I did this flight in economy around a year ago, mainly because it was actually the cheapest flight for the date/time I needed. But the risk of lengthy delays (anyone know why these flights are so unreliable?), isn’t worth the hassle, even with F lounge access. I’d consider doing it in business if the price was cheap enough!
I still remember the check in process being horrible with no online check in, everyone has to line up for manual check in. Can’t use the business class queue with QF status, you have to be flying business. Despite knowing they had a full 787 of people to check in, they only had 2 desks open, and they were meticulously weighing everyone’s carry on luggage which slowed things down even more as people rearranged and re-weighed. It took about an hour just to check in.
Going through security wasn’t too bad, and still had time for QF First dining. But things got pretty bad from here. Boarding was called, and it actually started on time at the gate, but it turned out we were just boarding onto the jet bridge to stand still there for at least 30 minutes. When we finally boarded onto the plane (which also took forever on a full 787) we were then told engineers were fixing a system issue that was preventing refuelling. That took about an hour, then further delays were blamed on a paperwork issue and air traffic control. We eventually departed over 2 hours late!
Also don’t forget the 787 blocks most of your mobile signal, so you can barely use it during the long delay on the ground. Important if you need to update anyone waiting for you at the other end that you’ll be quite late!
The next shambles was after landing and arriving at the gate, they waited until after the seatbelt sign went off before announcing for domestic passengers to stay seated while connecting passengers to the international flight to disembark first. Everyone was already out in the aisle and getting their luggage down.
Oh and finally, customs take your boarding pass so take a photo of it if you were on a Max/Flex bundle for QFF points. You’ll probably have the chase a manual credit of those and it’s impossible without a boarding pass!