Qantas First Lounge in Singapore

[JessicaTam]

<snip>

Is there a time that anyone has gone to the F Lounge and it wasn’t busy?

Cheers,
Matt.

On my last visit I got there at 3pm. I was the only one there... for a few minutes.

 

[Mike65]

I went to the F lounge for the first time last week (Fri evening). Arrived at around 5pm for QF36. It was busy but not full, didn't have to wait for a shower (nice skylights as others have commented), plenty of seating and dining tables still available. Service was pretty good. Food and drinks excellent and to me really are the major difference from the already very good business lounge.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Were you flying in F?

Yes, and P1 if that makes any difference.

 

[kermatu]

I mentioned in another thread that I found this lounge rather underwhelming. Kind of feels like the TPR (boring) but without the comfort, quiet and exclusivity.

Food and service to begin with (about 4pm) was fine but average at best.













Duck was tasty. Fish was bland but ok. Laksa was the biggest disappointment - generic laksa with what seemed like two chunks of plain frozen crayfish pieces chucked in. I'd not expect to pay $10 even here in Canberra for this.

By 5pm the place was a zoo. Zero service for me ( a P1 flying in F) at my seat. Even worse when I asked for a Chivas on the rocks (yes, that's how woeful the top shelf is) I was given the Chivas 12 rather than the Regal 18. I sent them back each time.

There was nothing fundamentally bad or wrong. Just not a first class experience. By a mile.

 

[RichardMEL]

In contrast I went through SIN F for the first time a few days ago.. arriving a little later than I had planned around 4:30pm but the place was only about 25-30% full. Plenty of tables. There was no ack of my P1 or F status, indeed once through the entry nobody asked to see a BP or anything. This didn't bother me I just note it.

In contrast to the above experience I found the service very quick and the staff were friendly. Clearly they are geared for the rush hour as food came out so quickly I'd not even finished the squid and my next choice arrived no complaint there.. I was impressed. I had several entrees as above - the duck (was bare bones looking as above but a nice taste), the squid (of course) and I then went for the black pepper stir fry which was amazing. My drink (Taittinger Rose) was refilled without getting empty and I finished with a delicious dessert and coffee.

As I finished it was now around 5:15 or 5:30 and the place was far more busy but I saw the staff going from table to table promptly taking orders, delivering food including dealing with a gent who didn't seem to understand what anything on the menu was (he was sitting right by me so I heard most of the conversation). The staff were polite, understanding and unflappable.

As the place was getting full with folks from QF2/QF35 and whatever else I decided to vacate and yes, there was a real lack of general seating outside of the dining area. I noticed some pax had set up their dining table with laptops etc as a work space because of this. I do not know if the mix which is heavy on dining is quite right, but it's obviously a hard call for the 5-7pmish rush hours when there's most demand.

(I then went over to QR and poked my head in there.. that was a lovely new lounge.. I was too stuffed with QF food to try but it looked interesting) and the seating varieties in the QR lounge were very interesting. The staff were very proud of their new space and QR in general)

 

[teamhamsandwich]

The opening hours of this lounge truly are poop.

 

[Danger]

The opening hours of this lounge truly are poop.

How so?

 

[teamhamsandwich]

How so?

2:30pm–12am? No good if you're on an EK (QF codeshare, or one of the dozens of other codeshares for that matter) plane in the AM.

 

[RichardMEL]

oh btw the cold towel is a nice touch in the SIN F lounge I reckon.

 

[kermatu]

oh btw the cold towel is a nice touch in the SIN F lounge I reckon.

I asked for one at the conclusion of my meal too!

 

[teamhamsandwich]

2:30pm–12am? No good if you're on an EK (QF codeshare, or one of the dozens of other codeshares for that matter) plane in the AM.

If I fly in on a 3k flight today and have a 16 hour over night layover in SIN (onward on QF tomorrow), reckon they would let me in as a WP on arrival until the lounge closes?

 

[serfty]

If I fly in on a 3k flight today and have a 16 hour over night layover in SIN (onward on QF tomorrow), reckon they would let me in as a WP on arrival until the lounge closes?

What are the arrival.and departure times of the 3K and QF flights.

("Arrival" access unlikely to be granted but short term departures pehaps.)

 

[teamhamsandwich]

What are the arrival.and departure times of the 3K and QF flights.

("Arrival" access unlikely to be granted but short term departures pehaps.)

arriving 7pm. Departure 1pm the next day

 

[RichardMEL]

I think very unlikely they would allow that

 

[serfty]

arriving 7pm. Departure 1pm the next day

You may have had a reasonable chance if before 6am the next day ... but unlikely 7 hours later ...

 

[teamhamsandwich]

Decided against testing it out.

 

[faller]

I have been through the F lounge 4 or 5 times since it has been open and have found it either full, or very empty. I had the QF 35 / QF 1 journey on Thursday. Went straight to transit hotel and slept, with a late appearance at the lounge with only QF1 and QF38 left on the board which meant the lounge had loads of room.

I had the Papperdale, which was nice except it was swimming in butter.

Followed by the Torta do Varona. Top half of this was nice, the bottom was like a terrible trifle a relative would bring to Xmas back in the 70s. Texture, and proportions of dry to wet was all wrong!



Excellent service though.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

The trick with the torta is to mix it up before eating.

 

[kermatu]

I had a slightly better experience on my 2nd run through the other day. Service a bit more proactive, including in the seating area. Helped a lot by having Faith there. She came up to me several times to check if there was anything I needed. I kept declining (didn’t have the heart to tell her I was biding my time until the QR lounge opened.)
The simple menu items I had were both very nice.



The tamarind coughtail not up to much.

Place was near empty at 16:15. At 17:20 when I left it was packed. By comparison at 17:31 I was the 2nd person in the QR lounge (4 people in total waiting for it to open). I reckon 20 pax max in the approx 80 minutes I was there. It’s no more exciting than the QF lounge but is an oasis of calm, has plenty of comfortable seats in several different zones and very attentive staff (albeit nowhere near as polished as QF staff). A no brainer if you are eligible to access it.

 

[serfty]

I've started this thread but if one more appropriate exists I'll move the posts there.

First time here and 60% of the area is set for formal dining.

More interestingly the menus are laminated and have no seasonal description.

Tea Smoked Duck with pickled cabbage and Chinese mustard.

(I'm having issues loading photos so will add later)

The duck was divine on its own very discretely flavored right so the mustard was used to accompany the cabbage. All brilliant.

Grilled Barramundi with charred lettuce, croutons and caper, anchovy and parsley butter.

It was Ok, leaving a nice flavour. Charred lettuce was interesting. There was some ordinary vinegary cabbage that I left.

Stir fried black pepper beef with onion red capsicum and jasmine rice.