Review: Rex’s Refurbished Melbourne Airport Lounge

It may be in voluntary administration and no longer has any planes with Business Class, but Regional Express (Rex) completed a refurbishment of its lounge at Melbourne Airport Terminal 4 in late 2024.

Not a whole lot has changed, but the Rex Melbourne Lounge does now have a fresh coat of paint and some new furniture. The design now more closely matches that of the Rex Lounge at Sydney Airport.

Having previously visited the Rex Lounge at Melbourne Airport a few years ago, I popped in again after the recent refurbishment to bring you this review. Although I was flying on that particular day with Virgin Australia, I was able to visit this lounge using my Priority Pass membership.

Lounge Details

Airline	Regional Express (Rex)
Airport	Melbourne (MEL), Australia
Terminal	Terminal 4
Location	Lower level, near Gate 30
Star rating

Seating

The Rex Lounge in Melbourne has bright new blue and orange chairs, as well as a bench with stools and a small desk where you could do some work.

The chairs are comfortable, but there’s no escaping the fact that this is a small and fairly basic space. I counted 36 seats in the whole lounge.

Having said that, the lounge was not even close to being full at the time when I visited. There were only a few other guests using the lounge, so it was actually a very quiet and pleasant place to wait for my flight.

Lounge Food, Drinks & Service

A basic selection of complimentary drinks and snacks were available from the buffet at the end of the lounge. The food options included cheese and crackers, biscuits, sandwiches, wraps, fruit and yoghurt.

Although there’s no hot food, the sandwiches and wraps were actually quite nice. It was good to have some fresh food options, which were lacking when I had previously visited this lounge.

Tea and coffee (from a coffee pod machine) were available, along with water bottles, juice and soft drinks. There was also a fridge filled with beer, wine, cider, and some premixed cocktails (gin & tonic and vodka & soda). The wine options included a white, red and rosé.

I didn’t get to try any of the alcoholic beverages because Rex keeps them locked away until 3pm. (By contrast, alcoholic drinks are available in the Rex Adelaide Lounge from 11am.)

Lounge Facilities

There was a TV at one end of the lounge, along with a meeting room that was locked. There used to be two massage chairs in the small space beside the meeting room, but this has been replaced with some extra seating and a pot plant.

Power outlets, free Wi-Fi and a couple of magazines were available. Other than that, there weren’t really any other lounge facilities to speak of.

There are no toilets in the Rex Lounge at Melbourne Airport, so you would need to leave the lounge if you need to go. To get back in, you’d need to find a Rex staff member at the service desk on the other side of the terminal area.

Lounge Access

Lounge access is available to Rex Lounge members and those with Rex Flyer status travelling with Rex, as well as Priority Pass members flying any airline. Most people these days seem to be getting in through Priority Pass.

As there are no staff at the door to the lounge, you’ll need to head over to the Rex service desk near gate 30 to find someone to let you in.

Rex also sells casual lounge access during off-peak times for $33/visit if you’re flying with Rex and aren’t a lounge member, or $16.50 (a 50% discount) if you have a Flex fare. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth paying $33 to use this lounge.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.