Review: Qantas vs Virgin business class, Sydney-Melbourne

The skyways between Sydney and Melbourne are Australia’s most highly-travelled and most competitive air corridor, with over 160 flights a day by Qantas, Virgin Australia, Rex and Jetstar making the 90-minute dash between the nation’s largest cities.

While Jetstar remains a low-cost economy-only play and Rex is gaining altitude with the launch of its long-awaited Rex Flyer loyalty program, Qantas and Virgin Australia remain entrenched as the dominant airlines battling for the hearts and wallets of travellers – especially in the lucrative business class market.

So how do they compare? To find out, Executive Traveller recently put both airlines to the test, flying Virgin Australia business class from Sydney to Melbourne, and then Qantas business class on the return leg from Melbourne back to Sydney.

Check-in

Business class passengers – along with top-tier Velocity and Beyond members – on Virgin Australia weekday morning flights out of Sydney enjoy the fast track treatment of the Sydney T2 Premium Entry, open Monday to Friday between 5am and 8am, as long as they don’t have any bags to be checked.

This convenient setup speeds your way from kerb to the Virgin Australia lounge in under two minutes, bypassing the busy departure hall and security queue altogether. (When the Premium Entry is closed there’s still a priority check-in lane in the main T2 departure hall.)

Virgin Australia Premium Entry is available in Brisbane and Sydney.

Qantas doesn’t have anything similar, but the priority check-in queue at its domestic terminals is your ticket to sidestepping the crowds, and we make our way through security to the Qantas business lounge in minutes.

Baggage

Most business travellers on Australia’s east coast ‘triangle’ routes fly in carry-on only mode with just a cabin bag.

Qantas’ domestic business class carry-on baggage allowance is a single bag up to 10kgs or two smaller bags to a total of 14kg, along with one personal item such as a handbag, satchel or messenger bag.

Virgin’s domestic business class carry-on baggage allowance is a tighter 7kg for a single ‘standard piece’, although you can bring on board two smaller bags of up to 7kg each or combine that standard piece with a garment bag at 7kg each.

If you have checked luggage, domestic business class allowances for Qantas and Virgin are the same: two bags of up to 32kg each, or three bags if you hold Qantas Platinum or Velocity Platinum status.

Lounges

Lounges are very much part of the business class proposition, and they’re a key area where Qantas and Virgin differ.

Business class passengers and Velocity frequent flyers holding Gold and Platinum status enjoy access to Virgin Australia lounges both before and after their flight.

Virgin’s Sydney hangout spans two levels, although the upper level is open only during peak hours to handle the swelling crowds, who can choose from a wide mix of seating options and tap into WiFi at around 200Mbps.

To reduce crowding, Virgin's Sydney lounge includes an upper level that's open at peak times.

We found the busy breakfast buffet stocked with frittata and sausages, pancakes with berries, plus an array of yoghurts, cereals and salad, alongside the usual juices, tea, barista coffee and a bar which opens from midday.

Virgin's makeover of its Melbourne lounge results in a warmer vibe than Sydney.

However, Virgin’s Sydney lounge could do with a makeover to bring it into line with its more contemporary Melbourne sibling (above), pleasingly revamped in 2021 with a more relaxed contemporary look, a ‘Wake Up’ barista coffee station which zips through orders thanks to an additional coffee machine, and a separate business zone.

Qantas gains an edge in the business class stakes by offering two lounges in Sydney, Melbourne and most other capital cities: mainstream Qantas Clubs and dedicated Qantas Business Lounges.

This two-pronged approach reduces crowding in the business class lounge and lets the airline roll out a more premium experience for high flyers.

The Qantas Business Lounge Bar includes a tended bar open from noon.

The Qantas Business Lounge at Melbourne is almost a show-pony for the airline, with timber floors, cascading greenery and a rectangular bar inlaid with black marble lending the space an upmarket ambiance.

(The Qantas Business Lounges at Perth and Brisbane are similarly well appointed, leaving Sydney in obvious need of an upgrade).

Dining is a marked improvement too, although less so in Sydney: a typical breakfast spread at Melbourne’s Qantas Business Lounge pulls out the stops with scrambled eggs, bacon, porridge, bircher muesli, chia pudding, pancakes, pastries and muffins.

Our late morning visit to the Qantas lounge sees breakfast winding down before lunch begins.

The Melbourne lounge is home to a Spice Bar which from noon dishes up Asian street food favourites such as wonton noodle soup or a fragrant laksa. And with WiFi at 150Mbps, the lounge easily doubles as your office before boarding the flight.

However, at odds with Virgin’s broader on-arrival lounge access rules, Qantas restricts this post-flight perk to Platinum-grade frequent flyers.

Seat

Almost all Virgin Australia routes are flown by Boeing 737s with a compact business class cabin of just eight recliners, each clad in black leather – although they’ll eventually be upgraded to the more comfortable and feature-laden business class seats of the newer Virgin 737 MAX jets.

Virgin Australia's 737 business class cabin has only eight seats, in two rows of 2-2.

A cream-coloured bulkhead topped by a purple perspex screen separates business class from economy, with a magnetic rope slung across the aisle to block movement between cabins shortly after takeoff.

The seat itself is perfectly comfortable for the short Sydney-Melbourne run, at 49.5cm (19.5”) width, while the 96.5cm (38”) pitch and 12.7cm (5”) recline lets travellers stretch out, but our flight notably lacks AC and USB power outlets.

IN Virgin's 737 business class, legroom is adequate but not outstanding.

The Boeing 737 is also the backbone of Qantas’ domestic routes, with an additional row of four business class seats bringing its total to 12 – and these seats are not only wider than their Virgin equivalents but have legrests and AC/USB power.

Qantas' Boeing 737 is the most common aircraft on the Sydney-Melbourne route.

However, our review flight happens to be on an Airbus A330, which appears on several inter-capital domestic routes plus overseas flights to the likes of Seoul.

The twin-aisle A330s are fitted with 28 international-grade flatbed Business Suites in a roomy 1-2-1 layout (meaning direct aisle access for every passenger) with plenty of personal space around the seat, along with a 40cm (16”) touchscreen TV.

The upmarket Qantas A330 Business Suite is worth booking if you can.

The A330 typically makes the Sydney-Melbourne hop once or twice per day with fares set to the same price as the 737, making the A330 definitely the one to choose if it suites your own timetable.

Although the lie-flat bed is an extravagance unlikely to see much use on this 90-minute flight, the seat in general delivers significantly greater comfort and legroom than the 737, with numerous areas to spread out and store your belongings.

Qantas A330 business class: plenty of room to stretch out, and nobody sitting next to you.

Dining

On our morning departure from Sydney, the Virgin cabin crew plates up a light breakfast shortly after takeoff: we have a choice of corn fritters with goat’s cheese, tomato chutney and fresh basil, or scrambled eggs with dukkah on Turkish toast, plus a Danish on the side.

Virgin Australia's business class breakfast: corn fritters with goat’s cheese and tomato chutney.

While the fritters are a little dry, it’s a well-composed dish that wouldn’t be out of place at your local corner cafe.

Our Qantas flight from Melbourne coincides with lunch: a choice of Korean-style roast beef with kimchi and soba noodles, or chicken and leek pie with sweet potato. This comes with a side of bread and a chocolate bar.

Qantas' business class lunch: Korean-style roast beef with kimchi and soba noodles.

The cabin crew say our preferred meal of the Korean beef is unavailable, but manage to track one down in the A330 galley: we find it pleasingly light and fresh with lots of flavour, including a nice chilli kick.

Qantas also offers complimentary spirits on flights after 9am from a bar cart stocked with vodka, whisky and gin.

Pre-departure drinks are offered on all Virgin flights, although it’s just a toss-up between juice or sparkling water; at the time of writing Qantas has restored domestic pre-departure juice and water on longer domestic flights such as east-west. Champagne is added to the mix on international routes.

WiFi & entertainment

Virgin Australia’s inflight WiFi is free for business class passengers, Platinum frequent flyers and Beyond members; we clocked speeds around 5Mbps, and in use the connection proved rather slow. Only one device can be connected at a time.

Qantas provides free WiFi access for all passengers on its domestic 737 and A330 flights, and our flight the download rate reached 14Mbps – sufficient for streaming video if you’re so inclined.

For those who aren’t working inflight, the entertainment libraries of both Qantas and Virgin are packed with movies, TV shows, music and podcasts.

That said, Virgin’s offering is only accessible via streaming to your own device, while most Qantas’ Boeing 737 and all Airbus A330 business class seats include a personal video screen.

Price

For many travellers the decision of which airline to fly with can be largely driven by price – especially these days when budgets are constrained as other costs continue to rise, and doubly so when most factors on a 90-minute Qantas or Virgin business class trip seem roughly comparable.

At the time of writing, a one-way Virgin Australia business class fare between Sydney and Melbourne for mid-November ranges from $459 to $909, with Qantas business business class between $768 and $1,218.

That’s quite a difference, especially at the entry-level and if both airlines are flying a Boeing 737 at the time which best suits your schedule.

When a Qantas Airbus A330 is available it’s a far superior experience in every regard, but if that experience is worth a higher price is a decision best left to the individual.

ET readers: which airline is your choice for these short jaunts between Australia’s eastern capital cities, and why?