Qantas Club members lose access to Singapore lounge until September

As a QFF Gold I'd be pretty miffed to be relegated to a qantas club lounge instead of the normal international lounge

There are no international Qantas clubs so no chance of relegation to the Qantas club. Which interestingly is what you would be using domestically as a qantas gold.

Of course I know that I’m just replying to the suggestion by reeves35

Sorry didn’t notice you were reply to the post above.

Absolutely, the provision for first in Singapore is pretty poor, just some reserved loungers

The offer for first class passenger in the Singapore lounge is appalling. A row of seats against the windows and extremely poor lighting.

I cannot see Qantas declining lounge access for QC members and not providing them with an alternative lounge. This just will not happen.

Any terminal move at Singapore would also need to include Jetstar Asia, if Qantas was looking at a new terminal you'd think they would have already gone for T4 before it opened. If Qantas is going to change terminals I would put money on T5 which is still many years away.

This would be highly unlikely. Cathay have no connections with other OneWorld partners. Qantas has JAL, Finnair, Jetstar, etc, etc, that are all in T1.

They are being provided an alternative.

As a platinum flyer, I'll take the 5000 points and go to SATS or the BA lounge. The Qantas one is horrid, even though the staff work hard to make it as good as they can.

Sorry should have been clearer that i was referring to the period after September. We will see what the future brings.

Agree, but would also add that SATS is not really a comparable alternative. People have paid in good faith and sould be serviced as such. Qantas have over reached and it’s a poor brand experience.

Exactly. It is completely unacceptable. They should have come up with a method of addressing this issue before they switched from DXB to SIN. It was completely foreseeable.

100% agree with the above, you only have to go back to when this was first announced and the articles on this site to know judging from all the comments this is exactly what was going to happen.

Feel sorry for the QC members that have to miss out due to Qantas' huge oversight.

Access to the Emirates Lounge in Singapore is available to Qantas Gold and above plus Qantas business class, not Platinum and above.

Oops, my Bad - thanks Chris - correct Gold and above...

Found out the hard way that on my flight to Phuket on Jetstar booked as a QF flight number and having Platinum cant use either the BA or Emirates lounges. The Qantas lounge manger showed me the fine print that access only available if flying on a Qantas operated aircraft.

Code shares all work much the same way. Unless the operating airline is a OneWorld airline you get the Qantas lounge or nothing.

i don't know why people downvote this comment, but i prefer DXB too.

Might be because 'solve the overcrowding-at-Singapore- lounge issue by moving your hub back to Dubai' is far from a sensible solution..?

Its not a solution, just wishful thinking. The lounge situation in Dubai is not a situation at all given the size of the Emirates lounges and plus the connectivity to Europe. We have an office in Amsterdam and so in the past QF1 and then an EK flight to Schipol. Now I have to trek to LHR and the complete pain of a transit at LHR. A cheap Easy Jet flight from say Luton to AMS is not possible given the hassle of getting there from LHR. Moving to SIN is fine but ask all professionals travelling, the lounge and stop is a place to freshen up and not a destination in its own right. SIngapore is a fine lounge but it has issues with space as is evident.

Don't fly QF then. Simples.

One World and the fact that 65 % of my flying is to the US and balance to HK, Singapore and London. QF are the best choice for my travel needs. CX is next best to all these places but have to route through HK.

In this case, why on earth are you flying QF?

Spend much time in the US as well. Direct to DFW and then NY. QF is quickest. Otherwise CX or AA to stay within One World.

Nick, is there a reason your company can't book you on a QF8xxx codeshare with Emirates? That way you'd have a better connection via Dubai compared to backtracking via London on QF1, plus you'd earn a full serve of Qantas points and status credits.

Good point. QF don't make it cost effective to book EK shall we say. EK metal always is more expensive on a QF8xxx Code. My problem is more the trans Pacific and staying within One World. QF and AA are the only realistic choices especially to DFW where we do some work. Otherwise a trek to LAX and then across or some crazy routing on CX via HK. May start to build up status on Star Alliance with ANZ and SQ. All of this for decent lounge access and a shower! First world problems!

Seriously? Awful airport and the EK first lounge is soulless, the showers might as well be saunas etc etc. So glad QF changed. Hate DXB.

I much preferred the DXB stop.

I flew LHR to SYD earlier in the year. It's great getting a good sleep from DXB to SYD. Versus about a 6 hour flight from SIN to SYD and arriving at 5:30am.

Plus the Emirates lounge at DXB cannot even begin to be compared to the QF Lounge at SIN.

I'd hardly classify QC membership 'a lot of money'.

Depends how much you earn and how out of touch you are with the cost of living. Not all of us are corporate high flyers and platinum elites who haven't got a clue...

When you're not flying enough for SG or above status, QP membership is a significant amount of money per lounge visit. Getting access to the QF lounge on a flagship route isn't a lot to ask for.

Tommy, QF says this applies "at all times for Qantas Club members during July and August", not just peak periods, although of course there's no harm in asking nicely at the front desk.

What is the practical alternative?

No thanks. Don't like the city and like the airport even less.

Pubs? A bit harsh but I see your point. Certainly positioning a gin bar (London) as the centrepiece probably gives the wrong impression. Same with the OW at LAX TBIT. Nice bar though. You don't find that type of emphasis in the other lounges or certainly those that I use often (AA when in the US).

I'm far more interested in maintaining Gold or above status than paying for QP membership especially with all this devaluing.

At both my main overseas destinations the lounge I prefer to use QP won't get me into, whereas my QF FF status will.

What an out of touch statement. If you're paying for QC membership, then I sincerely doubt you're somebody that can achieve QF LTG.

As QP benefits get eroded status runs to get SG may be more attractive than paying for QP membership. It depends on your personal circumstances and how much value you put on benefits.

You can get SG for a lot less than $6k and the status run would be the additional flying over what you'd do anyway, not the full 700 SC to obtain / 600 to retain.

I'm not sure anyone who's paying for membership is likely to have the inclination or perhaps (in a non derogatory manner) the forethought of doing such a thing.

It really depends how much travel you do, I’ve costed runs for friends of mine who thought they couldn’t even reach silver. A double stat weekend and some creative routing was all that was needed to score SG. On top of their regular flying the out of pocket expenses equated to $300 and a whirlwind weekend in Cairns!

It is a matter of time. A long time of course but still a matter of time.

Next time you go to a hospital for an emergency, you better hope that all the doctors and nurses are there working rather than flying trying to chase status.

"Basically a massive lack of foresight on their behalf!!"

Oh they knew this was going to happen but there was no way they could resolve it quick enough and there is no way to expand the lounge short of relocating which takes 1 year minimum to achieve

QF SIN lounge isn't a "business class" lounge. Very few lounges are named as such either.

Quite right, officially or at least internally these are 'premium lounges' rather than based on class of travel. The only true 'business' lounges are the domestic ones.

Who is of more value to an airline? Those on a once in a lifetime J trip, or a high status flyer?

They are probably of equal value which is why the first ones out are paid qantas club members. If they don’t fly enough to get status then their membership fee isn’t really make up the short fall in terms of “value” to Qantas compared to someone with status or someone who has paid hard earned cash for J (or F)

What bollocks. Plenty of frequent flyers travel often in short-haul Economy which contributes very little in the way of status credits. My company forces me to fly cheapest possible which is where people find value with Qantas Club membership.

The qantas club membership is of value to you for sure, but by your own example you fly lots of flights that earn little in the way of status credits which means the monetary value to Qantas is not that high which was my point. Compare this to the money someone spends to attain status or to fly business or first. Who is of more value?

We fly to Amsterdam every yr on Qantas/ Emirates. It seems very unfair that there is no lounge in Amsterdam to accomodate Qantas club members, as it is a main Europe hub. Will that ever change?

Why on earth would there be a lounge in Amsterdam for Qantas CLUB members?

I think flying via SIN is better than DXB (wish QF9 was A380 via SIN to LHR), but the EK lounges in DXB were pretty good. The food wasn't anything special imo, but boarding directly from the lounge was fantastic.

I don't think turning away higher end customers to provide access to customers spending less with QF is something that QF would think would make good Business sense.

The Thai lounge is small, so it might be suitable for a dedicated F Lounge.

Singapore is a Qantas Lounge, not a Qantas Club. AJW is correct.

Dear Cyphar and Hutch

That is a odd logic to me. Yes, QC members (me included) are paying for a benefit, but a frequent flyer is also paying for it through a significant number of flights (and loyalty) and premium class passengers through the higher yields. It's not coming for free for anyone.

You were on the tail end of flights. Be there between 4 - 8PM and it's packed.

AFAIK that's only seasonal. SYD - SIN upgrading the A330 to an A380 is going to be the real killer there

PER - SIN is 1 daily A330

Staggering flights across the day will just add to their costs - additional labour will be required across the whole network.

Am also a P1 and 100% with you on this.

I’m another P1, and completely agree. I avoid any of the international Qantas, other than LAX and occasionally LHR... Even that tests my limits with how busy it gets

Yep, LAX is usually v good. I was there this week en route to NY, and it was excellent. Started my trip in BNE - and left the lounge immediately as it was heaving and horrible. Much more pleasant in the main terminal.

Although I must say, as a QC member, SATS lounge isn't that bad, on par with most business class lounge. I personally don't mind getting the extra 5000 points to be redirected to SATS lounge than remaining in an onvercrowde lounge.

I think you make a great and often overlooked point. For me the benefit of a lounge is somewhere comfortable and quiet to relax. I personally am not as bothered by the food/drink offerings, I don’t need a picture of a champagne glass for my Instagram.

For peace and quiet the QF SIN lounge is a failure and the BA lounge is a haven in comparison. Hopefully the BA lounge stays this way.

I used the BA lounge twice in the past month. First time London bound on BA16, where I found the Qantas lounge to be near empty and far less busy than the BA lounge. Was told wait for shower in BA was about 40 minutes, Qantas straight in.

It’s been mentioned here before the over crowding issue is earlier in the evening around 6-8pm when there are multiple flights leaving for Aus, 3 of which are A380’s (yes I know QF82 is after 9pm but passengers can be there the same time as QF2 and QF36 passengers plus the A330 and 737 flights)