All of which was perfectly foreseeable when the new lounge was being built.
Exactly, I assumed when I heard about the new lounge that it would be for the A380 and the "premium" flights to Australia.
The LAX to BNE and AKL/MEL are not as premium as the SYD/MEL flights, and therefore they use T4.
As for TBIT being overcrowded already, thats is very poor! The blurb on qf.com states "Total seating capacity of First and Business increased from 124 to 300."
So assume the following departures:
QF12 - 22:30
QF94 - 23:15
QF108 - 23:45
We can assume that QF94 is pretty full so that's 80 F/J people
QF12/108 - Not as full as QF94 but around 150 people
So already that's 230 people + all the rest with lounge access who may not be travelling up the front on this trip
PLUS the other flights
Not that hard to work out why it's busy....
However, having not been through them for a while, what are the main differences ? I can't really think of any, except TBIT looking much newer ?
Last edited by AndDee; Nov 2, 08 at 8:48 pm.
Reason: more details
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
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Quote:
Originally Posted by justin_krusty
...I don't think its QF or OW fault though - the problem at TBIT has always been space, and the airport operator simply won't give them anymore.
LAX offered to give an entire floor of TBIT to Oneworld and that was the plan for a while ... then Oneworld decided they did not want to pay that much and cut back the floor space (sharing the floor with the Star lounge). So it was entirely a financial decision by the airlines involved (QF/BA/CX) with close to a blank check as far as the size of the lounge when the TBIT rebuild was done. Of course the cost per square foot is stratospheric, so there is huge financial pressure to make the lounge as small as possible.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AndDee
As for TBIT being overcrowded already, thats is very poor! The blurb on qf.com states "Total seating capacity of First and Business increased from 124 to 300."
Good find! For someone who flies LAX-SYD, the seating capacity went from hundreds of seats and lots of space (T4) to 300 seats cramped into a small room. Even so they almost tripled the seating compared to the old TBIT the floor space only went up by less than 50% and they have installed showers which weren't there before.
Yes it was slow to the point of being un-useable the other day.
This evening the wireless internet speed was ok at 7pm, but now at 9 it's rather ordinary.
It's also filling up. I note that the OP's post was ~20 after 10pm; it's an hour earlier now but already punters are sharing tables; if not actual seats
BTW, from 4pm until 10pm the T4->TBIT airside transit bus departs on the hour and every ½ hour. I arrived at the T4 gate 44 at 6:25 and was inside TBIT 6:35. (BP required, I checked in at the T4 A/C)
(The lounges are accessible from an elevator near where you come off the bus - up the ramp and to the left ~30 metres.)
[9:45pm Edit]The CX flight and QF12 have been called and the Flounge has emptied out rather precipitously; maybe 50 people here.[/9:45pm Edit]
BTW, from 4pm until 10pm the airside transit bus departs on the hour and every ½ hour. I arrived at the T4 gate 44 at 6:25 and was inside TBIT 6:35. (BP required, I checked in at the T4 A/C)
(The lounges are accessible from an elevator near where you come off the bus - up the ramp and to the left ~30 metres.)
Thanks for your on the spot reporting, much appreciated, as I will be traveling through T4 and TBIT in about 4 weeks it is going to save me a bit of time,
__________________
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
Gate 44 is also very close to the T4 Admirals Club if you need to kill 25min in slightly more comfort. The bus I took last week (think 7.00pm) was standing room only (and that was to a 744 QF12).
I was there on 10/27 and it was ridiculous how full it was (F side). Packed, warm, stressful and chaotic. Anything but peaceful and serene.
I flew out of west coast on 10/27, however deliberately chose routing via SFO in preference to LAX. BA lounge in SFO that I used was peaceful and serene, and had reasonably adequate wireless broadband. Much better than the last two times I've gone through LAX.
(BP required, I checked in at the T4 A/C)
as I will be traveling through T4 and TBIT in about 4 weeks it is going to save me a bit of time,
