OOL Lounge

[Noob]

How about freshly cooked onion rings and fries in the lounge to have with a cold drink
Maybe they should put a drive through speaker box in the lounge!

 

[Jama]

How about freshly cooked onion rings and fries in the lounge to have with a cold drink

I hope your not thinking of a dumbwaiter given the location.

 

[Ricardo]

Oh what exciting news for OOL. Anybody know when the lounge will be operational?

I have two trips to NZ next year from OOL, mid March and late October, so the lounge would be great!

 

[darrend]

Oh what exciting news for OOL. Anybody know when the lounge will be operational?

I have two trips to NZ next year from OOL, mid March and late October, so the lounge would be great!

I was at OOL last night and was told at check-in it would be ready around April 2012.

 

[serfty]

Please continue discussion here:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/virgin-australia-velocity/ool-lounge-28501.html

 

[LiamR]

I was at OOL last night and was told at check-in it would be ready around April 2012.

I was told that it'll be done for sure by late March. So who knows!

 

[darrend]

I guess if it is finished late March then an opening in late March / early April would be reasonable so the stories are at least consistent. Fortunately I don't get to OOL very often (though 5 times in last 3 weeks) - not due back there until around June so I'm a happy camper as far as OOL is concerned.

 

[djfuzz]

Re: Virgin Australia Gold Coast Lounge

Heh. You get use to it.

Delayed flight you say? My aircraft broke big time and they swapped it out for another one. I think we may have stolen your aircraft and given you the broken one. You aren't flying out of Gate 4 by any chance?

If you were heading to SYD then I believe you did.

We were shuffled around from gate 2 to 4, then 5 where we were told the flight was cancelled and reaccommodated at gate 6 on a flight leaving from gate 3. Luckily we managed to find some PE availability on the third flight out as the rest of the pax were bussed up to BNE. Not fun.

VUK was the offending aircraft, but luckily our eventual ride was YIA so we did get a taste of the lovely BSI, and thankfully adequate legroom at the bulkhead in row 1 - v curious about how row 1 on refitted aircraft seems to be lacking in legroom.

[Edit] Would also add a comment about priority boarding. The lackadaisical layout of OOL means that as boarding approaches, everyone gets up and crowds around the gate. Thankfully at gate 3 at least there was a roped off boarding queue. And an empty space on the other side where whatever constitutes gate 2 is. This could have gone both ways,but by making the call to wait in this area rather than scramble for space in the queue it was a lot easier to get to the front once the first 'board now or at your convenience' call was made.

I'd really rather that PB didn't need to be an issue, but sure enough on both my recent PE experiences (not to mention almost every QF flight I've taken in Dom Y or J) there is always someone else's bag clogging up the overhead bins directly above us, even when we take up a whole row. Frustrating as hell. :/

 

[LiamR]

Re: Virgin Australia Gold Coast Lounge

If you were heading to SYD then I believe you did.

We were shuffled around from gate 2 to 4, then 5 where we were told the flight was cancelled and reaccommodated at gate 6 on a flight leaving from gate 3. Luckily we managed to find some PE availability on the third flight out as the rest of the pax were bussed up to BNE. Not fun.

VUK was the offending aircraft, but luckily our eventual ride was YIA so we did get a taste of the lovely BSI, and thankfully adequate legroom at the bulkhead in row 1 - v curious about how row 1 on refitted aircraft seems to be lacking in legroom.

[Edit] Would also add a comment about priority boarding. The lackadaisical layout of OOL means that as boarding approaches, everyone gets up and crowds around the gate. Thankfully at gate 3 at least there was a roped off boarding queue. And an empty space on the other side where whatever constitutes gate 2 is. This could have gone both ways,but by making the call to wait in this area rather than scramble for space in the queue it was a lot easier to get to the front once the first 'board now or at your convenience' call was made.

I'd really rather that PB didn't need to be an issue, but sure enough on both my recent PE experiences (not to mention almost every QF flight I've taken in Dom Y or J) there is always someone else's bag clogging up the overhead bins directly above us, even when we take up a whole row. Frustrating as hell. :/

Oh good, that aircraft looked like it wasn't going anywhere in a hurry. I'm glad I got on another flight as I had an international connection to make. Sounds like it wasn't such a fun day at all. There was two JQ A330s that were delayed around 10+hrs as well.


The problem with PB at OOL is as you saw today, once an aircraft turns up at a gate all hell breaks looks and a small crowd forms around the gate. PE/J/Plats/Golds can board first, however sometimes getting through the scrum at the game before general boarding is announced means it's not possible. I personally don't see a dedicated lane at OOL for Priority Boarding happening anytime soon.

Oh, in response to you finding bags in the overheads that shouldn't be there. I was first onboard today and told off a few for sticking their bags in the front rows, yet were seated somewhere down the back. Aren't I a bad traveller?

 

[snoophound]

Building is underway.
Thank you Virgin

Location is ground floor adjacent to gate 1 and 2
behind hungry jacks
Might be better food if we got hungry jacks instead of soup and toast that never changes.

 

[cityloop]

Not much construction activity happening on site this morning.

On a side note, Virgin seem to have listened to our gripe with priority boarding at OOL. This morning at Gate 3 (Flight DJ726 OOL-MEL) a lovely chap handled the priority boarding very professionally and orderly. He only invited premium/flexi/plat/gold to board and requested everyone else to remain seated. To my surprise there was no stampede like there usually is. He also had an assistant monitoring the queue.

 

[Noob]

He also had an assistant monitoring the queue.

With some sort of cattle prod?

 

[Casual Class]

...He only invited premium/flexi/plat/gold to board...

I didn't think flexi were entitled to priority boarding. Did he actually invite flexi up or did you mistype?

 

[cityloop]

I didn't think flexi were entitled to priority boarding. Did he actually invite flexi up or did you mistype?

I may hav mistyped in my excitement

 

[LiamR]

Virgin better make sure they build this lounge correctly.

It seems every AFF'er based at OOL is watching every move of the construction phase! Nothing gets past us.

 

[Major]

Dear Mr ADCO Constructions,

Where the bloody hell are you ?

Still no activity this morning. The scaffolding and the hoarding looks nice but ... nothing else happening!!!

 

[docjames]

Dear Mr ADCO Constructions,

Where the bloody hell are you ?

Still no activity this morning. The scaffolding and the hoarding looks nice but ... nothing else happening!!!

Isnt it pouring with rain and all flights diverted. Maybe they thought no AFFers would be at the airport to check on them?

 

[Major]

Isnt it pouring with rain and all flights diverted. Maybe they thought no AFFers would be at the airport to check on them?

It certainly was pouring with rain. Whilst my flight was being diverted and subsequently cancelled I had plenty of time to check the lack of progress.

 

[markis10]

No construction while it rains, union rules :shock:, cannot have the members getting their dayglows wet!

 

[DC3]

No construction while it rains, union rules :shock:, cannot have the members getting their dayglows wet!

It's not likely that there was rain falling inside of the terminal. Anyway, there was no rain last Friday while I was there, and there was no work going on that day, either. Maybe there's no hurry with this job.