What Will Qantas Do With Premium Economy On The 787 From Melbourne – Perth?

by Zac George
a white airplane in the sky

Qantas’ 787 is definitely one of the most talked about subjects in the Australian travel space. Not only is it a new aircraft for the carrier but it’ll also be operating the world’s longest flight from Perth – London non-stop. The flight will clock in at over 17 hours which is receiving mixed reactions from passengers.

The new aircraft is in a 3 class configuration, Business, Premium Economy and Economy totalling 236 seats.

The first route the newly minted aircraft will operate will be Melbourne to Los Angeles and a few months later, the next route will be Perth to London.

As the 787-9 will be based in Melbourne, it will be operating a feeder flight to Perth. The flight number for the whole service is QF9. You’re able to purchase just the Melbourne – Perth leg if you want to, but it’s only being sold as a 2 class flight.

a row of seats on an airplane

Qantas’ 787 Premium Economy

I had a think about it and thought, will Qantas make Premium seats available for elites or will they able to be purchased if they’re empty? 

I reached out to Qantas with the question and was told that they will only be available for the passengers going through to London.

This got me thinking, why not sell the seats on the domestic leg? The prices for Business are usually very high and most won’t be prepared to fork out 2-3k for a 4, 5-hour flight which is understandable.

Or if there are seats empty, why not allow Platinum’s and Platinum One members the ability to choose the seats? This would be a really nice benefit for those flights and I imagine it would be very popular.

What’s your take, would it make sense for Qantas to sell Premium on the domestic route or keep it just for international passengers?

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11 comments

Jake June 12, 2017 - 6:56 pm

Interesting, but maybe give it a proofread before posting? Lots of gross grammatical errors, takes away from the content

Zac George June 12, 2017 - 7:10 pm

My apologies, the post has been updated.

Alan June 12, 2017 - 7:29 pm

Qantas are selling Frequent Flyer Redemption for PEY. Would assume it will only offer the seats to Redemption or International Pax.

Zac George June 12, 2017 - 7:35 pm

Interesting, I’ll have to investigate. Thanks for the heads up.

James June 12, 2017 - 7:44 pm

I suspect Qantas will feel that offering free PEY seating to elites on Y fares will cannibalise their J sales. With more and more 737 transcon flights, you can see their point. $2-3 k for 737 J or 10% of that for 787 PEY? Know which I’d go for. Perhaps if they were to offer it to pax on full fare Y?

Zac George June 12, 2017 - 7:47 pm

Let’s hope they offer it, I’m sure it’ll be popular. I booked one of the services in full Y for a test and only the Y cabin was selectable and that was as a Platinum.

Kogglogs June 13, 2017 - 9:19 am

I suspect most commuters travelling MEL-PER-MEL will not opt for the QF9/10 option as I understand QF are selling the domestic only segments at a higher rate than they are on the pure Domestic flights to/from PER on the A330s. But there may be some who do, perhaps not enough though to warrant selling PE seats or offering PE seats on op-ups/upgrades as a rule.

Zac George June 13, 2017 - 12:05 pm

From what I’ve seen, the Red-e deals are just a tad more expensive. The flexi and Business fares seem to be the same price as other services.

Pete June 13, 2017 - 9:56 pm

Definitely not because It would block passengers who wish to fly Melbourne to London in Premium Economy and will not be able to if the seat has been sold to someone only flying to Perth.

Kieran June 14, 2017 - 3:20 am

Qantas is not known for being overly generous with anything and I definitely consider they would prefer the discreet flexibility of offering operational upgrades to select P1/CLs, than ever setting any standard entitlement to sitting in the cabin forward (doubtful standard Platinums would get much of a look in, operational upgrade wise).

Of course the members would like it, if such things were guaranteed (if space available) but then that influences buying behaviour, and Qantas prefers uncertainty when it comes to such things, to encourage you to pay more.

Ralph Quito October 12, 2017 - 12:42 pm

Perfect fit for someone like me who’s fascination is reading blogs . I can mostly relate. Keep sending them please!

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