Fiji Airways Business Class Airbus A350 Review

After an interesting day exploring Vancouver, Canada, it was time to head back to the airport for the next part of our trip: an overnight flight to Nadi aboard Fiji Airways Business Class on the Airbus A350-900.

And this wasn’t just a flight to Fiji. We were stopping in Fiji for five days before continuing to Auckland, New Zealand, all on the same award ticket.

Booking Fiji Airways Business Class With Alaska Miles

This was one of those points-and-miles redemptions that I still look back on and smile. I managed to secure two Business Class seats for 55,000 Alaska Airlines miles per person before one of the program’s devaluations. But it gets better. I added a five-day stopover in Fiji before continuing from Nadi to Auckland, New Zealand.

Vancouver to Fiji in Business Class, five days in Fiji, and then onward to New Zealand. All for 55,000 Alaska miles per person. For me, this was an incredible mileage redemption.

Learn More:
Beginner’s Guide to Points and Miles

Checking In at Vancouver Airport

Checking in at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) was relatively smooth, although our daughter’s lap-infant ticket caused a little confusion. We had booked our two Business Class seats with Alaska miles, while her lap-infant ticket had to be purchased separately through Fiji Airways for approximately 10% of the applicable cash fare.

It took moving from one counter to another before the agents figured everything out, but eventually we received all three boarding passes and were on our way. This was another good example of why I always recommend confirming that an infant ticket has actually been issued before arriving at the airport.

Learn More:
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SkyTeam Lounge Vancouver

Fiji Airways Business Class passengers were invited to use the SkyTeam Lounge at Vancouver International Airport. The lounge was not particularly memorable, but it gave us somewhere to wait before the flight. I had planned to visit the nearby Cathay Pacific Lounge as well. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time before boarding. Soon enough, it was time to head to the gate.

Fiji Airways Airbus A350 Business Class Cabin

Fiji Airways’ Airbus A350-900 features 33 Business Class seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, giving every passenger direct aisle access. The cabin uses Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats, a popular fully flat Business Class seat also found on several other airlines.

The beige leather seats, paired with Fiji Airways’ darker accents and Fijian-inspired patterns, gave the cabin a clean and relatively bright appearance. Window seats angle toward the windows, while the two center seats work well for passengers traveling together.

Fiji Airways A350 Business Class Seat

The seat had a good amount of storage. Inside one of the compartments was the handheld entertainment remote, along with a universal power outlet and USB charging port. Another USB port was positioned near the headphone jack. The seat controls were located along the side console – on either the left or right depending on where you were seated.

The tray table was stored directly underneath the entertainment screen and could easily slide in and out when needed.

One thing that surprised me was how many empty Business Class seats there were. I had checked repeatedly before departure hoping Fiji Airways might release additional award space to partners, but nothing opened up. Yet when we boarded, there were at least five empty Business Class seats.

Fortunately, that worked out perfectly for us. One of those empty seats basically became our daughter’s private bed for much of the flight. Sometimes things just work out.

We began pushing back at around 11:03 p.m., and by 11:13 p.m. we were rolling down the runway. About five minutes later, we passed 10,000 feet and continued our climb over the Pacific.

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Dinner Service

The flight attendants were friendly while still maintaining a professional and polite service style. Dinner orders were taken while we were still making our way toward the runway, which helped get the meal service started quickly once we were airborne. Drinks were served first.

While I thought the dinner menu was somewhat limited, considering what I had paid for this flight in miles, I certainly wasn’t complaining. For my appetizer, I ordered the wood-fired red pepper soup, topped with diced pepper and cucumber salsa.

Truthfully, I didn’t really enjoy it. Something about the flavor just seemed off to me. The bread rolls were also served around room temperature, which didn’t help. I much prefer bread served warm. Thankfully, things improved considerably with the main course.

For my main course, I ordered the Pacific Breeze Prawns. The dish consisted of poached aromatic prawns served with rainbow quinoa salad, French beans, charred corn, cherry tomatoes and herb dressing.

This was surprisingly good. The prawns were cooked perfectly, and the quinoa worked really well with the rest of the dish. After not particularly enjoying the soup, the main course definitely brought the meal back.

There weren’t many dessert options, so curiosity got the better of me and I ordered the cassava cake. And I knew from the first bite that I was doing too much. I simply wanted to see what a cassava cake would taste like. Now I know, let’s leave it at that.

Lie-Flat Bed

With roughly 10 hours of flying still ahead of us, I was ready to get some sleep. As I got up to use the lavatory, one of the flight attendants asked if I wanted him to prepare my bed. Yes, please.

The Fiji Airways A350 seat converts into a fully flat bed. The mattress pad, pillow and plush bedding made a noticeable difference and turned an already good Business Class seat into a comfortable sleeping setup.

I managed to get several hours of proper sleep. Another small detail I really appreciated was that Fiji Airways provided both a thicker and lighter blanket. That may sound insignificant, but it makes a difference. The cabin was initially quite warm, so having the option of a lighter blanket was useful.

Before heading to bed, I checked out the Business Class lavatory. It was more spacious than a typical aircraft lavatory and was stocked with Pure Fiji bath products.

Before falling asleep, I decided to test the complimentary Wi-Fi voucher. Entering the code was simple, but using the internet was another story. I couldn’t get a single website to load. After trying a few times, I gave up. As it turned out, the internet appeared to have simply been unavailable temporarily.

After about four hours of sleep, I woke up and decided to try the internet again. This time it worked. The connection wasn’t exactly fast, but it was usable. I was able to check emails, visit social media and browse a few websites.

I eventually went back to sleep for another couple of hours. By the time I woke up again, I had managed around six hours of sleep and actually felt pretty well rested.

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Inflight Entertainment

There was a pretty broad selection of movies, TV shows and other entertainment, so there should be something for just about every mood.

Yadra Vinaka – Good Morning

Good morning from somewhere over the Pacific. One feature I liked was the breakfast card placed at each Business Class seat. Passengers could indicate whether they wanted to be woken up for breakfast, select their breakfast in advance, or request not to be disturbed.

I had filled mine out before going to sleep so breakfast was delivered later in the flight. Breakfast turned out to be pretty good. The omelette was cooked well, the sweet potatoes were delicious, and the chicken sausage was nicely seasoned. It was a much stronger meal for me than the beginning of dinner had been.

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Crossing the International Date Line

As we began getting closer to Fiji, the second officer came over the PA with information about our arrival. He also reminded passengers that we had crossed the International Date Line. We had departed Vancouver on Monday night, but arriving in Fiji on Wednesday morning.

Tuesday basically disappeared somewhere over the Pacific. Based on our takeoff and arrival times, we had spent just over 12 hours in the air. That’s one of those fun little quirks of flying across the Pacific.

Approaching Fiji

As we descended toward Nadi, the scenery outside began to change. After hours of darkness over the Pacific, seeing Fiji’s green landscape, coastline and surrounding blue water below was a pretty good way to wake up.

Arrival in Nadi

Bula! Welcome to Fiji. Our flight FJ881 touched down in Nadi at approximately 6:18 a.m., around 48 minutes later than our originally scheduled arrival. Immigration was surprisingly straightforward. Since we were traveling with an infant, we were given priority, and we cleared immigration pretty quickly. And just like that, our five-day Fiji stopover had officially begun.

Final Thoughts

This was one of those flights where the value of points and miles really hit home. For 55,000 Alaska miles per person, we flew Business Class from Vancouver to Fiji, stopped in Fiji for five days and then continued onward to Auckland. That’s difficult to beat.

The Fiji Airways Airbus A350 itself was also a very good way to cross the Pacific. The 1-2-1 cabin gave every passenger direct aisle access, the fully flat seat was comfortable, the mattress pad and bedding helped me get around six hours of sleep, and having individual air vents was something I definitely appreciated.

But, not everything was perfect. I didn’t particularly enjoy the red pepper soup or cassava cake, the Wi-Fi initially didn’t work, and I thought the dinner menu could have offered a few more options. But the Pacific Breeze prawns were excellent, breakfast was good, the flight attendants were friendly, and the overall service was solid.

The fact that one of the empty seats also became a private little bed for our daughter certainly didn’t hurt. Would I fly Fiji Airways Business Class on the Airbus A350 again? Absolutely. Especially if I could somehow book it again for 55,000 miles. Sadly, those days are long gone. These days, Alaska can show the same Business Class flights for as much as 300,000 Atmos points.

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