Article: Qantas Auckland Lounge Upgrade: The End of an Era

[Rangalad]

Long live The Cupboard!

I miss the BNE international cupboard.

 

[cambriamarsh]

I miss the BNE international cupboard.

Walked past the Akl F lounge on Thursday 27 June. Its still open.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Appear the F lounge is closed and there may not be a dedicated F lounge post-reno.

Lounge Review: Qantas Lounge Auckland Airport - Forward of the Wing

Forward of the Wing's 2024 review of the Qantas Lounge Auckland Airport, for hopefully the last time before it's upcoming renovation.

www.forwardofthewing.com

Debunked by numerous members.
This blog post is not at all accurate and the F lounge is still open as of today.

 

[Wing Nut]

Will miss the right hand wave to the cupboard when the new QP opens... eventually....

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

So, you say it will be a "pub" style, (easy going), rather than a J lounge, if and when the lounge does get a refresh/makeover.

 

[RichardMEL]

So, you say it will be a "pub" style, (easy going), rather than a J lounge, if and when the lounge does get a refresh/makeover.

Yourve never been to.the "combined" lounges in SIN*, HKG or LHR have you?

(Noting SIN J was designed as a new style lounge and used as such before QF returned F to SIN and invested in the F lounge)

They aren't "pubs" but at a reasonably nice standard. Certainly far better than MEL or SYD int J.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Yourve never been to.the "combined" lounges in SIN*, HKG or LHR have you?

(Noting SIN J was designed as a new style lounge and used as such before QF returned F to SIN and invested in the F lounge)

They aren't "pubs" but at a reasonably nice standard. Certainly far better than MEL or SYD int J.

Nope, only (MEL QFd J & QP & QFi J & F), (SYD QFd J & QP & QFi J & F), (BNE QFd J & QP & QFi J), (ADL J & QP) combo and PER T3 QP.
And of course, as of current (AKL QFi J and the F) "cupboard".

 

[RickyT84]

Currently at the AKL QF lounge and it looks like the F cupboard has now officially closed as the glass door to the left of reception has been disabled/removed and the area can be accessed by all guests.

Not much different to the J side except for the offer of champagne (Champagne Lanson Le Black).

 

[serfty]

Currently at the AKL QF lounge and it looks like the F cupboard has now officially closed as the glass door to the left of reception has been disabled/removed and the area can be accessed by all guests.

I was there yesterday and asked about the door.

Apparently it is broken; it may or may not be fixed.

The cupboard is still supposedly restricted to Emerald and guest. (Depends on monitoring/ enforcement I guess.)

(On another note, the EK lounge was opened prior to 5pm. Not sure exactly when, but I observed it was open ~4:55pm.)

 

[RichardMEL]

So, it is now a "F alcove"?

 

[RickyT84]

I was there yesterday and asked about the door.

Apparently it is broken; it may or may not be fixed.

The cupboard is still supposedly restricted to Emerald and guest. (Depends on monitoring/ enforcement I guess.)

(On another note, the EK lounge was opened prior to 5pm. Not sure exactly when, but I observed it was open ~4:55pm.)

That's good to know.

I was able to get in as a lowly J class pax but there were no enforcement as to who gets in to the cupboard today.

Not a huge loss per se as the only difference is the addition of champagne as the food is the same otherwise.

 

[chooms]

Still open and was directed to the cupboard after scanning BP. The door has gone. I witnessed many people coming through from the QP side whilst the lounge dragon was busy with other guests. No enforcement. And the place is a zoo as a result.

 

[chooms]

Still open and was directed to the cupboard after scanning BP. The door has gone. I witnessed many people coming through from the QP side whilst the lounge dragon was busy with other guests. No enforcement. And the place is a zoo as a result.

With a 5hr delay to my flight to BNE I wandered over to EK lounge when it opened (not normally open for the afternoon BNE flight).

My goodness QF treats us poorly. The new lounge (and drinks/food options) are desperately needed. EK has real champagne (Moet NV mind you) and a food offering that puts QF ‘F’ lounge to shame. EK staff welcoming and understood the change of scenery

 

[RichardMEL]

EK has always been ahead of most lounges imo. In AKL for sure.

 

[Berlin]

EK has always been ahead of most lounges imo. In AKL for sure.

Oh totally, by far the best lounge in Auckland. And these days rather empty as not that many EK flights going anymore (super short opening times unfortunately too, as a result).

I still think Qantas should just get over themselves and fork out the cash to pay their “dear partner” Emirates for lounge use during the apparently whenever upcoming renovation of their own dingy holding cell.

I can only imagine what a nightmare the current set up must be when you come from that long flight from JFK waiting for the connection to SYD…

 

[jase05]

Oh totally, by far the best lounge in Auckland. And these days rather empty as not that many EK flights going anymore (super short opening times unfortunately too, as a result).

I still think Qantas should just get over themselves and fork out the cash to pay their “dear partner” Emirates for lounge use during the apparently whenever upcoming renovation of their own dingy holding cell.

I can only imagine what a nightmare the current set up must be when you come from that long flight from JFK waiting for the connection to SYD…

I actually don’t mind the Strata lounge and the same people that operate the QF lounge have that as well so I’ve seen some crossover before when the QF lounge was full.

 

[gaz0303]

EK has always been ahead of most lounges imo. In AKL for sure.

The coughtails at the NZ lounge are pretty special, and the bbq down the back cooking fresh pork belly bites is hard to beat. And with nice runway views.

 

[Berlin]

The coughtails at the NZ lounge are pretty special, and the bbq down the back cooking fresh pork belly bites is hard to beat. And with nice runway views.

Problem with that lounge is that they stop offering any proper hot food past mid afternoon (unless this has changed since the pandemic as I’ve been there last just shortly after the final NZ lockdown- happy to be corrected) which is essentially making this the worse longe in the whole airport if you’re on a flight that gets you out after work. But this has been an issue with both the Strata and the Qantas lounge in my experience- both a total zoo on weeknight evenings (I used to fly out pretty much weekly on Thursday or Friday night pre-Covid, again this might have changed).

But in general, yes- even if Qantas did a deal with NZ again like just at the end of the pandemic while renovating their lounge. Anything really- lock off part of the public areas somewhere in the terminal as a “temporary lounge” and finally get the refurb done with. The way it goes now, it will be another who knows how many months until the renovation will finally start and then they do an endless typical Qantas “Open Heart surgery) dragged out refurb while half the space is operating.

This has been going on for waaay too long and is much a disgrace as the god awful Sydney Domestic J lounge.

 

[moa999]

Any signs of actual refurbishment?

 

[Captain Halliday]

Any signs of actual refurbishment?

I’ll be there tomorrow and if I remember will ask.