Booking Spa Treatment in QF FC lounge

[vt01]

Thought I'd try booking a treatment in the new QF FC lounge. So I called up today to make a booking for tomorrow.
It turns out only FC passengers and and CL members can book. All others have to be in the lounge to book.
So now I wait to see if my upgrade to FC clears so I can call them back and book..

 

[taswegian77]

I wish you luck as at best unless the plane is dead empty the FC upgrade won't clear till at best 6 hours prior to departure, btu I have seen my FC upgrades clear 24 hours prior.

 

[taswegian77]

Oh, I forgot I am travelling to Bangkok tomorrow so will let you knwo what the FC lounge is like.

 

[serfty]

I wish you luck as at best unless the plane is dead empty the FC upgrade won't clear till at best 6 hours prior to departure, btu I have seen my FC upgrades clear 24 hours prior.

All my upgrades (International, since May '05) have cleared and the points extracted from my account on the morning of the flight (ex Oz, ~9:30am).

 

[vt01]

I wish you luck as at best unless the plane is dead empty the FC upgrade won't clear till at best 6 hours prior to departure, btu I have seen my FC upgrades clear 24 hours prior.

Noticed at about 15:30 that I had a new seat allocated - 1A.. So it cleared about 18 hours before the flight.. Not surprising as F was showing F8 on expert flyer.. Anyhow, called the Spa desk back at 16:55 and booked a 30 minute treatment.
In the lounge now... Very nice.. Sat down and had a nice breakfast - not too big - and now just waiting for 9 am for my treatment. I tried to get the 50 min massage but they said it was too close to my flight.. Not to worry..

 

[moa999]

Seems that calling in advance may well be needed.
Arrived at MEL at 0900 for QF73 and was told that the spa was booked solid until 1130.
In fact whole of MEL FC lounge was full - hardly a spare seat and some very slow service.
They were also struggling in the new First check-in area.

 

[vt01]

Seems that calling in advance may well be needed.
Arrived at MEL at 0900 for QF73 and was told that the spa was booked solid until 1130.
In fact whole of MEL FC lounge was full - hardly a spare seat and some very slow service.
They were also struggling in the new First check-in area.

Definitely calling in advance is needed - or was today. Spa opens at 9 am. I was there for my 9 am appointment with one other person and another walked in. The next available appointment was 10 am.

The treatment was fantastic. I had a 30 min back massage with aromatic oils. The room was very luxurious, plenty of thick warm towels and a shower. Definitely worth a visit if you can get in.

 

[NYCguy]

I can't believe that ya'll have so much time to sit/lay around having spa-treatments in an airport lounge!

 

[straitman]

I can't believe that ya'll have so much time to sit/lay around having spa-treatments in an airport lounge!

NYCguy,

The best answer is probably your own footer.

'First Class isn't a seat (or a lounge!), it's a lifestyle.'

If you're going to have a spa-treatment somewhere, then why not in the Flounge where the price is right :?:

 

[simongr]

I can't believe that ya'll have so much time to sit/lay around having spa-treatments in an airport lounge!

Its all about planning - if you can make time to relax before flying then the whole trip becomes enjoyable rather than simply a busride...

 

[NM]

I wish you luck as at best unless the plane is dead empty the FC upgrade won't clear till at best 6 hours prior to departure, btu I have seen my FC upgrades clear 24 hours prior.

My last F upgrade ex-MAL was confirmed somewhere between 18 and 20 hours before departure. And it was showing F2 before the upgrade and F1 after, so was certainly "dead empty". In fact, the F cabin was 14/14 for the first segment.

 

[arrow]

Just out of curiosity... is it difficult to get F upgrades.

I am QF silver and I am not sure of my chances of an F upgrade.

 

[simongr]

It depends a host of factors. Platinum and Gold get the upgrades first and then its done by the time/date of when you requested the UG. But it also depends on availability - busy flights mean less chance of an UG.

I have a reminder in outlook to lodge my request for my UG on the last leg of my DONE4 (well not technically my last - but the one that gets me) at 5AM three months exactly before the flight - as soon as I can. That way only WP can trump me - oh and paying passengers too

 

[vt01]

Just out of curiosity... is it difficult to get F upgrades.

I am QF silver and I am not sure of my chances of an F upgrade.

Wouldn't have been a problem on my SYD-HKG flight Sunday... 7 empty FC seats! Upgrade cleared about 18 hours before the flight.

 

[Reggie]

It depends a host of factors. Platinum and Gold get the upgrades first and then its done by the time/date of when you requested the UG. But it also depends on availability - busy flights mean less chance of an UG.

I have a reminder in outlook to lodge my request for my UG on the last leg of my DONE4 (well not technically my last - but the one that gets me) at 5AM three months exactly before the flight - as soon as I can. That way only WP can trump me - oh and paying passengers too

And CL members

 

[Tooner]

Wouldn't have been a problem on my SYD-HKG flight Sunday... 7 empty FC seats! Upgrade cleared about 18 hours before the flight.

I upgraded HKG - SYD on a Friday night in March about 2 weeks before and got it, despite seatcounter showing around F3 if I remember. F was full though, so maybe there were a few of us upgraded. But then, Jwas showing 0, so it may have been to accomodate more in J.

 

[Standby]

So the I suppose the question for those who have sampled it,how does the lounge in SYD and MEL stack up against other carriers....I missed out on trialing MEL last week as I cut my connecting flight too fine to be bothered...but next time I'll leave a couple of hours to relax first if the experienced members here agree...I love the SIN lounge if that helps others guage the difference

 

[Trakman]

I've been lurking for a while on this excellent site, so thought it was about time to contribute.

I used the Mel FC Lounge last week and it is obviously a distinct improvement over the old one. At least there are some windows! Not sure about the restaurant idea yet - I'm so used to grabbing some food and drink and going back to my spot and working, that the idea of sitting down at a table and dining will take some getting used to.

Lots of nooks and crannies to explore, which is great, though it was pretty full when I was there in the morning. It cleared when the LAX flight left, because the AKL-LAX flight is two class so there were only WP's in the lounge then.

Compared to the Singapore FL? More facilities, library, etc, and the view is great. The bathroom facilities are pretty flash with large self contained cubicles, though they had not replaced the towels for the main bathroom area, so there was nowhere to dry your hands. An attendant had just serviced the cubicles but forgot to do the main area. Guess they will work that out over time. Its not as spacious as Singapore, but has a higher staff ratio, and they were suitably attentive.

Overall - great effort, and next time I'll try the food! Must make it an afternoon/evening flight so I can also try out the offering at the bar.

I hadn't noticed the new First Class check-in area so I lined up for the business class one and grumbled to myself about the queue. The check in girl directed me over to the new FC area and that was pretty cool. Only opened for a week at that stage but the staff were really keen and helpful. I consider that to be a real benefit for FC or WP. Hope it doesn't get too busy during the peaks.

 

[vt01]

So the I suppose the question for those who have sampled it,how does the lounge in SYD and MEL stack up against other carriers....I missed out on trialing MEL last week as I cut my connecting flight too fine to be bothered...but next time I'll leave a couple of hours to relax first if the experienced members here agree...I love the SIN lounge if that helps others guage the difference

I love the new view of the airport and runways in the SYD lounge . The spa was great.. I had breakfast there last Sunday and that was also very good. I hope I have an afternoon flight soon so I can try another part of the menu.
The business centre was small but fine. I used it to print out some maps.
There's still the self service coffee machine and a few snacks in a self service area. I do miss the more substantial self service food area.
I like the open design which gives a sense of tons of space.

In comparison to the SIN, HKG and LHR lounges, I prefer the SYD lounge. The only other lounge I can compare it to is the CX Wing and Pier. I would now put it about equal to these. Mainly because there's bit of each that I like and dislike. I haven't been to either for a number of years so don't know if they've changed much. But I'll check them out tomorrow night.

 

[serfty]

Trakman, welcome to AFF.

... In comparison to the SIN, HKG and LHR lounges, I prefer the SYD lounge. The only other lounge I can compare it to is the CX Wing and Pier. I would now put it about equal to these. Mainly because there's bit of each that I like and dislike. I haven't been to either for a number of years so don't know if they've changed much. But I'll check them out tomorrow night.

Having experienced a pre-QF128 evening in the Wing a few weeks ago and a pre-QF3 in the SYD Flounge last week it is interesting to compare. I will restrict this to evenings as that's the current limit of my QF Flounge experience.

In the evenings I would suggest they are about even in the respect of food. The Wing's buffet is far more varied, but, being a buffet, some of the hot food tends to be overdone even though it replaced frequently. The SYD FLounge food I had was fresh and perfectly cooked to order; but oviusly not as many choices.

The drink service is about the same.

The Wing has the cabanas, the QF FLounges have the Spa (but not after 5pm).

Some, like mrs serfty find the wing's decor rather stark. I found most promotional 'photos of the SYD FLounge made it seem rather harsh; actually being their I found it a lot 'warmer' and comfortable than I thought.

All in all; I feel it's about equal. In reality, any traveller should be quite pleased to have the use of the Wing or Pier or MEL/SYD Flounges for a few hours in an evening.