For the last (but certainly not least) segment of my round the world trip with dad, we flew Qantas’ Airbus A380 first class from Sydney to Los Angeles. I was looking forward to this flight, as it had been years since I had flown Qantas first class.
Continue reading: Review: Qantas First Class Airbus A380 (SYD-LAX)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
To be fair to their beverage service - their champagne is not the most expensive first class champagne, but respactable, and their Penfolds RWT may be amongst the top red wines (while even being a local offering) I’ve seen on any first class menu, especially if not a one-off but a consistent offering.
We need a separate cabin class for your dad, with first class service but an economy (or premium economy) class seat.
Maybe "Economy Flex", but "flex" as in "flexing my Instagram story", not "flexible".
@Ben Just a heads up, on the Qantas LAX to MEL route, they're still running one plane that hasn't been retrofitted with a new product of some sort. So, they don't sell first class. Instead, if you book J, you can actually select a seat on the bottom floor which is a first class seat. Just flew this, and it was such a surprise!
If the seats had a door and caviar was offered as a full appetizer, I have a feeling it could have made Lucky's list of top first class products.
"On Qantas, first class passengers are all escorted onto the plane together by a ground agent..."
How did they gather you all together? Like did they announce first class boarding and then gather everyone in group when all 14 pax showed up?
It was not mentioned that Qantas is upgrading their cabins. The business & first class too. Looks very nice.
If I was flying F and showed up to the gate from the lounge, only to find out there's an hour delay in boarding, I'd be very miffed. That seems like it would not take a lot of coordination to announce in the lounge. If Amtrak can do it in the Metropolitan Lounge at Penn Station, I would expect Qantas to be able to do it at their first class lounge in SYD.
Also, that spirits list is pathetic for F. Other than the bed, this feels very much like BA F; closer to biz than first.
Great review Lucky!
My wife is a vegetarian and we usually order a special meal. But the regular plant based options seem even better. Are they on offer every flight?
I noticed Ben didn't mention the refurb. New fabrics, colour pallet and upgraded tvs in F, there is one a380 still flying without the refurb but this was not that plane. Looks great and honestly don't mind they don't have doors.
The refurb looks great, love the colour pallet. Have sat in 5A many times but not since the aa380s were upgraded - glad to see the service remains largely the same but they seem to have downgraded from Veuve La Grande Dame which is a shame. The lounge upstairs looks good too.
I hope all the avgeeks watch that safety video...it's Spectacular! Brilliant! One of the best productions I've ever seen!
Love the Noble One dessert wine. It's soooo perfect....but I didn't see anything else on the wine list that would amaze me.
Finally, the US flights always depart from gates 8 and 9, which you can see from the F lounge...so just take a peek out the window to see if the aircraft is at the stand. Also it was likely at the maintenance bay (which you can also see from the F lounge; across the runway next to the domestic terminal 2), not the cargo bay.
The first bed and bedding has always been good, but the rest is a very good business class product - sort of QSuites ... without the suite.
Let me start by saying I'm Australian but now live in the USA. My wife and I always fly somewhere for our anniversary and most of the time when we tell the flight attendants, they do something special. We flew Qantas Biz Class from LA - Sydney and return, plus a lot of internal flights, again all in Biz, for our 40th anniversary. I specifically chose Qantas as I hadn't flown them or been back to Australia for 20 years. What a colossal mistake. Every single segment was late. The LAX-SYD was so late that we missed our connection to Darwin. They also broke our suitcase and would not compensate us. The service was terrible, unfriendly and no acknowledgment of the circumstances. The food was mediocre at best and the wine selection pathetic for a country that makes such wonderful wines. The biz class lounge at SYD was easily the worst of any major international flag carrier we have ever flown - and with over 160 countries visited we have flown many. We are going back in 2026 but it will definitely NOT be on Qantas.
Bed comfort is my #1 consideration, especially on a long flight, so this looks and sounds great to me.
You chose exactly the same dishes I would have.
Qantas has the only first cabin from Australia to North American, and they codeshare with AA, so it's no surprise that award availability is so scarce, because they can pretty-much sell out the whole cabin every day in both directions.
The 388 will be back on MEL-LAX soon, I hear, so that will be another 14 seats in both directions every day.
The wines are good enough quality, they're just not terribly exciting. Very mainstream. Australia is brimming with niche winemakers doing fascinating stuff with classical grape varieties. Maybe the Qantas team need to look further afield than Penfolds.
You can board as you like in F. If you are waiting around when they announce boarding or if you happen to arrive midway or later through boarding the same thing will happen - they will walk you to the plane door and hand you over to the cabin crew.
That’s the way it always was done, on most airlines, thru late-80s. An announcement was made in the lounge in those who wanted were able to walk to the gate as a group with an escort. LH, BA, UA, AF, JAL, SQ, SAA, NZ, Qantas on the ones I specifically remember doing that.
I was on a 388 in F from lax to Sydney on Qantas this summer and they did a great job with notification and other options for food.
AA is technically still flying the 77W with F from LAX through around the end of this year? I am flying it in a few weeks. Award availability on AA F is surprisingly good on this route. Obviously that'll change when long haul AA F goes away.
Regular traveler between the US and Australia (and within Australia) and all of my regular-traveling Australian colleagues have been complaining non-stop about Qantas since travel picked back up last year. Everyone says Virgin Australia is the better option within Australia.
From the US, hard choice. Obviously going from the US east coast, you have a fair choice of Middle Eastern and Asian carriers for the connection. For direct flights from the west coast, I will still typically pick UA. Polaris lounges are nice and the bed is comfortable in J.
Also, by 2026, I think Hawaiian's new business class should be running. Going to be a huge upgrade and a nice way to break up the trip.
Errr which is it??? "a pretty great restaurant quality dining experience, ...and genuine service that strikes the perfect balance between being professional and personable."
OR
"Admittedly there are also some areas for improvement. .... and the food and drink selection also isn’t as high-end as you’d find in some of the world’s top first class products."
Talk about a contradiction!
And in my view it's pretty good not having wifi on board. Peace for a few hours.
Hi Lucky,
For those that fly QF First regularly (and to assuage your curiosity) that First seat under the stairs is known to many as the 'Harry Potter' suite ie: a reference to the film where Harry resides under the stairs. Interestingly, it is favoured / prized as the most private of all the the First seats for travellers who are on their own.
Generally, there are no announcements made in the QF First Lounge, as QF regards the First lounge as a 'quiet' space and announcements can make this intrusive. Had you been aware of this, a simple question to the lounge staff and they would have happily let you know of the delayed boarding. Bear in mind also that First passengers can board at any time - and some wish to maximise their 'lounge' time.
An excellent review - and glad that you enjoyed the sector.
Hey Pete!
I'm a lucky American that visits Australia often. I know the wineries, and many wine makers.
Wines from Victoria are my usual favorite (more wine regions and wineries than anywhere else in the country), but except for 2/3, they are all boutique. So they don't produce quantity for the likes of Qantas or export...they're mainly for the amazing Melbourne restaurants.
But happy to see Noble One on the list!
Take care
If you have a peek at Expert Flyer the Qantas F cabin generally has 4-5 seats booked in advance, then closer to departure the cabin is filled with late-ish bookings and upgrades which process between 5 days to 1 day before departure, depending on your status. Next week I can see there are between 3 and 8 seats free on any given day, but many of the upgrades would not have cleared yet.
It’s very nice. Lots of products that are lauded aren’t brilliant. Eg jal f. Qantas biz and f are actually pretty good imo. The seat is more spacious and secluded than lh f for eg.
Not like Air France La premiere where it’s personalised. At least in Paris They wouldn’t group you with other passengers unknown to you. Then if there’s a known delay they keep
you updated and come and fetch you from the lounge where you’re taken by Porsche to the aircraft.
The lounge onboard is actually very nicely designed - especially compared to emirates where the bar is often a mess. When I’ve flown the qantas lounge has had the fridges stocked - but as mentioned by Ben - why leave it empty?! In many instances qantas are absolute cheapskates.
It's a dead space Colin. Have spent some time there. A bar would have been a much nicer use of the space. Even the small bar on virgins 777 was a great space to chat and pass time on the hop over the pond
It's a dead space Colin. Have spent some time there. A bar would have been a much nicer use of the space. Even the small bar on virgins 777 was a great space to chat and pass time on the hop over the pond
I'm curious, but does Qantas upgrade people closer to the flight, whether complimentary based on status, or as a bidding proces, or with points or even at check in?
Qantas starts processing points upgrades around 5 days out for Platinum One members, then Platinum to no status over the coming days, until just before departure. I have a close friend who is Chairman's lounge and he nearly always gets upgraded from J to F without having to apply for a points upgrade, I assume depending on space availability. (Every time I've travelled with him domestically the staff upgrade me to business even though I was booked on a very cheap Y ticket). Qantas loves CL members from what I have experienced. I'd say only 4-6 of the 14 seats in F are actually paid full-fare.
I used to enjoy reading your reviews. Now that you endorse so many companies, the pop-up ads make them difficult to read.
I flew qantas trans pacific recently and it was absolutely fine. No issues at all. And within Australia, I’ll always fly Qantas unless virgin has a substantially cheaper flight. Virgin is a good airline but it’s no Qantas.
Indeed on JAL
Loading a single bottle of "champagne" with 8 seats...
Food however, especially the Japanese selection is absolutely great
@crosscourt - try using reading comprehension. One refers to service; the other product selection. It’s not that hard. You just like complaining about Ben’s posts.
How did you manage to select 5A?
It is a basinette seat and is blocked from seat selection at time of booking. It’s usually under airport control.
I am conflicted ...... whilst I love the superior caviar and champagne service and polished hard product provided by Emirates et al ...... I love the engaging Qantas F crew who never disappoint, the dining options beyond the caviar service which are always fresh, vibrant and often on crew suggestion, adapted to my individual taste, comfortable Lounges and the gorgeously comfortable bed which trumps a 'door' any day. It may look like a business offering to those who have not sampled QF F but it has many positives ..... but maybe only appreciated by the laidback Australian traveller.
If you get a better nights sleep in a business class seat compared to the QF First Class seat please share the details, mate.
QF has an award chart for upgrades, and it's 61.6K from Discount Business, 55.3K from Business and 49.1K from Flexible Business to First.
What a detailed report again Ben. It’s just missing some Krug and a rubber duck to make it into your first class top 3….. 🙂
"On Qantas, first class passengers are all escorted onto the plane together by a ground agent..." What, are we still in kindergarten? Let me guess, you all had to hold on to a loop on the rope, just like the walking bus.
Seriously, I've been flying QF first since the days of 707s, and never encountered this sort of bizarre behavior by Qantas ground staff. In fact, I've always found them courteous and helpful. Back in the good old days when I flew SYD-SFO-SYD 2-3 times a year they even had a cold VB waiting for me in the SYD lounge, something that made me the envy of more than one fellow passenger.
having no Wifi can also be a blessing
to enjoy fine dining without worrying about distractions
Another great review Ben and to make it clear I would absolutely love to fly this route in first class one day. The question for me is if you were paying cash and you wanted to sleep 7hrs would it be worth flying first or just going in business as you also get a good bed , not dissimilar food, drink and service? I’m not sure what the cash price difference would have been but I’m guessing very significant.
Do you believe the First Class experience is worth the upgrade in points from Business on the A380 in QF? I recognize on SQ or EK it would be due to the suite option but any feedback is much appreciated!
My take on Qantas A380 First class is that the food will be great to eat. Also I will enjoy the bar and lounge if it is on the Airbus A380.
Whoa... Not one mention of the massage feature that can be seen in your photo of the seat adjustment screen?? Absolutely wonderful article and effort, of course. But I'm dying of curiosity about that. How common is this feature? Is it loud? Is it nice?
You dad's meals seemed to be better choices (minus the toothfish) than yours! Seems like you always go vegetarian or healthy. If an airline can do pancakes/eggs/french toast properly on a plane, that is an accomplishment!