Chairman's Lounge

[Mal]

I'm sure someone other than OhSoTired can answer but are there CLs in the International Terminals as well? Which cities have Chairman's Lounges?

No Intl CL's, although CL's may get special access to example Concorde Room at LHR vs First Lounge. Dom CL's are in every capital excl Hobart and Darwin I believe.

 

[thegurio]

Dom CL's are in every capital excl Hobart and Darwin I believe.

Typical! :mrgreen:

 

[chooms]

Boarding passes are printed with CL OneWorld E on them.

No CL's in Hobart or Darwin. PER CL isnt staffed and is directly to the right at the entrance to the QP.

SYD, BNE, MEL, CBR and ADL all have separate staff inside the CL.

BNE CL is in the middle of the concourse to the right when facing runway as opposed to QP which is to the left.

SYD CL had moved when I was down there in Dec. From what I remember from the old one, if you continue down the hall, past toilets, past drinks (self serve) then past food (much better that the QP and Jlounge IMHO) there was an exit. I could be wrong but last time I was in SYD CL was in Nov 2007.

MEL CL is straight ahead at the top of escalators as opposed to hanging a left turn to go to QP.

ADL CL is a little down the concourse further on from the QP and IMHO the best CL at the time, although I havent been to the new SYD one.

CBR CL is coughpy. Cramped, crowded and full of pollies and Sec. of Depts.

It is worth noting that even ExecDirectors within Depts also get CL membership (at least the old DOTARS did, but that might just be a transport thing )

Now, I wasnt a member myself, but my boss was. He and I travelled pretty much everywhere. Even when I finished working for him, the nice ladies at the SYD CL used to let me in if I had a bit of time as I had come to know them over a few years.

There are no International CL's. As CL members are WP automatically, when flying OW they can access First lounges.

We didnt go into Concorde Room at LHR, just Flounge.

Yeah its true all Fed pollies get CL status. Wives/Husbands get Partner Gold. Find it a bit strange that Wives/Husbands of QLD ministers get CL status. I knew Ministers did, but this is the first time I have heard about it for partners.

No comp upgrades. Although, if waitlisted for upgrade at airport, CL's not travelling in J already (ha.... yea right!) would have the first pick. I was told this by a CL lady a couple of years ago when I missed my flight with my boss and had to catch up 3 flights later . I got upgraded using points and denied those in QP the upgrade as I got last J seat thanks to CL request.

Plenty of self serve alcohol in all CL's... especially when stuck in PER waiting for delayed aircraft !

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Question to the OP.

I heard rumors that CL members get automatic upgrade when flying domestic. Is that all just rumors?

Dan

 

[docjames]

Question to the OP.

I heard rumors that CL members get automatic upgrade when flying domestic. Is that all just rumors?

Dan

I can answer (have relative who is CL)

Yes, upgrade automatically "subject to availability".

 

[moa999]

whereas choom says:

No comp upgrades. Although, if waitlisted for upgrade at airport, CL's not travelling in J already (ha.... yea right!) would have the first pick

 

[docjames]

Fair enough - not my understanding.

 

[oz_mark]

and OhSoTired said

The days of guaranteed seats, complimentary upgrades, getting the meal of your choice (even in J or F) etc. are gone.

 

[Flashback]

and OhSoTired said

Would be interesting to see what effect dropping demand has... maybe it will come back?

 

[docjames]

Again, not exactly my understanding.

You get specific seat choice (ie. 1A, 1F, 4A, 4C etc) rather than forward, aisle etc.

You dont get meal of choice unless there's extras loaded (but the crew will do it if available).

It's that "subject to availability" thing.

It's take a fair doing for a CL not to get a seat on the flight of their choice.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

The concorde room at LHR? Is that like a CL lounge for BA's top tiers?

 

[serfty]

The concorde room at LHR? Is that like a CL lounge for BA's top tiers?

It a lounge for passengers travelling in First Class on BA (was QF as well before T4 was gutted) as well as certain High Value BA Clients.

 

[chooms]

Again, not exactly my understanding.

You get specific seat choice (ie. 1A, 1F, 4A, 4C etc) rather than forward, aisle etc.

You dont get meal of choice unless there's extras loaded (but the crew will do it if available).

It's that "subject to availability" thing.

It's take a fair doing for a CL not to get a seat on the flight of their choice.

CL's almost certainly get on any flight. They are OWE/WP automatically so get that same guarantee for Y, however, QF will most certainly accomodate a CL member if wanting a J seat.

Once my boss and I finished some business early in ADL and I tried calling my PA to change our flights to earlier ones. As boss was CL we were duly accommodated on a very full flight to SYD and saw some very grumpy people at the gate who had to wait for the next flight.

I really miss having the CL access, but it isnt the be-all-and-end-all.

F lounges at SYD and MEL are waaaaaaaay better anyway.

 

[Flying Fox]

OK so I have a question about CL Membership.

Do you receive any QFF Points Bonus (similar to how Gold gets a 50% bonus and Platinum get a 100% bonus when flying)?

 

[Flashback]

OK so I have a question about CL Membership.

Do you receive any QFF Points Bonus (similar to how Gold gets a 50% bonus and Platinum get a 100% bonus when flying)?

Given that you receive a WP membership you would receive the WP bonus.

 

[docjames]

Status bonus same as platinum (100% on QF)

 

[Flying Fox]

Given that you receive a WP membership you would receive the WP bonus.

Thanks for the answers. I didn't realise that you get a WP Membership as well.

Some people have all the perks

 

[Will]

Given that you receive a WP membership you would receive the WP bonus.

I know this is splitting hairs, but you don't actually receive a WP (to the best of my knowledge). CL is a separate tier which is also equivalent to OWE, and confers privileges equal to or better than the WP tier.

 

[NM]

I know this is splitting hairs, but you don't actually receive a WP (to the best of my knowledge). CL is a separate tier which is also equivalent to OWE, and confers privileges equal to or better than the WP tier.

Actually, Chairmans Lounge is not technically part of the FF program. It is managed independently, similar to the separation between Qantas Club and Qantas frequent Flyer. A CL member is granted the benefits of Qantas Platinum Frequent Flyer as part of the membership, including OneWorld Emerald status. They are not issued a separate Platinum FF card. Their CL card is recognised by Qantas and partner airlines in its own right and includes an emerald OneWorld splodge.

So as far as the Qantas FF program is concerned, a CL member receives the same as a Platinum FF member. But the CL membership provides some benefits beyond those available to Platinum FF members, such as access to private lounges at some domestic airports, the highest level of priority for waitlisted upgrades, spouse/partner benefits and benefits associated with the secret handshake . But as far as the FF program is concerned, they have the equivalent of Platinum FF status (status bonus etc).

 

[SFSC]

I reckon QF could logically, from a business point of view, offer CL membership to selected moderators of AFF and FT :idea: