Dilemma [ Boss or Colleague? (Can guest just 1)]

[Cappuccino99]

Apologies if I've posted this in the wrong place.

I've worked hard and spent a lot of money travelling to attain gold status with Qantas. Part of my satisfaction of attaining gold is to enjoy the lounge experience. I usually travel solo.

Next week I have to go on a business trip from MEL to HBA with my boss and another colleague. Neither of them have status. I can only take 1 guest into the lounge.

Do I forgo my lounge experience to stay with them; go to the lounge alone and leave them together; or just guest one of them in on departure and the other on return?

 

[Hvr]

It's a fairly common dilemma. Have a quick and private word with your boss and mention that you have lounge access but can only guest one person. How should I handle this?

Be guided by their answer, including forfeiting lounge time if that's their suggestion.

But do remember to log on at T-80 and choose a seat up front away from your colleagues.

 

[RooFlyer]

The first choice. Won't hurt this once. The HBA lounge is nothing to write home about anyway.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Here's how I would tackle this, taking on board @RooFlyer's advice also.

Get to MEL nice and early, well before your colleagues arrive and enjoy the lounge. Then when they arrive, ask them to ring your mobile to meet up, then walk downstairs and meet them in the main terminal area. If they ask "Where were you"..you can say "Well i couldn't take you both in, so I just grabbed a coffee, and so now , here I am"...

And yes skip the HBA lounge altogether and just wait at the gate..

 

[kermatu]

If you have no option but to travel together to the airport in MEL, I'd forego it and avoid the hassle. Chances are you wouldn't find two seats anyway.

 

[Aussiejosh]

Tell one to get in early and take him in. When the other arrives walk out, meet him somewhere and walk back in the lounge 5 minutes later.

 

[JohnK]

Do I forgo my lounge experience to stay with them; go to the lounge alone and leave them together; or just guest one of them in on departure and the other on return?

Tell them you have access to the lounge and can take a guest. Let them decide who's guested. Perhaps they'll take turns to access on departure and return.

 

[luxury-lizard]

Personally - I believe being courteous to your colleagues / friends is much more important than spending < 1 hour (who gets to the lounge on a domestic flight any earlier than this?) in the lounge. Just meet in a coffee shop.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Do I forgo my lounge experience to stay with them...

This one.

Or get there earlier and have lounge time by yourself and then meet them once they arrive.

 

[Muppet501st]

its a work trip, just stay out in the terminal and charge the coffee's to your work account

 

[MEL_Traveller]

its a work trip...

That's a good point. Who's paying for the trip? If work, even more reason to stay with colleagues. Because without work paying you wouldn't have had the lounge anyway.

 

[UP4014]

Forget the lounge, just wait in the terminal with your boss. Don't mentioned the lounge at all.

 

[Scarlett]

At work, before travel, you say:
"See you on board"

 

[mrsterryn]

See if a spare ticket in 'free to a good home ' you might find one

Free to a Good Home

 

[Atleastonce]

The worst thing I ever did was mention to my boss I had lounge access. Have been subjected to constant comments about the amount of flying I do and my travel budget. My suggestion is to enjoy your lounge time when you travel alone, and get your boss to buy you a coffee in the terminal when you fly with him/her.

 

[SeatBackForward]

This thread needs to be updated with the actual outcome when it happens!

 

[harvyk]

This is how I handled this situation recently (Although I'm the boss, so no one to suck up to)

I did a call out on Facebook to see if any friends had a spare lounge pass (being friends with a group off frequent flyers helped) that got me a pass for CBR, I also posted my flight details in the lounge meetups page here on AFF, because every so often things do line up nicely.

At MEL I asked politely if I could just show each colleague separately the lounge (I was a little curious to see it myself as it was my first visit to MEL since they lounge upgrade), and the lounge angel took a quick look inside and told me to simply take both my colleagues in at the same time. I have found that if you speak nicely to the lounge angels they will sometimes use their discretion.

Of course I was quite prepared to sit down in the main terminal with my colleagues on each leg of the trip since I do feel that it's the right thing to do if lounge access can't be obtained for all.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I've been in this situation. We flipped a coin. I lost

 

[gapmatt]

Don’t use the lounge, in the end it’s just a lounge.
As above, it’s a work trip, charge coffee and snacks to work!

Reviews online about the HBA lounge aren’t exciting. Rated 1.7/5 on Loungereview.com

 

[novice1]

Don’t use the lounge, in the end it’s just a lounge.
As above, it’s a work trip, charge coffee and snacks to work!

Reviews online about the HBA lounge aren’t exciting. Rated 1.7/5 on Loungereview.com

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