The TRUTH about Qantas First Class in 2026

We're about to fly Qantas First Class halfway around the planet on the world's biggest plane. But is it worth $20,000 a ticket? Let's find out. Hello jet-setters, I'm Jeb Brooks at GreenerGrass.com. We're traveling First Class to Australia, and you're coming along. The journey starts at the sprawling DFW International Airport in Texas. From here, we'll fly for more than 16 hours, over 8,578 miles, to reach Australia's largest city, Sydney. Tonight's flight from Dallas to Sydney is currently the 12th longest flight in the whole world. Needless to say, we're pretty stoked. There it is, the 16-year-old A380 that's going to take us down to Sydney tonight. Qantas got its first A380 way back in 2008, but they recently refurbished the interiors of these planes, so ours tonight should be looking spic and span. When we started talking about this trip to Australia, I said, I think we should try Qantas First Class. I've heard it's pretty amazing, it'll be a fun way to go. Suzanne looked into it, what'd you find? Way too expensive. But we found an alternative plan, so let's share it with you. Instead of paying as much as $20,000 for these seats, we redeemed 110,000 American Airlines Advantage miles each and paid another $35.20 in taxes. We'll share some tips about how to find these redemptions once we get in the sky. Of course, Qantas does not operate a lounge here in Dallas. Instead, they take advantage of American Airlines lounges, and today, we're getting to check out the flagship lounge here in Dallas, so let's head upstairs and check it out. This invitation-only space is reserved for passengers in first or business class on qualifying one-world flights, and as soon as you walk in, you're greeted with bottomless pours of Bollinger champagne. But my favorite part of the space has to be the views across the ramp here at DFW, especially at sunset. And with views like this, it's impossible not to feel both excited and grateful for the chance to have this adventure and share it with you. Meanwhile, back inside, there's a large buffet with plenty to choose from, including sushi. You'll also find more substantial options if you'd like. There's a self-serve bar with spirits, and of course, wine as well. In addition, there's an even more exclusive restaurant here. Unfortunately, a first-class ticket on Qantas does not grant us access. Instead, you have to be flying first class on American or British Airways on an international flight. We do have a video coming soon that's going to show you the best lounges in the United States, including this space. If you don't want to miss that video, be sure to subscribe. As nice as this lounge is, the Qantas First Lounge in Sydney is still so high on my bucket list. Another time. Let's head to the gate. When you're visiting another country, there is nothing quite like flying that country's flag carrier on your way. I just think it puts you in the mood. It gets you in the spirit of wherever you're visiting. This is our first time on the Qantas A380, our first time in Qantas first class. What are you most looking forward to? The boarding music. I wish we could play it for you, but copyright law and everything. It is so good. This is the best boarding music in the sky. I cannot wait for the Australian coffee. Oh, it's so good. By the way, in terms of timing of these videos, this is the Ritz-Carlton yacht haircut I got. It's not standing the test of time, unfortunately. It's time to board this bird. Next stop, Sydney. Before heading out on any long-haul international flight, it's a great idea to download content onto your own device. Unfortunately, these subscriptions that allow you to do it, well, they add up. 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To try Rocket Money today and unlock even more features with premium, head to rocketmoney.com slash jeb, or click the link in the description below. That's rocketmoney.com slash jeb. The A380 is so large, airlines often use multiple jet bridges to board them. And here in Dallas, there's a dedicated jet bridge for the 14 passengers lucky enough to sit at the very front of the bottom deck of the Super Jumbo, where the first-class seats are located. The space feels serene and calming. Last year's cabin refresh is looking good in here, and my seat 4A was ready for the taking. And Suzanne, she's just ahead of me in seat 3A. This cabin has sometimes been panned for being too open. We're looking forward to finding out for ourselves, but perhaps its best feature is the fact that Suzanne can join me here, which she did for champagne and canapes. Now this menu is quite a hefty document and requires a lot of time to fully take in. I really like how Qantas highlights local, Australian producers in much of their offerings. And sure, catering out of Australia might be better, but this is definitely impressive. Now one of the things that makes this a truly first-class experience is that the food is dine-on-demand, meaning that we can have whatever we want, whenever we want it. It's over 16 hours of flight time tonight. We do expect this, but obviously it's very fine conditions in the city, so we're going to run around full-on and contribute and stay in shape while we can. With slippers and pajamas passed out, we began our taxi out to the runway. The seat has just about everything you could want on an ultra-long-haul trip. There are multiple pillows and blankets. There's power, and even a massaging feature. Now it has been recently refreshed with new finishes, but the bones are still 16 years old, and you could really see this in the controls, which were a bit challenging to use. Despite the open design, my seat still feels very private. Shortly after we took off, flight attendants raised these partitions to make the space feel even more comfortable. That said, I believe the other side of the plane, rows F and K, might not feel quite so secluded since those seats share this aisle. The amenities kits, which are in the process of being updated, are fairly basic. Some airlines choose to include lotions, perfumes, and even pens or mirrors in their first-class amenities kits. Qantas takes a more utilitarian approach. I'm always grateful for a toothbrush. We've left Dallas behind, and we're getting settled in here to the Qantas first-class seat. Should I say sweet? This is a tremendous space, very comfortable. What's great about it is Suzanne can join me, so the canapes have just been delivered. We're having our drinks from the bar. These canapes were certainly elevated. The Bellini was my favorite, and I was glad when Suzanne passed hers over to me. She does not share my enthusiasm for caviar. It's time for the Qantas first-class pajama score. The fabric is nice and soft. I like it. And I would say the fit is pretty good. I kind of wish the branding was more prominent. Those business-class pajamas, I love the big kangaroo on the front. This has a very subtle branding that's a little bit of a downer when they have such an iconic symbol. Four out of five. Unfortunately, the wine list the catering provided was incorrect, so our flight attendants made their own. Suzanne had the 2025 Sean Smith Sauvignon Blanc. I opted for the 2023 Lewin Estate Shiraz. Experienced Qantas flyers would have known to order Neil Perry's world-famous steak sandwich as a mid-flight snack, but I wrongly assumed that because it appears here as a starter, I should order it now. Now, it was really, really good, but I do wish I'd saved it for later. Suzanne started with the seared king prawns. They were also flavorful and substantial. On many airlines, this would suffice as a meal, but here, it's just the beginning. Even the bread service was impressive, with oil and vinegar poured for us. For our main courses, I chose the sea bass. It had great flavor and was prepared and presented perfectly. Always an impressive feat at 35,000 feet. Suzanne had the braised beef cheek with tortillas. Qantas serves comfort food, not the elevated fine dining you'll find on other airlines, but that's fine by us. The side salad was a nice light addition to the meal, too. Again, being able to eat together is something that really sets first class apart from business class. For dessert, I had the panna cotta, which was light but rich with complexity. Suzanne went with a strawberry and rhubarb crostata. With dinner done and 14 hours to go, our flight attendants jumped at the chance to set up our beds when we asked. Let's try out the bed. Wow, it looks fabulous. Let's start with the mattress pad. This is the thickest mattress pad I've ever seen on a plane. It's probably about two inches thick. Memory foam, wow. Okay, I'm totally convinced this is the best part about Qantas First Class. This bed is tremendous. Very wide, very soft. I feel like I'm going to get some great sleep in here. Definitely. Amazing, amazing, amazing bed in the sky. But with plenty of choices on the massive IFE screen, I chose not to go to sleep quite yet. Hinted at Suzanne. And despite the many choices, I was glad to have a couple of things downloaded to my iPad as a backup. You see, there's no Wi-Fi on Qantas A380s right now. One of the nicest parts of flying non-U.S. airlines is they tend to be a little less conservative with the seatbelt sign. Despite a few bumps, the sign remained off for the entire journey over the Pacific. Even so, it's always a good idea to keep your seatbelt buckled. With that meant, I could even make my way upstairs to the lounge located at the front of the top deck. On Emirates A380s, this is where the shower suites are. But here, it's a lounge space available to everyone in First and Business Class. The space up here at the front of the cabin is a nice little lounge area. Not a bad place to pass some time on a flight. It's a big screen with the moving map on it. There are plugs up here as well as nice tables and benches to just enjoy, in my case, a glass of water and some potato chips. There's no dedicated mid-flight meal. Although, with dine and demand, I guess I could have ordered another steak sandwich, but I was pretty full. So, I finally did go to sleep for about six luxurious hours. Well, we reached about the halfway point of this flight. And I've got to tell you, the standout highlight of this experience has got to be the bed. The food is a close second, but the bed is really quite comfortable. It should come as no surprise that an airline like Qantas has a great bed since they focus on ultra-long-haul flying. And they're about to get even longer in 2027 with their Project Sunrise flights. They'll connect Sydney to New York and also to London without stopping. These record-setting 22-plus-hour flights will test the limits of these specially-built A350s. They'll feature an all-new first-class cabin with six incredible-looking suites. By comparison, the A380 we're on tonight has 14 first-class seats. With only a couple of hours left until we touch down in Sydney, the flight attendants quietly offered breakfast, allowing people who wanted to sleep to continue to do so. Again, we could order whatever we wanted, so I chose scrambled eggs, chicken chipolatas, and a potato and chive fritter. Suzanne opted for the waffles with spiced apple and berry compote, along with some yogurt. Now the best part, of course, was the Australian coffee. More than 14 hours into our flight, it's almost noon in Dallas, but not quite 5 a.m. in Sydney. Seems like the perfect time for sunrise mimosas in the upstairs lounge. If ever there were a YOLO moment, this is it. If you're looking to do this, too, start saving your American Airlines miles. While $110,000 sounds like a lot, it's actually a great deal, especially when the cash price is more than $20,000. The key to finding these deals is to be flexible with your dates. We booked our seats just three weeks before this flight. The American Airlines website has a calendar you can use to search. They're not always available and are really tough to find, but a huge shout-out goes to UpgradedPoints.com. We follow blogs like theirs to find deals like this. As the sun began climbing, we began descending. I turned on the tail camera, which is a great time to rate this experience using the JEV score. We'll consider the lounge, the seat, the food, the in-flight entertainment, and the service. First, the lounge lags typical first-class offerings. There's no included sit-down restaurant, but the flagship lounge is still nice and earns four stars. The seat, especially the bed, is phenomenal, but it's showing its age. Overall, four stars. The food can best be described as home-style comfort food, but not necessarily fine dining, which we liked. It earns four stars. The in-flight entertainment was robust, easy to use, and the screens large and bright. But no Wi-Fi in this day and age? Well, that takes them down to three stars. Finally, the crew were professional, efficient, and maybe best of all, on a red-eye flight, extremely quiet. Five stars to them. As our incredible Qantas crew brings this whale of a plane to a gentle touchdown in Sydney. This was every bit of a 20-star flight, but would I pay $20,000 for it? No way. This may be the best way to fly between the U.S. and Australia, but it doesn't match up to the likes of Singapore Suites, Emirates, or even Swiss first class. But for 110,000 American Airlines miles, it's worth it. After more than 16 hours in the sky, we've made it to Sydney for a meet-up with my YouTube inspiration, Australian superstar Dennis Bunnock. Welcome to Sydney. Hey, between now and next time, see you in the sky. How was that?