Qantas first-class flight assessment: Comfy however subpar

Fast take: Qantas firstclass delivers unmatched consolation when flying nonstop to Australia. Nevertheless, the Flying Kangaroo is a hop behind the world’s finest and must take a daring leap to remain within the recreation.

Execs

• Among the many most comfy bedding within the sky
• Pleasant, down-to-earth service
• Very spacious suite

Cons

• Tough to e book with factors
• The seats want some updates
• The meals was underwhelming

As an Aussie who has tried all the premium merchandise flying nonstop between the U.S. and Australia, I used to be thrilled once I noticed a unicorn redemption — the considerably legendary and almost-impossible-to-find Qantas first-class award seat to Australia (over the vacation season, no much less).

The primary time I flew Qantas firstclass was from Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia, in 2018, and I used to be blown away. Nevertheless, that was earlier than I had had the possibility to expertise its opponents’ first-class choices, together with an onboard bathe on Emirates, and seats with a separate mattress and chair on Singapore Airways.

Six years later, I bought to fly Qantas firstclass as soon as once more, this time from Los Angeles to my hometown of Sydney. It was nonetheless a snug option to fly Down Below, however I used to be much less impressed than earlier than. The excellent news is that Qantas does have a spectacular-looking first-class product in growth for its forthcoming A350-1000s, however we do not have a particular timeline for its creation.

For now, let me take you on the journey, together with how I discovered the award, what I considered the bottom expertise and the place I feel Qantas might enhance.

How a lot does firstclass value to e book on Qantas?

There are a number of methods to e book Qantas firstclass:

I booked my one-way flight from Los Angeles to Sydney for 135,000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (transferred from American Categorical Membership Rewards) plus $193 in taxes. On condition that one-way fares on this route begin at $13,000, that gave me an unimaginable redemption worth of 9.6 cents per level, virtually 5 occasions TPG’s February 2025 valuation of Amex factors. Spherical-trip fares hover round $20,000, that means that I bought someplace north of seven.3 cents per level contemplating it that approach.

This is a have a look at what round-trip airfares had been like on my route between Los Angeles and Sydney:

*Qantas is rising its saver-level pricing by 5%-20% and likewise rising taxes for bookings produced from August 2025.

Qantas is stingy with award area in premium cabins, particularly in firstclass. You’re most certainly to seek out an award seat:

• Slightly below a 12 months earlier than departure
• At random occasions all year long
• Within the few days earlier than departure

Qantas releases award availability to Qantas Frequent Flyer members 353 days (about 11 1/2 months) earlier than departure. Not solely will you discover award availability the earliest by Qantas, nevertheless it additionally releases the very best variety of seats to its personal members. Qantas Frequent Flyer is a switch associate of American Categorical, Capital One and Citi.

Subsequent, American Airways AAdvantage and Alaska Airways Mileage Plan members get entry when their award calendars open up at 331 and 330 days earlier than departure, respectively. By this time, most seats have already been snapped up by Qantas members.

Do not despair, nevertheless: Qantas releases batches of seats at random occasions all year long. That is how I discovered mine, seven months earlier than departure. 3 ways to keep watch over availability are to:

Some empty seats additionally could also be made out there for redemptions a few days earlier than departure.

The benefit of redeeming by American or Alaska is that you need to be capable of add home flights inside the U.S. and Australia for no extra miles (however possibly some extra taxes).

So, for instance, you can e book simply the one-way flight from Los Angeles to Sydney in firstclass for 80,000 miles. Or, if there’s award area, you can add an American flight in enterprise class from Chicago to Los Angeles and a Qantas flight in enterprise class from Sydney to Adelaide, Australia, for no extra miles.

Plus, in the event you’re utilizing Alaska miles, you may get a free stopover in Sydney or Melbourne (two of Qantas’ hubs).

Qantas firstclass is obtainable solely on the airline’s Airbus A380 plane, flying on the next routes year-round:

• Sydney to Los Angeles
• Melbourne to Los Angeles
• Sydney to London through Singapore

And yow will discover it seasonally on these routes:

• Melbourne to Singapore
• Sydney to Dallas-Fort Value
• Sydney to Hong Kong (normally between December and February)
• Sydney to Johannesburg

Be aware that American Airways additionally gives firstclass on its Boeing 777-300ER between Los Angeles and Sydney with a lot better award availability, however the expertise is much less thrilling. Nevertheless, this selection will disappear quickly as American retrofits these plane and removes the first-class cabin.

I am trying ahead to attempting out Qantas’ new first-class product on upcoming A350-1000 Undertaking Dawn flights, which is able to join New York with Sydney and Melbourne nonstop for the primary time. This will likely be a very new personal suite, however there will likely be lower than half of the variety of seats (six versus the present 14), that means award area will likely be very tight — or nonexistent.

Checking in to and boarding firstclass on Qantas

Thirty-six hours earlier than departure, I obtained an e mail from the Qantas Premium Host at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX). Hosts can be found when departing from Sydney, Melbourne, London, Singapore and Los Angeles, and Qantas says they “are prepared to offer the final word expertise.” My identify was misspelled, and I did not discover a lot new info in there, nevertheless it was good to have some type of acknowledgment of my impending flight.

If Qantas wished to enhance this service, they might proactively ask about any particular requests, hyperlink to the seasonal menu for the lounge, ask about dietary necessities or preferences to go on to the servers, supply to e book a bathe suite, and ask for a passenger’s estimated time of arrival on the airport to help with precedence safety and flight connections.

Departing from Los Angeles

I checked in by the Qantas cellular app 24 hours earlier than departure. The method took 4 minutes.

I arrived at LAX’s Tom Bradley Worldwide Terminal three hours earlier than departure.

I headed to the devoted lane for first-class passengers and Oneworld Emerald elite members to see if I might change my seat to at least one farther again within the cabin, however they had been all full.

With none first-class-related precedence safety privileges, I headed to the TSA PreCheck lane and sped by safety in lower than three minutes.

I needed to cease by the Qantas business-class lounge to ask the place the first-class lounge was resulting from an absence of signage. (Whenever you attain the business-class lounge, flip proper and proceed to the top of the hallway.)

Qantas first-class passengers may entry the American Airways Flagship Lounge in Terminal 4, which is linked airside (after safety) and is a 10-minute stroll from the Qantas lounge. Nevertheless, the Qantas lounge is superior, for my part.

The lounge has a contemporary, smooth design in step with Qantas’ black, white and crimson coloration palette. The entrance half of the lounge is designed with varied residing room-style seating areas and the again half with a restaurant-style setup for eating.

There aren’t any devoted workspaces or telephone cubicles, and several other individuals took video calls on speaker, together with pacing across the eating space. As a result of lounge’s location, there is no such thing as a pure mild, both, and people flying with youngsters is not going to discover a kids’s space or playroom.

For those who enter the lounge after 6 p.m., I would recommend asking for one of many reserved eating tables immediately as they begin to refill by 6:30 p.m.; there was a 20-minute wait by 7 p.m. and passengers had been visibly pissed off.

Having stated that, the Sofitel-trained servers had been heat {and professional} and greeted me by identify.

Upon being seated, I used to be provided the a la carte winter menu. (For those who’re flying round-trip to Australia, you will benefit from the winter menu in L.A. after which the summer season menu in Australia, and vice versa.) There are ample gluten-free and vegan choices.

The drinks menu is concise, with solely 5 cocktails, 4 crimson wines, 4 white wines, one rose wine and one dessert wine.

I loved two of the nonalcoholic drinks: the spicy Immune Booster (with apple, carrot, ginger, honey and lemon) and a home lemonade (with ginger, lemongrass and lime).

The meals was not fairly restaurant high quality, nevertheless it was offered properly. The potato-leek soup was hearty however I discovered the competing flavors (Gouda cheese, truffle and inexperienced olives) overpowering, and although unhealthy, the salt-and-pepper squid is a signature, so I needed to attempt it.

After a bathe, I headed again for a second dinner the place, fortunately, the grilled halloumi — a preferred cheese in Australia — hit the spot with its Mexican twist of salsa roja, turmeric pickles and agave.

However then I waited 25 minutes for the subsequent course, which was sea bass. The 2 desserts of sticky date pudding and an ice cream sundae had been enjoyable to attempt, however I did not end them as they weren’t satisfying.

A brilliant level is that barista-made espresso — however no chilly brew — will be ordered with oat, almond and soy milk out there.

Fortunately, there was no anticipate one of many seven bathe suites at 6 p.m. (however there was in a while). They had been giant, clear and brilliant and had a useful knee-high ottoman and desk to put belongings and prepare.

In distinction to the well-appointed eating and relaxation areas, the design of the bathe suites appeared considerably utilitarian. Incorporating components similar to ornamental greenery, art work and improved storage choices might additional improve the premium really feel of the area.

My greatest grievance was the showerhead, which had eight uneven spouts and inconsistent water strain.

Evaluating this to the stress-free bathtub I had a month later in Cathay Pacific’s The Wing first-class lounge at Hong Kong Worldwide Airport (HKG) — which is, admittedly, Cathay’s hub — Qantas would possibly contemplate it time to take a position extra in its lounge at LAX.

From the lounge, it was a brief five-minute stroll to boarding. First-class passengers, together with top-tier Qantas and Oneworld Emerald elite members, had been the primary invited on board.

How comfy was firstclass on Qantas?

The primary-class cabin aboard Qantas’ A380 has 14 open suites — quite a bit for a first-class cabin — arrange in a 1-1-1 configuration.

Listed here are some extra particulars on the seats and cabin:

The home windows have 5 rows of seats (A and Okay seats) towards them; there are solely 4 center seats (F seats) because of the staircase.

The very best seats for solo vacationers are 2A, 3A and 4A (and doubtlessly 2F). Some solo frequent flyers take pleasure in 2F as it’s the seat below the staircase, providing you with a way of being in a cocoon.

Aside from getting an overhead locker to themselves, company within the A seats have privateness from the center seats.

That is as a result of after takeoff, the middle divider on the left-hand facet of the F seats is raised.

I would suggest {couples} select a pair of F and Okay seats in rows 2, 3 or 4. The F and Okay seats share an aisle (and an overhead locker), making dialog simpler.

No matter whether or not you select an A, F or Okay seat, attempt to keep away from rows 1 and 5 to cut back noise and lightweight from galley and bathrooms; be aware that 5A has a child bassinet.

Whereas these open suites lack a privateness door, as you’d discover in Singapore Airways’ Suites and Emirates’ firstclass, they offer you a ton of area when eating, stress-free and sleeping. As a 5-foot, 11-inch particular person, my legs did not attain the ottoman when the seat was within the upright place.

As for storage: For those who’re in an A seat, you will have a full overhead compartment to your self; in the event you’re in an F or Okay seat, you will share it with the passenger throughout the aisle.

Laptops and tablets must go within the flimsy seat pocket beneath the fold-out drinks tray, which leaves them uncovered to the aisle. Nevertheless, toiletry luggage and books can match within the two pull-out drawers.

Aside from a useful foldout desk on the again of the seat in entrance of you in addition to the facet desk, you even have an enormous handbook, fold-out eating desk, measuring 36 inches diagonally. One other passenger can dine reverse you, with the ottoman serving as one other seat with its personal seat belt.

The 18-inch inflight leisure display seems undersized relative to the seat. Its non-HD show and unintuitive distant management could possibly be upgraded for a extra refined person expertise.

The touchscreen console for seat controls additionally doubled as a distant, and the seat management console had six seat presets and therapeutic massage, window and lightweight controls which can be simple to grasp and use.

This seat has one USB-A charging port and one common energy outlet below the drinks desk, although they could be extra conveniently positioned by the facet desk (simply in case the Qantas design workforce desires my enter!).

Having stated that, Qantas actually excels when it is time for sleep. I bought a strong seven hours of sleep on this 14-hour flight due to the breathable supplies, plush pillows and two adjustable air vents embedded within the seat wings. In my view, this is without doubt one of the prime two airways for sleeping supplies (together with Cathay Pacific).

Even with the airline enterprise a minor refresh of this cabin through the pandemic, there was nonetheless some evident put on and tear. As an example, my seat belt had stains on it and the cushions had been beginning to fray.

The Qantas seat can also be beginning to really feel its age due to the dearth of privateness and the comparatively small dimension of the leisure display.

Facilities in Qantas firstclass

First-class passengers obtain comfy, breathable pajamas and slippers with Qantas branding.

The amenity package was thick and reusable and included an identical eye masks, lip balm from Melbourne-based skincare line LaGaia Unedited, hand cream and hydration serums, skinny navy-blue socks, a toothbrush, toothpaste and earplugs.

The inflight leisure system had a formidable choice of new releases with a function to observe a film concurrently with a good friend.

The headphones labored high quality however had been light-weight and unbranded.

As of February 2025, Qantas is the one service flying between the U.S. and Australia that does not supply Wi-Fi. Its plans to put in it by late 2024 have been postponed.

There have been two loos on the entrance of the cabin, with the one on the right-hand facet getting extra site visitors. They had been spacious, making it simple to alter garments, and there was a number of counter area. I appreciated having a window within the rest room to see the world from excessive above.

One of many extra fascinating onboard components was a small lounge space shared with business-class passengers. It was positioned up the staircase on the entrance of the cabin and had a couple of completely different seating areas, together with two cubicles and a protracted banquette, in addition to a small self-serve bar.

That is no onboard bar such as you’d discover on Emirates or Qatar’s A380s, however it’s a good area to have instead once you need a break out of your seat.

How was the meals in Qantas firstclass?

On the bottom, I used to be served marinated olives with nuts and a alternative of glowing water or a glass of Champagne.

Food and drinks menus had been distributed on the bottom due to a 45-minute delay resulting from a defective overhead locker not closing, although maybe the crew might save time by distributing them earlier than boarding so passengers have extra time to peruse them.

The meals menu was impressively in depth; nevertheless, two of the 9 choices on the wine record had been crossed out in pen, with replacements written in.

Aside from the Champagne, the Qantas first-class wine record included the next choices:

• Pommery Cuvee Louise 2005; Champagne
• Brokenwood Semillon 2017; white
• Barratt Sauvignon Blanc 2022; white
• Tolpuddle Chardonnay 2023; white
• Tolpuddle Pinot Noir 2021; crimson
• Parker Coonawarra Property SBW Simpatico 2019; crimson
• Leeuwin Property Artwork Collection Shiraz 2019; crimson
• De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2018; dessert
• Morris of Rutherglen Outdated Premium Liqueur Muscat and Tokay; fortified

Most bottles had been within the $40-$75 vary, so not too fancy; nevertheless, the Champagne retails for round $200.

I began dinner with two canapes: a superbly sized caviar chunk and a scrumptious tuna tartare crostini.

You could possibly eat as a lot or as little as you wished, with 4 starter choices:

• Celeriac and apple soup with king crab and pickled celery salsa
• Pork cheek and ricotta tortellini in broth with asparagus, mushrooms and Parmesan
• Steak sandwich with tomato and chili relish
• Buffalo burrata with romesco, watercress, broad beans and hazelnut French dressing

The soup was pretty bland, however the burrata salad was properly balanced and pleasing.

Subsequent had been the mains:

• Artichoke and vegetable tagine with stuffed dates, couscous, broad beans and harissa
• Seared Chilean sea bass with snow peas, lemon and extra-virgin olive oil
• Roasted rooster breast with fondant potatoes, balsamic cipollini onions, treviso and thyme jus
• Ancho chili and hazelnut braised beef cheek with tortillas, tomato and salsa, bitter cream or mustard
• Mesclun salad together with your alternative of French dressing: Neil’s, lemon or aged balsamic

The Center Japanese tagine was wholesome and filling if considerably missing in taste.

I skipped the cheese plate and went for the enticingly named rhubarb and strawberry crostata with mascarpone sabayon dessert earlier than chocolate truffles and ginger tea earlier than mattress.

Service was sluggish and leisurely, ending round three hours after takeoff; nevertheless, when flying to Australia, there is no such thing as a rush to fall asleep — it is higher to remain awake for the primary few hours of flight to assist with jet lag.

Breakfast was served proper once I had requested it, half-hour after I awakened and hydrated with a bottle of water and a few electrolytes (that I had introduced on board myself).

I had a croissant, smoked salmon with cornbread, and Bircher muesli with inexperienced apple and hazelnuts.

Qantas — and Australia — do espresso properly, so I loved an oat milk flat white to complete off my meal.

Whereas costly and diverse, the meals on my flight was not likely memorable. I didn’t go hungry, however I used to be not craving extra by the point we landed, both.

How was the service in Qantas firstclass?

I discover Qantas customer support to be pleasant, heat and attentive. On this flight, the service was laid-back and personable quite than doting.

That translated right into a extra approachable, welcome-on-board-and-let-me-take-care-of-you-while-we-have-a-nice-time-together expertise quite than a extra inflexible, you-are-the-customer-and-I-am-here-to-serve-you method. I wasn’t fawned over, however I felt taken care of, and like I would already arrived again in Australia earlier than the aircraft even took off.

Is Qantas firstclass value it?

A snug seat (and mattress) is crucial issue on transpacific flights of 13-plus hours — and Qantas excels on this space, with breathable supplies, plush pillows and particular person air vents. The nice and cozy, pleasant service from a down-to-earth cabin crew, in true Aussie style, can also be a plus. Nevertheless, the meals within the lounge and the air was uninspiring on my flight.

I’ve tried all 5 airways flying nonstop from the U.S. to Australia, and Delta Air Strains is the clear standout, adopted by (in no specific order) American Airways, Qantas and United Airways, which supply fairly comparable experiences. Hawaiian Airways will likely be a strong contender if and when it introduces its new enterprise class on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Australian routes.

If I had been to get up tomorrow with half 1,000,000 factors in my pockets and award availability on any flight to Australia, I would in all probability select to fly Delta enterprise class to Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne (from December 2025). That is as a result of the airline has a wonderful premium check-in and safety space at LAX and has nice customer support.

Subsequent, I would select to fly Qantas firstclass again from Sydney or Melbourne to the U.S., given the spectacular floor expertise the airline gives in Australia.

That being stated, most vacationers may have sufficient of a premium expertise flying Down Below in enterprise class. Given premium cabin award availability is so tight on U.S.-Australia flights, in the event you discover a premium-cabin seat on any airline, e book it.

And if that uncommon award availability occurs to be in Qantas firstclass and you’ve got sufficient factors, redeeming them for this aspirational product is value it. Simply do not count on it to have the bling you’d discover on Emirates, the scrumptious meals on Japan Airways or the polished service on Singapore Airways.

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