Key Details

Date: 4th August 2022

Flight No: QF161

Route: Sydney to Wellington

Aircraft: Boeing 737

Cabin: Business

The Route

Compared to its northerly cousin Auckland, the flight between Sydney and Wellington is arguably far more boutique and certainty the significantly less travelled airport pairing of the two. Nonetheless the flight route generally sees at least two daily flights with both Qantas and Air New Zealand operating typically at least 1 daily departure each although second daily services are not uncommon from either carrier. Unlike on the Sydney to Auckland route, passengers taking direct flights to the New Zealand Capital will have to settle for narrowbody aircraft with Qantas operating its workhorse Boeing 737 on the route whilst Air New Zealand operate its A320’s which do not offer a business class cabin. The flight is scheduled at 3 hours and 15 minutes whilst the return can take slightly longer due to headwinds.

Due to the relative lack of competition on the route compared to other airport pairings between Australia and New Zealand and no budget carrier Jetstar not operating on the route do not expect overly cheap flights to be found on the route. Expect to pay a minimum of $300 each way when booked well in advance although prices can soar at the last minute. Thankfully Qantas Rewards Seat availability appears to be fairy generous on this route and where available expect to dish out 18,000pts for economy or 41,5000 in Business although both options do however require a hefty $160 in taxes to be paid. Given the relatively short flight time and high taxes this may not be amongst the best value reward redemptions out there, but it is certainly an option which may come in handy on a route which is generally more expensive than its alternatives Auckland or Christchurch.  This fare was secured as a reward redemption as a part of Perth to Wellington booking via Sydney for 57,000 points plus $213 taxes which was a particularly good value redemption considering if redeemed separately each leg would of cost 41,500 points or a total of 83,000pts.

Compared to its northerly cousin Auckland, the flight between Sydney and Wellington is arguably far more boutique and certainty the significantly less travelled airport pairing of the two. Nonetheless the flight route generally sees at least two daily flights with both Qantas and Air New Zealand operating typically at least 1 daily departure each although second daily services are not uncommon from either carrier. Unlike on the Sydney to Auckland route, passengers taking direct flights to the New Zealand Capital will have to settle for narrowbody aircraft with Qantas operating its workhorse Boeing 737 on the route whilst Air New Zealand operate its A320’s which do not offer a business class cabin. The flight is scheduled at 3 hours and 15 minutes whilst the return can take slightly longer due to headwinds.

Due to the relative lack of competition on the route compared to other airport pairings between Australia and New Zealand and no budget carrier Jetstar not operating on the route do not expect overly cheap flights to be found on the route. Expect to pay a minimum of $300 each way when booked well in advance although prices can soar at the last minute. Thankfully Qantas Rewards Seat availability appears to be fairy generous on this route and where available expect to dish out 18,000pts for economy or 41,5000 in Business although both options do however require a hefty $160 in taxes to be paid. Given the relatively short flight time and high taxes this may not be amongst the best value reward redemptions out there, but it is certainly an option which may come in handy on a route which is generally more expensive than its alternatives Auckland or Christchurch.  This fare was secured as a reward redemption as a part of Perth to Wellington booking via Sydney for 57,000 points plus $213 taxes which was a particularly good value redemption considering if redeemed separately each leg would of cost 41,500 points or a total of 83,000pts.

Checking In at Sydney

After happening to spend an unplanned night at a nearby Sydney Airport Hotel due to the flow on effects of a flight cancellation out of Perth I was eager to get the airport very early – in fact 4 hours early! Expecting the significant crowds and logger heads at security that had been recently published in the media and about how the airport was struggling to cope with I was surprised to see the airport was still quite quiet although not all the tell tale signs of over 2 years of the Covid Pandemic had disappeared quite yet. Arriving just after 5am I was able to immediately check in for the flight to Wellington after a Qantas staff member first quickly verified that I had my NZ Travelers pass in hand. Soon as that was sighted I was able to use the self-service kiosks and automated bag drop facilities which only took a minute or two to complete.  The good news is that Priority screening and immigration for business class travellers is now back at Sydney Airport albeit the former Express Path program has been replaced with the Priority Lane which is more restrictive in its eligibility. Nonetheless being eligible for the priority lane meant I was through security and immigration in mere minutes although at this still quiet pre-dawn time of morning it would have only taken marginally longer for the general public.

Qantas International Lounge

As easily the most important airport for Qantas in terms of its passenger operations both domestically and internationally, it is no surprise that one of Qantas most important flagship lounges is its International Business Lounge in Sydney. On today’s flight as virtue of flying business I had access to the lounge although first class passengers amongst some of the other highest status passengers could use the luxury First Class Lounge. On arrival at the lounge, I was swiftly greeted by friendly staff members who are more than happy to process your lounge entry or otherwise eligible passengers are free to self-scan their own boarding passes to gain entry.

In the lounge there was plentiful of comfortable and varied seating options allowing for both leisure and work with some partially obscured views of the apron. Being an international lounge, the quality, availability and choice of options in the lounge generally sees a noticeable improvement over Qantas’s Domestic Business Lounges and of course the Qantas Club. Food available for mid Thursday morning flights out of Sydney consisted of a self-serve buffet serving popular continental breakfast favourites in addition to both self-serve and barista made coffee freely doing the rounds. A notable design feature of this lounge is its long narrow sit-up bar table which offers self-serve wines and grazing foods.  A significantly difference to most of Qantas’s domestic lounges alcoholic beverages are self-serve and generally offering a slightly better variety. Alcohol is available at any time the lounge is open which contrasts with Qantas’s domestic lounges where it is not available until noon. Free and fast Wi-Fi is also available for those who need to get down to work or be productive. After an enjoyable few hours or so having breakfast and a well-made flat-white I found it quickly time to board my flight taking us across to Wellington.

Seating in Business Class

Today’s flight was on a typical Boeing 737-800, the workhorse behind most of Qantas and Virgin’s services between Australia’s capital cities. Qantas does offer wide-body A330 services on some of its Trans-Tasman routes although these are generally limited to flights destined for Auckland. Qantas’s Boeing 737 has a 3-3 economy layout with a small 3 row 2-2 Business Cabin at the pointy end of the plane. Today I was seated in a Business in seat 1F which was one of the few remaining seats left that I selected online free of charge prior to checking in. Unlike the other two rows in Business due to safety considerations all carry on must be stored in the overhead compartments for take-off and landing. On the right-hand side in Row 1 means no seat in front and plenty of space between the seat and bulkhead in front although that does mean the IFE screen has to be stowed in the arm-rest for take-off and landing. The seat offers generous recline, albeit be mindful that it may slightly intrude on the space of the passenger seated behind.

Qantas Business Class seats on the 737 come equipped with comfortable leather recliner seats with a generous 94cm (37in) seat pitch and up to 56cm (22in) width between arms. Whilst they are more than adequate and perfectly comfortable for daytime trips across Qantas domestic, Trans-Tasman and short-haul international network they are far inferior to Qantas’s A330 1-2-1 Domestic Business class Cabin. These flights come equipped with The Vantage XL seat, manufactured by Thompson Aero Seating which go lie-flat and offer far more personal space and storage capability in what some would say are their mini ‘suite’ like design.

Whilst certainly a step up from economy, the seat itself is nothing mind-blowing and may only be worth it on reward redemptions as opposed to paying a full cash fare worth many times the cost of economy. Paying anything more than twice the price over economy for this business class seat we wouldn’t consider good value. Whenever flying Qantas between Australia and New Zealand I would always recommend booking A330 services where available especially if Auckland is your destination for a more comfortable experience both in economy and business but be aware of possible late aircraft changes.

Inflight Service and Food and Beverage

This morning’s service to Wellington was very close to being a full flight with the business cabin being completely occupied. On this flight, the New Zealand based cabin crew certainly had their work made out for them and whilst professional at all times naturally such a full flight meant service times did take longer even for Business Class. For its services between Australia and New Zealand Qantas’s flights are operated by its wholly owned subsidiary JetConnect who operate the flights with a New Zealand based crew with the motives for such arrangement well publicised and debated in the media for quite some time.

Unlike the previous domestic flight between Perth and Sydney the previous day, pre departure service got off to a better and frankly more expected start. Pre departure drinks were offered with a choice of either sparkling water or the non-descript ‘champagne’. With the drinks coming out already poured on a tray and with no bottle in sight there was no way to confirm whether it was actually the real McCoy or just the usual Australian sparkling used on domestic business class flights.  Nonetheless it was a pleasant drop and always a pleasant way to start the journey!

In comparison to the previous days flight where I was seated in the last row of the Qantas 737 Business cabin on this flight been in the first row meant I was amongst the first to be offered food and drinks and had the full choice of lunch options available although I suspect there was no certainty that those in the last row would have got their preferred choice.

Service began approximately half an hour after take-off with crew coming around to personally take post departure drink orders. I asked for a scotch and coke in which they offered Chivas Regal 12 Year Old. I chose the Stir Fry with Pepper Oyster Sauce for lunch which was tasty and came accompanied by sour dough bread and desert which was helped washed down by a tasty Little Creatures Pacific Ale and a subsequent James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale. All in all, the meal served was reasonably tasty and well portioned and in line with what I would expect although I would be inclined to compare Qantas Trans-Tasman catering to be more in common with domestic business class than its long haul international services. During the remaining few hours of the flight, the crew did several rounds offering the several red and white wines on offer although for anything else passengers had to largely ask the crew who were happy to oblige and do well to remember the customer’s preferred drink. Overall, the cabin crew were professional and service was good, albeit a little slow and not overly personalized although I don’t objectively think this was necessarily the fault of the crew but just staffing demands and high volume of passengers.

Entertainment

Unlike several previous domestic flights on Qantas, this Boeing 737 did come equipped with seat back or in arm-rest IFE for Business class passengers. I was not able to confirm whether economy seats also came equipped. Like the flight I took on Qantas on the same aircraft type the day prior, unfortunately I found the screens to be old and small, with a poor responsiveness and the reflectiveness from sunlight making it hard to use or easily view content. For this reason, I didn’t bother using the IFE aside from viewing the moving map and focused on enjoying the business class service instead. Unfortunately, this flight did not come equipped with or activated with the usual free Wi-Fi for browsing the web which is available on a large amount of Qantas’s domestic fleet. As far as we are aware in flight wifi even if installed on the aircraft is not available on Qantas International services. For those reliant on a good entrainment to get through a longer flight I would recommend bringing your own device loaded with content just in case you don’t fancy Qantas’s limited offering.

Arriving in Wellington

In little after 2 hours after take-off winding the clock forward 2 hours we finally made landfall over the northern extremities of New Zealand’s South Island making for a spectacular descent into Wellington over the northern parts of the snow capped Southern Alps and across the Cook Straight before landing into the scenic harborside airport of Wellington on the south tip of the North Island. We landed slightly early around 2.30pm on an unusually mild although all too blustery afternoon into the often referred ‘Windy Welly’. On this particular day international traffic into Wellington was fairly limited as it usually is with the only other arrival, also from Sydney but on Air New Zealand arriving within minutes of Qantas. This meant ques to clear immigration and customs were quick and efficient with customs and immigration cleared and luggage collected within around half an hour of landing. With my bag coming out around ‘middle of the pack’ I couldn’t observe any real priority that had been tagged to my luggage so there were no real perks to flying business class in this regard on this occasion.

Summing Up

Overall the merits and advantages of flying Business Class on a trans-Tasman flight must be weighed up against a variety of factors – most notably cost, flight duration and possibly most importantly aircraft type. In most cases when flying on a narrow body aircraft such as in this case on a Qantas 737, passengers should expect something more accustomed to premium economy on an international flag carrier which is certainly a comfortable step up from economy but neither comparable to long haul international business class operated by widebody aircraft. This expectation turned out to very much in line with the experience on this flight.

For us this flight offered the benefit of premium lounge access, more personalized service and improved dining and drinks selection than economy and a more comfortable seat with greater leg room. Sure, it was a pleasant upgrade than flying economy, but would it be worth the cash price sometimes upwards of $2,000 and many times the cost of coach which is already all inclusive on Qantas? We’d say absolutely not! However if redeemed as a Qantas Classic Flight Reward for around 41,500 points plus tax which is just over double the points of an economy redemption than this is definitely a reasonable investment to outlay some points on although the high tax charged on this route may not make it as lucrative redemption compared to some other routes of similar or even longer durations.