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Ahead of international flights resuming, Jetstar has started bringing its wide-body Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners out of storage to use on domestic flights around Australia! Lucky Jetstar passengers on selected domestic flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and the Gold Coast are set to get a nice upgrade over the usual Airbus A320 experience – in more ways than one.
Jetstar’s Dreamliners are normally used for long-haul international flights, so they’re configured with a 21-seat Business Class cabin at the front of the plane. But Jetstar is not selling Business Class tickets on these domestic flights. Instead, the Business seats are available for anyone booked in Economy to select for as little as $32 extra (or even for free with a Max Bundle)!
This guide explains how to get a cheap Jetstar Business Class seat upgrade on your next domestic flight…
Which Jetstar flights are operated by Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners?
First of all, you’ll need to find a Jetstar flight which is operated by one of the long-haul Dreamliner aircraft. (Jetstar’s A320 and A321 planes are not fitted with any Business Class seats.)
From now until the end of November, Jetstar is only scheduling its Dreamliner on one daily Melbourne-Sydney rotation. These flights are:
- Every day except Fridays & Sundays: JQ512 (Melbourne 10:25 – Sydney 11:50) & JQ517 (Sydney 13:30 – Melbourne 15:05)
- Fridays & Sundays: JQ524 (Melbourne 16:05 – Sydney 17:30) & JQ531 (Sydney 19:10 – Melbourne 20:45)
From 1 December 2021, Jetstar will use Boeing 787s on two daily Melbourne-Sydney flights in each direction. These will be JQ512 & JQ520 from Melbourne to Sydney, and JQ517 & JQ537 from Sydney to Melbourne.
From 17-31 December 2021, Jetstar will temporarily remove its Dreamliners from the Melbourne-Sydney route and use them on flights from Melbourne to Gold Coast and Cairns instead.
But if you’re planning to travel over the summer holidays, there are a bunch of Jetstar routes where the Boeing 787s will make an appearance! From 1 January until 26 March 2022, Jetstar 787s will appear on selected flights on the following routes:
- Melbourne-Sydney
- Melbourne-Cairns
- Melbourne-Gold Coast
- Sydney-Cairns
- Sydney-Gold Coast
When booking on the Jetstar website, you can check the aircraft type by clicking on “Details” on the flight search results page:
How to select a Jetstar Business Class seat
On domestic flights operated by the Boeing 787, Jetstar is opening up the Business Class seats in rows 1-3 for selection as “extra legroom” seats. There is an additional fee for selecting these seats, but it’s only slightly more expensive than the cost of an Economy exit row seat.
When booking your flight on the Jetstar website, simply choose a seat in rows 1-3 when you’re offered seat selection during the booking process! If a seat is still available in the Business cabin, you’ll be able to select a seat there. The seat selection fee will be added to the cost of your booking.
Alternatively, if you’ve already booked your flight, you can choose a seat when managing your booking online.
On a Sydney-Melbourne flight, for example, it costs just $32 extra to choose one of the Business Class seats. That’s an absolute bargain!
On longer routes like Melbourne-Cairns, the seat selection fee is a slightly higher – but still very reasonable – $45 per passenger.
Of course, this price doesn’t include any extras such as checked baggage or a meal on board. You also won’t receive Business Class service on the flight — just a larger seat with more legroom, greater recline and a cocktail drinks table. (Our Jetstar 787 Business Class overview has more information about the seat.)
If you’d like a few more extras included, you could purchase a Max Bundle with your Economy airfare. The Max Bundle includes complimentary “extra legroom” seating, as well as 30kg checked baggage, in-flight food, additional flexibility and Qantas Frequent Flyer points & status credits.
It normally costs around $85 extra to add a Max Bundle to your Jetstar ticket.
There is a possible catch. In the unfortunate event that Jetstar changes the aircraft type operating your flight, you won’t necessarily be entitled to a refund for your seat selection fee. But you would still be entitled to choose another extra legroom seat on the new aircraft, such as an exit row seat, if any are still available.
Qantas Gold, Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers, as well as Qantas Club members, are entitled to access Qantas Club lounges ahead of Jetstar flights on any fare type, where a lounge is available.
Upgrading on Jetstar international flights
Jetstar will also resume Boeing 787 international flights on routes including Melbourne-Singapore from mid-December 2021. However, this trick doesn’t work on Jetstar’s international flights because the airline is selling these seats as Business Class (with a higher level of service to match) on its long-haul routes.
To sit in Business on a long-haul Jetstar flight, you would need to buy a Business Class ticket, redeem Qantas points for a Jetstar Classic Business Reward or hope that Jetstar invites you to pay for an upgrade to Business on your flight.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: JQ 787 domestic business seats?
