SuiteFlight

I was chatting to one of the lounge staff about who got access a couple of weeks ago and they said something interesting.

As you may be aware, many people may potentially have access to Etihad Sydney lounge due to their Etihad Guest status, or status with a recognised frequent flyer program partner, more than the lounge could possibly hold.

Apparently, in order to manage things (given the not particularly large footprint of the lounge) the Sydney lounge staff monitor the aircraft premium cabin loads, admitting or redirecting to another lounge depending on how many First and Business passengers there are.

Regardless of status, First and Business Class passengers are guaranteed entry. Everyone else is subject to expected capacity, although Etihad Guest Platinum members are pretty much a certain. Obviously the lower down you are on their priority list, the greater the chance you may be directed to another lounge (given that the Etihad lounge is not that big - it's smaller than the Qantas First lounge, the Qantas International Business lounge, etc - it's pretty much a necessity).

As an alternative lounge, the recently fresh Air New Zealand lounge is pretty decent (especially when you consider if you were flying First Class on Etihad out of Melbourne, you'd just have access to the very tired Air New Zealand lounge which hasn't had the glorious redesign it's Sydney lounge had).

For reference, I'd also mention quite a few airlines (regardless of lounge capacity) use alternative lounges for their mid tier frequent flyers travelling Economy that fall far far below the Air New Zealand Sydney lounge (try the Gold Kris Lounge in Singapore, or Qatar's palm off lounge in Dubai - even Etihad at Abu Dhabi don't give access to the Premium Lounge - and I think you'll appreciate the Sydney Air New Zealand lounge more).

While I can understand your disappointment at being redirected to another lounge on this occasion (although I don't find the Etihad lounge at Sydney all that magical, the Qantas First lounge still beats it), the lounge access for Silver Guest members (even if it's not the Etihad lounge itself) is a fairly generous perk and the Sydney Air New Zealand lounge is actually one of the better business class lounges in Australia. Hopefully all that gives you some background at least on the complaint raised, but agree it's not great if the lounge closes before boarding commences.