Flight: QF769 Melbourne to Perth
Airline: QANTAS
Plane: Airbus 330-200
Gate: 12
Seat: 2A (Business Class)
Departed: 12:47 (Scheduled 12:40)
Arrived:  14:47 (Scheduled 14:50)
Duration: 4 Hours 10 Minutes

As part of a short break in Perth to relaxed and see my AFL Team Essendon play Fermantle I booked a cheap economy seat back in January.  I immediately requested an upgrade to Business Class for both flights which came though immediately to my surprise.  I guess that’s a bonus of being a Qantas Platinum member, domestic upgrade requests get cleared immediately if there is inventory.

The A330-200 offers a pod business class seat, with the option of a fully reclined bed setting.  This is actually better than most 6-7 hour international flight business seats so a real highlight.  

I selected a window view seat at 2A.  All Qantas Business Class seats on the A330-200 offer direct aisle access so no climbing over another passenger.

It is very rare for my to fly business class so it felt a little special to turn left towards the front of the plane instead of right for economy.  The business seat / pod had a pillow and blanket waiting for me upon boarding using the priority lane.   I was quickly offered a refreshment drink upon taking my seat.  The cabin steward personally spoke to everyone in business class before departing, he seemed to know a few of the passengers personally.  In the front section of Business class I believe 21 of the 24 seats were occupied.

Departure was delayed a few minutes as the airbridge wouldn’t retract and had to be rebooted.  I took the time to hook up my iPhone was recharging using the USB port (there is also a power outlet).  Take off was very smooth and the Captain assured us we would arrive either on time or slightly ahead of time and reminded us to change our watches back two hours for Western Australian time.

As we were departing at lunch time we were quickly served, first with another drink service, which I selected a white wine and was provided some nuts, and than second with the meal service.  Business Class passengers are offered an entree, main and desert food options.  I skipped the Entree (options Moroccan spiced chickpea and tomato soup, or Buffalo bocconcini with prosciutto) having eaten a light but late breakfast in the Qantas Business Class  Lounge.

I selected the Roast Chicken with fried polenta, braised bitter greens and salmoriglio) with bread and salad.  The meal, in particular the fried polenta, was excellent.  I selected lemonade as my drink and it was quickly filled up again without asking during the meal service.  For dessert I skipped the tea, coffee and wine service and just went with the Maggie Beer ice cream.

The seat / pod has a fairly large touch screen for the entertainment system.  I selected ‘Rogue One’ and used the business class headset which are better for sound than the normal economy headsets.  I watched the cabin crew who were very attentive to all business passengers, taking the time to talk and engage with those who wanted to have a small chat.  It’s hard to imagine how much everyone would love traveling if economy had this type of service.

After my meal was taken away I played around with the seat settings.  This is only a 4 hour flight so no need to recline to fully flat but still very comfortable reclining options that allows you to enjoy the HD display while watching your movie or TV show.

There only appears to be one toilet exclusively for the business class section, but I mean be wrong.  I did stretch my legs at one point and saw my brother in law who was seated in 6F and was traveling on a staff discount ticket in business class.  I feel if I had this staff discount option I’d be traveling in business class everywhere Qantas flew to 🙂

The last hour of this flight was spent watching TV shows.  The flight landed a few minutes early on a beautiful day.  We left the plane by the front door so I was probably the fourth person off the plane.  Bags took around 8 minutes to get to the package area with bags tagged as Business the first off (I only had carry on package).