Platinum "anytime" lounge Access ceases from 1 February 2011

[Red Roo]

Arrived and showed my FF card, and upon request produced my (Rex) boarding pass. Was informed that I could only enter the club if I was flying Qantas on the next flight. I told the doorman that I was entitled to enter if flying on Qantas anytime that day according to the email I received. He immediately said "I'm sorry, I don't know my job, please come in".

I questioned him about the rules again, as I don't want to be having this discussion at 5.50am every fortnight, but he had nothing more to say and just asked me to come in.

To be honest it made me very annoyed (despite him not arguing with me) - the rules say I can enter, and I felt embarassed (if not humiliated) to stand at the door and beg. It would have been worse if my colleague was with me requesting guest access (thankfully they turned up late).

Apologies for the confusion at the door - under the new rules, you were entitled to access as you were flying QF on the day. We are following this up with the lounges team.

One change we've made that hasn't received much attention, is that Platinums are now eligible for access to the Domestic Business Lounge upon arrival (i.e. travelling on a Qantas/Jetstar/oneworld flight number that same day). Previously the official lounge access policy only stipulated access to the Qantas Club in such situations.

 

[simongr]

No comment on the change relating to the International lounge access?

 

[drewbles]

No comment on the change relating to the International lounge access?

Apologies for the confusion at the door - under the new rules, you were entitled to access as you were flying QF on the day. We are following this up with the lounges team.

One change we've made that hasn't received much attention, is that Platinums are now eligible for access to the Domestic Business Lounge upon arrival (i.e. travelling on a Qantas/Jetstar/oneworld flight number that same day). Previously the official lounge access policy only stipulated access to the Qantas Club in such situations.

C'mon Red Roo. You can't make a cameo appearance and not at least comment on the differentiation between the caveats on the announcement changes and the end result changes re the International Lounge.

I am flying on another carrier in March, and will be arriving into MEL on a QF flight. I'd like to be able to use access as per the announcement, not the rescinded conditions.

 

[Alanslegal]

Ok now I'm worried, I think it's time to crank up the printer and carry the T&C's with me at all times

Don't worry, save the paper and don't print off the T&C's. Just tell the lounge dragon to give Red Roo a call

 

[Sequel]

One change we've made that hasn't received much attention, is that Platinums are now eligible for access to the Domestic Business Lounge upon arrival (i.e. travelling on a Qantas/Jetstar/oneworld flight number that same day). Previously the official lounge access policy only stipulated access to the Qantas Club in such situations.

But that policy was never (or at least rarely) enforced. And besides, that only applies at 4 ports out of how many possibles? I would prefer to have anytime access to all QP/INT J lounges rather than access to 4 lounges when travelling that day, doesn't really compare, does it?

Surely your post could have had a little more substance (and less spin). I would hide behind something solid Red Roo, as I think there might be some not so nice replies heading your way!

 

[Danger]

Red Roo, thank you for returning.

One change we've made that hasn't received much attention, is that Platinums are now eligible for access to the Domestic Business Lounge upon arrival (i.e. travelling on a Qantas/Jetstar/oneworld flight number that same day). Previously the official lounge access policy only stipulated access to the Qantas Club in such situations.

As many, many of us will attest to you, accessing the domestic business lounges on an anytime basis was common before the changes. For example, as was posted in the wake thread, a whole bunch of us accessed the domestic business lounge in MEL after our arrival from SYD where not one of us was asked for a boarding pass; we simply showed our Platinum card. And this isn't an isolated incident. The point is, there's plenty of evidence among the members here that they've been able to access the domestic business lounges at anytime, before the changes, meaning the 'change' is hardly one at all.

C'mon Red Roo. You can't make a cameo appearance and not at least comment on the differentiation between the caveats on the announcement changes and the end result changes re the International Lounge.

No comment on the change relating to the International lounge access?

Ditto for me. The way this was (wasn't) announced was was very poor form on QF's behalf.

 

[QF029]

I wonder if Red Roo is actually a group / team rather than an individual?

 

[simongr]

I actually dont think that matters - what is more important is that we at least are being heard - even if it is not translating to explicitly what some people want.

 

[medhead]

Apologies for the confusion at the door - under the new rules, you were entitled to access as you were flying QF on the day. We are following this up with the lounges team.

One change we've made that hasn't received much attention, is that Platinums are now eligible for access to the Domestic Business Lounge upon arrival (i.e. travelling on a Qantas/Jetstar/oneworld flight number that same day). Previously the official lounge access policy only stipulated access to the Qantas Club in such situations.

Thanks for following up on this slight glitch in the change over. It will be good to let the relevant staff aware of the new rules.

 

[drewbles]

I wonder if Red Roo is actually a group / team rather than an individual?

Red Roo is an individual at Qantas, not a team I can vouch for that.

 

[JohnK]

One change we've made that hasn't received much attention, is that Platinums are now eligible for access to the Domestic Business Lounge upon arrival (i.e. travelling on a Qantas/Jetstar/oneworld flight number that same day). Previously the official lounge access policy only stipulated access to the Qantas Club in such situations.

How about the back-flip from Qantas that has received the most attention and that is International Business Lounge arrivals access? Sneaky to remove that benefit from the new terms and conditions!

I don't mind if I had Domestic Arrivals access to Qantas Lounges only. The business lounges are not that special anyway and only exist in 4 airports anyway.

 

[JohnK]

Today was my first opportunity to use Anytime Access to Lounges since it's introduction on 1 February 2011.

- BNE Business Class Lounge, flash Platinum card and gesture made with left hand to enter the business lounge.
- SYD Business Class Lounge, flash Platinum card and waived through to lounge.

No questions what so ever about flights or whatever. Sure I had laptop bag with me, but that means nothing, and I also had boarding pass in pants pocket if they wanted to challenge me on entry.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

C'mon Red Roo. You can't make a cameo appearance and not at least comment on the differentiation between the caveats on the announcement changes and the end result changes re the International Lounge.

I am flying on another carrier in March, and will be arriving into MEL on a QF flight. I'd like to be able to use access as per the announcement, not the rescinded conditions.

Is QANTAS obligated to tell you anything via this forum? No.

If people lowered their expectations a bit, then there would be far less heat in this forum.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I have written business plans for airlines and it is common to sell tickets at below cost so at least to have some income from that perishable commodity. A small income is better than no income.

There is no benefit selling a perishable commidity below variable cost, when then costs haven't been incurred yet.

If you sell a unit below variable cost, then you will go bankrupt.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

All costs are variable in the long term.

As pointed out in previous post. In the long run, the airline can buy new planes, close routes, or whatever.

I actually what is key around yield management is marginal benefit and marginal cost. If running a full crew then the marginal cost of an extra pax will will be negligible (couple of beers and a small amount of fuel) so the marginal benefit will be the entire value of the tickets less the few $ for food/fuel. If running a flight that is on the upper limit for crew and one extra pax means one extra crew member then the marginal cost might be substantial.

Nothing in this game is simple and the variables are so numerous that I think to say that one pax is absolutely more profitable than another is misleading. To flip the statements around as well if the J/F pax revenue is allocated to getting the aircraft in the air then the flight might break even so every pax in whY is then the profit...

After a flight is flown, costs are known, as is revenue. It's only *before* the flight that this game is played.

Once revenue and costs are known, then it's a simple matter to subtract one from the other, and divide by the number of seats. This provides ex-post facto the profit/seat.

Again, as I mentioned in my previous post, you can take QF's overall profit for the year and divide by the number of seats to work out how profitable each seat was over the course of a year.

 

[drewbles]

Is QANTAS obligated to tell you anything via this forum? No.

If people lowered their expectations a bit, then there would be far less heat in this forum.

You're totally missing the point. Red Roo came on trumpeting 'look! we've listened to you and here's our awesome new about-to-be-announced enhancement!'

The said announcement stated domestic *and* international lounge access.

The announcement page on QF says same.

The amended rules on the 'Platinum' benefits page says otherwise.

If Red Roo had not come and said it, I seriously wouldn't care. It's when someone comes and makes a big deal out of something saying it's because of the forum that this changed, and then it doesn't get changed, that people have a right to ask what gives.

QF chose to allow Red Roo to post here, so, by default, they have some obligation when they're an official rep. They have some kind of obligation to provide us with information as to why something that they announced as being official, was not provided as announced.

Expectations are directly proportional (in my camp) to what was promised. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't demand QF re-introduces any time access, it was their choice to remove it, and whilst I dislike it, I'm not going to behave like a petulant child over it.

We all have a right to our own opinions. If we didn't, this place would a) be boring and b) may not even exist

 

[Febs]

Today was my first opportunity to use Anytime Access to Lounges since it's introduction on 1 February 2011.

- BNE Business Class Lounge, flash Platinum card and gesture made with left hand to enter the business lounge.
- SYD Business Class Lounge, flash Platinum card and waived through to lounge.

No questions what so ever about flights or whatever. Sure I had laptop bag with me, but that means nothing, and I also had boarding pass in pants pocket if they wanted to challenge me on entry.

That's been my experience too (SYD/MEL). To be honest, with NGCI and the increased use of QFF cards as boarding passes, I can't see this ever totally stopping. If they stopped every passenger to ask for a boarding pass, a lot of those passengers would only have their QFF card, which would need to be scanned, which (during busy times) would cause a bit of a queue...

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Red Roo]

Firstly, would like to acknowledge the comments and feedback here, lounge access is a popular topic!

C'mon Red Roo. You can't make a cameo appearance and not at least comment on the differentiation between the caveats on the announcement changes and the end result changes re the International Lounge.

I am flying on another carrier in March, and will be arriving into MEL on a QF flight. I'd like to be able to use access as per the announcement, not the rescinded conditions.

Just to clarify, the driver behind the post was to follow up a Member's situation at a domestic lounge, in particular, to note that we are following up on the issue of confusion. Thought the comment regarding Domestic Business Lounges could also be of interest for domestic flyers, as this access is now clearly stated in the lounge access table.

With respect to Qantas International Lounge access, as noted in the thread by others, there is a requirement for the Member's next onward flight to be on a Qantas, Jetstar Airlines or oneworld flight number.

I actually dont think that matters - what is more important is that we at least are being heard - even if it is not translating to explicitly what some people want.

Forums are an important channel for us, as you provide quick feedback on a very broad range of issues. Many of us at Qantas do take interest and we also have regular reporting on the key issues.

Suffice to say, Red Roo does pass on your feedback on all types of issues, even on the positioning of power sockets in lounges

Thanks for following up on this slight glitch in the change over. It will be good to let the relevant staff aware of the new rules.

No problem at all. As with any change, it's important that we follow up on any glitches.

 

[tyrolean]

That's been my experience too (SYD/MEL). To be honest, with NGCI and the increased use of QFF cards as boarding passes, I can't see this ever totally stopping. If they stopped every passenger to ask for a boarding pass, a lot of those passengers would only have their QFF card, which would need to be scanned, which (during busy times) would cause a bit of a queue...

Cheers,
- Febs.

It is a bit like a Deja vu. LH removed the anytime-access we had a similar discussion on other (German speaking) boards. LH now has scanners and they scan the BP every time you want to enter the lounge.
The next step was to introduce a fee for additional passengers...

 

[medhead]

It is a bit like a Deja vu. LH removed the anytime-access we had a similar discussion on other (German speaking) boards. LH now has scanners and they scan the BP every time you want to enter the lounge.
The next step was to introduce a fee for additional passengers...

Qantas has scanners at all the lounges that I normally visit (well only 2 lounges )