Qantas mainly uses its Boeing 787-9s on international routes like Perth-Rome and Sydney-New York. Designed for long-haul flying, these jets are fitted with a Premium Economy cabin as well as Business and Economy.

From time to time, Boeing 787s also appear on domestic routes. These are usually tag flights flown as part of a longer international journey, which depart from the international terminal. The Sydney-Perth leg of the QF33 Sydney-Perth-Paris flight is a current example of that. On these flights, Qantas sells Premium Economy as a separate class of travel and with differentiated service.

Very occasionally, Qantas also uses Boeing 787s on regular domestic flights. The airline does not sell Premium Economy on domestic services, but the seats are obviously still there. So Qantas lets some lucky Economy passengers select a Premium Economy seat for free.

In these circumstances, you would still get the regular Qantas Economy Class service on board, including Economy meals and drinks. You won’t get a Premium Economy amenity kit, pillow or blanket. But you do get to enjoy a larger, more comfortable seat.

The legroom is better, you get more space, the seat reclines further and the in-flight entertainment screen is larger than in Economy. It’s a pretty good way to fly, especially if you’re paying for a Qantas Economy seat and upgrading for free!

Qantas’ weekly Melbourne-Perth 787 flights

Qantas used to offer a daily Melbourne-Perth-London flight as QF9, returning as QF10. These flights would depart from the international terminals in Melbourne and Perth, meaning frequent flyers eligible for lounge access could access the Qantas international lounges. You could book a seat just between Melbourne and Perth, if you wanted to.

QF9 and QF10 now operate only between Perth and London, so that international tag flight no longer exists. However, Qantas now regularly schedules a Boeing 787-9 on one weekly domestic flight between Melbourne and Perth on Thursdays.

These are the two flights where you’ll find the Boeing 787-9 operating each Thursday:

• QF773 Melbourne 13:25 – Perth 14:30
• QF776 Perth 15:20 – Melbourne 21:55

Note that this schedule is subject to change.

The reason Qantas has scheduled these seemingly random flights is to rotate Boeing 787s around the network. For example, the plane operating QF773 could then continue to London that evening, while QF776 might be formed by the 787 that just arrived into Perth that morning from London.

Who can choose the Premium Economy seats for free?

Qantas is making the Premium Economy seats available on these flights for top-tier frequent flyers to select in advance at no charge. You don’t even need to be a politician to get this free Qantas upgrade! 😛

For example, at the time of writing, as a Qantas Platinum member, the Qantas website gives me the following choice of Economy seats on a Thursday QF773 service later this month:

Premium Economy on the Qantas Boeing 787-9 is between rows 20 and 23.

Qantas Platinum One and Chairman’s Lounge members would also get free choice of the available upgraded seats.

I’m not sure if Qantas Gold members would also be able to select from the Premium Economy seats at the time of booking. Let us know in the thread comments if you are a Gold member and are able to pick one.

Even if you don’t have status, Qantas is likely to open up any remaining seats in the Premium Economy cabin for general selection around 80 hours before departure. You’ll just have to hope that some are left.

This trick also works on some Finnair flights

Qantas’ Oneworld partner airline Finnair similarly has Premium Economy on its wide-body Airbus A350s, which are primarily used for long-haul flights. But Finnair also occasionally uses wide-body jets on some intra-Europe routes, including from Helsinki to London, Amsterdam and Gran Canaria.

Finnair doesn’t sell Premium Economy within Europe, so it offers those seats to Economy passengers as Economy “Premium” seats. These are available for any Economy passenger to select for a surcharge. However, if you have Oneworld Emerald status – such as Qantas Platinum – you get to select Premium and extra legroom seats on Finnair for free.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.