The ONLY difference is that one now feels rather cramped into a little dungeon-like space which has assumed a slightly morgue-like atmosphere by comparison with the beery bonhomie of the previously egalitarian establishment. I think the plan is to drive all the J passengers back out into the terminal's public spaces in order to save a dollar. Hope it worked well enough to pay for the construction work...
Yep agreed here. Having had very little domestic travel this year I had my first domestic flights this week for some time, and therefore my first real experience of a J lounge since they have opened (apart from 5 mins one morning in MEL before a 6am departure - hardly a robust test).
My flights were MEL-BNE on DJ on Thu evening (with access to the lounge) and then 24 hrs later BNE-MEL on QF (accessing the QF Business Lounge). Quite frankly I was very disappointed. I went in there initially - and couldn't hear myself think, couldn't find a seat and there was no hot food out. Had a coke, and then went out the tranquility of the terminal, and found a quiet seat half way out the pier to gates 18-21etc. However I wanted to get online so went back in to the lounge and found a seat, grabbed a "gourmet" meat pie and cranked up the laptop. Apart from being unable to concentrate from the noise, I couldn't connect at all. So back to the terminal where I was sitting before, and although I had to pay $5 for the privilege, I was able to connect no problems, and even had a powerpoint to recharge my phone.
Huge contrast to the peace and quiet of the DJ lounge in MEL the night before (with really nice risotto being served). I was pretty disappointed with what was on offer, and in the future I will be more than happy to fly DJ again - their status match for me was certainly worth their while. (FWIW before I went back to the terminal I did visit the QC, which was equally diabolical).
Finally had a chance to try the SYD (19:45) and MEL (17:45) lounges. I was disappointed with the SYD one but liked the MEL one. It may have just been the time I was there.
The SYD one seems to be tucked away in a corner with nothing much to see except the QF hangers. The food seemed to be the same as the QP. In fact, I left the lounge and returned to the QP. At this time of night, both lounges were pretty empty.
The MEL one had the normal QP food plus a nice chicken curry. Was definitely quieter than the normal QP at this time of the night.
I guess the good thing is having a choice about which lounge to use!
Interesting situation last week flying SYD-BNE on DJ. On arrival into BNE I went to the Qantas Lounge and showed my QF Platinum card and proceeded to walk left into the Qantas Lounge when the lady at the desk said "Sir, you can go into the Business Lounge". So I did!
Interesting situation last week flying SYD-BNE on DJ. On arrival into BNE I went to the Qantas Lounge and showed my QF Platinum card and proceeded to walk left into the Qantas Lounge when the lady at the desk said "Sir, you can go into the Business Lounge". So I did!
Given you may have had a bag with you, she probably assumed that you were flying, and that it was with QF.
I went to the new Canberra J lounge today. Pretty spacious, although I could see it getting full on a Friday night when Parliament is sitting. It's on the right hand side when you enter the waiting area and up a ramp. (Normal QP and CL are on your left as you enter the waiting area)
Foodwise (Lunch) it's the same as the other J lounges. It's hard to say whether the food is any better than the normal Qantas QP in Canberra. Their food has always been good. Didn't pop into the QP to see if they've reduced the food in there.
Around 9 computers. Plenty of seating. No interesting views.
Sydney J lounge had some more hot (well warm ) food choices tonight than I've seen previously. There was a beef soup, chicken fingers, pastry scrolls, slices of pizza and well sized lamb, potato and rosemary pies.
Qantas J lounge was pretty busy this morning. Standard Brekkie J fare on offer.
I've been enjoying these Bus lounges at least twice a week since they opened. On the food front, at bfast, there are the hot pancakes and maple syrup (never saw those in the old lounge) and later in the day, more hot food including a casserole styel wet dish with rice. What I have noticed is the hot snacks such as the gourmet pies etc are more plentiful. In the normal lounges, when these are replenished, they can disappear in a few minutes.
Have never had trouble getting a reasonable wireless connection - I travel at the early morning and later afternoon peaks.
As a consultant with a small company, I have earned my status (at the highest QF level since 92) with my choice of airline, and without the benefit of corporate travel rates - this was my money. So I believe the reward of a considerably quieter lounge has been well earned. The better choice of F&B is a bonus.
A month ago I flew the last flight out of CBR - the J lounge had a sort of chicken pizza slice. Also had a goulash with mash potato hot dish. Neither was available in the QP.
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Originally Posted by sr81
The issue is overcrowding ... What QF didn't do is create more space. They simply halved existing clubs. Not the best approach.
Exactly my thoughts. To ease an overcrowding problem, they decided to play divide and conquer - fair enough to reward the premiums but it doesn't change the overcrowding problem. If the new lounges were providing *additional* space (some might have, just not the only one I've been in) they would have made a bigger difference.
I've wondered whether it really is worth it for QF to have 3 domestic lounges - QP, J lounge and CL (probably got those acronyms wrong)? (I suppose they didn't want to do away with CL.)
I've also wondered whether they could raise some additional revenue by directly selling a better-than-QP lounge membership, perhaps allowing access to DOM J lounge and INT F lounges? (In the way that QP effectively buys SG lounge access for NB and PS, this would effectively buy WP lounge access for SG, PS or NB.)(Of course, the lounges would have needed to be built bigger, which they weren't, so it's a bit late now.) Thoughts?
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Originally Posted by FirstClass
