Security queues at MEL domestic last night were probably the worst I've ever seen. It should be mandatory for them to have all scanners/gates operating in the peak period from 17:00 to 19:30.
I arrived at terminal at 18:05, was all checked in and joined the security queue by 18:07. The line was so long, it extended well past the roped off area and all the way to the end of the terminal (i.e. the international entrance).
There were no Qantas staff allowing those whose flights were boarding to come to the front of the line, and as Im only QC Silver I couldn't use the express lane, not that it was moving much quicker.
I finally got through the screening process at 18:47 (that's 40 mins!) and then had to bolt to the gate for my 19:00 flight which was already boarding. No time to visit QC or a bathroom.
1 hour should really enough to comfortably, check in, clear security, grab a drink and pre-flight snack in the QC and get to the gate comfortably. My colleague questioned whether slowing transition through security was a ploy to reduce QC visitors during lounge renovation period?
On the plus side, because it was a Dreamliner flight I ended up in Premium Economy on an economy ticket, the bigger seat and larger tv screen was nice considering we ended up spending almost 30 mins on tarmac after push back from the gate.
Have to say, not a fan of the built in air bag on the seat belt, it interferes with the tray table sitting flat. They really need to enable you to push the tray an extra inch forward to clear the bulk of the airbag, or position it differently or make trays sit an inch higher above lap. The large guy across the aisle form me had to undo his seat belt completely to use his tray, i just loosened mine (probably to useless point) so i could squish is next to my leg to get a flat tray.
