Melbourne lounge access rookie mistake

[roby]

QF Gold flying CX in Economy on the 1am departure seems to be getting a lounge invitation at check in to access the contracted The House lounge as QF lounge closes at 11pm. The problem is my ticket originated in SYD on QF and I checked in all the way through to HKG and received both boarding passes. The mistake is I didn't stop at MEL check in counter but used the boarding pass issued by QF in SYD to go airside so I didn't have a chance to get the lounge invitation. The House lounge dragon refuses to let me in unless I have an invitation. Unless I go back landside again, there is no way to get it. The lesson learned is always go to the check-in counter of the departing carrier to get the boarding passes but honestly never expected this to happen in MEL.

 

[roby]

Gate agent turned up 1 hour before departure to issue me the invitation. I ended up only having 20 min in The House lounge after leaving QF lounge at 11pm.

 

[texter]

That's a bit unfortunate. I've always thought of the invitations as that not as a ticket for lounge entry.

Interesting the House is now no longer listed as a lounge for MEL.

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/destinations/lounges/melbourne-mel/qantas-international-business-lounge.html

 

[roby]

That's a bit unfortunate. I've always thought of the invitations as that not as a ticket for lounge entry.

Interesting the House is now no longer listed as a lounge for MEL.

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/destinations/lounges/melbourne-mel/qantas-international-business-lounge.html

Interesting. So QF lounge will just kick you out at 11pm leaving you hang in the departure area for the next 1 hour and a half?

 

[jrfsp]

Interesting. So QF lounge will just kick you out at 11pm leaving you hang in the departure area for the next 1 hour and a half?

It looks like the CX schedule has changed to a 23:50 dept which is only just after QF155 so the QF lounges should be okay.

 

[oz_mark]

That's a bit unfortunate. I've always thought of the invitations as that not as a ticket for lounge entry.

Interesting the House is now no longer listed as a lounge for MEL.

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/destinations/lounges/melbourne-mel/qantas-international-business-lounge.html

Pretty common when trying to access a 3rd party, paid for lounge that they want the ticket, err, invitation.

 

[RealtimeY]

I’ve had CX, QF F and JAL F all specifically ask me for my lounge invitation when I’ve only shown them my CX boarding pass with OWE on it.

 

[Flyfrequently]

I ended up only having 20 min in The House lounge after leaving QF lounge at 11pm.

@roby What were your thoughts on The House?
We are on that flight in September but as @jrfsp noted, flight now leaves at 2350, would still like to do a lounge crawl though!
Question: As SG on CX flight can we access EK lounge?

 

[roby]

@roby What were your thoughts on The House?
We are on that flight in September but as @jrfsp noted, flight now leaves at 2350, would still like to do a lounge crawl though!
Question: As SG on CX flight can we access EK lounge?

The House had more food variety to my liking, such as noodle. It appears though that CX has removed The House as a lounge option from their website so not sure if they are still contracting The House after the new time.

 

[HarryFlyer]

Considering food quality and variety, The House is way better than the QF ones.
For the oneworld system, the lounge access is paid by the operating airlines you fly with. Taking the physical invitation is easier for them to keep the record of your access and charged the corresponding airlines.

 

[andytheturtle]

Have flown 3x MEL-HKG in economy in the last few weeks.
The lounge invitation given at check-in has always been the QF lounge. Haven't seen mention of the House.

It was annoying for the late departure flight because for the lounges I have tried to access:
- AMEX closes at 10pm
- Qantas closes at 11pm
- Plaza Premium closes at 11.30pm (effectively 11pm...)

I turned up at 1045pm last time at the Qantas lounge. The reception didn't even check my boarding pass or the invitation. He just let me through! When I walked further in, I realised why. Everything has been put away.
The same went for Plaza premium after I left the Qantas lounge. No one cared at that point. Lol.