Brisbane Lounge Changes

[Austman]

It might have been OK if it was actually cooked and hot!

Looks are one thing, and everything is looking great.

(I'm trying to get the image horizontal)



The only "hot" food offering ...

 

[JohnK]

My first visit to the QFd BNE J lounge is not till Jun, never used the J lounge before.
Whats the layout like, is the QFd BNE J lounge still next to the entry to BNE QP, on the right hand side of the QP entry?
And its ok to go between the 2 lounges?
My flight is at 19.30 so I would have entry to both, flying flexY (using points to whJ).
Plan to get to BNE airport about 4pm to test both lounges out.
Edit: Austman's pic of the offerings as for dinner (now)?
Mmm, I had high hopes, but that pic was indeed a letdown.
Umm, he did have a pic of a cut potato on a plate there before.

The layout of the lounge is great. There are probably 4-5 different seating arrangements including furniture.

Go to the Qantas lounge first. Party pies on Friday followed by some sort of creamy/cheesy pasta. Some days they have the fried rice which is really nice.

At around 5:00pm go to the Business lounge and you may see the beef stew come out. Quite tasty yesterday but didn't last long and by 5:45pm was finished.

Personally I don't bother going to the Mexican buffet.

You can switch between the lounges as often as you like.

 

[Deleted member]

And the service was slower ..... ergo, less was served and consumed.
Pure economics

I found this a little weird as well. Meant the bar staff had to work even harder in peak time.

 

[RichardMEL]

Am I to understand from comments about tea/coffee above that they don't even have the self serve coffee machines as in all other lounges?

That's really poor if so. While I realise 9/10 people get alcohol (after noon) in lounges, sometimes a nice cup of tea in a quiet corner with the paper is just what the doctor ordered... and it's poor if you're forced to ask a barista only to be given water and pointed to the tea bags. That's really poor and not premium. I think even Maccas will make the tea for you!!!

Sounds as uninspiring as I imagined food wise which is a real shame. The usual slop (beef stew? sounds like the neverending chicken curry and rice in SYD - which can be nice when fresh but can turn into gloop quickly)... and even SYD J has the party pies/pastie type things between 3 and 4.

Sounds like a space and ambience upgrade, but a downgrade on the service side.

I have no plans to visit BNE just now (possibly in July) but I'm not hanging out to experience this now tbh from all the helpful reports here.

 

[Sdtravel]

Hmm. I dont recall a self serve coffee machine. You might be right.
Come to think of it i was in the DRW lounge a few weeks back and it was a similar situation. I wanted tea and had to get the barista to make it for me. I gave them the teabag i wanted and they added the hot water and milk to it.

I do agree with your point though. An upgrade in space and ambience but a downgrade in few other areas.
It guess its hard to please everyone sometimes though. QF might think that its giving a better quality/experience and more service but have a person do it. But others just want something fast and can do without the extra service.
Although if thats true then why not more service desks and less kiosks in the premium entry. Comes down to costs i guess.

Oh going back a few posts to my point on real boarding cards vs kiosks. As i showed and explained to someone yesterday. The difference is if you keep BP's as memento's in a years time a boarding card will still have your trip on it where as a kiosk printout will just be a piece of paper with the QF logo on it (ie the ink will have faded).

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Boarding cards do seem to fade though.
Unless you make copies (4 per page) onto normal A4 paper.

 

[RichardMEL]

btw re coffee machines - the ones at MEL/SYD and old BNE it seems J meant that you could avoid Barista(sure, the coffee was not as good or "fresh") but also dispense hot water to make your own tea so to not have any in a large lounge seems onerous....

I seem to recall pics of water dispensers - I wonder if they include hot as well as cold?

Seems odd to provide a selection of tea bags but then no way to make it yourself. Some people are quite particular about their tea - to have milk or not, how much, or even to put it in first or after the tea, and so on.

 

[Sdtravel]

I dont exactly remember since it was a week or so ago but arent the cups on the barista side of the bench?
I dont recall if the water stations did hot and cold. But if there is no cup...

 

[Austman]

They do have the "Quench" section with cups and teapots/kettles:



(sorry about the focus)

 

[Sdtravel]

I stand corrected. I do recall that now.

 

[anat0l]

There are two places to get coffee: one is the main bar, and the other is the smaller bar which is near the "back" of the lounge (the end closest to the terminal landside, cf. that closest to the apron). In the morning, I think there is a coffee bar just outside the entrance to the lounge which also does take away coffees. I'd imagine that's fast enough for anyone to grab a cup within reasonable time.

We've just had a huge hoo-hah on the VA thread about people wanting handmade coffees and not one made by a machine, so realistically what good is a machine?

As for the tea, that's a good point there. There are small teapots available at the Quench station where one can make up the signature tisane: lemon myrtle, hibiscus, citrus and tea in loose leaf. Not quite an English Breakfast or Earl Grey if you're looking for one, but I must say quite satisfying.

The water tap near the station dispenses hot water, still water and sparkling water.

 

[drross]

There are two places to get coffee: one is the main bar, and the other is the smaller bar which is near the "back" of the lounge (the end closest to the terminal landside, cf. that closest to the apron). In the morning, I think there is a coffee bar just outside the entrance to the lounge which also does take away coffees. I'd imagine that's fast enough for anyone to grab a cup within reasonable time.

We've just had a huge hoo-hah on the VA thread about people wanting handmade coffees and not one made by a machine, so realistically what good is a machine?

As for the tea, that's a good point there. There are small teapots available at the Quench station where one can make up the signature tisane: lemon myrtle, hibiscus, citrus and tea in loose leaf. Not quite an English Breakfast or Earl Grey if you're looking for one, but I must say quite satisfying.

The water tap near the station dispenses hot water, still water and sparkling water.

the one just outside the entrance does do orders for lounge staff when the internal ones are too busy...had lounge staff direct us out of the line in the lounge to get a coffee there

 

[funnymummy]

First time I went in the new lounge a couple of weeks ago they were making barista coffees and yelling out people's names. John large flat white. Really off putting. Easter Sunday they were asking for ph number to text pickups Really annoying not having self select coffee machine. Barista is highly labour intensive

 

[PineappleSkip]

Light-up buzzers perhaps?

Cheers skip

 

[kermatu]

First visit to the new Dom J lounge the other day. Was early Saturday morning, and about 30 minutes so not a whole lot of experience. Other than a coffee from the barista (quick) and a fresh juice made by the staff and brought to my seat, I didn't eat anything.

Liked the space and zones, and staff were really terrific. But it got full with just 4 flights all departing between 8 and 8:30am (SYD, MEL, ADL and PER). Even after two flights were called there were few empty seats.

Entry and, in particular the exit, still very clunky. Exit should change once renovations all complete. I had an international connection so checked in in usual spot then walked to end of terminal for security and lounge entry. Quick enough.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Once the works at QF's BNEd lounge are complete, those 2 lounges should be one of the best modern lounges that QF has domestically.
QF MELd and QF SYDd have not been touched, to an extent where they have "jackhammered" or made taken down the old and put in new, like they have done in BNE.
I would say probably ADL's turn next (!).
They plan to do works on it down the track, if we are to believe the hype stuck to the wall near where the solitary security guard sits to prevent errant people to get into the secure zone.
Will do the QFd J meal photo when I have some time on the right thread later tomorrow.

 

[Deleted member]

The food in the BNE J lounge doesn't match the quality of the lounge itself.

 

[drross]

forgot to mention 'skip the line' for coffee is back up and working