London to Sydney - which business class?

[JackReacher]

Looking for some help from those who fly long haul business regularly. Luckily I don't have to travel out of Europe for most of my work, but I have to go to Sydney in November. Choice of BA, Qantas, or Qater.

I've not flown business since pre covid, so keen to know who is best now.

I think from some limited research, at that time of year that BA offers their Suites business class on that route, which is supposed to be much better than their old offering.

Qater via Doha seems to be highly rated, but that route doesn't seem to offer their more private q suites. The a380 does have a bar though.

Finally Qantas, I have no experience.

What do people recommend? And are the lounge offerings that different?

[nikaiyo2]

Why those airlines?

IMHO Ethiad is the best business class, it offers reasonable value and a good experience. Emirates is better service, nicer lounges but it’s usually 2x the price.

I have never flown BA business going that way, only transatlantic and it’s ok, but on old 747s and 777 so maybe not the best representation, but it’s not the same league as the very best.

[Mr Squarekins]

I've done the trip a few times. Emirates gets my business class vote, but nothing to moan about with Quantas.

[JackReacher]

nikaiyo2 said:

Why those airlines?

IMHO Ethiad is the best business class, it offers reasonable value and a good experience. Emirates is better service, nicer lounges but it’s usually 2x the price.

I have never flown BA business going that way, only transatlantic and it’s ok, but on old 747s and 777 so maybe not the best representation, but it’s not the same league as the very best.

Eithiad and Emirates don't appear on my travel booking system, but will play around with the times and see if that makes a difference

[cliffords]

Emirates every time .

[Tim330]

Do you have gold or silver status with BA/oneworld? Using them for the trip would get 240 tier points each way in business, you need 600 for silver.
This would then get you free meat selection and lounge access on economy short haul. Sorry if you already know this.

[Imasurv]

I’d be surprised if Qatar don’t offer Q suites on that route, as that would be my choice. If not, suppose BA if their new suites.

[Boylston]

Emirates is my go-to for AU in business. Usually the evening departure from Heathrow and the 6am return from Sydney. For me these are the best times for jetlag.

BA Avoid.

Simon

[numtumfutunch]

Apologies for the thread hijack and also for the poverty question - although Im from Leeds/Yorkshire

Hoping to fly to Oz next year with the missus and would be keen to upgrade whichever of the legs of our journey would represent value

Qatar look like he best option from Manchester with a connection in the Gulf however there is a "gulf" in price between their economy and business fares and no premium economy option. And we are paying for ourselves

Im happy to pay to sit in business for 1 of the 4 legs of the journey, there is no way to book this on the website tonight and so my question is will this option become available a week or two before departure?

Thanks in advance. Economy is perfectly OK for much of the trip but it would be handy to treat ourselves for the hurty bit in terms of jetlag and comfort

Cheers

[shirt]

JackReacher said:

nikaiyo2 said:

Why those airlines?

IMHO Ethiad is the best business class, it offers reasonable value and a good experience. Emirates is better service, nicer lounges but it’s usually 2x the price.

I have never flown BA business going that way, only transatlantic and it’s ok, but on old 747s and 777 so maybe not the best representation, but it’s not the same league as the very best.

Eithiad and Emirates don't appear on my travel booking system, but will play around with the times and see if that makes a difference

Quantas and Emirates codeshare. If there’s a stop in DXB it will be EK on at least the first leg. Check with your travel agent.

[Yetski]

Emirates every time

[alangla]

After reading this thread I started playing about on Skyscanner and for a Glasgow to Sydney round trip it’s bringing up “Qantas operated by Emirates” flights with the exact same times as Emirates themselves. Business class appears to be within a few pounds of the Emirates fare as well. Try getting your travel booker to get you a “Qantas” flight from the nearest regional airport that Emirates serves? Looks like it should be a QF8000 series flight number.

[AndyAudi]

JackReacher said:

Eithiad and Emirates don't appear on my travel booking system, but will play around with the times and see if that makes a difference

Apologies if teaching to suck eggs but,
Keying in the “correct” parameters to some booking systems does alter their offering significantly.
Eg if you’re supposed to select a cheaper option , if you get a dodgy route offered change the parameters to exclude it. Colleague & i on back to back with our travel often differed he was always KLM/Air France, I was always BA/Qatar/Virgin!

Use lastminute.com to generate what options likely to get then submit the correct request.

Can’t help with your choice, I used Virgin Atlantic for that route back in the day but they no longer do it - (I like their upper class over BA’s old business)

Only thing I’ll offer though is have a think about what you want & why, eg “what the lounge is like” before a flight would have little relevance to me when choosing where I’m spending the next 24hrs (I’d want space privacy to sleep/watch films etc). However as mentioned if you do a lot of local travel, achieving a bump up in status with same airline/partner by taking a big flight does make future short hauls nicer for a while. (Or showing off to the other half when you go on holiday & can enjoy it).

[Zolvaro]

JackReacher said:

Looking for some help from those who fly long haul business regularly. Luckily I don't have to travel out of Europe for most of my work, but I have to go to Sydney in November. Choice of BA, Qantas, or Qater.

I've not flown business since pre covid, so keen to know who is best now.

I think from some limited research, at that time of year that BA offers their Suites business class on that route, which is supposed to be much better than their old offering.

Qater via Doha seems to be highly rated, but that route doesn't seem to offer their more private q suites. The a380 does have a bar though.

Finally Qantas, I have no experience.

What do people recommend? And are the lounge offerings that different?

Qatar definitely, Q-Suite is great, I would be amazed if it's not on that route.

The lounges were very crowded last time I flew with them but that was 2022 when some were still closed\shared across classes.

Edited by Zolvaro on Thursday 11th July 08:43

[Jader1973]

I think Qantas from London will be code share with someone else. I think Qantas only go to/from Aus to someplace part way, and the other airline does the bit to/from Europe.

Not sure who the code share is with though.

My parents used to use Emirates business class from Glasgow to Melbourne and it was always great as far as they were concerned.

[captain_cynic]

Singapore is without a doubt the best, their A380 upper deck is all business class... However they rarely ever go on sale. They don't need to.

[ecs]

Jader1973 said:

I think Qantas from London will be code share with someone else. I think Qantas only go to/from Aus to someplace part way, and the other airline does the bit to/from Europe.

Not sure who the code share is with though.

My parents used to use Emirates business class from Glasgow to Melbourne and it was always great as far as they were concerned.

Quantas code shares with Emirates. You can access both the Emirates and Quantas lounges at Heathrow when flying either airline (despite what the person on the door says when you're trying to get some calamari in the Quantas lounge on an Emirates fare).

[Bob_The_Builder]

captain_cynic said:

Singapore is without a doubt the best, their A380 upper deck is all business class... However they rarely ever go on sale. They don't need to.

Agreed, we are just booking ours for next year. However the price does seem to have doubled over the last year on two.

[Freakuk]

I'd say Emirates over Quantas all day long. I flew with Qatar for the first time this year and I'd say as good as, if not slightly ahead of Emirates also.

[The G Kid]

For me, Qatar shades Emirates, due to friendlier staff, and the bar is better IMO. Emirates ICE is better though, which could be more relevant on a flight of that duration.

I would never choose BA going east, and have never flown Qantas biz. Etihad also worth a look if they price competitively (which they don't seem to be at present for Middle East flights at present).