I guess the only pertinent 'fact' we have out of this is advice from Customer Care that an RSA policy (a QF/Accor flavour of RSA) is being applied at MEL F lounge, along with confirmation of same from a lounge staffer in response to a direct question. We have IIRC one example reported of a similar occurrence at SYD, though there was never any actual mention of RSA at that time (would be nice to know if they have a similar policy, but can understand why people would not want to ask).
I said earlier it is a load of old cobblers and nothing I have seen changes my mind. I have long held that MEL is a better lounge (when dining at SYD all I can hear is the pots and pans and plates a-clangin' from over the counter in the kitchen, and also one time got my S&P squid and Minute steak served to me concurrently, and poorly cooked), but acknowledge that the pours at MEL have been stingy for quite some time (I don't think it was like that back in the day), sometimes the unspoken 'disapproval' from the waitstaff is palpable when you go past two drinks, and this 'RSA' policy now takes the cake (though I've never knowingly been subject to it).
SYD may work out as a better lounge now in light of the MEL 'RSA' policy (not saying that booze rates above anything else, I just don't like being regulated by a patently silly set of rules).
I wonder if there is a 'senior lounge manager' sitting just above the two F lounges, or whether they each follow a state-based reporting line until much higher up in the chain. Could MEL be considered a 'renegade' lounge of sorts if they implement this policy (that is to say, RSA 'their' way) and SYD does not? Is QF or Accor behind this, or both? Many people wish to know!
I do not go to any lounge intending to drink my weight in fizz or anything else - it is simply how I feel on the day. I could drink tea, nurse a glass of red for an hour, or the first beer may barely touch the sides going down. Like
JohnK, I am comfortable in determining how much I drink in a lounge rather than having waitstaff telling me I have had too much (has never happened BTW), which I would find offensive (yes, I know as per someone's post that no-one will ever agree with themselves being RSA-ed).
Anyway, incentive to become WP again has dropped somewhat on the back of this. I suspect future F lounge visits (should they happen) may be to eat, then migrate to the J lounge where I can self-serve as many or as few glasses as I wish (or have a cup of tea), filled to where I wish (I don't think they'll get to the stage of having a hotline from F to J saying "
tuapekastar is on his way down, he can't have his next drink for another 23 minutes yet").
Or I certainly hope not. :shock:
As an aside, at the FT QF AGM at the BNE domestic QP a few weeks I overheard one FTer saying to another that the lady at the bar was talking about cutting him off (don't know if it happened).
