QF Platinum Denied Lounge on Arrival with Qantas Sydney Airport

[Seat0B]

I had understood that the reason for denial - for better or worse - is if they had nothing to scan there was no record of who was in the lounge for purposes of contact tracing - which to me does seem reasonable.

That is, if true, a pathetic reason for refusing a published benefit of WP. Service NSW has a perfectly simple check in app that takes less than 30 seconds to use. ACT Govt also has a similar one, and I'm sure the other states do to - hey presto, contact tracing information, straight to the contact tracers, if needed. So no not really reasonable in my opinion.

As a person who qualified for WP on my own dime this year (until 31 March anyway) by paid flights, I have had absolutely no benefit at all because I have not flown since February 2020, I'd be pretty cheesed off if an advertised benefit of my status that I wanted to use was refused on the whim of the lounge dragon. Truthfully, I don't use on arrival access much either, as others have said - mainly for the loo, perhaps a quick coffee and to send a few emails that are too complex to do on a device. But the principle is still that I am entitled to this access.

Whilst I might not have actually booked the award flight, if I had thought of that, I would probably have told Janet every step I could take that would result in access and then asked if she thought it might be simpler for all if she just allowed my entitlement to on arrival access. if she still said no, then I might well have done it, if I had time, because I really dislike petty abuse of power. Again, as others have mentioned, if Janet is just implementing a directive from Qantas, then it behooves them to advise affected members and not leave it to the lounge staff. YMMV.

 

[Seat0B]

Also perhaps worth reviewing 7.1 of the QFFF member terms and conditions: Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions | Qantas

Although I am not sure what aspect of 7.1 you think has been breached here, other than maybe being rude to Janet (if that indeed happened)

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

That is, if true, a pathetic reason for refusing a published benefit of WP. Service NSW has a perfectly simple check in app that takes less than 30 seconds to use. ACT Govt also has a similar one, and I'm sure the other states do to - hey presto, contact tracing information, straight to the contact tracers, if needed. So no not really reasonable in my opinion.

As a person who qualified for WP on my own dime this year (until 31 March anyway) by paid flights, I have had absolutely no benefit at all because I have not flown since February 2020, I'd be pretty cheesed off if an advertised benefit of my status that I wanted to use was refused on the whim of the lounge dragon. Truthfully, I don't use on arrival access much either, as others have said - mainly for the loo, perhaps a quick coffee and to send a few emails that are too complex to do on a device. But the principle is still that I am entitled to this access.

Whilst I might not have actually booked the award flight, if I had thought of that, I would probably have told Janet every step I could take that would result in access and then asked if she thought it might be simpler for all if she just allowed my entitlement to on arrival access. if she still said no, then I might well have done it, if I had time, because I really dislike petty abuse of power. Again, as others have mentioned, if Janet is just implementing a directive from Qantas, then it behooves them to advise affected members and not leave it to the lounge staff. YMMV.

Is the increased uproar also a result of poor Qantas behaviour re refunds/cancellations??? Under the cover of covid, Qantas just keep taking and taking and taking....

 

[Seat0B]

Is the increased uproar also a result of poor Qantas behaviour re refunds/cancellations??? Under the cover of covid, Qantas just keep taking and taking and taking....

Well in my case it has certainly been a very mixed bag of reasonably good and absolutely terrible when it comes to refunds from Qantas.

Actually, I just think it's another poor service issue/"enhancement" of conditions being blamed on COVID and expecting people to say, "oh well, in that case of course". If I phone my bank or insurer or even Qantas one more time and get the pre-recorded message saying long wait times are due to COVID, I will scream. It's now almost a year, so they have had plenty of time to recruit more staff if they wanted to do so - I just want them stop blaming cough service on COVID and take some ownership of their business decisions. If Qantas wants to remove this benefit, then remove it after providing the proper notice. Don't hide behind "we need to control the number of people in the lounge" - if the lounge is too full, then turn people away and tell them that is the reason. or "we need to scan your boarding pass for contact tracing" - I call b/s on that one. Arghhh. Think I'm just feeling antsy today.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

That's a fair point. However nothing to stop someone turning up 12 hours before their flight too.

At the end of the day, if QF simply updated their websites we wouldn't be having this conversations. Expectations setting is paramount.

Even if you turn up at the lounge 12 hours before a flight, when your boarding pass is scanned at reception the system tracks you as having entered the lounge at that time.

It would then be assumed that you exited the lounge no later than the departure time of your flight.

Updating the website only works if people read the website & I suspect it would be the same percentage of people who read their emails.

 

[Austman]

Are Qantas also refusing the admit the one or two (usually) allowed guests who need not be flying?

If not, how do they track them? Or might that be left for the departing passenger to provide (if needed)?

The guests might eg leave the lounge at a different time to the departing passenger.

 

[ferntree]

Updating the website only works if people read the website & I suspect it would be the same percentage of people who read their emails.

I suspect that you probably have identified the nut of the problem right here. It would just be nice if Qantas would have taken the trouble (via their web site) to inform their most loyal customers of their decisions and the reasons for them, rather than treating us like naughty children.

When I was turned away I politely asked the reason for this and the attendant just snapped back three words "Because of covid" and turned away from me thereby terminating the conversation.

It's not my first experience of Qantas ground staff being, er, let me say "brusque." I look forward to seeing if Virgin can do better.

 

[Daver6]

Qantas have annouced that there are restrictions due to Covid. That's on the website.

What other update do you expect? Arrivals access hasn't been removed as a benefit, it's just not being provided temporarily at the moment. I'm really struggling to understand the issue, the benefit is just subject to special restriction at the moment and those have been added to the website. The same way some lounges are closed - being closed doesn't mean they're going to permanently remove the lounge

I'd expect the update to clearly state that arrivals access is being temporarily suspended. How hard is that?

From Service updates | Qantas they can go into this level of specifics. Why not make it crystal clear that arrival access is also now not allowed?



As for the argument made that you can't track when a arrivals guest leaves, you also can't track when a non-flying guest leaves. So that is a non-sense reason for not allowing arrivals access.

 

[oz_mark]

I'd expect the update to clearly state that arrivals access is being temporarily suspended. How hard is that?

From Service updates | Qantas they can go into this level of specifics. Why not make it crystal clear that arrival access is also now not allowed?

View attachment 237198

As for the argument made that you can't track when a arrivals guest leaves, you also can't track when a non-flying guest leaves. So that is a non-sense reason for not allowing arrivals access.

My understanding is that the actual enforcement at the moment is that guests must be on the same flight as the member guesting. And there are no non-flying guests, at the moment.

 

[Austman]

My understanding is that the actual enforcement at the moment is that guests must be on the same flight as the member guesting. And there are no non-flying guests, at the moment.

It seems Qantas say it's due to "capacity restrictions". And that a guest "may" be refused. I suppose that's fair enough if the lounge really is getting to capacity.

 

[oz_mark]

It seems Qantas say it's due to "capacity restrictions". And that a guest "may" be refused. I suppose that's fair enough if the lounge really is getting to capacity.

Other parts of the text are more direct

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Are Qantas also refusing the admit the one or two (usually) allowed guests who need not be flying?

If not, how do they track them? Or might that be left for the departing passenger to provide (if needed)?

The guests might eg leave the lounge at a different time to the departing passenger.

No non-flying guests permitted as no boarding passes to scan & track pax.

I was flying DRW-BNE-SYD late Nov & couldn't guest SO in during BNE transit as he came out to the airport to meet me. I was able to duck in & get 2 cappuccinos from the J Lounge & staff put some pineapples in coffee cups to take back out to an empty food court as no cafes open at that time.

As for the argument made that you can't track when a arrivals guest leaves, you also can't track when a non-flying guest leaves. So that is a non-sense reason for not allowing arrivals access.

They are not allowing non-flying guests lounge access because they cannot be tracked so it makes perfect sense to not allow arrivals access for the same reason - dare I say consistently consistent.

 

[ferntree]

As they are not allowing non-flying guests lounge access because they cannot be tracked it makes perfect sense to not allow arrivals access for the same reason - dare I say consistently consistent.

I do not dispute the consistency of the policy My complaint is that this information was not posted on the web site alongside related information. This would have avoided causing unnecessary annoyance and inconvenience to status fliers.

People arriving at a lounge with non-flying guests whose guests are refused entry have no grounds for complaint. The information is clearly available on-line. People who check terms and conditions on the web site (as did I) and turn up at a lounge on arrivals only to be refused entry do have good cause to be annoyed..

Would you agree that a little consistency by Qantas might be helpful here?

 

[aikman]

If contract tracing is indeed the reason then how are small businesses across the country able to put contract tracing processes in place but a corporate behemoth like Qantas is not able to and must turn people away?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Although I am not sure what aspect of 7.1 you think has been breached here, other than maybe being rude to Janet (if that indeed happened)

Could come under the 'abuse or misuse' of an award as there was no intention to travel, and the award was only booked for the purpose of circumventing access rules.

The OP knew the policy was likely in place, having responded to this thread on 22 December. Would the OP have done the same thing if there had been a 5000 cancellation penalty in place?

 

[sudoer]

I wonder what percentage of arrivals pax with access actually make use of it? And how long they tend to stay

Pre-covid, I was a frequent visitor after commuting on a 6-6:30am flight. I'd catch up on sleep in the air, then drop last the lounge on arrival for a takeaway coffee before heading to the office I was working from that day. (I know my aircraft has great coffee too but I'd much rather go see Bec for some double shots etc)

 

[Seat0B]

If contract tracing is indeed the reason then how are small businesses across the country able to put contract tracing processes in place but a corporate behemoth like Qantas is not able to and must turn people away?

my point exactly!

 

[Austman]

Other parts of the text are more direct

Yes indeed.

Qantas consistency strikes again!

 

[jakob01]

I similarly attempted to enter the Perth Business Lounge on arrival from an intra-state flight and was simply told "No - you need to have a forward flight, no matter what your status!" In a mix of confusion and embarrassment, I walked away and looked up the guidelines to find mention of this change.

Next time, in preparation of the conversation, I simply asked again and a different lady shook her head behind the plastic barrier. "When did this change?" I asked. "I haven't read this on the website." I queried, "is this a permanent change? How do I know when it reverts back to normal?" I got a look of disinterest and she turned away and mumbled "due to Covid" and then back to her screen. "Who knows?" was her insightful response regarding a time-frame.

I've further asked on other outbound flights if the rule has changed back, stating this must be catching a few people unaware, but didn't manage to extract much of a conversation.

As a benefit you've earned, it would be good to be advised of the update, not a vague release about "temporary changes" to the conditions of entry. The system must be capable of reading and recording boarding passes after the flight; perhaps you could "check out" when leaving if that's the issue. It will be very disappointing if this benefit does not return.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I similarly attempted to enter the Perth Business Lounge on arrival from an intra-state flight and was simply told "No - you need to have a forward flight, no matter what your status!" In a mix of confusion and embarrassment, I walked away and looked up the guidelines to find mention of this change.

Next time, in preparation of the conversation, I simply asked again and a different lady shook her head behind the plastic barrier. "When did this change?" I asked. "I haven't read this on the website." I queried, "is this a permanent change? How do I know when it reverts back to normal?" I got a look of disinterest and she turned away and mumbled "due to Covid" and then back to her screen. "Who knows?" was her insightful response regarding a time-frame.

I've further asked on other outbound flights if the rule has changed back, stating this must be catching a few people unaware, but didn't manage to extract much of a conversation.

As a benefit you've earned, it would be good to be advised of the update, not a vague release about "temporary changes" to the conditions of entry. The system must be capable of reading and recording boarding passes after the flight; perhaps you could "check out" when leaving if that's the issue. It will be very disappointing if this benefit does not return.

Covid is the perfect excuse to cut back on almost everything. Due to covid, due to covid, due to covid.
Whatever way you skin it - there's a removal of a Platinum benefit in place, and it seems most folks are accepting it without a fight.

Make no mistake folks, Qantas won't bring this back as a stated benefit in the future if it's removed now. Think of 'covid-times' as a trial run for arrivals access removal. When the world opens up again, the next excuse QF will be 'alignment with oneworld', or 'ongoing capacity issues' or some equally convenient excuse.

Good on you @Danger for standing up to the madness.