Key Details

Date: 21st January 2023

Flight No: QF1988

Route: Melbourne to Townsville

Aircraft: Embraer 190-100

Cabin: Economy

The Route

The route between Melbourne and Townsville is significantly less frequent than that to its northerly neighbor in Cairns although the route frequency is not insignificant either with both QantasLink (operated by Alliance Airlines) and Jetstar both offering direct services on the route. Coming in at 3 hours and 5 minutes it is the second longest regular domestic flight along the East Coast and is only marginally quicker than the flight up to Cairns. QantasLink which we flew on for this review operates a nearly weekly service which operates everyday except Sunday using an Embraer E190 aircraft whilst budget subsidiary Jetstar deploys an A321 typically 4 times a week also on the route.

Despite competion on the route not being as fierce as the Cairns and other North Queensland holiday destination markets reasonably good value can often be found with Jetstar sale fares under $150 whilst Qantas can typically charge upwards of $300. For this flight we booked a Qantas Classic Flight Reward which relieved my QF Frequent Flyer Balance of 18,000pts and $33 in taxes. Business Class redemptions are typically little over double that of economy redemptions. In retrospect the points required for this economy flight redemptions represented marginal value not too shabby but you could get better value for the same or similar amount points on a transcontinental flight or even a short haul international flight.

Checking in at Melbourne

Check in for all Qantas and QantasLink domestic flights at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport takes place in the departures Hall of Terminal 1 which is used exclusively by the airline. I arrived around 3 hours early for the flight with plenty of time to spare but checking in early and getting rid of my bags was no problem at all although this may not be possible at smaller regional airports.

Once at the airport Qantas has the latest state of the art check in kiosks and automated bag drop facilities with staff assistance always close by should you need any hand. A few manual counters are also available. The whole process is incredibly efficient and especially being a quiet Saturday morning my bags were tagged and off to Townsville in a matter of only a few minutes. The whole process is typically much quicker than airports especially at regional destinations who still often rely purely on manned check in counters.

One point to keep in mind however if you are an old school traditionalist these latest version of kiosks won’t dispense a freshly printed boarding pass so you’ll have to head to a counter if that is still your preference.

Qantas Club at Melbourne Airport

On today’s flight despite flying economy I’ve still got access to Melbourne Airport’s Qantas Club courtesy of a Complimentary Lounge Invitation coming my way through being granted membership of the Qantas Points Club Program. Qantas Frequent Flyers with status including and above Gold will also have access to this lounge regardless of which cabin they are flying although those with Platinum Status or flying Business can head to the superior Business Lounge next door.

Whilst Melbourne Airport’s Qantas Club is certainly one of the largest Qantas lounges in its network I find it a stylish and relaxing place to spend some time before any flight. In the lounge you’ll find it is thoughtfully laid out with a good variety of seating options to suit a wide range of travelers who might be up for work or relaxation alike.

When it comes to food and Beveridge these needs are well catered too as well with a central buffet area providing a selection of foods appropriate to the time of the day. We visited at a little bit of an in-between time at around 10.30am which was between breakfast and lunch so the selection was more limited to mainly cold cut meats and continental options however more substantial hot options are available during breakfast, lunch and dinner hours. More all day snacks such as potato chips or cheese and crackers would have been appreciated though with this offered more often in Virgin lounges from my experience.

The lounge also has a well stocked and visually appealing bar which adds a premium feel to the lounge which has a good range of beer (including on tap), Australian wines, spirits and soft drinks. The bar also doubles as an all day tendered barista station where you can get barista made coffee anytime the lounge is open. There are also several smaller self service stations where you can get mineral and filtered water, self service espresso machine coffees and soft drinks. I didn’t have much time to spend in today’s lounge so opted for a self service coffee which still tasted pretty decent. As with all domestic Qantas lounges they are officially dry until the strike of noon so if you are using a lounge invitation you may want to save it for an afternoon flight if this bothers you.

Whilst unfortunately it doesn’t have any external views looking out towards the tarmac you can however cosy up to a comfortable lounger seat besides the large atrium windows which look down over the line for the security screening checkpoint.

The lounge has some of the best amenities amongst any Qantas Club in Australia. Visitors from my experience can expect a solid free Wi-Fi connection, plentiful charging points, numerous reading materials and also shower facilities. When logged into to the Qantas wifi you also get complimentary access to many Australian news sources such as The Australian which is another added bonus particularly to the business traveler.

Seating in Economy Class

Today’s flight was a pleasant deviation from the typical Qantas flight operated by its workhorse Boeing 737-800. There is certainly nothing overtly wrong with those aircraft and they do a more than reasonable job as the workhorse of Qantas but today it was refreshing to be flying on something different – an Embraer E190-100 which is still a jet experience but with a significantly smaller cabin.

The aircraft has 84 Economy seats and 10 Business, all in a 2-2 configuration. Every passenger has either an aisle or window seat and there are no middle seats. The standard Economy seat pitch is 79cm (96.5cm in Business) while the seatback reclines minimally by 7.6cm. This is definitely an improvement on Qantas’s 737-800 economy class seat pitch which is rather tight at only 76.2cm and coupled with only 2-2 seating as opposed to 3-3 seating which definitely makes the flight feel less cramped.

Whilst the seats themselves are not mind-blowing and are of a fabric material they are more than practical and also offer a slight recline, practical tray table and seat pocket. Short of getting an exit row seat we’d recommending picking a window seat towards the back of the plane to maximize the chance of having the seat next you vacant which I was successful on this occasion and to also be able to take in the interesting views of the Australian outback before landing into tropical Townsville.

Inflight Service and Food and Beverage

Due to today’s flight being one of the longer Qantas flights in the domestic network we were treated to an extended in flight service which consisted of several drinks rounds offering tea and coffee and non-alcoholic drinks and also a light lunch service consisting of a selection of supposedly gourmet hot pastries. Closer to arrival the crew also came around offering Lindt chocolates which was a nice touch.

Whilst the service of the crew was good, being a flight that just took off coming into lunchtime and with a duration nearly as long as a transcontinental flight perhaps a more substantial hot meal could of been expected and unlike other daytime QantasLink flights taken it seemed a little odd alcohol wasn’t available either complimentary or at least for purchase.

All in all the crew were really good, efficient and attentive on this flight. The pilot also kept passengers informed as we encountered a slight delay on the tarmac as we needed to unload a passenger’s bag who failed to board.

In Flight Entertainment

One perhaps downside of Qantas’s Embraer E190s is that they are devoid of any real entertainment options either physically through seat back IFE or virtually through Qantas’s Stream your Own Entertainment App. Likewise you can forget about any possibility of free in flight Wi-Fi unlike the majority of Qantas’s 737 fleet. I tend not to get board easily on flights so a quick skim over the inflight magazine which is back again after Covid probably burns half an hour and a combination of watching the interesting landscapes go by out the window and enjoying the inflight service comfortably tie me over for the 3 hour flight. If you do have a tendency of getting board on flights load up your phone or tablet with some content however.

Arriving in Townsville

Despite a slight delay departing from Melbourne we made up the time to land in Townsville on time as originally scheduled. A fairly clear afternoon in North Queensland absent of any real storm activity that is so typical at that time of year meant for some magnificent landing views coming into the unofficially and hotly debated North Queensland Capital. Townsville Airport whilst no means massive is a rather busy regional airport nonetheless and is certainly a hub for aviation in Northern Australia. After only around 15 minutes my bags had arrived at the carousel which seems to be a little bit quicker than the major capital city airports and moments later I was in a Taxi to the CBD which is less than a 10 minutes drive away. Overall a very seamless arrival into Townsville Airport.

Summing Up

Overall this was a really enjoyable flight up to Townsville with QantasLink. Strangely enough I was expecting this flight to be operated by Alliance Airlines with the plane painted in their livery and operated with there crew on behalf of Qantas. In the end it was a plane in Qantas livery with cabin crew in Qantas uniform and service just as you would expect from Qantas making me have doubts whether Alliance had anything to do with it at all. Nonetheless my official documentation said the flight was to be operated by Alliance Airlines with their plane and cabin crew so not exactly sure in the end who technically operated but it was certainly a flight marketed as Qantas in every aspect!

Today’s flight was on a unique aircraft – a Brazilin made Embraer E190 which is a comfortable regional jet quite fitting to be operated on this route which certainly felt less cramped than Qantas’s 737 workhorse or certainly the Airbus A321 Jetstar operates on the same route. Service was really good and catering ok but could have been a little more substantial for a flight of over 3 hours and approaching that of a transcontinental route. The timing of the flight leaving at 11.30am and arriving into Townsville at 1.40pm (one hour behind Melbourne) is excellent avoiding any early morning rush at Melbourne Airport whilst still getting to your destination with much of the afternoon still free works really nicely and works better than Jetstar’s late night equivalent.

When it comes to the value of this flight it is up for debate, if you want to get to Townsville on a budget Jetstar is likely to be considerably cheaper but if you want a comfortable journey across the board than this flight is not bad value. As a points redemption I found the 18,000pts I used for this flight to be a pretty fair redemption although I certainly could have done better on other routes in terms of points value. If you got a limited stash of points it may be worth redeeming them elsewhere.