Our Qantas B717-200 plane loading up at Canberra airport for its flight to Brisbane

This flight would be our first time ever flying Business class together so we were both very excited.  Not all of Qantas’ 717-200’s are configured with a Business class but QF1562 is one of the few that are. This flight would take us to Brisbane where we would fly to New York City via Los Angeles.

Airline and Flight #

Qantas QF1562

Aircraft

Boeing 717-200 Jet (2 class)

Airport and Terminal

Departure: Canberra Airport, ACT, Australia| Domestic Terminal

Arrival: Brisbane Airport, QLD, Australia | Domestic Terminal

Scheduled Departure Date and Time

Monday 22nd April 2019| 06:15am

Flying Time

1 hour 40 minutes

Luggage Allowance

Qantas being a full service carrier does not charge for checked luggage or carry-on as long as you stay within their restrictions which I think are very generous.  Luggage allowances vary depending on your destination, what class you’re flying and the Qantas frequent flyer status you may have.  As our end destination was New York, I have included Domestic allowances and the allowances if like we were, you happened to be flying on to the Americas.  For all other destinations you can check Qantas’ website.

Domestic

Carry-on: Adults and children travelling in business class are allowed the following carry on luggage:

1. 1x115cm bag at 56cm + 36cm + 23cm or
2. 2x105cm bags at 48cm + 34cm + 23cm or
3. 1x105cm bag at 48cm + 34cm + 23cm plus 1x185cm non-rigid garment bag at 60cm + 114cm + 11cm

From 25th March 2019 the maximum weight of any one carry-on bag has been increased from 7kg to 10kg.

Checked baggage: Allowances for business class are:

• Two pieces up to 32kg (70lb) each and not exceeding 140cm (55in) per piece
• Children are allowed the same checked baggage allowance as adults in addition to two child items such as a car seat and collapsible stroller up to 32kg each.
• Infants can have no checked luggage but up to three infant items such as a car seat, collapsible stroller or baby capsule.
• Platinum and Platinum One Qantas Frequent Flyers are allowed three pieces up to 32kg (70lb) each.

International to the Americas

Carry-on: Adults and children travelling in business class with a final destination to the Americas are allowed the following carry on luggage up to 7kg per piece:

1. 1x115cm bag at 56cm + 36cm + 23cm or
2. 2x105cm bags at 48cm + 34cm + 23cm or
3. 1x105cm bag at 48cm + 34cm + 23cm plus 1x185cm non-rigid garment bag at 60cm + 114cm + 11cm

Infants are not allowed any carry-on bags but food and nappies can be carried on board.

Checked baggage: Adults flying business class to the Americas can have the same luggage allowances on domestic legs as international as long as both flights appear on the same ticket or the flights are on the same calendar day.  Allowances are:

• Three pieces  up to 32kg (70lb) each with dimensions not exceeding 270cm (106in) with no single piece exceeding 158cm.  Total dimensions must not exceed 405cm (158in).
• Children are allowed the same checked baggage allowance as adults in addition to two child items up to 32kg each.
• Infants can have one piece up to 10kg (22lb) with a total dimension of up to 115cm (45in) plus three infant items such as a car seat, collapsible stroller or baby capsule.
• Platinum and Platinum One Qantas Frequent Flyers are allowed four pieces up to 32kg (70lb) each.

Fun Facts

• Qantas is the third oldest airline in the world and Australia’s largest airline
• Qantas is an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services
• Qantas is the founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance
• Qantas’ main hub is in Sydney, Australia
• Nicknamed the “Baby Boeing”, the 717-200 started off as the McDonnell Douglas MD-95 until Boeing took over the company in the 1990’s.  Production of these planes ceased in 2006 due to poor demand.

Website

The Qantas website is easy to use and provides plenty of useful information to prospective passengers.  If you pay by BPay when booking there are no extra costs incurred.  Once booked you can use Qantas’ Manage Booking to retrieve flight details and select any special dietary requirements, check luggage allowances and purchase additional luggage, select seats and check in and print off your boarding passes.  There is no charge to select Business class seats for domestic or international flights.

Check-in 

Check-in for Qantas flights opens from 24 hours up until 45 minutes prior to departure.  This can be done on-line or at the airport using the self-service kiosk or at the check-in counter.  You can check-in three ways:

1. Mobile check-in – by downloading the Qantas app you can check-in and access your digital boarding pass without the need to print it out.  Other benefits of this method include being alerted to when check-in first opens, access to real time flight data in case of delays and the ability to view any entertainment options prior to your flight.  You can also choose your seats.
2. Desktop check-in – by logging on to the Qantas website http://Qantas.com and clicking on Manage Booking.  Enter your booking reference and last name to bring up your booking.  Select the Checkin/Print Boarding Pass button and remember to take your boarding pass with you to the airport.
3. At the airport – via the self-service kiosks or at the desk in the Departures area prior to passing through security.  Here you can also select your seat, enter your frequent flyer number, upgrade your flight using Qantas points and print out your boarding pass and bag tags so you can drop off any bags at the bag drop.  Otherwise Business class passengers can check in at the counter at the Priority counter.

For flights within Australia if you haven’t checked in on-line or via the Qantas app, auto check-in will send an SMS inviting you to access your boarding pass, making it available on your mobile phone.  So make sure your phone number has been updated in Manage Booking or Frequent Flyer profile before flying. For some reason it wasn’t allowing us to check in via the app so we did it online from the website instead. The same applied to pre-ordering our meals. The app kept telling us it was too early but we were able to do it successfully from the Qantas website under Manage My Booking. Instead of printing our boarding passes at home we decided to print them out at the self-service kiosk at the Airport. However, the machine informed us we needed to go to the counter due to our international connection.

Business class lounge

The Domestic Business Lounge in Canberra can be found on level 3.  After going through security, turn right and head up the escalator.  One guest is allowed per passenger and they are not required to be travelling.  This worked out well as our daughters who dropped us to the airport were able to join us for an early breakfast.  The food options are quite decent with a suitable range of hot and cold buffet food available.  I found the sautéed mushrooms to be a big hit.  There is a bar and also a barista.  Plenty of seating (seats 248 people) and work stations with Mac computers is available and there are MFD’s that can print, fax and scan. A collection of magazines and newspapers can help pass the time and showers are located outside the lounge’s reception area.

Seating

Seat plan for Qantas B717-200

Layout – This Qantas B717-200 is a narrow bodied jet with 110 seats.  This class of plane is made up of 12 Business class seats and 98 Economy class seats.  Business is set out in a 2-2 configuration with Economy having a 2-3 layout. We were seated in row 1 of 23.

Seats – The seats are a dark grey quilted leather upholstery with red stitching in the headrests. Although not as fancy or private as those on larger aircraft, I found them to be comfortable, wide and cosy if you’re a couple sitting together. If you don’t know the person sitting next to you then these seats don’t offer any privacy. The other things to be aware of is these seats are right behind the toilet which you can actually smell from the seat and you can’t stow your bag in front of you at takeoff as there is no seat in front of you. The adjustable leather headrests can be raised up and down and are adjustable at the ends to support your neck better when resting or taking a short nap.  Seat pitch in Business class is 94 cm (37 inches) whilst seat width is 51 cm (20 inches).

Tray tables – The tray tables are found in the centre arm rest.  They are one piece and sturdy making it ideal for working.   A small cocktail table is located at the end of the armrest where pre-departure drinks are served.

Storage – There was not a lot of storage around the seat apart from lots of floor space in front of you and the magazine holders in front. You could not stow items on the floor in front of you during landing or take-off.

Cabin Comfort

With tonnes of leg room, wide seats and very little cabin noise due to the engines being a long way back, this flight was a comfortable one. There is more leg room in the first row on the left hand side of the plane than the right due to the bulkhead on the right. We did notice a beautiful sunrise on the right hand side though and with those being further away from the toilet, they would be a better option. The seats don’t fully recline on this older aircraft and there are no screens or iPads but given the relatively short flight, this wasn’t a problem. Above your head are individual reading lights and air vents. I did find the temperature on this flight a little chilly though.

In-flight Entertainment

Electronic devices

• Electronic devices can be used whilst boarding using the aerobridge but not if you’re using the tarmac to board.  Once doors on the plane have closed you need to then switch your device to flight mode.

Communication

• There was no means of electronic communication on board this flight.

Power

• All Business class passengers have access to a PC power port at 110V AC (60Hz) and a USB port underneath the armrest of each seat for charging devices such as phones and laptops.

In the Seat Pocket

• “Spirit of Australia” magazine
• Qantas magazine
• Safety card
• Air sickness bag
• Non-noise cancelling headphones

WiFi

• WiFi is not available on this flight.  Qantas has decided not to offer inflight internet as a result of a trial it conducted back in 2012 where less than five percent of passengers took up the service.  The demand for internet on international flights is a lot lower than domestic flights given the majority of international flights are overnight and most passengers prefer to sleep or use the in-flight entertainment system.

Entertainment System

There are no screens (individual or otherwise) on this aircraft and no iPads either. You can however download the Qantas entertainment app on your own IOS or Android device giving access to over 1000 hours of movies, TV and podcasts.

Safety Demonstration

The safety demo is conducted by cabin crew only as there are no screens to play the video.

Catering

Menus

There are no menus on board this relatively short QantasLink flight to Brisbane. There were two choices of breakfast offered – one hot and one cold.

Food/Drinks

Prior to takeoff we were offered a glass of water or apple juice with it being still too early for champagne. Breakfast was served at 6:40 (25 minutes after takeoff). I chose the egg white omelette with sautéed mushrooms and cheese and roasted capsicum and tomato on the side. Hubby who doesn’t like mushrooms settled for the toasted muesli. Both came with bread, butter and jam, a passionfruit & mango yoghurt and a glass of water. Other drinks including tea and coffee were also served. Both meals tasted fine although I think I prefer whole egg omelettes over egg white ones.

Restroom

This aircraft has two restrooms on board.  One up the front left of the plane for Business class passengers and one at the rear right hand side for Economy passengers.  Both have baby change facilities. There were no extra amenities to the ones you would find in an Economy restroom.

Service

The service on board this flight was friendly and professional.

Scheduling

Scheduled Departure 06:15 am – on time

Scheduled Arrival: 7:55am (Brisbane time) – 8:00am actual arrival

Pros

• Plenty of leg room
• Very quiet up the front of the plane
• Good sturdy tray tables
• Nice to have two seats side by side with a window seat in business class

Cons

• Older plane with window seats having no direct access to aisle
• No privacy from the person sitting next to you – this wasn’t an issue for us traveling as a couple though
• The first row can’t have bags stored in front of the seats
• Seats don’t recline far but it was a short flight so this wasn’t a problem
• Could smell the toilet which was right in front of us

Conclusion

If we were just flying to Brisbane I would not spend the extra money to go Business class on this flight. However as this was part of a much longer trip there was negligible difference in price going Business over Economy so I didn’t feel feel ripped off in the slightest. It is an older aircraft and Business class seats have changed a lot since then. However it was nice sitting together by the window with stacks of leg room and a nice hot breakfast to start the flight. I also don’t mind the leather seats which were roomy and comfortable.