We were lucky enough to fly business class from Sydney to New York City on one of Qantas’ beautiful 787-9 Dreamliners. As the carrier gears up for its much-hyped non-stop flights to lift off in 2026, here’s a flavour of the wonderful experience that’s likely to be on offer.
Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner Business Class
VERDICT: A world-class seat combines with industry-leading cabin crew to create the most enjoyable long-haul experience this writer has ever enjoyed…. I even managed to get 8 hours of sleep.
Pros
- Cabin crew were attentive and thoughtful
- Food and drink offer is wide ranging and delicious
- Entertainment system gets better every time I fly
Cons
- Bathrooms were great, but not the best I’ve seen
In This Qantas Business Class Story…
Flight Facts
| Route: | SYD-JFK |
| Flight Number: | QF3 |
| Aircraft: | Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner |
| Flight Time: | 22 hours, 25 minutes |
| Seat: | 11A, then 1A |
| Price: | c. $12,500 AUD |
Qantas Business Lounge
While you’ll likely be able to find fuller reviews of Qantas’ shared business class lounge at Sydney Kingsford-Smith elsewhere, it’s worth touching on since this is the point at which your tailor-made business class experience with the airline really begins.
On arrival, you’re greeted and checked into the lounge by Qantas staff who — as this review will go on to explain — are lovely across the board. Once inside, a sprawling and very well-appointed space opens up. In the centre sits a long bar/kitchen island. You can choose to sit here, crank open the laptop, and get to work… or you can pluck a flute of sparkling wine from its sparkling surfaces and really get your day started.
To the left-hand side is a range of seating options — work booths for the hardcore business travellers, sofas for the more relaxed friends and family affairs — and to the right-hand side is a well-stocked breakfast buffet with heaps of cooked and continental options, breakfast juices… and a great line-up of harder liquor, should you be that way inclined.
As you can see from the above photo, I went light on the food and beverages, opting for a fairly wholesome start to the day overlooking the sunrise on tarmac and anticipating a good feed once in the air. The vibe, as they say, was immaculate.
Your ticket also grants you access to the Business Lounge in Auckland. While I must confess this wasn’t the shiniest lounge I’ve ever been in, it was perfectly well-stocked for my brief 90-minute stay and — rumour has it — Qantas has plans for a massive overhaul as part of a $100 million lounge overhaul program, so we won’t linger on this too much longer.
Qantas Business Class Seat
Not only does this new line-up of Qantas 787 Dreamliners offer 42 Business suites in a 1-2-1 configuration with fully-flat beds and direct aisle access, but the carrier claims that “the cabins onboard these aircraft have been designed with long-haul travel in mind.” Did that turn out to be true in my experience? Absolutely.
There’s a long list of things that this seat does exceptionally well: a great little amenity kit awaits you on arrival, as does sparkling wine, a bottle of water and fancy over-ear headphones. The seat itself feels very spacious — as a 198cm man, you really can trust me when I say that — and every inch of that space feels put to good use; there are plenty of sneaky stow spots for your personal items, there are a slew of charging options, and there’s even a mirror tucked away so you can see just how rough you look before touchdown.
However, it’s the mechanics of the seat itself that really make Qantas’ offer stand out from the pack, especially when it comes to bedtime. The Auckland—New York stretch of this flight is an overnight leg, and so your seat comes equipped with tailor-made beddings: a quilted fitted sheet gives the effect of a thin but effective mattress, while the blankets feel exceptionally premium and the PJs are, thankfully, not one-size-fits-all, instead coming in a range of sizes you can pick from before takeoff.
This means that when it is time to hit the hay, the Qantas team will happily make up your bed and lie it flat for you. When they “fully flat”, they mean it; not only was I able to totally recline but, as a tall man, I was able to fully stretch out and even roll over when required. When I brought the supplied eye mask and ear plugs into rotation, I was able to get an almost uninterrupted 8-hours of sleep. For this insomniac, that’s unheard of, at 30,000 feet or anywhere else.
If you don’t manage to get any sleep, fear not: the seat also has a built-in massage mode that works into your back and shoulders, helping to keep the blood flowing and avoid that oh-so-irritating muscle soreness from sitting so long. All in all, the Qantas business class seat is a home run.
Food & Drink
I like my food, and the level of detail I’m about to go into regarding Qantas’ food and beverage in business class will likely reflect that. If you want the top-level takeaway: I’ve never enjoyed such a tasty, varied, almost-restaurant-quality feed on a flight, ever.
Here’s the blow-by-blow of what I ate and drank…
Sydney to Auckland
On entering the plane, you’re almost immediately offered sparkling wine, water, or juice. I opted for water… in the first instance. Around 20 minutes later, before takeoff, the cabin crew came around to introduce themselves and take your lunch order.
Once you’re up in the air, approximately an hour after having your order taken, your lunch service begins. A drink of your choice alongside an aperitivo of salted nuts kicks things off. Shortly thereafter, I enjoyed a smoked salmon salad — light, fresh, delicious — followed by pasta with fresh lamb ragu which, much to the shock of this long-time economy flyer, came served with fresh herbs and delivered a rich, homely flavour. Sourdough was served on the side.
The airline allows for what my mother would call a “Pauline Pause” between main and dessert, which was comprised of a tasty pot of Maggie Beer ice cream and a surprisingly good cup of coffee.
Auckland to NYC
If you thought that all sounded like a good time, just you wait for the Auckland—NYC leg… Taking place overnight, you get a whole dinner service, a breakfast service, and a heap of snacks in between. Things kick off, once again, with a welcome chat accompanied by sparkling wine. Your dinner order is taken before takeoff and your build-a-breakfast form is collected for future reference.
Within an hour or so of getting in the air, your drink and aperitivo arrive. On this leg, my starter was chicken skewers with spiced cauliflower followed by a roasted chicken breast with Roman gnocchi. While my chicken breast looked rather a lot like a chicken leg, these courses were in every other regard as advertised and absolutely delicious. Bread and salad are offered on the side, as per leg one.
As with all courses, you get a range of dessert options and, in an effort to shake things up from the first leg, I went for the cheese plate. This was great, but what followed — a surprise treat of dessert wine accompanied by two bite-sized slabs of Whittaker’s chocolate — was even better.
During the middle of the night, customers who remained awake (I was not among them…) were offered more Whittaker’s chocolate, and then a larger “midnight” snack should sleep continue to elude them. I thought this level of attention to sleepless customers, especially when this would be natural R&R time for cabin crew, was fantastic.
On waking, I was greeted by a Piccolo — which is the best coffee I’ve ever had at 30,000 feet, by quite some distance — and a shot of uber-healthy if somewhat anonymous juice, which was the perfect start to my day. With 90 minutes remaining, breakfast was served, and it’s a good’un: pork sausages, scrambled eggs (surprisingly good), homestyle beans, kale, fruit with yoghurt, a croissant with butter and jam, plus more coffee… divine.
In-Flight Entertainment
Qantas’ in-flight entertainment options have always been good, but right now they’re very good. While I slightly resented having to stare at Timothy Cahamlet’s face whenever my lovely 16″ screen was idling — a particularly intense close-up of his face was the Qantas ‘screensaver’ at the time of my flight’ — once you click through, it’s all upside.
I watched The Iron Claw, which was brilliant if heartbreaking. Having set my mood suitably low, I thought why not double down by binging the entire first season of True Detective? While these may not have been the most light-hearted choices, they highlight two of the best things about Qantas’ entertainment offer: their lineup of new films is always really well curated, and their access to HBO sets means that no matter how long your flight, there’s a bottomless selection of some of the best TV shows ever made for you to get lost in.
Another in-flight entertainment offer that many carriers have taken up in recent years is a wellness-oriented section. Ranging from guided mediations to blissed-out ambient tunes, this was a category I’d never really explored… until now. After my heavy film & TV choices, I found myself craving something to help me wind down for bed, and one of these guided meditations was exactly the thing I needed. Bravo, Qantas, for knowing what I needed long before I did.
Cabin Crew & Customer Service
Don’t let the brevity of this section fool you into thinking that I don’t have much to say. Rather, let my conciseness convey weight: the Qantas cabin crew were fantastic. They perfectly walk the line between being attentive — see the midnight Whittakers — making sure your every need is met instantly upon, if not way ahead, of your asking without being overbearing. At no point did I feel overwhelmed by check-ins or questions.
What really blew my mind was the level of personal interest the staff took: they ask your name and they remember it. In fact, they remember it so well that when I strolled up to the boarding gate for my return journey almost a week later, the head of cabin crew walked over and greeted me by name.
More than this, they ask what your plans for your time away are, engage in a lengthy and enthusiastic conversation about them, call back to this conversation before you depart and — should you happen to get the same crew on your return journey — even manage to remember those plans and conversations, asking you about how they bore out.
As someone who can barely remember my own girlfriend’s name, I cannot tell you how impressed I was by this; it adds a whole level of personal comfort and intimacy to the business class experience that, speaking frankly, you just don’t get in economy (with any carrier) or many other business class cabins, for that matter.
Closing Thoughts
This was the best long-haul flight experience I have ever had, by a country mile. Cutting-edge seat technology combines with Qantas’ characteristic eye for wellness, quality, and personalisation, all delivered by a world-beating cabin crew. This experience has, in many ways, ruined me, for it’s created a bar so high I fear no other journey may ever touch it…
If I get the chance to fly Qantas business class again, I will leap at the opportunity.
