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

[SYD]

In terms of food & beverage, I'd say they are pretty similar with both lounges having self-serve coffee machines that were out of order:
View attachment 308743

I haven’t seen a self-service coffee machine operating in the J lounge since Covid.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Last 2 photos of Kangarooflyer88, ick is all I can say.
Is that spray of black stuff just someone (not yours)'s muck.
Wonder what it is, would be hard for a decent person to do something like that.
It not being cleaned is one thing, but the type of guest/client/customer is shown by that.
Or is it just a shadow of something.
Mmm, maybe its just shadow of the spray of water on the shower door, ... oh, ah, I see now, ...
Edit: for Syd, maybe so, that the door to the coffee machine (also in Kangarooflyer88's pix) is left open, and not filled with beans for the "reason of covid", but its cost cutting to be brutally honest.

 

[RooFlyer]

Is that spray of black stuff just someone (not yours)'s muck.
Wonder what it is, would be hard for a decent person to do something like that.

Looks like water on the shower screen nearer the camera rather than something sprayed on the tiles behind.

 

[SYD]

Last 2 photos of Kangarooflyer88, ick is all I can say.
Is that spray of black stuff just someone (not yours)'s muck.

Water droplets on the glass screen?

Edit: for Syd, maybe so, that the door to the coffee machine (also in Kangarooflyer88's pix) is left open, and not filled with beans for the "reason of covid", but its cost cutting to be brutally honest.

Possibly. Just pointing out that I haven’t seen one in use since early 2020.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Last 2 photos of Kangarooflyer88, ick is all I can say.
Is that spray of black stuff just someone (not yours)'s muck.
Wonder what it is, would be hard for a decent person to do something like that.
It not being cleaned is one thing, but the type of guest/client/customer is shown by that.
Or is it just a shadow of something.

It looks like water droplets to me. In terms of ick from lounge showers, I would say QF is about average. I've seen much worse (i.e. TK lounge @ IAD, AC MLL with broken champagne flute on floor)

Edit: for Syd, maybe so, that the door to the coffee machine (also in Kangarooflyer88's pix) is left open, and not filled with beans for the "reason of covid", but its cost cutting to be brutally honest.

If everyone wanting coffee must go to the bar I fail to see how there is any cost cutting considering they would either need to hire someone to explicitly do the coffee or frustrate customers with long queues. If they really wanted to cut costs, they'd close amenities like Air Canada did to the showers at their domestic lounges. I reckon water over here ain't as cheap as where I'm from (Great Lakes region of Canada), where taking 40 or 50 minute showers isn't unheard of!

-RooFlyer88

 

[RooFlyer]

Great Lakes region of Canada)

Cha Gheill ? Or maybe a rousing Oil Thigh would be appropriate?

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

If they didn't do any repairative maintenance on that coffee machine for days, it would save them for sure.
Ie, left the machine like that for days.
No electricity used there while the machine is out, etc.
We don't know why, or how long it would have been left in that stafe.
If it was a broken part, and they didn't repair it, it would save them the call out fee for the technician.
The Barista would of course have to work harder for the same hourly wage.
But their KPI would still be up, as the Barista would always be on the move making coffee, no matter if the people wanting the coffees went up 15/20/25 fold in the hours that the machine was not working.
Not sure if the Aust QF dom lounge Barista/food replenishers/cleaners are still Accor staff, or another company, but for pretty sure they would not be QF staff, as the lounge is a non core activity.
Edit: yep, Accor has it for 7 more years, just read it on a hotel management website.
Both QFd & QFi lounges.
So the repair of the coffee machine would be extra cost, but the Barista who has to work harder, for more cups, there be no difference in the contract amount QF pays Accor.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

If they didn't do any repairative maintenance on that coffee machine for days, it would save them for sure.
Ie, left the machine like that for days.
No electricity used there while the machine is out, etc

The thing is this isn't a single self serve machine that was out of service. It was Every. Single. Self-Service Coffee Machine.

 

[UP4014]

I haven’t seen a self-service coffee machine operating in the J lounge since Covid.

They are operating now.

 

[Pvcmenace]

Yeah, no. I love wine, J wine is free, I don't/can't drink it, the wine selection makes me sad. Keep your bulletproof vest on.

Agree 100% with your comment.

 

[RichardMEL]

While I think the comparison between an international J lounge and the QF domestic J lounge is silly. The issue is there isn’t a direct comparison; most European airlines (like BA) are primarily international airlines (albeit with many short haul routes akin to Aust domestic routes). In the US there isn’t differentiation in the lounge for the airline’s own elites when travelling domestically but the US carriers reward their domestic WP travellers with upgrades.

For QF WPs which travel on largely domestic flights the Dom J lounge is a key benefit and many people here feel the J lounge isn’t at the standard it needs to be (especially in Syd).

Agree re BA lounges. Used to be T1 at LHR (now long gone) was mostly domestic/Ireland and there were pseudo domestic lounges in T1. I remember using the BD lounge (RIP BD!) on a flight to EDI and it was roughly equivalent to a domestic QP though this was a LONG time ago.

Now though dom flights are mixed in with the rest so you can't really compare at LHR.

in the US I also agree though there are some special cases at hubs where the primary airline lounge also serves int pax (or transcon F) and these have some different facilities for eligible pax (I'm thinking flagship F at AA for example).

 

[maia200]

Edit: yep, Accor has it for 7 more years, just read it on a hotel management website.

The lady serving me at the bar in the First lounge in Sydney was wearing a Sofitel name badge.

 

[justinbrett]

Agree re BA lounges. Used to be T1 at LHR (now long gone) was mostly domestic/Ireland and there were pseudo domestic lounges in T1. I remember using the BD lounge (RIP BD!) on a flight to EDI and it was roughly equivalent to a domestic QP though this was a LONG time ago.

Now though dom flights are mixed in with the rest so you can't really compare at LHR.

in the US I also agree though there are some special cases at hubs where the primary airline lounge also serves int pax (or transcon F) and these have some different facilities for eligible pax (I'm thinking flagship F at AA for example).

I remember the BA lounge in T1 used to make fresh garlic bread. Bring that back I say! It was great.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

The lady serving me at the bar in the First lounge in Sydney was wearing a Sofitel name badge.

They are Accor staff.
And Accor has 7 more years extended in the ops contract for QF lounges, from last year.
They have had it for a while.

 

[maia200]

They are Accor staff.
And Accor has 7 more years extended in the ops contract for QF lounges, from last year.
They have had it for a while.

Yes. I probably never noticed the name badges before.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

They are Accor staff.
And Accor has 7 more years extended in the ops contract for QF lounges, from last year.
They have had it for a while.

Are they? Having been to a few Accor properties offering breakfast, I must say the catering at QF Pubs does not hold a candle up to the catering at their hotels.

-RooFlyer88

 

[SYD]

Are they? Having been to a few Accor properties offering breakfast, I must say the catering at QF Pubs does not hold a candle up to the catering at their hotels.

-RooFlyer88

Apples and oranges comparison. Oz Dom lounges have never had a full breakfast spread.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Apples and oranges comparison. Oz Dom lounges have never had a full breakfast spread.

With all due respect it ain't an apple and oranges comparison. When was the last time you saw whole apples or oranges in a QF lounge?

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

As to why breakfast differs between Accor good in restaurants at their hotels and the lounges they operate on behalf of QF.
Very likely cost control by bean counters at QF that stipulate the minimum and maximum cost and ergo cost recovery that can be spent/earnt back per person over the contract length.
You will never see lobster in a QF lounge... or salmon.
Salt and pepper squid is the most at QF.
Salmon only at EK lounges.
Caviar?

 

[Princess Fiona]

As to why breakfast differs between Accor good in restaurants at their hotels and the lounges they operate on behalf of QF.
Very likely cost control by bean counters at QF that stipulate the minimum and maximum cost and ergo cost recovery that can be spent/earnt back per person over the contract length.
You will never see lobster in a QF lounge... or salmon.
Salt and pepper squid is the most at QF.
Salmon only at EK lounges.
Caviar?

As to why breakfast differs between Accor good in restaurants at their hotels and the lounges they operate on behalf of QF.
Very likely cost control by bean counters at QF that stipulate the minimum and maximum cost and ergo cost recovery that can be spent/earnt back per person over the contract length.
You will never see lobster in a QF lounge... or salmon.
Salt and pepper squid is the most at QF.
Salmon only at EK lounges.
Caviar?

Can’t say I recall lobster but there has most definitely been salmon on the menu at QF F