OOL Qantas Club access for Jetstar flights

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risky

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Sep 25, 2011
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Qantas
Gold
Is the OOL QP ever open for the evening Jetstar flights?

The last time I flew out about 6 weeks ago, it was closed when I arrived about 1630 with a note saying something about Qantas flights only.
  • The Gold Coast Airport website says "The Qantas Club is available to Qantas Club and Partner members travelling on a Qantas or Jetstar flight. " Lounges - Gold Coast Airport
  • The Jetstar website says generically "Qantas Club members whose next onward flight that day is a Jetstar operated flight with a JQ or 3K flight number will gain complimentary access to the Qantas Club, where available. " Lounges | Jetstar
  • The Qantas website is a bit more specific "Open one hour prior to each Qantas operated service until last Qantas departure " Airport lounge locations | Qantas
 
I noticed that too. If the last QF flight for the day has departed, then the club will close. I wasn’t able to use it for a 1930 JQ departure.
 
Along with a number of smaller Qantas Clubs OOL shuts after the last Qantas flight of the day.
In the case of OOL, with about 3 exceptions, this is usually QF865 at 16.10.
It is a fact of life.
 
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The qantas lounge is only open when qantas flights operate, it was closing at 3:30pm last time I flew out of there, meaning a 6pm jetstar flight to NZ, was a whole 15 mins in the lounge by the time you factor in that the Jetstar check in only opens 3 hours before your flight - no earlier - and you need a ticket in order to get into the QF lounge, and you can only get international tickets at the terminal aka no online checkin. So once you've dealt with the whole process of scanning a family's passports, and then do security, you are left with about 15 mins in the lounge or less if they decide to close the lounge earlier due to the last flight being called.

We cannot be bothered going to OOL any more for NZ flights as we live north of BNE. At BNE no need to rush to get a whole 15 mins out of the club. Plus BNE has premium plaza lounge.
 
Is the OOL QP ever open for the evening Jetstar flights?
No, and nor should it be really, as it's a "Qantas" Club, not a "Jetstar" Club. I recall before Qantas came back to the Gold Coast I would regularly buy lounge access (to the Jetstar lounge) with my JQ tickets out of OOL and it was always __dead__ because JQ passengers were cheap and wouldn't pay. I'm sure the same is true now. At the time, I recall they had a plan to open a network of JQ lounges, but I imagine lacklustre sales of entry wisely stopped them.

The truly sad part is the reason the OOL QP is such a mess in the mornings is because of the JQ pax. I always fly out on QF now (if not I head to BNE) but rarely want to go in because it's a zoo. I'm pretty sure they don't even allow guest passes to be used. The reality is they should disallow JQ pax and allow QF pax with guest passes.

The best lounge membership at OOL is a PP membership so you can head to Velocity (the cafe) for a real feed (but not with AMEX anymore).

But enough of my Sunday morning rant ;)
 
The qantas lounge is only open when qantas flights operate, it was closing at 3:30pm last time I flew out of there, meaning a 6pm jetstar flight to NZ, was a whole 15 mins in the lounge by the time you factor in that the Jetstar check in only opens 3 hours before your flight - no earlier - and you need a ticket in order to get into the QF lounge, and you can only get international tickets at the terminal aka no online checkin.

I thought QF lounge can be accessed by showing a JQ booking for the day while waiting for check in to open?
 
Maybe they should put a reader/pinpad on the door like Coffs Harbour, and then it could be used by eligible people even if there wasn't a Qantas flight.
 
Maybe they should put a reader/pinpad on the door like Coffs Harbour, and then it could be used by eligible people even if there wasn't a Qantas flight.
But then we'd share the code on AFF and everyone would get in. Or even if that didn't happen, how would appropriate guesting be policed?
 
But then we'd share the code on AFF and everyone would get in. Or even if that didn't happen, how would appropriate guesting be policed?
Well it seems to work OK at CFS and other locations... and anyway, over-policing is effectively happening where eligible people cannot access the QP. At the very least, all the websites need to be updated to make it clear that JQ flights are not included.
 
I thought QF lounge can be accessed by showing a JQ booking for the day while waiting for check in to open?

You can access it on JQ but it is only open for QF flights or NZ flights.
I was on a delayed flight to NTL the other week and they stayed open because there was also a delayed NZ flight.
That is what the staff member told me anyway.
 
If it wasn't for JQ, we'd all be enjoying the runway views from the OOL QC. Remember, JQ provided the excuse for QF to withdraw completely from OOL which resulted in QF relinquishing the space which VA then took for their Lounge. At this point I (and I guess many others) switched to using BNE for my GC holidays. JQ opted for then for the franchise model of Lounges which clearly did not work. As DJ/VA upped their service offering, QF felt it appropriate to re-enter the OOL market in its own right however too late to run with anything other than the current location.

The fact that QF close the QC in line with its own requirements is - as we all know - nothing new.

Regards,

BD
 
At the very least, all the websites need to be updated to make it clear that JQ flights are not included.

What isn't clear about it?
It's no different to 3K in Singapore where there is no lounge access for the many morning flights as the Qantas lounge isn't open.
 
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