Galleries Vs Terrace/Executive
The crux of this matter seems to lie in the understanding of the type of BA lounge. To use the term "Standard BA lounge" would be a misnomer given the caveat described in the Qantas Club polices for the use of BA lounges.
While Qantas has been clear that only Terrace and Executive Club lounges are available for use by Qantas Club members, what they have failed to do is to provide a context to that caveat. The reality is that BA is in the process of upgrading all of its lounges from the 90s looking Terrace to the more plush Galleries lounges. To date only 3 lounges in the UK are Terrace lounges (LHR is not one of them) with a great number of Terrace lounges in the United States and Europe being refurbished to the new Galleries. What this means to Qantas Club members is an increasing number of BA lounges, which are out of bounds to them and the corresponding drop in value of a Qantas Club membership.
Now unless someone from Qantas is prepared to fix this and work a deal with BA to allow Qantas Club member use of ALL Terrace, Executive and Galleries lounges, I fear there may be an exodus of frequent flyers to Star Alliance (Currently United Club is only USD 475 p.a. plus a one off USD 50 admin fee).
The only reason I fly BA is due to the access to BA lounges. If BA lounges are increasingly unavailable to Qantas Club members, coupled with the weakness of Qantas' international network I shall be forced to switch to SQ, which already has more frequent flights out of Australia and better connections to Asia/Europe/USA with LH/BD/UA out of SIN/LHR/FRA. Increasingly with the prospect of Virgin Australia being part of Star Alliance, the thought of abandoning Qantas and OneWorld seems even more enticing.