Eligible Qantas passengers flying from Vancouver to Sydney on flight QF76 can now use the Cathay Pacific Lounge. This represents a significant upgrade over Qantas’ previous contract lounge at Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
As Cathay Pacific is a Oneworld airline, Qantas passengers with Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status, or a Business Class ticket, could technically already access the Cathay Pacific Lounge in Vancouver. But in practice, it usually wasn’t possible to get in because the Cathay Pacific Lounge would be closed in the hours before QF76 departed. This flight is currently scheduled to leave at 10.20pm.
Despite this, Cathay Pacific has just extended the opening hours of its Vancouver lounge. It now opens at 6.20pm, which is four hours before QF76 departs, instead of much later in the evening.
This means Qantas Gold, Platinum, Platinum One and Business Class passengers can all now use Cathay’s excellent lounge when departing Vancouver. As Qantas is officially now using this as its contract lounge in Vancouver, it’s also now open to Qantas Club members when flying to Sydney on Qantas.
Why the Cathay Pacific Lounge is an upgrade
Qantas does not operate its own lounge in Vancouver. It previously used the SkyTeam Lounge at this airport as its contract lounge.
The SkyTeam Lounge isn’t a bad, per se, but it just can’t compete with the high standards of the Cathay Pacific Lounge.
The Cathay Pacific Lounge at YVR has an elegant design, comfortable seating and work stations, luxurious shower suites, and excellent food and drink options. The highlight is the noodle bar, where you can enjoy delicious Hong Kong-inspired dishes.
An AFF member review of the Cathay Pacific Lounge in Vancouver
AFF member Chris1985 visited this lounge on Wednesday night and shared their experience on our forum:
A pleasant surprise today departing YVR, Qantas are now directing QF76 to the Cathay Lounge which is open from 6:20pm for the current flight times. This is next level compared to the usual packed and average Skyteam Lounge. Apparently it started on Mondays Flight on the 14th. Noodle bar is amazing.
Completely empty when arrived at 6:40 and even now at 8:40pm is only half full.
Chris1985 on the AFF forum
Update on Cathay Pacific Lounge access in Bangkok
Thanks to the Oneworld lounge access rules, Qantas passengers often choose to visit the lounges of other Oneworld airlines including Cathay Pacific when flying from airports such as Hong Kong or London.
Until recently, the Cathay Pacific Lounge was also the pre-flight destination of choice for eligible Qantas passengers departing from Bangkok. However, the Cathay Pacific Lounge in Bangkok recently started refusing entry to anyone who wasn’t booked on a Cathay flight.
It seems this policy has been reversed – at least for now – with passengers as recently as this week reported that they were able to get in again when flying with other Oneworld airlines.
Cathay Pacific Lounge access in San Francisco
Cathay Pacific also operates its own lounge in San Francisco, which is better than the Air France Lounge that Qantas normally sends its eligible passengers to.
In the past, there have been reports of some Qantas passengers (despite holding eligible status or a Business ticket) being refused entry to the Cathay lounge in San Francisco due to capacity restrictions. But it’s not clear if this is still the case since this lounge reopened after an extended COVID closure.
If you recently flew with Qantas from San Francisco to Sydney, let us know which lounge you used on the AFF forum!
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