Originally Posted by yycworldtraveler
They were travelling on a circle pacific business class ticket with several domestic Australian sectors that they had bought separately but were full fare business class tickets. They were told by Qantas that buying a business class ticket does not grant you access to their domestic lounges and were denied entry. Is this correct??
You will get lounge access on a paid business class ticket if it's part of an international itinerary. As the domestic sectors were bought separately, it seems as if the QF staff were technically correct. Did your parents tell the lounge staff that they were on an international trip?
Originally Posted by yycworldtraveler
I thought it was a given that when PAID for a business class ticket you had lounge access. Do any other airlines have this policy?
QF has adopted the same model that most US airlines work to: "paid membership" lounge access only on purely domestic itineraries. The main difference is that, with QF, if you do enough flying with them you will get complimentary membership of the paid scheme - unlike most US airlines, IIRC.
Originally Posted by yycworldtraveler
Why would an airline deny lounge access to the people paying the highest fare on the plane?
To make them join the paid scheme? You might ask this of all the airlines which do it.