Steve M

Has anyone here used the Internet in the new lounge yet? The article said "The WiFi has been given a serious speed boost with the reconfigured network designed to spread the signal to all corners of the lounge" but this seems to talk about two different things. In my experience, getting a signal from the hotspot was not the problem: the problem was that it was way too slow to do anything useful, even display a web page. 5 bars of WiFi signal in all corners of the lounge does little good if the upstream connection is too slow to use. I would imagine that there is technology out there for public hotspots that's designed to deal with the issue of bandwidth hogs that are trying to download huge video files or streaming TV - hopefully it's deployed here.

And as far as the computers, will they have anything more recent than Internet Explorer 6 that was in the old lounge? I found myself a couple of years ago in a ridiculous situation: I was in the TBIT oneworld lounge and needed to make a hotel reservation for my destination prior to boarding. I had full signal strength on both the WiFi and 3G data, but both were so saturated that they were unusable. There were plenty of computers with hard-wired Internet access, but since they ran IE6, they would not work with most e-commerce sites.

Jsoldati

How strict is the one guest policy for OW Sapphire?

serfty

There is a way with these old things - requires a USB stick with Firefox 'portable' installed.

In any case it seems that there are new workstations. Lucky that there are any desktop computers supplied in the lounge, recent Qantas philosophy for new lounges has to have none. It's been BYOD - they have set up some print facilities at SIN and maybe elsewhere.

These are likely to be dual boot Apple's (iOS/Win7).

ESpen36

I have never experienced the OW Sapphire policy, but I can tell you that the OW Emerald policy is quite strict, and consistently enforced throughout the system. Each OW Emerald is entitled to 1 guest. Yes, it creates issues when families are traveling but only one parent has the status. The solution (if everyone is traveling in Business) is to use the Business lounge, since not everyone would be eligible for the First lounge (only the Emerald + 1 guest).

Now, if one traveler held OW Sapphire and nobody else in the party held status, nor is traveling in a premium cabin, then it will be just the Sapphire member + 1 guest. Time to decide which family member you like best! (or let the kids wait in the terminal)

djsflynn

Hi Steve – I was pulling around 45Mbps both ways (in fact, I've got a Speedtest screenshot showing 43 down and 47 up) around 5pm on Tuesday last week; on Wednesday evening during peak period, 7-8pm, this was still averaging 30Mbps.

However, I tried to download a video to watch during the flight back home (QF12) and the speed was around 145Kb via my download manager. (Didn't fire up a Torrent client to check speeds on that, but I'd be surprised if those have not also been throttled).

Not really: I've been to plenty of large spaces where the signal is fast around the 'core' (eg a hotel lobby) and nearest the routers but you get too far away and there are definite dead zones where speed and/or signal drops off. A lot of hotels are like this, lounges less common but it's still a good sign that the engineers have done their work and put the right type of routers in the right locations.

No PCs at all in the new lounge. Qantas says they will install some in what's currently the 'VIP nook' once the new extension to the lounge opens in January 2015, but right now it's purely a 'BYO laptop/tablet' scenario.

Full review of the new lounge, for what it's worth, at http://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-los-a...usiness-lounge

FTcadence

Apparently Qantas' LAX business lounge has been so popular that the airline cannot guarantee Club members that they'll be able to make it inside especially during peak hours.

Those who are turned away will be walking away with a $50 voucher to use for food/drink at the terminal's shops.

The capacity issues might be alleviated next year after the new F lounge is opened.

http://www.ausbt.com.au/no-room-for-...airport-lounge

goingbananas

Whoa!! I am glad that I will be going through there earlier in the day in a few weeks. I haven't heard a single good story about the lounge when it is after 21:00.

econjon

Arriving in T4 and connecting to TBIT for BA F. Have 3 hr layover. Should we just go straight to OW lounge at TBIT or spend some time at FL?

ESpen36

IMHO, the only things that the FL has going for it are that the FL is less crowded and has better views/natural lighting. For everything else, the OW lounge at TBIT is better.

Feel free to visit both. However, if I were in your position, I would just go over to TBIT. If I went to the FL, I would spend the whole time stressing about the security line--you never know how long it is until you get over to TBIT. You also probably don't get as many opportunities to hang out in TBIT. So, for all of these reasons, I would just head over.

tom911

Don't you bypass security when you take the shuttle bus over there? I transferred between terminals in May for a Qantas flight and don't recall having to go through another round of security.

ESpen36

I think the shuttle bus might be operated by Qantas, and/or offered as a courtesy for Qantas pax only. But I'm sure somebody who knows will let us know for sure!

Majuki

Yeah, the bus is only for Qantas passengers. This will be a non-issue once the connector has been finished, but there is no airside transfer for other OW airlines. My wife and I were at the old OW lounge back in June, and it was dreadful. I never remembered it being so crowded in the evening as it was that night.

I've read that the new lounge is much larger but still is suffering from overcrowding issues. That's one thing I like about the AC/FL is that it's never as busy in the evening, and I've rarely had to wait for a shower. I don't know about the new lounge, but the old OW lounge always seemed to have a wait for the showers and zero ventilation in the rooms.

serfty

The bus is of the same fleet used for the AeAgles nest, but operated for Qantas - you need to provide your BP.

Note it has taken me 45 minutes Lounge (T4) to Lounge (TBIT) using the bus - These days I go landside, staying at the departures level and walk around - it's generally faster (15-20 minutes, lounge to lounge).

serfty

They are renovating the combined area on the same level of the old *A and *O lounges to provide another 400 seats - 200 in the First Section (making a total of 800).

In the mean time, I'll hang out at T4 before heading over until the lounge expansion is completed "next year".

MAH4546

It's not just a First section opening. The business section itself is only partially opened.