Review: Qantas Business Class 737 Sydney To Auckland

I flew Qantas business class on the 737 from SYD-BNE last Thanksgiving. My experience was very similar to yours. Excellent service, passable hard product. What impressed me most about the 2 short QF flight (wheels up to wheels down is around 60 minutes) is that they still managed to provide us a full meal service. In my case, it was breakfast going up and lunch coming back. Both meals were quite good, and certainly better than anything I've ever had in domestic F on a US carrier.

Lan Chile changed its name a few months ago when they merged with TAM, now the airline is called Latam

@ Guilherme -
Not necessarily. Some do say "I'm flying LATAM", but just like IAG, most people refer to the airline by their individual name (not many people say " I'm flying IAG between LHR and JFK": most say "I'm flying British Airways...".

How do you enjoy a fully flat bed on a three hour flight?

I guess what I want to know is if FFs on this blog and @Lucky would prioritize hard product over soft product for this journey?

@Anonymous Guilherme is right, While IAG keep their brands (British and Iberia), the airlines extinguished their LAN and TAM brands in favor of LATAM.

The LATAM and EK flights are earlier in the day. If you want a later afternoon or evening, QF or ANZ are your only options. Coming from AKL to SYD, the LATAM flight is a very early morning departure and is delay prone. Not bad for some, but it would not be my preference.

I've flown QANTAS' 737 business class a few times as well as the same seat style on their A330s before they started refitting them. Alot of your points in the review are pretty much on the mark - the seat isn't anything to cheer about, but the service and catering has always been of pretty high quality I found (the catering has always been above and beyond what I've experienced on the US carriers I've experienced). The comparsion to US carriers' first class seats was funny cause I thought the same thing the first time I flew first class in the US ("hey this seems familar....").

Lucky - I had a quick look over your previous QANTAS related reviews/articles, is there any plans to review the new business suite on their A330s? Thanks

You should probably also mention that Air New Zealand also operates 777 and 787 with lie flat business class on that route.

I'd agree with you Lucky - Jetconnect crews consistently provide great service (friendly, professional, constant refills and referring to pax by name) in Business. Food has recently been improved on trans-tasman QF J flights - especially the evening meals. IFE selection and hard seat product are worse than NZ/EK/LA widebody trans-tasman, but fine for a trans-tasman or short domestic Australia hop. However, as others have said, QF have regular flights throughout the day between various Australian and New Zealand cities and the timing is often better.

Bread maybe a bit meh, but at least in long haul business class departing Sydney they have Pepe Saya butter which is amazing.

http://pepesaya.com.au/

There are no separate footrests on Jetconnect's 73Hs (unless you mean the footrest that folds out of the legrest)?

Ford's chicken looks really strange, like processed strange.

But other than that, great TR

What is "hot and numbing dressing"? Sounds like something you'd put on a wound, not on salad.

The Etihad A 380 is definitely the nicest looking one. But then, its a case of putting lipstick on a pig. The A380 might be great when your flying business or first, but damn, that thing is an eyesore. It looks like someone used compressed air to inflate an A 320.

@Craig TPA, the "hot and numbing dressing" is used at one of Neil Perry's restaurants called Spice Temple. So for foodies who make the connection it would make them feel ooh la la fancy.

Like in Canada, bashing the flag carrier is a national pastime. When I told a friend (who works in the industry) that I actually enjoyed QF Y Class from AKL to SYD, he told me... "Ahhhhh mate. That's because you were flying JetConnect. Qantas mainline is just bloody awful."

A few of the Jetconnect 737s have newer business class seats with leather and seatback entertainment instead of in-arm screens. Pretty much the same hard product as long-haul premium economy.

I've got an AAdvantage award booked from my home through DFW-SYD-AKL, and found out that I can't get the LATAM flight SYD-AKL. I've hung up and called again a number of times. Apparently Qantas publishes the fare from home to AKL, but LATAM doesn't, and the Qantas fare rule doesn't allow travel on LATAM... It's a subtle nuance to the AAdvantage requirement of having a published fare by the overwater carrier. If I want to book it, American wants to charge two awards - North America --> Australia, and Australia --> New Zealand. Bummed I can't get a ride on the nice 787-9 with lie-flat seating, but it sure isn't worth the extra mileage....

"Isn't she pretty?"

Um, no. Nice paint job on an otherwise ugly aircraft. The A380 is the perfect successor for the nickname they gave the B-52 - BUFF.

Who cares what a aircraft looks like, Emirates upper deck business class on their 380 is delightful, and in my view the best especially given their low prices. Nice review I am going on from Melbourne to Auckland and Emirates book you on the Qantas flight (at no extra charge I might add on a return business flight from London there is no charge for the Melbourne Auckland sector), so I know what to expect.