A Qantas Airbus A330-300.
Jane Phare flies business class with Qantas from Auckland to Brisbane on a A330-300.
Departure airport experience: What a dream check-in. It helps to be flying business class. Super-helpful Qantas staff were there in a flash to assist when I had an issue scanning my frequent flyer card. They even reshuffled my husband’s seat (flying economy!) so he was in the first row, just behind business class. And we zoomed through the departure process through a fast-track lane.
The business class lounge experience: The Qantas lounge at Auckland airport is being rebuilt and won’t reopen until next year. But no matter, Qantas is co-sharing the huge Emirates lounge with an option to use the Strata Lounge for the overflow.
A full hot and cold buffet lunch was on offer, with a fresh red rose on each table. Knowing I would shortly be eating lunch on board my flight to Brisbane. I thought, “what the heck”, and filled my plate.
Seat: 6K. Jason delivered a glass of champagne before I’d had a chance to fiddle with any buttons. My seat included a big, plumpy pillow, a headset, a bottle of water, and bedding should I need to try out the lie-flat bed.
When it was time to buckle up, I discovered an over-the-shoulder diagonal belt. I texted my hubby back in economy. “Lap belt,” he texted back. Pity, I thought, sipping on the champagne. I know lap belts are designed to keep you from becoming airborne in the event of dramatic turbulence but the car-seat style belt felt safer.
Crew: I was looking forward to foraging in the little business class loot bag full of treasures I didn’t really need. But there wasn’t one on my seat. A flight attendant told me later they’re not handed out on the transtasman leg. Seeing my crestfallen face she said she’d try to find me one.
She reappeared 20 minutes later and, noticing my weepy face, presented me with a Qantas kit and a sympathetic look. I was watching the movie The Room Next Door, in which Martha (Tilda Swinton) faces terminal cancer and is determined to die in the company of her long-lost friend Ingrid (Julianne Moore). The loot bag made me feel a lot better.
Food and drink: There’s no printed menu in business class but you do get stainless steel cutlery, and a white tablecloth and napkin. From the three options, including vegetarian, I chose roast chicken served with carrots, potato gratin and pea puree. The meal came with a pasta side salad of courgette, sundried tomato and mozzarella, cheese and crackers, a warm roll and a Whittaker’s hokey pokey chocolate bar.
The entertainment: There was a good range of movies and shows to watch and plenty of kids’ entertainment. My second tear-induced moment was watching Robbie Williams (as a chimpanzee) singing Angels at the graveside of his beloved “nan” in the movie Better Man. The onboard WiFi meant I could instantly fact-check. Turns out the song has nothing to do with Williams’ nan but it worked well in the movie.
The best bit: On board WiFi and eating food that I didn’t have to cook.
The worst bit: Having to watch a two-minute ad before each movie started. (First-world problem).
Final verdict: For just a few hours, I could stretch out, binge-watch movies, eat and drink, and no one asked me to do anything.
New Zealand Herald flew courtesy of Qantas.