Review: Qantas Business Class from MNL - SYD
‘Qantas has stiff competition but benefits from being one of the few airlines you can fly direct to Australia without a stopover. That being said, the prices Qantas charge for some of their routes is simply ridiculous, especially when you factor in the average food, service, and seat that you get in Business Class.’
Welcome to Suite Life Traveler where we review airlines, hotels, restaurants, and more. Today we review Qantas’ A330 Business Class from Manila to Sydney. Each airline review on Suite Life Traveler will be evaluated based on the following metrics: Check-in Experience, Lounge, Seat, Service, and Food & Drink. This will come out to a total score of 50.
Check out the video review on our TikTok.
CHECK-IN EXPERIENCE: 7/10
As this is not a home airport for Qantas, the check-in experience is not going to be as good as it would be in Sydney. That being said, the flight was delayed and many people had checked in early which meant it was straight to the front of the line for a quick and easy check-in process.
NAIA Terminal 3 is usually pretty easy to get through immigration and security, however, there is no priority line for Business Class passengers which means on the odd occasion you can get stuck for quite a long time trying to get through. This time however was a breeze and was through within 5 minutes.
LOUNGE: 8/10
As a One World Emerald, I’m able to use the Cathay Pacific lounge which is 100x better than the regular lounge available to Qantas Business Class passengers in Manila. Cathay Pacific just knows how to do lounges, and this is one of their best outside of Hong Kong. It’s a beautiful design, spacious, and has lots of different seating options. If you don’t like Asian food, this probably isn’t the lounge for you as the noodle bar serves exclusively Asian dishes (which are delicious!).
SEAT: 7/10
Qantas’ Business Class seat is a little better than average. You get a decent amount of space in the footwell and lots of storage space. If you want privacy, I’d recommend sitting in the even numbered row seats by the window as I did. The odd numbered row seats have a lot less privacy and are much less enjoyable having experienced having sat in one of these seats on a previous journey.
Service: 8/10
This is my third time flying Qantas Business Class on this route and on this flight I experienced the best service so far. Qantas tends to be hit or miss but on this occasion, I had a young steward who was eager to impress (maybe one of his first times serving in business class) and he was excellent.
Food & Drink: 3/10
While the service and presentation on Qantas were great and I enjoyed my Margarita cocktail to start the flight, my main was inedible. On my previous flights, I had not been impressed with the food but it was at least edible. In this instance, my fish was so overcooked that you could not even cut into it. To the steward’s credit, he was very apologetic and offered me another choice of main but I skipped for dessert before heading to bed.
OVERALL: 33/50
Qantas has stiff competition but benefits from being one of the few airlines you can fly direct to Australia without a stopover. That being said, the prices Qantas charge for some of their routes is simply ridiculous, especially when you factor in the average food, service, and seat that you get in Business Class. For a shocking comparison, the cost of a Business Class round trip ticket from Manila to Sydney on Qantas is $5,000 USD for a 7-8 hour flight each way. You can fly in the best Business Class in the World on Qatar Airways from Manila to JFK for $3,500-$4,200 USD round trip AND you’re in the air for 14 hours longer each way…. For the money, I wouldn’t recommend flying Qantas Business Class if you have other alternatives, even if that means a stopover.