A status run: reassure me, tell me I'm not crazy

[liamg]

When are you going, I take it you have checked out the instant status at Hyatt thread along with their current stay two get one night free promo, it could be a very cheap night!

No! I'm being put up there for a few nights... but I just enrolled... hopefully I can get me some nice freebies!

Thanks so much for the tip!

L.

 

[JohnK]

Not really, I would suggest that the person seeing the light was not able to experience the new F lounges or DOM J lounges so the comments are dated in the context of WP benefits for todays flyer, especially with regard food vs public offerings etc, different people have different priorities,

Of course we all have different priorities and desires and I do not fly as much as some people but I fly more than most. The lounges (even the F lounges) are nothing special and I could get something similar or better in most terminals with much better atmosphere. Lounges are dreary places with no atmosphere.

People keep raving about the SYD F Lounge. As if one can't get eggs benedict or a minute steak or calamari anywhere else. People keep raving about the HKG F lounges. I don't see all the fuss. And don't get me started on Domestic Business Lounges. If ever there was money wasted to stroke people's ego. They are no different to a normal Qantas Lounge. Who cares if the pies or spring rolls are a little better in the Business Lounge?

The stupidity becomes more evident when I am sitting in the lounge dead tired and no energy with a 3 hour transit waiting for the 11th flight in 4 days and hardly any sleep in the 3 previous nights. Aren't status runs wonderful?

 

[markis10]

Of course we all have different priorities and desires and I do not fly as much as some people but I fly more than most. The lounges (even the F lounges) are nothing special and I could get something similar or better in most terminals with much better atmosphere. Lounges are dreary places with no atmosphere.

I fly a lot for work, very little of my travel is self funded, the difference in productivity I can get by being WP makes it worth it for me, being able to actually work on the plane with a blocked seat beside me has saved me at least 100 hours of home time being used in the past, thats priceless to me, and something I have had less of as a SG.

 

[simongr]

The lounges (even the F lounges) are nothing special and I could get something similar or better in most terminals with much better atmosphere. Lounges are dreary places with no atmosphere.

I always wonder about the comment re lounges not having any atmosphere - I actually like the calm and peace I get in the SYD/HKG F lounges. After jostling through security, scrambling over the bodies in Duty Free and before I get my head stuck in the scrum at Boarding - it is nice to have some time of calm reflection to prepare for the flight.

I am not sure what atmosphere I am missing not being out in the main terminal.

Almost everyone I take into the lounge who hasn't been there before is blown away by it.

 

[JohnK]

I am not sure what atmosphere I am missing not being out in the main terminal.

The buzz, the excitement, the anticipation.

Almost everyone I take into the lounge who hasn't been there before is blown away by it.

And there in lies the answer. People who have not been in there before. The novelty wears off very quickly for frequent travellers like myself.

Don't get me wrong the lounges are nice and most times are a nice distraction from the trip ahead. I can understand if you need to work you may need some private time to get things done. What I do not understand is people who constantly rave on about the food in the lounges and the champagne and the wine etc. All these things are available elsewhere and probably cheaper and better quality than what some people pay to visit the lounges.

 

[liamg]

Don't get me wrong the lounges are nice and most times are a nice distraction from the trip ahead. I can understand if you need to work you may need some private time to get things done. What I do not understand is people who constantly rave on about the food in the lounges and the champagne and the wine etc. All these things are available elsewhere and probably cheaper and better quality than what some people pay to visit the lounges.

Surely the ability to be away from mere peasants with their Bronze cards, Silver cards, or heaven forbid, no card at all (!!), is enough of a reason to visit a lounge?

 

[Voyages]

Surely the ability to be away from mere peasants with their Bronze cards, Silver cards, or heaven forbid, no card at all (!!), is enough of a reason to visit a lounge?

Enjoy the status run, Liam. When is your anniversary month?

 

[Alanslegal]

I'm with JohnK on this (we are probably the minority here) but that's all OK

My personal view is that chasing SC can get expensive, especially even so if you are self-funded (so shall I suggest you buy a 50inch HD LCD TV instead? ) but regardless, if one wants WP just so they can access the FLounges in SYD/MEL/HKG for example, then I think it could be more cost effective to just spend (say) $30-50AUD per pre-flight meal and drink at a nice-ish or nice-r cafe / restaurant at the airport instead.

Sure WP may get you other benefits as well eg. better chances at op-ups, points upgrades, warm welcome by the CSM on-board, complimentary champagne with your meal when flying Y etc but if none of these things bear fruit during your WP year, was paying the x dollars to chase some SC worth it?

OK the FLounge is a complete package for good food, better wines and a quiet space with somewhat pretty good service but at the end of the day .... someone is paying for it. You.

 

[liamg]

Enjoy the status run, Liam. When is your anniversary month?

Thanks I end August 31st.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Go for it.

As Serfty has mentioned, 260 SC or thereabouts is nothing if venturing around the US.

SFO LAX 337miles 60SC 15/08
LAX SEA 954miles 90SC 15/08
SEA LAX 954miles 90SC 16/08
LAX SFO 337miles 60SC 16/08
TOTAL SC 300
TOTAL PRICE $702.80 US$
SC= $2.32

All booked into F class too. So, if there is a hick-up, you'll get looked after.

 

[anat0l]

So the answer here to keep everyone happy is just get rid of all the F Lounges and instead give every WP say a $500 credit to use in Australian airports?

 

[drewbles]

Almost everyone I take into the lounge who hasn't been there before is blown away by it.

And there in lies the answer. People who have not been in there before. The novelty wears off very quickly for frequent travellers like myself.

Surely that therefore answers the question about 'decent places with ambience' in the main terminal being pretty much non-existant?

I don't go to airports for ambience. Apart from a very few select airports I can't say I know any with a place that you can go and sit and drink with decent ambience. Sure there may be some nice bars, with some great views of runways/ramp activity, but i'd not pay the $8 or so they want for a Crown Lager (for example) or the $8.50 for a pre-packaged sandwich.

Some airports are better than others, but compare SYD facilities with the SYD F lounge. Give me the F lounge any day over what the MAP terminal offers (at hugely inflated prices).

Lounges may not be 'the be all and end all' of airports, but they're more often than not a damn site better than what the rest of the terminal can have, even if it's just somewhere comfortable to sit that's not a gate lounge.

And a lot of us are a little mad here. If you enjoy it, and want to spend your money on it, why not just go for it? You only live once, and if it's fun, ignore the naysayers It's your money, spend it as you wish!

All my 2c of course

 

[anat0l]

Surely that therefore answers the question about 'decent places with ambience' in the main terminal being pretty much non-existant?

I don't go to airports for ambience. Apart from a very few select airports I can't say I know any with a place that you can go and sit and drink with decent ambience. Sure there may be some nice bars, with some great views of runways/ramp activity, but i'd not pay the $8 or so they want for a Crown Lager (for example) or the $8.50 for a pre-packaged sandwich.

Some airports are better than others, but compare SYD facilities with the SYD F lounge. Give me the F lounge any day over what the MAP terminal offers (at hugely inflated prices).

Lounges may not be 'the be all and end all' of airports, but they're more often than not a damn site better than what the rest of the terminal can have, even if it's just somewhere comfortable to sit that's not a gate lounge.

And a lot of us are a little mad here. If you enjoy it, and want to spend your money on it, why not just go for it? You only live once, and if it's fun, ignore the naysayers It's your money, spend it as you wish!

All my 2c of course

+1

You put it better than I certainly was going to put it.

As for the food and drink, it may not be spectacular, but if compare SYD T1 FL with the rest of the terminal, I'd say the FL quality of food gives the rest a run for its money. The cafe downstairs certainly isn't great.

As well as this, compared to some other F Lounge food around the world, it may not be the best, but it's certainly better than a lot of them.

 

[JohnK]

I'm with JohnK on this (we are probably the minority here) but that's all OK

Nothing wrong with being in a minority. It would not be fun if we all agreed on everything. By the way I do "status runs" myself and I am giving an argument against them. Why?

So the answer here to keep everyone happy is just get rid of all the F Lounges and instead give every WP say a $500 credit to use in Australian airports?

Who said get rid of them? I have said simply mentioned things such as "a lounge is just a lounge" and "a lounge is not the end all and be all". If people are quite happy to waste money just so they can have access to a lounge then good luck to them. The airlines did not put lounges there for nothing. They make a profit from them.

Some airports are better than others, but compare SYD facilities with the SYD F lounge. Give me the F lounge any day over what the MAP terminal offers (at hugely inflated prices).

Has anyone actually worked out how much each visit to an F lounge or any lounge for that matter actually costs?

You mention ambience and some people mention the great unwashed. Have you ever been to the "Observatory" (I think that it the right name) in SYD T1? It is great to sit down outside and have a quiet beer. People all over the place, listening to music, playing pool and what have you to pass the time.

I love people watching. You cannot do that in a lounge. I have spent time in bars/cafes at BKK airport and it beats the lounges by a country mile. Similarly SIN airport has a great buzz around it, MIA airport, ATH airport, HKG airport, PER airport and the list goes on and on.

I think I summed it up quite nicely in another quote on AFF recently....

 

[drewbles]

Has anyone actually worked out how much each visit to an F lounge or any lounge for that matter actually costs?

I base my costs on what it costs me to acquire/keep WP. I do semi-regular DOM flights, with my o/s flights being 50/50 (1 for work, 1 for leisure per membership year).

Whilst in the US, I Top Up my SC's to get/retain.

I estimate my WP probably, in reality, costs around $3500-4500 of my own cash to keep (based on 110 SC's for my trip to/from the US for work, and then my own personal flights there/back and SC runs in the USA).

Qantas Club is a whole heap cheaper, yes. The extra benefits of WP (combined with the fact i'm a nutter and enjoy doing random runs in pressurised metal tubes at great heights ) make it worthwhile for me, whilst getting travel and seeing the sites out of it at the same time.

It's of course different for everyone. Based on this, the 2 x F Lounge and 2 x Flagship Lounge accesses a year, work out being very pricey. As I said though, the other benefits make it worthwhile for me.

You mention ambience and some people mention the great unwashed. Have you ever been to the "Observatory" (I think that it the right name) in SYD T1? It is great to sit down outside and have a quiet beer. People all over the place, listening to music, playing pool and what have you to pass the time.

I love people watching. You cannot do that in a lounge. I have spent time in bars/cafes at BKK airport and it beats the lounges by a country mile. Similarly SIN airport has a great buzz around it, MIA airport, ATH airport, HKG airport, PER airport and the list goes on and on.

I think I summed it up quite nicely in another quote on AFF recently....

I haven't been to that bar no. I don't tend to fly out of SYD often, merely connect from MEL on my way to LAX/SFO. Next time, I may suss it out so I can get an idea

 

[serfty]

Used the Bar at OzFest II in 2005 for lunch before doing the old Tarmac Tour. There are great views of aircraft on 16R taking off ...

I've bee travelling OS monthly and always try to route out of SYD of MEL for the F/L's.

Same with HKG, ORD, JFK T8 and LAX T4 ...

... still trying to find a way out of LHR T5 ...

 

[JohnK]

Qantas Club is a whole heap cheaper, yes. The extra benefits of WP (combined with the fact i'm a nutter and enjoy doing random runs in pressurised metal tubes at great heights ) make it worthwhile for me, whilst getting travel and seeing the sites out of it at the same time.

For some people travel is all about aircraft and lounges. I know a few of people that have gone on overseas trips for 3-4 days and did not leave the airport. If that is what they want then fine but there are so many things to see we get carried away and miss everything.

Normal people keep asking me what I did on my last trip. I say well I spent a night in SIN, a night in TPE, a night in HKG and some time in Thailand. And then they ask where I went in SIN, TPE and HKG. Unfortunately I have nothing to say and they just shake their heads with disbelief.

I must be crazy. There is no other way to describe it....

 

[anat0l]

Who said get rid of them? I have said simply mentioned things such as "a lounge is just a lounge" and "a lounge is not the end all and be all". If people are quite happy to waste money just so they can have access to a lounge then good luck to them. The airlines did not put lounges there for nothing. They make a profit from them.

Yet you are very happily to continue trivialising them. This is why I suggested perhaps you might support the move to get rid of them, because it seems just like a source of social tension and capitalist exploitation.

We are human, too, you know. I think most of us know lounges are not the be all and end all. It doesn't matter to what degree we may articulate them in trip reports, over a beer with mates or whatever. No one will die if they lost their lounge access rights tomorrow.

As for how far people will go to get something, fair enough to weigh in an argument on that. But that doesn't affect the integrity of the thing they are aiming for. That should be judged separately on its own merits.

 

[anat0l]

For some people travel is all about aircraft and lounges. I know a few of people that have gone on overseas trips for 3-4 days and did not leave the airport. If that is what they want then fine but there are so many things to see we get carried away and miss everything.

Normal people keep asking me what I did on my last trip. I say well I spent a night in SIN, a night in TPE, a night in HKG and some time in Thailand. And then they ask where I went in SIN, TPE and HKG. Unfortunately I have nothing to say and they just shake their heads with disbelief.

I must be crazy. There is no other way to describe it....

Why do you do your quick trips? The ones with only one night in each, or taking an indirect routing when the direct one was available (perhaps even cheaper)?

Is it for love or hobby? Then in my books, there is nothing too wrong with that. Life isn't a dress rehearsal; if you have a passion for something or someone, or you like doing something a lot, you should do it. Of course, tactically money and time tend to get in the way (or rather lack of it), but put that aside...

If it's not because you like it, or you're forced to, or you're doing it and you don't like it, then we have a problem. Maybe you're doing it as a short term pain for long term gain, but then that's more keeping the big picture idea (pleasing results cf. pleasing methods). But if you don't like it at all, then why do you do it?

Everyone is crazy for different reasons. Does it make you less of a human? That depends.............. :-|

 

[whereishome]

Surely the ability to be away from mere peasants with their Bronze cards, Silver cards, or heaven forbid, no card at all (!!), is enough of a reason to visit a lounge?

If all you want is lounge access, how much is your status run costing you vs just buying membership?

You can get membership through this site for at least $100 less than the $750 they're asking for on the QF site.

I can't justify the money for a status run but if I am flying somewhere anyway and can justify the additional transit time, and it doesn't cost extra then I will follow the advice I read here some months ago "Why fly direct when you can connect?".

If nothing else it gets me extra miles and a little closer to LTS.

And I do like visiting the lounges when possible, but being a borderline alcoholic it's more about the free booze.