MEL Dom. lounges refurb Completed October 2018

[Duffa]

We

Duffa, if you have not been to the MEL QFi J lounge in the basement, its not the ideal.
First time I saw it, after being in the SYD QFi J lounge or the BNE QFi J lounge, the MEL QFi J lounge has to be the pits of them all.
If they let all 5 of you in, you will get the basic munchies, breakfast cereals, milk, etc, but no wow factor, ...
Also that MEL QFi J lounge is a bit hard to find if you don't know where to look for it, so if you really want to do entry, get to MEL airport 3 hours prior with OLCI and go searching for it.

Thanks AP,
I have 5 Amex lounge entries as well as 5 Plaza Premium entries on various cards/PP (don't ask!). I'm wondering if they might be a better deal??? I've done the $36 of food in various cafes and wasn't that impressed.

 

[BD1959]

There is a printer just after the "benches" as you enter; it is under a tabletop, and is not very obvious if you aren't looking for it.

Thanks whughes3 - I *was* looking for it ... and it still wasn't very obvious!!

Regards,

BD

 

[Shinkz]

The new gold MEL D lounge is probably the worst out of the major capital cities (SYD, MEL, BNE, PER) and it's brand new...

EDIT: ADL is better as well

 

[Pushka]

The new gold MEL D lounge is probably the worst out of the major capital cities (SYD, MEL, BNE, PER) and it's brand new...

EDIT: ADL is better as well

Adelaide isn’t - we don’t even have a proper meal area just the buffet that any lounge has.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Adelaide isn’t - we don’t even have a proper meal area just the buffet that any lounge has.

ADL got a little better aesthetically when the new tables and chairs were installed near the buffet but I agree it would be good to have a dedicated area. Don't you think the vast business section that's no longer a business section could be repurposed into proper seating and the meal/buffet area be formalised?

 

[Pushka]

ADL got a little better aesthetically when the new tables and chairs were installed near the buffet but I agree it would be good to have a dedicated area. Don't you think the vast business section that's no longer a business section could be repurposed into proper seating and the meal/buffet area be formalised?

Yes. And those people needing a meal before they fly to Syd/Mel arriving too late to get food when they land when they have business meetings the next day. Trouble is they won’t divide into a J club and they don’t want to have to feed the QP masses. And as for international flights, well, another story. Hardly an Emirates F departure experience or even J on the rest.

 

[opusman]

The ADL QP was the best in the country when it opened, what a shame QF have ignored it since. High time for a separate J lounge there too.

 

[Pushka]

The ADL QP was the best in the country when it opened, what a shame QF have ignored it since. High time for a separate J lounge there too.

Especially given that Adelaide has become such a FIFO place because of our economy there’s a lot of WP hanging around as a result.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

And as for international flights, well, another story. Hardly an Emirates F departure experience or even J on the rest.

I've certainly posted about this before.... the white bread tuna sandwiches Just the perfect amuse bouche before your EK caviar and Dom Perignon.

 

[Pushka]

I've certainly posted about this before.... the white bread tuna sandwiches Just the perfect amuse bouche before your EK caviar and Dom Perignon.

Given the club isn’t that busy at that time you’d think they could organise for people with EK J and F to have better champagne and nibbles. They could set up a dedicated area for the QR and EK flights. Not like there will be a cast of thousands and because of the immigration you can’t stay long anyway.

 

[RooFlyer]

Adelaide isn’t - we don’t even have a proper meal area just the buffet that any lounge has.

The best Hobart can offer is the much touted sandwich maker ( I know HBA isn't a ' major airport' but still .... )

 

[kermatu]

The best Hobart can offer is the much touted sandwich maker ( I know HBA isn't a ' major airport' but still .... )

But it is a capital city. (Sorry, couldn't resist that @Pushka ).

I like the idea of roping off a section of ADL. Never been there at night so can't comment about evening service but I've always enjoyed my times in the lounge. So many different spaces, plenty of barriers to contain sounds, space between seats and plenty of variety. It's actually one of my Dom favourites in Oz (including the Js).
But then I'm a bit odd. I still like the SYD J lounge and don't want it to change.

 

[sudoer]

I still like the SYD J lounge and don't want it to change.

I don't mind the SYD J lounge layout but I would love a better food offering...

 

[kermatu]

I don't mind the SYD J lounge layout but I would love a better food offering...

Agree, but you don't need to re-design the lounge for that. Maybe the pizzas in PER required some work but I can't imagine the BNE or MEL offerings couldn't have been produced within existing kitchen space.

Not that food is the motivation of their re-designs, of course.

 

[Pushka]

The best Hobart can offer is the much touted sandwich maker ( I know HBA isn't a ' major airport' but still .... )

That’s high dining Adelaide style too. Given there are F passengers on EK this is not good.

 

[VPS]

When I flew out on F with EK last year the experience at the QF was appalling (It was about a 10pm departure). There was virtually no food and the floors were filthy - I was seriously unimpressed (also my CD was a Kia van so that wasn't an auspicious start to my F adventure but it went up from there )

 

[Pushka]

When I flew out on F with EK last year the experience at the QF was appalling (It was about a 10pm departure). There was virtually no food and the floors were filthy - I was seriously unimpressed (also my CD was a Kia van so that wasn't an auspicious start to my F adventure but it went up from there )

Oh that sounds awful. I was lucky and was driven in a Maybach. Ultra luxury. Hughes Limousines should be ashamed. Qantas clearly doesn’t care about EK passengers even those booked via Qantas.

 

[JohnK]

Duffa, if you have not been to the MEL QFi J lounge in the basement, its not the ideal.
First time I saw it, after being in the SYD QFi J lounge or the BNE QFi J lounge, the MEL QFi J lounge has to be the pits of them all.
If they let all 5 of you in, you will get the basic munchies, breakfast cereals, milk, etc, but no wow factor, ...

I was in the BNE international lounge at around 10:00am yesterday. Definitely no wow factor.

I'd forgotten how bad lounges can be in the morning. Eggs that don't taste like eggs, mushrooms and bacon. The bacon was ok but there's no food variety. No cheese. No salads. I made a bacon sandwich. Yes there's a pancake machine if you like pancakes. No sandwhich press.

And no self seve soft drink. And no bottled water. Self serve sparkling though.

 

[Pushka]

First foray into J and it’s a zoo. People standing everywhere. Not one spare seat.

 

[kermatu]

First foray into J and it’s a zoo. People standing everywhere. Not one spare seat.

View attachment 144664

Ah. Must be time for another double status credits promotion.