Qantas 787 Reviews: Economy, Premium & Business Class

Qantas 787 Business Class
Qantas 787 Business Class

The new Qantas Dreamliner has now been in service for a couple of months. Many AFF members have now had the chance to fly on the Boeing 787-9 in Economy, Premium Economy and Business class. But so far, the Qantas 787 reviews are mixed.

The Qantas 787 will commence non-stop flights from Perth to London from 24 March. Given the extreme length of this flight, our members have a keen interest in the on-board comfort offered by the Dreamliner.

The Dreamliner Business class seat reviews are mostly positive. The Business Suites are like those already installed on Qantas’ A330 aircraft, although the privacy divider between the two middle seats can be lowered.

One member flew Business class on the inaugural Melbourne-Los Angeles flight and managed a decent sleep.

I flew on the inaugural QF95 MEL-LAX last Friday in J. All in all it was a good flight. Not great.. not horrible.. Good. Would I fly the 787 to the US again? I think so, specially if it made sense to do so. I wouldn’t do that J product to London though.. I find it a little cramped but it is far superior to the skybeds and great for flying solo due to aisle access and the privacy.

Another member flew Business class from Los Angeles to Melbourne and found the service from the crew to be excellent. However, this member did find the seat a little uncomfortable for sleeping in given the narrow foot well.

Qantas’ 787 Premium Economy seat is a brand new design which has been advertised as “revolutionary”. While comfortable, the consensus among our members is that the Premium Economy seats lack sufficient legroom.

I’ve only flown the 787 on a short SYD-MEL hop but would have to agree with the premium economy reviews. It’s a pretty good seat that desperately needs another 3-4 inches of leg room. Even with my seat fully reclined, there just wasn’t enough space to get comfortable. The lack of any toilets in the PE cabin was also a tad inconvenient.

Qantas 787 Premium Economy seats
Qantas 787 Premium Economy seats

The Qantas 787 reviews for Economy class are also mixed. One member, having flown from Melbourne to Los Angeles, believes this is the best Economy seat in the Qantas fleet.

I travelled in Y to LAX so here are a few quick points:
* It is the best Y product QF have produced. Is it the best in the market? No.
* The seat pitch increase is noticeable and does help but as with every single economy seat all over the world, as soon as someone puts thier seat back, it is impossible to get out of your seat without pulling the seat in front. The seat itself is comfortable but it is Y and will never be anything more than that.

Qantas 787-9 Economy Seats
Qantas 787-9 Economy Seats

Another member agrees with this review, despite experiencing some teething problems with the aircraft on their Los Angeles-Melbourne flight. They noticed that there is more legroom than the Qantas A380 seats, however the 787 seat is narrower. On balance, this member would not go out of their way to pick one aircraft over the other.

The in-flight entertainment in all classes of travel receives excellent reviews. Even in Economy, the IFE screen is large and responsive. The range of content is also impressive.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Qantas 787 reviews

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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