White would be my pick as it could fit in the existing palette, and most importantly is different enough to all the other existing QF and OW cards out there.

Wasn't the base-level QFF card white once-upon-a-time .... or am I having (another!) senior's moment??

BD

It was indeed white; I still have my original (1995 vintage) one lying around somewhere...

As suggested I raised the issue with QF and got a response.

Essentially the wording of the rule is "In addition to Qantas Club lounges, you can relax in British Airways lounges (Terraces and Executive Club lounges) and American Airlines® Admirals Club lounges...."

The lounges in Heathrow T5 are Galleries lounges.

Looking at http://www.britishairways.com/travel...ublic/en_gb#ui that doesn't leave much

Wow, astonishing devaluation by QF/BA! As lounges are renovated they are being rebranded as Galleries (often no better than the same lounge as Terraces but with newer furniture), so in a few years there will only be Galleries and 3rd party lounges. I guess BA pulled a Concorde on QF! Presumably the lounge access fee paid by QF is too low, hence this is BA's response to that little negotiation.

As others have emphatically stated on this thread, BA did allow QP card access to the T5 Galleries lounges until recently; interesting stealth change. Gotta love Oneworld, it is such a happy alliance. I'm slowly switching to LH in part due to this BA attitude.

Given the handing of 50% of the UK-SEA capacity to BA such that QF passengers are being forced onto BA metal at LHR, this provides even LESS incentive to fly on JSA in Y or Y+ between Australia and Europe.

If this proves to be true (and TBH I've been led astray previously by a QC query which was answered incorrectly by QF) then I've probably flown my last paid OW Y/Y+ flight between the two and will start to question my ongoing purchase of the QC card here.

I'll certainly *look* at other (cheaper) options for paid travel/lounges in future - something I've not considered doing previously, whilst earning QF points through work and cc purchases and looking to redeem those on J.

Well done QF!! :rolleyes:

BD

I agree with BD. something fishy here and more likely a duff QC agent. If this truly is a change in policy, things have sunk to a new low. Friends have used QC cards in T5 recently so I'm still very suspect.

I suspect this is more a series of agents having bad days than an intentional devaluation.

My suggestion if you are in LHR T5 and are refused access to a BA lounge with a QC card, politely excuse yourself and head to another one. If the third one also rejects you, perhaps then is the time to argue.

It should also be noted that the T3 lounges QF use are branded as a Galleries Club Lounge, so again I think the QC agent the OP spoke to was speaking tosh.

When we transited T5 in July gate assignments were a complete mystery until about 10-20 before gate closure.

We were waiting for a flight to Milano. Our flight time came and went without any real explanation from the information desk in the centre of the terminal. There had been some wind and showers but it certainly was not violent weather but it sure as hell caused chaos. Such is the tight scheduling of arrivals and departures chaos is not far away on any given day.

T3 lounge has a "Qantas Club" branding displayed, while T5 does not ... which undoubtedly explains the difference, or at least the access allowed. The sign is portable, however, so it could disappear at any time. LAX T4 also has "Qantas Club" branding, for example, as do a few other non-QF lounges around the world (all happen to be in key locations, I suppose these are lounges that QF doesn't want to lose). Always wondered why, as it was redundant signage and in most cases QF personnel didn't operate the lounge, but now the secret seems to have been revealed. Interesting way to run an airline.

Are you suggesting a clear secret strategic policy in the bowels of QF HO's Boardroom to progressively devalue the lounge access, or just the "bumbling blind leading the blind crisis management ten steps behind reality" approach that might appear to some?

Calling Red Roo !!

BD

Good luck getting a response! :p

If, indeed, this is the source of the difficulty, then Qantas would do well to say explicitly on the Eligibility and Access page that this does not include access to Galleries lounges. Otherwise, the page is misleading given that the bulk of BA lounges are now Galleries lounges.

However, it would be interesting to see whether any Qantas Club members have been experiencing difficulties getting access to BA Galleries lounges at stations other than LHR T5. And in particular, what have members' experiences been at LHR T3?