chipsodg

thank you - that is what we will do

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

Then please, if you are speaking to them again, let them know the correct rules (which are, as has been posted, that access is permitted for Qantas Club members!) ^

That being said I have never been denied access to a BA lounge with just a Qantas club card - the staff have always known what it is and granted entry.

In fact the reverse has often been the case where BA staff have gone over and above what is required by giving additional benefits, such as those for Oneworld ruby... this includes priority check-in in BA flights, including at the old T1 (which had no QF flights).

Regards

lme ff

sunrisegirl

I spoke to them again and it seems they were referring to Ruby level people rather than Qantas Club members.

jimcbob

Only ever had a problem recently, except in Abuja where they don't see many Qantas Club cards Anyhow, they are now in possession of my printed copy of the lounge access guide posted in the Ultimate Guide (apparently, they misplaced the official one!) and not had a problem since...

browserden

Does this mean that they need your Qantas Club number at check-in for you to gain access to the lounge? Wouldn't this mean you'd not earn any BA miles? I assume in reality that you can just show the card at the lounge and there's no need for it to be entered into the system at check-in.

I'm a bit confused about guests, reading this it sounds like it's ok to take a guest into the lounge.

However on the rates page there's mention of an annual guest card:

So are guests free in BA lounges or not?

raikje

You don't need to have your QF Club membership in the booking in order to get access - just present the card with your BP. You are entitled to one guest with your membership - the paid-for guest card allows you, I think, a second guest into QF lounges only.

Lobengula

Ah the lounges. They're not worth paying much extra for. As long as the airport has a decent bar/pub/restaurant, why bother?

This is very like the nightclub syndrome. When you get into a nightclub, there's a special VIP area. And you really want to go there, but once there it's not much of a difference.

I appreciate the lounges but really, if you have restaurants/bars/pubs outside the lounge, they're not very important.

OPebble

The difference is, that as many have posted, you can stuff your face in the Lounges for free, but elsewhere you have to pay!

andygeog

T5 is a far better experience than other LHR terminals. We recently flew MAN-LHR-YVR in WT+ with a 5 hour layover. We spent most of that in Huxleys (sp?) getting slowly toasted - I barely remember boarding the flight.

It is odd that they didn't build a servisair lounge in T5 (or similar), there's certainly a market for it.

heartybob

Amazing that such a simple answer as "No, unless you buy QF" has taken 24 posts - so far

Jimmie76

Well this is the BA board after all.

LTN Phobia

That's my thought exactly.

The best use of a lounge is when I don't have any local currency during transit, and I just want a bottle of water. The shop won't like it if I try to pay by credit card, and I don't want to go to an ATM and draw out more than what I really need (or there is none airside). Like being in transit at BUD yesterday - it was really useful because I had no HUF left.

Otherwise, I think lounges are a bit over-rated. I think people like the idea of 'free at the point of delivery' and 'eat/drink as much as you like' system, and I fully understand that logic, but really, the lounges aren't that fantastic in terms of the food on offer, with a few exceptions. For instance, the food at SYD/MEL QF F lounge isn't that good, but it's better than alternatives you can get at SYD/MEL. Alcoholic drinks don't matter to me because I do not drink while travelling.

Of course, the lounges can offer the quiet place to sit. But they can also be a zoo - go to BNE and CBR Qantas Club lounge on some days and you'll see what I mean by 'zoo'. Actually, if zoos were so crowded, RSPCA would be complaining.

As for GF T5, I prefer to eat at Plane Food - I go to GF when I don't have enough time to sit down and order food at PF, or for the free WiFi after PF (a bit faster than my mobile broadband).

LeisureFirst

We had this discussion at length in a thread recently. Many of us thought that this view was held by those who'd had regular lounge access for rather too long. In many airports the lounge is vastly more comfortable than the noisy crowded hard-chaired restaurants with their bad overpriced food and drink.

But there is a problem with pay access for lounges. The average premium flyer probably spends around half an hour or so in the lounge. Those who choose to pay are probably expecting to spend rather longer there, perhaps due to a long connection time or some such, and would need to be charged rather a lot to reflect that. And what would happen if the flight had a 7-hour delay and the Y pax starting traipsing into the lounge at £20 a pop?

Rather a different issue. In some places I agree entirely - not worth spending much time there other than for a quiet drink wih a friend - or to show off that you're there . In others there are clear material benefits like free food and drink and better bathrooms without queues. And in other clubs (usually bad ones) it's the only place worth being as you really don't want to spend time with the people in the rest of the club.

LomasGupta

LTN Phobia

I think we get spoilt at BA LHR lounges. They offer decent, edible food. At many lounges, that's not really the case. Let me list the offerings at MA lounges at BUD just because I've just been there three times in a short period of time:

hard, strange savoury mini-brioche thing which was dry
same as above, but with a bit of really hard, dry cheese on top, and harder
muffins (same as the in-flight muffin) on one of the occasions
bits of individually wrapped chocolate
small packs of pretzels (not the pretzel nuggets like the BA ones)
pots of nearly fat-free yoghurt
chocolate-covered yoghurt bar things in pink-dotted wrappers (can't remember the name)
strange, dry sweet/savoury-ish pie-like thing which looked like a mini-sausage roll but in fact was not - tasted somewhat like marzipan and savoury mixed, with sprinkling of sugar, on one of the occasions

GF/GC at LHR sound like a dream in comparison! But other facilities at LHR T5 are good, and in some ways better than the lounge anyway. Whereas at BUD, there is no decent restaurant. You could buy some OK food, but no comfortable chairs. At least, MA lounges do offer comfortable seats. And FT to read. But I wouldn't pay £20 to access this lounge, unless my bum desperately needs to sit in a soft seat. That is unlikely, considering MA seats near the front are actually rather well-padded and comfortable.

Then again, I wouldn't pay £20 to access GF either, considering there are comfortable alternative that offers better food.

My views are distorted though, because I do not drink. I cannot get decent value from drinking alcoholic things.

I actually started to dislike QF domestic lounges in Australia (both Qantas Club and Qantas Domestic). The PAs are so loud and frequent that you cannot even hold any conversation in peace. I think I'd get more peace in the main terminal space. At least, there's no announcements asking on-departure upgrade requesters to come to the desk all the time in the main part of the terminal.


It's always the fellow guests/passengers that annoy me - like the ones that shouts into the mobile, "I'm in the lounge" as if it's special. Maybe it's special enough for them to shout about, but I just want my peace and quiet.

OK, one thing I do like about T5 GF is the loo. They are spacious enough not to make me feel like the walls are caving in on me. But why do other people have to leave the place so messy?