Oneworld F Class Lounges
 

I know most of us know this already, but I am thinking whether we should have a thread on all the F Class lounges available worldwide and any specific tricks etc.. we need to be aware of and which ones we need to avoid. On top of my mind:


Asia - Pac

HKG:
CX - Wing and Pier (F Class section)
QF/BA - The Hong Kong Lounge (F Class Section)
JL -?

SYD:
QF F Class Lounge

SIN:
QF/BA F Class Lounge

BKK:
QF/BA F Class Lounge
CX F Class Lounge

NRT:
JL F Class Lounge
CX F Class Lounge

North America

LAX
AA - Flagship Lounge
BA/CX/QF/JL - TBIT Oneworld Lounge (F Class section)


ORD
AA - Flagship Lounge
BA - F Class Lounge

JFK
AA - Flagship Lounge
BA/CX/QF - BA F Class lounge (Concorde Room = NOT Oneworld access)

MIA
AA - Flagship Lounge

SFO
BA - F Class Lounge

YVR
CX F Class Louinge


Europe

LHR
BA F Class lounge (Concord Room = Not Oneworld Access)
AA - Flagship Lounge
CX - F Class Lounge
JL - F Class Lounge

I'd add

MEL:
QF F class lounge

Avoid - any of the AA flagship lounges if you have a choice of any other OW F Lounge;)

I would dispute this to some extent; IMHO, If travelling ex LAX to OZ, the T4 F/L is slightly better then the TBIT F lounge.

What is the point of this thread? Unless you are planning RTW trips based upon the location of lounges, you have little choice in which lounge to use. At most airports security limits you to one terminal at the airport, so you cannot lounge hop between terminals. And there are only 5 lounges in the world that are noteworthy (in OW, and 5 outside of OW). The worst hotel tends to be better than the best lounge (at least when I travel). The biggest mistake you can make is selecting routing based on lounge availability -- you are bound to be disappointed. I confess to having picked BA at times solely based on lounges at LHR, and it was a bad choice.

I rarely depart LAX "cold" - I generally plan my itinerary to route into LAX on AA the day of my travel back to Oz so as to access T4 rather than TBIT. Until November 2007 this was always a good idea (especially if headed to MEL).

Now I endeavor to route from MEL or SYD internationally rather than BNE, PER or even ADL, simply due to the availability of the F lounges there.

I will always try to route my travel to/from Europe via HGK rather than SIN or BKK for example, simply due to the nice CX lounges there.

YMMV

Fair call - I've not tried the F lounge at TBIT recently but I thought I had read that they had improved it recently and is now a joint QF/BA/CX lounge and that it was reasonably good - am I misguided here? I would agree that of all the flagship lounges T4 at LAX is the best.

Could you please list those 5 noteworthy OW lounges? And if you can also the ones outside of OW. I have no knowledge about lounge quality, and I believe I should learn about that before my DONEx/AONEx

F lounges (no status access): BA LHR T5, BA JFK T7.
F lounges (status access): CX HKG Wing/Pier, QF SYD, QF MEL (SYD is better).
Big step down (not really worth a special trip): JL NRT, BA/QF SIN, BA/QF HKG, AA/QF LAX, AA MIA
Big disappointments: BA DXB, BA JNB, BA CPT, BA SFO

Non-OW: LH FRA, LH MUC, SQ SIN, VS LHR, MH KUL
Big step down: EK DXB, LX ZRH

Not an exhaustive list, but the OW list is pretty indicative. OW does have pretty good J lounges, though (and much better lounges overall compared to Star and Skyteam; however this is changing in the past year).
My point is that even the very best lounge is somewhat mediocre as a destination. At best it is a convenience and a refuge from the chaos at the airport. IB MAD illustrates this nicely (spacious and gorgeous architecture but not special). CX really had the right idea when designing their HKG lounges.

It is almost as good as the T4 lounge in terms of hard/soft product -- but no better. And much more crowded (maybe 3x the density, to the point of being uncomfortable). Often it overflows and pax are diverted to the overflow (non-OW) lounge, which is not at nice. Given the money spent and the blank slate, it is a big disappointment, while also a great improvement over the prior TBIT lounges.

Well, that's just the point. At LHR T3, for example, you have a pretty wide (but not necessarily all good) choice.

Kiwi Flyer, why not start an "OW Lounge" thread, then sub-threads for each airport where people can comment on the available lounges. Yes, could, indeed, result in a lot of threads, but, on second thought, I bet there aren't really that many airports which would produce lounge discussion threads.

Couldn't agree more. It's a great effort, but just not enough space. The A380's are just going to make it much, much worse.

BA has a new lounge at JNB and it is quite good, although not in my top 5 list.

number_6 sometimes lounges do come into play. For example flying from PER to AKL on QF I have a choice of transitting at MEL, SYD or BNE. While schedule, a/c type, ease (or lack of ease) of changing terminals are factors, so too is the vast difference in lounge quality (BNE much much worse than MEL and SYD). Similarly between UK and Australia the choice of transitting via SIN, BKK, HKG, NRT, LAX and SFO can be influenced by lounges, although I personally have more important considerations (like avoiding the horrid US transits where possible).

At JFK, if you are connecting to/from flights in terminals 7 and 8 I would highly recommend the AA FL lounge in T8 over the very hot and overcrowded BA F lounge in T7.

Actually, the AA lounge is in T8 and the BA lounge is in T7 ... other than that:

+1 ^

Well duh, my bad. By the time you read this the previous post should be corrected.

For me, the view is almost more important than the amenities. Therefore DFW AA Terminal D lounge is high on the list, likewise LHR BA F T5 and of course SYD QF F T1 and NZ T1. There are others (of course). No view, no good.

Great airport views from the MEL Flounge.

I guess you don't route via ORD much ... ;)

Would you choose to route via ORD at this time of the year?

Routing is always a gamble; case in point ex LGA in Jun, NYC airports were closed for 5 hours due to lightning possibility. We had a flight to ORD to connect with one to SEA. Stayed at the week old Sheraton JFK and flew via DFW the next day - ORD was not the issue. Truth be told, I would have preferred to depart JFK, but was not possible due to "married segments" on the only usefulex JFK flight.

So yes, I do prefer to book via ORD (JFK, LAX & (Now) MIA) for their FL's if I can - "at this time of the year" would brook no difference.

I'm with you on that og. Airline lounges can be quite uninteresting if you can't get up close and personal to those jets.

Some hotels, such as the top floor of the Melbourne Airport Hilton, can be good for the same reason.

Actually, choosing an airport with an acknowledged bad weather likelihood (ie snow) may be sometimes better than one that rarely gets such weather. For example, the NE USA / SE Canadian airports seem to cope well with snow dumps - and have enough equipment to de-ice and plough, but places such as LAS (IIRC) get completely stuffed - as did happen a few weeks ago.

Maybe, but what is worse?

an airport that gets bad weather say 50 days a year of which 10 result in closure or massive disruption

or

an airport that gets bad weather say 2 days a year and both days result in closure

Also just because an airport regularly gets bad weather doesn't necessarily mean it is better able to handle it. Case in point is Queenstown.

Sadly there is no BA F lounge at DXB, but hopefully some day... Otherwise agree with most of your scoring.

On the value of this thread, I am still surprised at the lengths (miles) people on here will go to try a lounge/product.

What is the distinction here between "no status access" and "status access"?

I've been in both the BA LHR T5 F lounge and BA JFK T7 F lounge (I'm assuming T7 is where QF108 departs from) when flying in J. I don't think the BA JFK F lounge was anything to write home about - I'd put it on par with the SIN QF/BA F lounge (except for the spa - but that's in the J area)

I think number_6 is referring to concorde room, which is only available to BA F pax, not OW emerald. As opposed to eg QF F lounges which are open to QF F pax, other OW F pax and OW emerald.

You are quite right -- really sub par. Which is why BA F pax don't use that lounge; they use the CCR which is much nicer. Status access gets you the "for everyone except our F pax" lounge. Luckily QF, CX and AA don't play this game with their F lounges (which actually are their best lounges). Oneworld forever (and BA keeps mumbling about pulling out from Oneworld if it buys IB).

BA does have an F lounge of sorts at DXB if you ask nicely, or they like you, or whatever. BA will pay for admission to the contract F lounge (a bit nicer than the Terraces plus with a full buffet and showers that are big enough to hold your camel as well as your entourage). They've always offered it to me unprompted, but others report no F lounge their so I suppose it varies, like all things BA.

I suspect you haven't been in the new JL NRT F lounge, but no way I would call it a big step down from the BA LHR. Same with QF SYD. Frankly, I'd rather stop in the JL NRT F lounge over BA LHR and SYD for the following reasons:

1. Nicest showers in the Oneworld system.
2. Relax room
3. Massages, live and chairs.
4. Food spread isn't bad.
5. The beer machine.

BA LHR showers are nowhere near as nice. I haven't been in the QF SYD F lounge since 2006, but there was no way it belongs in the same class as CX HKG lounges.

AA ORD (my home F club) gets special mention for the food spread. Sure its crowded and very few facilities, but how many other F lounges have smoked salmon?

Add HEL AY F lounge. Nothing to right home about.

I suspect you haven't been in the new QF SYD and MEL F lounges, but they certainly belong in the same class as the CX HKG lounges.

These opened in May 2007.

Here's a link to Qantas info:Here's a review from back then:Here's a review of the one in SYD from last September (With Pictures):

I agree the old QF F lounges were nothing special, but the new ones at MEL and SYD are great. Of your criteria they have great showers, bookable private rooms, spa & massage, good food and drink. The only one of your list that is missing is a beer machine. The new QF F lounge at BKK OTOH is not so great - concept is good but it is too small for the loads.

BA don't have an F lounge, of any sort. There was the occasional offer of a contract lounge. But this is neither a BA lounge or a OW accessible lounge.

There is no F lounge in HEL.