Country
Australia
City
Melbourne
Airport
Melbourne - Tullamarine
Alliance
American Express
Airline
Any
Cabin-class
Any
Notes
The Good
- Broad card access list
- All-day bar and barista coffee
- Zones for dining and relaxing
The Bad
- WiFi network blocks emails from syncing
- No showers (yet) or natural light
X-Factor
- The freedom to fly with any airline, while still enjoying lounge access
Introduction
After debuting its first Australian airport lounge in 2014, American Express is expanding its lounge footprint beyond Sydney with an all-new American Express Lounge at Melbourne Airport: now welcoming passengers departing from Terminal 2.
Open from 6am until 11pm daily, the space features familiar favourites like barista-made coffee, WiFi and dining facilities, and although the lounge lacks natural light and tarmac views, it doesn’t feel dank and gloomy during the day, as can sometimes be the case.
After an earlier preview, Australian Business Traveller returned to the lounge on the first day it opened to the public to bring you this review.
Location & Impressions
After clearing security and passport control at Melbourne Airport, make your way through the terminal’s Luxury Precinct, continue walking, make a right at Brunetti, and follow the airport lounge signage to take the escalator downstairs, where you’ll see further arrows:
The AMEX Lounge isn’t difficult to spot, with its iconic living wall as also seen in places like Sydney and New York:
Fun fact: the lounge has a resident gardener to keep the wall in shape!
Once inside, you’ll emerge in a dining area with both table and bench seating…
… and as you continue through, you’ll find an array of private seats with Melbourne-themed artwork above…
… and chairs built for relaxing below:
(Regular travellers may recognise that piece from the Cathay Pacific Pier First Class Lounge in Hong Kong, below.)
Cathay Pacific's Pier First Class Lounge in Hong Kong
As Melbourne's lounge is new, it’s naturally very quiet for now – although the staff expect it to become busier over the coming weeks.
It's also larger than American Express’ facility in Sydney, catering to the growing number of travellers toting high-end points-earning plastic.
Access
Have one of the following cards? You’ll enjoy complimentary access year-round with two guests in tow:
- American Express Centurion Card
- American Express Business Centurion Card
- American Express Platinum Charge Card
- American Express Platinum Business Card
- American Express Platinum Corporate Card (excluding Australian cards)
A broader range of more affordable cards offer two visits per calendar year instead, with further visits payable at $55 per entry until the next year begins:
- Qantas American Express Ultimate Card
- American Express Velocity Platinum Card
- American Express Explorer credit card
- American Express Business Explorer credit card
- David Jones American Express Platinum Card
- American Express Platinum Reserve credit card
- American Express Platinum Corporate Cards issued in Australia (two visits as opposed to unlimited access)
- Qantas American Express Corporate Platinum Card
- Commonwealth Bank Diamond Awards American Express card
- AMEX-issued Westpac Altitude Black credit card
- American Express Airpoints Platinum credit cards (issued in New Zealand)
With these cards, each entry uses one of the complimentary visits, which are shared between the American Express lounges in Sydney and Melbourne – you don’t get two visits to Sydney and two visits in Melbourne each year, it's two lounge visits, period. If you bring a guest, that’ll use your second visit.
Altitude Black and Earth Black American Express cards issued directly by Westpac also provide access here until April 4 2018, when these cards are being retired.
AMEX displays a photo of all eligible cards at the door: and note, if you don’t have one of these (or the others mentioned above), there’s no option to buy your way in.
Dining
Let’s start with dining, and that all-important morning cuppa – there’s fresh barista-made coffee here throughout the day…
… with hearty breakfast options such as bacon, baked beans, hash browns and sausages…
… along with the expected breads, pastries and a pancake machine:
In the mood for morning tea instead, or just have a sweet tooth? Macarons, buffalo mozzarella sticks and other bites are available at the same time…
… joined by yoghurts and juices:
At around 11am, the buffet transitions to ‘all day dining’ mode, where salads make an appearance…
… as do a new line-up of hot mains, including spicy chicken with rice (which had a nice kick without being too zippy), plus pasta and frittatas:
Cheese and accompaniments join the spread too…
… which you can enjoy at a table – ideal for groups – or at bench seats of varying heights:
The menu here changes every week on a five-week rotation, so passengers who fly out around the same time every month won’t see the same food until the fifth time they return, with the same true for high flyers jetting abroad weekly.
Stop by at the right time and you might also find evening bites being freshly-made before you...
… such as yummy beef sliders on brioche buns:
On the beverage front, the bar is open all day, pouring a range of Australian reds, whites and a sparkling (Seppelt The Drives), plus a selection of beer, and also spirits: including Four Pillars Gin, Canadian Club 12-year Whisky, Belvedere Vodka, Courvoisier VS Cognac, Suntory Whisky, Sauza Tequila, Baileys, and Bundaberg rum, along with a spiced rum in The Original Sailor Jerry Caribbean, and Jim Beam bourbon.
Non-alcoholic drinks are self-served just to the side, with soft drinks both on tap and in cans – whichever you’d prefer – and of course, chilled water.
Overall, that’s a plentiful selection for a credit card lounge, whether you’re simply hopping across to New Zealand or jetting further afield.
Work
Make your visit a productive one by scoping out this private workspace: found at the very back of the lounge, and which is already proving very popular with travellers – seen here during a brief period when it was vacant:
Failing that, the solo suites allow you to work with your laptop on your lap, offering AC power and a cocktail shelf…
– but don’t forget to bring your Australian charger with you on your overseas trip, as these outlets only accept Aussie pins, rather than international chargers as are increasingly common in international lounges around the world. There’s no USB power here either.
For that, you’ll need to snag one of the tables lining the walls in the dining area, where the outlets feature both AC and USB:
You can also plug in along the dining benches – just lift the flap. The side outlets are better for smaller plugs, while the vertical plugs suit larger transformers, such as for the Microsoft Surface, which fits comfortably.
Wireless Internet is available throughout the lounge and is protected by a ‘familiar’ password, with our tests showing consistent upload and download speeds of around 5Mbps.
However, the wireless network appears to be blocking access to IMAP email servers – or the Internet ports used by these services – so as a result, my emails across multiple providers refused to sync, and I had to resort to webmail (or VPN) to access my inbox.
For business travellers about to board international flights (on which inflight WiFi may not be available), missing a crucial email before being incommunicado for an extended period isn’t ideal for a lounge designed with these passengers in mind.
Relax
To pass the time until your flight, head to the far end of the lounge…
… where the seats here can all cater to unwinding…
… including those business-like booths:
However, take caution when standing up – the light fittings here sit directly above you, and if you’re tall like me, your head may crash into them unless you’re careful:
I also found the music in this area to be excessively loud, which unfortunately didn't make the area conducive to either task, but is something that can easily be fixed.
Otherwise, you can grab something to read, and while you’re there, check when your flight is boarding on the information screen, as boarding calls aren’t made here to keep things peaceful: as passengers can be travelling with any airline, which would otherwise mean a constant string of announcements.
Showers are the one thing missing from this lounge, which we’re told are coming in the next 3-6 months – and as the bathrooms here are shared with the Plaza Premium Lounge next door, you won’t find showers there either.
But all things considered, for a lounge welcoming credit card holders travelling with any airline in any class of service, there’s a lot to like: except for the WiFi issues, of course.
Unlike AMEX’s Centurion Lounges abroad, there’s no special treatment here for Centurion cardholders – beyond priority entry during peak periods – but even if the lounge does fill up, AMEX has confirmed that guests will be welcomed into the Plaza Premium Lounge instead.
That’s a much better approach than in Sydney where AMEX cardholders can no longer sneak into the SkyTeam Lounge downstairs, and should help Melbourne flyers work or relax before their international flight.
Chris Chamberlin travelled to Melbourne as a guest of American Express Australia and Plaza Premium Group.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Etihad - Etihad Guest
19 Sep 2013
Total posts 16
If you are an Amex cardholder this seems to be the place to go on route with VA to Fiji as the only other option is domestic VA. Can anyone confirm this?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
You're spot on, although there's the Plaza Premium Lounge next door too which AMEX Platinum Charge and Centurion cardholders can access, but not the rest of the AMEX line-up.
We'll be publishing a review of the Plaza Premium Lounge soon too to show what's available inside.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
26 Jun 2011
Total posts 78
Was just thinking this works well for VA flights to Fiji and the like!
Asiana Airlines - Asiana Club
09 Feb 2017
Total posts 41
Showers in the next 3-6 months? The Sydney lounge better be refurbishing soon to keep up
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
My understanding is that AMEX would love to expand the Sydney lounge, but that space is an issue at Sydney Airport which is preventing them from doing so. However, in Sydney, AMEX has an agreement with the SkyTeam lounge directly below it for guests wishing to use SkyTeam's shower facilities: the staff will point you in the right direction.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 Nov 2016
Total posts 47
Is this lounge in the space formerly occupied by MH?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
No: the doors to the old Golden Lounge still sit in their usual place (which happens to be next to the Plaza Premium Lounge).
The AMEX lounge is directly to the left of the Singapore Airlines lounges.
20 Sep 2017
Total posts 3
Can domestic travellers access this lounge as i am flying Mel-Perth on my return leg of my journey end of April
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
Shouldn't be a problem, provided your flight departs from the international terminal (as this lounge is located after security and passport control, so you'll need to be able to physically access it).
28 Mar 2018
Total posts 8
Any review of the Plaza Premium Lounge please?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
As above: "We'll be publishing a review of the Plaza Premium Lounge soon".
28 Mar 2018
Total posts 8
Oops... sorry, missed that sentence.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
No drama: if all goes to plan we'll have it published tomorrow, or failing that, early next week.
28 Mar 2018
Total posts 8
Can’t wait, especially on the layout and food selections.
28 Mar 2018
Total posts 1
No beer available?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2017
Total posts 84
There is beer available, just not self service I bel
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
14 Mar 2017
Total posts 152
Do they really have a live-in gardener?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
Ha, we didn't say that the gardener was "live-in", just that the lounge has a "resident" gardener, the definition of which can include somebody "working regularly for a particular institution".
13 Sep 2016
Total posts 55
Wow, this is like the Sydney AMEX done bigger and better, really like the way they have used that space to create those specific 'zones'. Great review Chris!
29 Mar 2017
Total posts 34
Sounds much better than Sydney AMEX Lounge. Sydney was great initially but it’s become exceptionally crowded over the last year or so. Also had the worst scrambled eggs from a buffet there yesterday... which is a difficult accolade to achieve.
17 Sep 2015
Total posts 388
Very good that excessively loud music was mentioned. Why do so many places believe that they have to provide music? What happened to silence?
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
23 Jul 2014
Total posts 11
I'm in the AMEX lounge right now. There is only my family in here. There is no music and quite comfortable. Food is decent and the coffee acceptable.
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
30 Nov 2015
Total posts 730
Not another vertical indoor garden....
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 Mar 2018
Total posts 1
So what if you have 2 adult children travelling with you? Can you pay for them to accompany you into Amex Lounge?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
This is covered in the article.
"A broader range of more affordable cards offer two visits per calendar year instead, with further visits payable at $55 per entry until the next year begins... If you bring a guest, that’ll use your second visit."
(So, if you have two visits on your account and want to bring in three people, that's $55, using both of your complimentary visits and purchasing a third. If the group comes back again in the same year, you'd pay 3x$55. It's irrelevant that the guests are your adult children.)
Of course, if you have the AMEX Platinum Charge Card or one of the other top-tier cards, you receive unlimited entries with two complimentary guests every time.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
29 Mar 2018
Total posts 2
Is there a time limit to how long you can stay in there ?
07 Mar 2013
Total posts 31
In this lounge at the moment. I like the space, and sitting in the couple booths on the edges is nice. In terms of actual service and execution it's a bit lacking. The layout in the food area is not sensible. The plates and cutlery are located under the toaster station...where people stand waiting on toast...meaning you can't get to the plates and cutlery. There's no teaspoons...a steady stream of people are asking the barista for one but no one's thought to place them beside the rest of the cutlery so there still handed out on a request basis. It was an hour before anyone came through the lounge area to clear empty plates etc. There was a line up to get in too and they seemed to be manually writing down people's names and credit card numbers on paper...maybe they are having a system problem though?
03 Apr 2018
Total posts 1
Hi there,
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
It depends on what you're looking for from your lounge experience. The amenities of each lounge are covered in our respective reviews, which allows readers to make their own decisions as travelling with children isn't something we cover.
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