QF Club vs QF J Lounge @ SYD - What's the difference?

[GoldCanyon340]

I honestly thought the Melbourne J lounge was the worst in Australia (pre-makeover) mainly due to the staff they had on the front desk; they seem to have weeded that lot out, so the customer-facing side of the business has improved considerably.

I didn't find the desk staff at the old MEL J to be a problem but I can imagine they had a hard time of it with QP members trying to enter.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Your point is well-made, KF88, and is already assisting my current myopic episodes.

I will be back in North America in a few months, so I expect a few doses of these scenes; some stale pretzels and warm soda should complete the treatment.

That looks more like a rehab entrance to a medical facility.

In the Melbourne J lounge and yes it seems much better than the Qantas Pub. There's a soup/noodle bar, and decent snacking options:


Showers were also a step above Sydney. Lastly, great views of birds taxiing including an EK 380. If that wasn't enough there's a live bird flying around the lounge for extra entertainment!

I will be back in North America in a few months, so I expect a few doses of these scenes; some stale pretzels and warm soda should complete the treatment.

The stale pretzels aren't the issue. Indeed, I don't mind a stale pretzel or two with a cold beer especially if the staleness stripped away some of the saltiness of the pretzels. Where I do draw the line, however, is when the cheese has grown so old and mouldy that even the mice in the lounge are picketing!

That looks more like a rehab entrance to a medical facility.

This is considered a small queue at the Maple Leaf Lounge. It has gotten so bad that they now prioritize entry based on status (i.e. if you hold Super Elite status) and whether you are flying business.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Sprucegoose]

Maybe a perception attained because to access the original Domestic J lounge you had to run the gauntlet of lounge dragons twice.

Once at the current J entrance (which was the QP entrance) and a second time about three quarters of the way down where the old J lounge entrance was.

Quite possibly, Serfty, my memory is based on their relations and reactions and not where they were positioned; it may have been a two-stage process.

You seem to have better recall !!

 

[serfty]

Quite possibly, Serfty, my memory is based on their relations and reactions and not where they were positioned; it may have been a two-stage process.

You seem to have better recall !!

I Suspect a combination of things, perhaps this was relevant

I didn't find the desk staff at the old MEL J to be a problem but I can imagine they had a hard time of it with QP members trying to enter.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

OffT Re, heh, that live bird flying inside the lounge, heh, imagine what that thing would have had to go through to get past the domestic lounge "dragons/dragonesses"!OnT.

 

[justinbrett]

Self-serve is always preferable. I don't know what the booze laws are here, but back in North America everything drink related would be self-serve (aside from the Centurion and United Polaris lounge). I can serve myself quite well, and if I can't I'm sure there will be a mountie who can escort me out of the lounge!

Every Admirals Club I’ve ever been to has a staffed bar. The Flagship lounges are self serve. As mostly international lounges, this is the same as Qantas where the domestic lounges are staffed and the international J lounges are self serve.

The main reason ACs are staffed is that not all drinks are free, the top shelf stuff has to be paid for.

 

[kpro]

Every Admirals Club I’ve ever been to has a staffed bar. The Flagship lounges are self serve. As mostly international lounges, this is the same as Qantas where the domestic lounges are staffed and the international J lounges are self serve.

The main reason ACs are staffed is that not all drinks are free, the top shelf stuff has to be paid for.

And even when you get a complimentary voucher for being a OneWorld elite, the drinks aren't free as you're expected to tip.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Every Admirals Club I’ve ever been to has a staffed bar. The Flagship lounges are self serve. As mostly international lounges, this is the same as Qantas where the domestic lounges are staffed and the international J lounges are self serve.

Interesting! Will have to give that a shot the next time I'm stateside!

The main reason ACs are staffed is that not all drinks are free, the top shelf stuff has to be paid for.

I hear the same is true for food as well (i.e. some food items require payment)?

And even when you get a complimentary voucher for being a OneWorld elite, the drinks aren't free as you're expected to tip.

For that I usually put on my heavy French accent and just don't tip. If you look European enough there's no expectation to tip!

-RooFlyer88

 

[PERLHR]

As BA emerald and currently in the QF domestic "business lounge" I gotta agree with some.of the comments. If this is meant to be the flagship QF business lounge for many (domestic) then it's hilarious...and people actually laugh at the BA galleries lounges!! It's pathetic. Dirty, a silly curry (poor) or pasta choice (BA have at least 6 choices) nice soup though. All very much not impressive and I must say tbh I far preferred the 4 VA lounges visited during the past week. ..they had a better vibe.

 

[Daver6]

To be fair...have QF ever claimed that the SYD J lounge is their flagship lounge?

 

[justinbrett]

And even when you get a complimentary voucher for being a OneWorld elite, the drinks aren't free as you're expected to tip.

They're gone now I'm afraid.

 

[justinbrett]

As BA emerald and currently in the QF domestic "business lounge" I gotta agree with some.of the comments. If this is meant to be the flagship QF business lounge for many (domestic) then it's hilarious...and people actually laugh at the BA galleries lounges!! It's pathetic. Dirty, a silly curry (poor) or pasta choice (BA have at least 6 choices) nice soup though. All very much not impressive and I must say tbh I far preferred the 4 VA lounges visited during the past week. ..they had a better vibe.

You can't compare QF Domestic with BA. BA is predominately an international airline.

If you want to compare BA LHR lounges, compare them with QF SYD T1. I found BA's F lounge in T5 pretty terrible. Much prefer an AA Flagship or QF F lounge.

And yeah, nobody ever said any QF domestic lounge was a flagship lounge. That would be the SYD T1 F lounge.

 

[RooFlyer]

Will y'all quit whinging about the SYD J lounge? Come try the HBA QP sometime for a truely coughpy "lounge" experience . American and Canadian lounges? Loooxury!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Will y'all quit whinging about the SYD J lounge? Come try the HBA QP sometime for a truely coughpy "lounge" experience . American and Canadian lounges? Loooxury!

I reckon many Tasmanians would resent such a remark to their beloved Hobart lounge. Indeed, the lounge can make for some excellent plane cough:

 

[RooFlyer]

I reckon many Tasmanians would resent such a remark to their beloved Hobart lounge. Indeed, the lounge can make for some excellent plane cough:

View attachment 308190

Excellent shot of the HBA cattle runs, but I don't think taken from the lounge.

As a Tasmanian, I'm pretty confident that the only people who would resent the remark work at Mascot.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Excellent shot of the HBA cattle runs, but I don't think taken from the lounge.

As a Tasmanian, I'm pretty confident that the only people who would resent the remark work at Mascot.

I’m not a Taswegian nor do I work at Mascot and I concur

 

[Matt_01]

The new terminal opened in 2005. AN were dead and buried by that time.

I am aware AN was dead and buried in 2005, I was an AN WG lounge member in 1991 and switched in 1992 when QF won the government contract and we were given free QP membership for one or two years, 30 years later I am still with QF and a few other airlines. I have been critical of ADL airport as when flying in or out it never seems to be the same and often seems complicated even today with what has to come out of or stay in the bag. IIRC there was a period when domestic arrivals were in one terminal and departures in a different one and near on impossible to transit between. Since moving back (2011) things seemed normal for a while, then the airport chopped off the dropoff/ pickup departure ramps and moved the dropoff and pickup further away. Also within the past couple of years road bollards seems to be here to stay and made things worse. I get there are some who will defend ADL but it is basically a domestic airport with limited international connections that caters to the punters.

 

[dajop]

Maybe late 2007 the lounge was partitioned with the area from the Eastern end to the Business entrance designated as the "Business Lounge" - remaining was QP. About two years later the divide between the lounges was shifted about 20 metres West to make for more business lounge space (and less QP).

From Memory there was a period (early 2000s) that QP (edit) in SYD was split to form the J lounge and then the QP was further extended. I may be wrong.

For reference the new (split off) business lounges opened in July 2008. I wondered about the timing as although WP from 2002- early 2011, I have rarely used the J lounges (probably could count on just 2 hands). My travel pivoted from domestic to international in mid-2008 and then I accepted a role overseas in 2009, so 2006 didn't didn't seem right.

A very reliable source for my information:

New Domestic Business Lounge Open Dates

Press release from Qantas today SYDNEY, 3 July 2008: Qantas said today it would open new, dedicated Domestic Business Class Lounges within its key airport terminals in Sydney and Melbourne in July. Qantas Executive General Manager, Mr John Borghetti, said the new lounges would provide the...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[jase05]

I am aware AN was dead and buried in 2005, I was an AN WG lounge member in 1991 and switched in 1992 when QF won the government contract and we were given free QP membership for one or two years, 30 years later I am still with QF and a few other airlines. I have been critical of ADL airport as when flying in or out it never seems to be the same and often seems complicated even today with what has to come out of or stay in the bag. IIRC there was a period when domestic arrivals were in one terminal and departures in a different one and near on impossible to transit between. Since moving back (2011) things seemed normal for a while, then the airport chopped off the dropoff/ pickup departure ramps and moved the dropoff and pickup further away. Also within the past couple of years road bollards seems to be here to stay and made things worse. I get there are some who will defend ADL but it is basically a domestic airport with limited international connections that caters to the punters.

I’m not defending ADL at all and I’m a huge critic despite spending most of my working day in and around the airport precinct.
In my post I was just pointing out the timeline of when the new terminal opened and that Ansett wasn‘t around when it was opened.
The new multi purpose lounge will definitely be a bonus when it opens but as you pointed out it is still a domestic airport with minimal international flights and that probably won’t change. As a rule I try to avoid International flights out of ADL but it’s absolutely fantastic arriving back through ADL. Within about 15-20 minutes of disembarking I’m driving out of the car park on my way home

 

[RichardMEL]

As some others have noted there's some comparing of apples and oranges going on here. You simply can't compare international grade lounges (ie: UA Polaris, UA Club @ LHR, SQ lounges, LH etc) You need to compare, if one must, domestic with domestic - the closest, imo, are the AC MLL on domestic sides of various airports, NZ domestic lounges (NOT int) and so on. Standards, services, F&B etc are usually different.... sometimes better and sometimes worse (I note the QF int J lounge at MEL - the dungeon - as a pretty poor int J lounge tbh).

None of this excuses the poor situation at the SYD Dom J lounge but it's just not right to say "Well SQ does this, or there's free pour everything at LHR, or.." whatever.. because it's just not a fair comparison in my view.

QF have acknowledged SYD is a major issue. That's something.

I'd also note that even the QP compares pretty to dom lounges in the US like the average UC or AC (I've never used DL) - where food offerings, even if pretty average, are better than the general offerings at other locations, plus the open bar (in a UA club for example. bar some very basic items(like house wine and some basic spirits iirc) one pays for alcohol) while QF doesn't.. there are pros and cons... and of course these things can also be subjective - for example a non alcohol drinker could care less about self serve beer but value water taps and soft drink fountains/coffee. ..yes one can always pull out exceptions but that doesn't usually prove the general point I'm making imo.

so just imo SYD needs sorting out for sure.... yes, it would be nice to see an upgrade to the food offerings to compare better with MEL/BNE/CBR/PER.. definitely.

hopefully they get on this sooner rather than later.