Qantas Business breakfast express: taking the day’s first flight to Sydney

I’m not a morning person. The notion of a 9am meeting in my home city sees me giving my travel calendar a little death stare. But having to make a 9am meeting in another city – say, Sydney – is a real thing of dread. Sure, the meeting takes place during business hours. But for somebody flying in, let’s work back from that – to breakfast and the very start of the day.

If I’m in that office at 9am, leaving Sydney Airport by 8:30am is cutting it fine. To be safe, that becomes 8am. Then, even if I land at 8am, it still takes time to get off the plane and out of the terminal. And that’s without factoring in a buffer for any unpredictable delays. Better get there an extra 30 minutes earlier. Now we’re at 7:30am.

Given that Melbourne to Sydney is a 1.5-hour hop, that 7:30am arrival needs a 6am departure. In turn, a 6am departure means boarding at 5:30am. Before that, I’m going to need coffee. And before that, there’s security to get through. Suddenly, I’m at the airport at 4:30am. But still, there’s getting to the airport – and Tullamarine isn’t exactly in central Melbourne. To get up, get ready and get on the road, we’re talking a 3am wake-up… for a 9am meeting. (It had better be a darn good meeting!)

Working back even more, let’s be honest. There’s no way I’ll get to bed by 7pm for a proper eight-hour rest. At that point, I haven’t even packed my day bag yet.

All in all, it’s a concoction of events that means I’m going to be tired. Grumpy. Sleepy. Annoyed. My best strategy? Fly down the night before and have a leisurely breakfast after a proper night’s sleep. But sometimes, that’s just not possible.

Today is one such day. A 6am flight it must be. Urgh. If I’m going, I’m going Business Class. So how well does Qantas’ domestic Business offering cater for the early morning flyer? I’m not often awake at this hour, so I’m keen to find out.

Mandatory pit stop: coffee before breakfast

I’ve planned for a heel dragging line at security, but it’s really not that bad. With a priority lane for Business (as well as Platinum and Gold flying Economy), I’m pleasantly through in no time at all. But now, I’ve encountered a problem. It seems, I’m too ahead of my day.

It’s 4:30am and I’m ready to roar. Correction: ready for coffee. But the Qantas lounge is not ready – for breakfast, or for coffee. Even in a major port like Melbourne, the doors remain locked until 60 minutes before the first departure. Which, today, is my flight. With boarding kicking off around half an hour before our departure time, that leaves a quick 30-minute stop in the lounge.

But here’s the problem. The number of people waiting to enter the lounge grows. And grows. I find a quiet place in the terminal to sit and wait. When those glass doors finally open at 5am, the setting is an emulation of an international flight being called for ‘all zones’ boarding. It would seem, half of Melbourne has turned up for their morning coffee. And there’s not a lot of time to get that caffeine hit.

I’m too early for the lounge, so I find a seat with power out in the terminal.

This snap shows just a small portion of those ready and waiting for the lounge to open.

There’s time for a quick toastie and coffee before racing off to the gate. An earlier open would have avoided the rush.

The aircraft only has filtered coffee, so I bring along a latte from the lounge.

Staff greet travellers with a few trays of pre-made coffees, which people can grab on their way in. I’m chasing my usual skim latte, which means, I need to line up – coffees on the tray are full cream and oat. Fortunately, Maria is a champion at the coffee counter. I’m always impressed at how she can remember the orders of all the regulars. In fact, she even notices that I’m flying through earlier than usual. “9am meeting, urgh,” is the only explanation necessary. She gets me.

When I return 20 minutes later for another hit of caffeine (I’m dying at this point…), “in a takeaway cup?”, Maria asks. She knows the drill, and it brings a welcome touch to that terribly timed start. In between, I’ve devoured a quick toastie. With a takeaway coffee in-hand, off to the gate I go.

We’re off

Phew, made it. I wasn’t sure I would, after hitting the snooze button on my phone, time and time again. And that’s when I didn’t miss the alarm entirely, while seemingly refusing to wake up. At least, once I’ve trudged to the gate, group one priority boarding gets me straight on and settled for the busy morning ahead.

I skip the inflight coffee in favour of fresh orange juice. It’s a noticeable upgrade from the default Just Juice poured just a few rows back.

Food-wise, there’s a proper breakfast – the main thing differentiating Business and Economy on such a short flight. Today comes with a choice of the typical granola and muesli, or a hot dish – quiche with dried tomatoes. There’s also Forest Berry Greek-style yoghurt, and a choice of bread and pastries. Having skipped most of the lounge food given the timing constraints, I devour the hot option. It’s my prize for being awake at such an unpleasant hour. (Did I say I’m not a morning person?!)

You’re not likely to get much sleep on this flight – if any. So, you might as well plan for breakfast.

If you don’t mind skipping the lounge (and its better coffee), there’s enough served on board.

Pro tip: use the buttonhole on the napkin to keep your shirt clean. Well, in theory…

But, crisis strikes. One press of the knife to the plate sees the flimsy tray table buckle, and tilt upwards towards me. With it, the entire glass of orange juice goes flying – right into my lap. (This isn’t doing anything to make me become fonder of morning travels)! In a small stroke of luck, the juice has missed my lighter-coloured shirt in favour of drenching my dark trousers. Translation: I’m all sticky, but at least, you can’t really see it.

I have to laugh – when I flag down the crew, there’s an instant offer of more orange juice. Evidently, today, I’ve had more than enough. I excuse myself from the seat to de-juice… as much as I can. Back at my seat, I can finally relax. Onto the yoghurt. When, whack. Thanks to the cabin pressure, the yoghurt has become pressurised. To the degree that a slight pull of the lid sees fragments of said yoghurt come flying at me. My breakfast is angry at me…

Normally, I use the buttonhole in the napkin to affix it onto my shirt, keeping my torso nice and covered. But I’ve already used that napkin to mop up the juice, so I’m flying without armour. A review of the battlefield finds that my shirt has been attacked by yoghurt in at least 10 places. The headrest and the cabin wall aren’t out of harm’s way either.

It just isn’t my day.

Onward I go…

After round two of de-breakfasting my outfit, we’re finally on the ground in Sydney. I swing by the Business Lounge to change into a spare shirt, and for a strong coffee. It’s become rather apparent that I need it. (For lounge access on arrival, you’ll need to be Qantas Platinum or higher, unless taking an eligible onward connection).

So, how did the 6am Qantas Business flight meet the needs of this busy business traveller? Without a doubt, I could have done without the orange juice to my lap and the yoghurt to my shirt. But assuming you’re coordinated enough to eat breakfast, rather than wear it, how does the rest stack up?

For starters, there’s good coffee in the lounge and a hot meal on the plane. There’s power on board, handy if you’ll be on-the-go all day and want to stay juiced up… if you’ll pardon the pun. Priority security means not having to be there quite as early (noted for next time). But being locked out of the lounge until 5am? That’s a massive downer when you need coffee the most.

I’m told from a major Australian airline (no names…) that the average domestic passenger spends about 45 minutes in the lounge – when opening hours permit, anyway. But those on the 6am flight would struggle to get even 30 minutes inside, once allowing time for boarding. (And that’s if your flight isn’t right down the other end of Melbourne Airport, where it can feel like you’ve practically walked to Essendon…)

When you have a hoard of premium travellers kicking around the terminal, waiting for the lounge to open while staff are already present and busily pre-making coffee ahead of the stampede… why not just open while those coffees are being made? Get people in earlier, serve them the drink that they want – not just the drink that’s ready – and get people’s day off to a better start.

Next time I have a 9am meeting, I’ll fly down the night before. This time, I probably should have stayed home and got some much-needed sleep!

Also read: Qantas plans ‘major cabin overhaul’ for Boeing 737 fleet

All photography by Chris Chamberlin, who travelled at Point Hacks’ expense.