attack. But wow, love the pictures and detail! Thanks for posting as per usual!
Haha yeah I’m having to learn to be flexible in my old age š . Thank you for reading and I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures!
So sad that you encountered racism (and in business class no less!). Iām glad the overall experience was good, but still. Have you considered filing a formal complaint to Qantas? Itāll probably be a hassle and waste of time, but you never knowā¦ In any case, thank you for the detailed review. Iām headed to Australia and NZ next year and *greatly* appreciate all the info!!!! šš»
Unfortunately it’s not a very unique occurrence for me and since I likely won’t be flying Qantas domestically again it doesn’t seem worth it to me now that I think about it. However, I hadn’t even considered a formal complaint as an option so thank you for bringing that to my attention.
And woohoo that’s so exciting! I’m so glad this info will be put to good use š .
That burns me up the way you were treated by that one FA!
You and me both š .
I never fill out those customer satisfaction surveys that every business in the world sends out, but in this case, I’d make an exception. I would sure as heck want Qantas to know about the racist behavior of that flight attendant.
I’m the opposite š – I always fill out those surveys and in this case I wasn’t sent one. Strangely, I did receive one for the Brisbane-Sydney leg of the trip that was lovely, but not the Cairns-Brisbane leg where I would have had some strong feedback haha.
You should absolutely let Qantas know about that flight attendant. That is unacceptable behavior , and since Qantas prides themselves on their Customer Service, they should be informed.
Otherwise, Iāve never commented before but absolutely read your blog every week and love all your very detailed and informative posts. Iām not sure how youāre able to earn so many points and travel all over so cheaply, but itās certainly impressive! Thanks for sharing!
Hi! I’ll think about it, but currently I don’t think it’s worth my energy. And that makes me so happy to hear! I’m glad you like the detail. Thanks for reading!
With regard to your comment that all Qantas members have access to the lounges, I believe that is not correct. I think it is more likely that outside people with business class or status, the lounge is available to Qantas members who have a paid membership of the Qantas Club. It is a big thing in Oz as lots of people are able to take it as a tax deduction.
With regards to the service you mention, I have experienced the same on Qantas in business class on numerous, however I am as white as can be. For myelf I put it down to middle aged woman syndrome. It has been blatant on many occasions and my husband always thought I was exaggerating because he always received exemplary service. However when we travelled together he started noticing how he would be fawned over and I would be ignored as if I was invisible. I’ve been skipped for meal and drink services in half empty long haul cabins, I’ve been told no we don’t have any food for snacks between meals yet 30 minutes later they provide a warm toastie to the passenger across from me I asked again and was told that they don’t have enough for everyone on the flight. I pushed further and yes they still had them they obviously did not deem me worthy.
Thank you for clarifying about the membership. I’ll look into it and edit my post to be accurate.
What’s middle aged woman syndrome? I’ve never heard of it and didn’t see anything about it when I looked it up. But that’s messed up you’ve been treated that way. I’m sorry. Out of curiosity: Why do you continue flying Qantas?
Actually I rarely fly Qantas these days. When I am resident in Oz and I am purchasing a domestic ticket, I will normally opt for Virgin. If I am flying overseas and buying a ticket in a premium cabin I rarely purchase a ticket on QF as find their prices to be above the competition and their services to be somewhat lacking and I say that as an Australian. However Australians are totally sucked into the idea that QF is the best airline in the world, when I’ve tried to argue that with friends in Oz they tell me the problem is I just don’t like Australia – I am normally resident outside of Oz, so I’m being told to stay in my lane, I have no idea of the real world – google Tall Poppy Syndrome which is a very Australian thing. However after flying First and Business on Emirates and Cathay and Singapore there is no way I consider QF to be competitive with their bad attitude.
Ah – good to know. I had no idea about the defense of Qantas.
Middle age woman syndrome – that is when you pass 40 and become mysteriously invisible to the world, you might be there but every man and his dog just looks through you, you are not seen. For some reason when men reach the age of 40+ they don’t get cloaked with the same invisibility.
That’s interesting. There were other women older than 40 in Biz Class with us that day and they were treated just like the men. My Mom (who was traveling with me) is over 40, but said she’d never been treated like that on an airline before (including in Australia) and I’m 34 so I’m not sure what’s going on there. Thank you for the additional info though – that’s messed up.