Country
Australia
City
Sydney
Airport
Sydney - Kingsford Smith
Alliance
oneworld
Airline
Qantas
Cabin-class
First
Notes
The Good
- Superb food and wine
- Great design and ambience
- Payot spa
The Bad
- You can't spend all day here
X-Factor
- Qantas' must-see flagship lounge
Introduction
No list of the world's best airport lounges should be considered complete without Qantas' flagship lounge at Sydney International Airport.
This world-class effort ticks all the boxes – from a chic yet elegantly classy design to great food and wine, a Payot day spa and superb, highly personal service with the genuine warmth of an Aussie smile.
Marc Newson's architecture is stunning. Dramatic wooden ceiling spars cambered like the inside of an airplane wing subtly yet naturally divide the lounge's sweeping space into almost a dozen semi-contained functional areas, all bathed in an abundance of natural light.
Then there are delightful touches of whimsy, such as the old-style flipper boards which track flight departures.
Location & Impressions
Having successfully skirted through Sydney International Airport’s duty-free obstacle course, you’ll find the Qantas Business and First lounges up an escalator next to the Travelex desk.
They’re well located for the gates used by most Qantas flights. Turn a sharp left for the Business lounge, or glide ahead for the more rarified confines of the First lounge, where a concierge awaits you behind the sliding glass doors.
The left wall of the curved entryway is lined with plants – yes, the real green alive-and-need-to-be-watered type – while the full length windows opposite provide a peek onto the airport apron and the closest boarding gates.
Access
The Qantas International First Lounge is open to all passengers flying first class on Qantas and its oneoworld partners such as British Airways.
Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum cardholders, and those with the equivalent oneworld Emerald status, can also enjoy the lounge regardless of which class they’re flying in.
Dining
The dining facilities at the Qantas International First Lounge are truly first-class: the meals, wines and service are what you’d expect from an up-market bistro.
There's counter seating with a view through to the kitchen, while a barista pulls fresh juice of the bean at the far end.
Two separate dining areas provide table service for travellers.
Breakfast is available through to almost noon, along with an all-day dining menus plus daily specials. Many of the dishes share ingredients from Neil Perry’s restaurants, such as Blackmore Australian wagyu beef.
Staples on the all-day menu include entrees such as buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes and basil; smoked salmon with crème fraiche, pickled onion and salmon roe; wagyu bresaola with goat’s curd, braised leeks and truffled potatoes; salt and pepper squid with green chilli sauce; crisp pork belly with spicy eggplant, coriander and shallots.
Always-reliable mains include a 300 day grain-fed tenderloin served with café de Paris butter and chips; chicken laksa with golden eschallots and chilli sambal; grilled fish with beetroot risotto, fennel and dill; papperdelle with lamb ragout and aged pecorino; and duck confit with braised red cabbage and balsamic (below).
Fancy something a bit more straightforward? The thick club sandwich and beef burger are popular choices.
As a regular visitor to the lounge, my preference leans towards sampling a few entrees rather than sticking with a conventional entree-main combo.
The buffalo mozzarella (above) and salt & pepper squid (below) are always hard to pass up.
This ensures there is room for dessert: a pavlova with strawberries and cream, chocolate lava cake with rhubarb and vanilla bean ice cream, sticky date & toffee pudding (below), a selection of Gelatomassi gelato and sorbet, or a cheese plate with Cabot clothbound cheddar, Brillat Savarin and Papillon Roquefort.
Daily specials also grace the menu: these can include blue fin tuna sashimi, Jamon serrano, Blackmore wagyu beef, potato gnocchi, and creme caramel.
Would sir or madam like something to drink with that? The lounge's well-chosen cellar selection includes Tattinger, Veuve Cliquot and Bollinger champagne, a dozen top-shelf Australian red and whites plus De Bortoli’s syrup-sweet Noble One dessert wine. Add a machiatto and you're set.
Snacks are also plentiful. Self-serve areas at both ends of the lounge include bread rolls with leg ham, roasted vegetables; chocolate brownies, pecan bites, orange & hazelnut cake, raspberry & pistachio friands and coconut tea cakes, plus fresh fruit and cheese platters.
Not to mention a serious-looking coffee machine.
Scattered here and there are other seasonal treats, like this mountain of juicy strawberries.
Work
The Qantas International First Lounge is also well geared towards finishing some work before your flight.
Free wireless covers the lounge, and unlike the wi-fi at the domestic Qantas lounges it’s both speedy and reliable.
A handful of iMacs (which also run Windows 7) and a printer-copier are located at the end of the lounge, adjacent to the ‘library’ quiet zone which is also a great place to fine-tune a presentation or fire off those last few emails.
(If you want to check email or the web while you grab a bite in the restaurant area, the tables nearest to the counter bar and the window have powerpoints built into the wall just behind them.)
There are also two meeting rooms with their own iMac, printer/copier, landline telephone, sofa and even a large flat-screen TV.
These are free to book, and even if you’re not travelling with workmates they provide the ideal environment for shutting yourself off from the rest of the lounge if you really need to focus on your work.
Relax
Tucked away in the far corner of the lounge is the Payot spa, a haven where not even boarding calls are made.
It offers a range of treatments – facials, massages, even foot and leg wraps – lasting from 30 minutes to 50 minutes, all performed by trained professionals in lush private rooms with their own shower.
And as with the restaurant meals it's all free, even if you're a Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum cardholder booked on the cheapest economy seat.
But the passengers who pay the most get first shot at the spa. Qantas contacts its first-class passengers before their flight to book in a session for treatment of their choice on the day they travel. Everyone else has to take pot luck with what timeslots and treatments are available on the day.
This is another reason I suggest checking in as early as possible for your flight. Boarding for Qantas' international flights begins three hours before departure, so why not be at the check-in desk on the dot of that T Minus 3 Hours mark and spend as much time as you can relaxing in the lounge?
I tend to go for a facial to hydrate and moisturise the skin – it’s not just relaxing, it prepares my face for the inevitable dryness to follow on an 8-12 hour flight. There’s no doubt that the facial helps my skin look and feel better when I step off the plane at the other end of the flight.
If you just want to freshen up before your flight, duck into one of the eight marble-lined shower rooms.
You'll find Kevin Murphy shampoo and conditioner in handy travel-size packs which are great to take with you, plus toiletries such as a toothbrush, razor and shaving cream and a small jar of Payot moisturiser.
At the other end of the lounge from the Payot spa and tucked behind the iMac workstations is 'the library' – a quiet zone set aside for reading and relaxing.
This is perhaps the most under-utilised part of the Qantas First Class lounge.
While on the subject of relaxing we should mention these amazing chairs, also designed by Marc Newson. Wide, richly padded and with a bolster headrest, they're a modern take on the classic club chair with a recliner twist.
Most of them face the windows which overlook the runways and the Sydney skyline beyond.
After a satisfying meal, a spa treatment and a glass or two of wine they're the perfect place to while away those last minutes before your flight is called.
Summary
What strikes you most about the Qantas International First Lounge isn’t just the award-winning design, the dining or even being spoiled at the Payot spa. It’s the service.
Staff are quick to learn the names and faces of frequent flyers, and from a delightfully personal ‘welcome back’ at the front desk to the professional yet unobtrusive attention at the restaurant, there’s really no better way to begin your journey.
More Qantas & lounge stories:
- Qantas vs Virgin Australia: who serves the best business lounge breakfast?
- Check out Virgin Australia's slick new domestic lounges in Melbourne and Brisbane
- Learn how to make the most of your Qantas frequent flyer points
- Take a photo tour of Lufthansa’s super-exclusive First Class Terminal at Frankfurt
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
10 Mar 2011
Total posts 529
Great article about a great lounge. I'm a regular in the lounge and the amenities provided are outstanding but you are right... The best feature of the lounge are the staff. They are always friendly and attentive and some even know me by name now before I even present my boarding pass at the gate. In my opinion, the Qantas First lounge in Sydney is the best airline lounge anywhere in the world.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 735
Nice article. I like the lounge, but perhaps find the lounge in Melbourne even more pleasant. From a competitor perspective the lounge is only trumped by the First Class Terminal of LH in Frankfurt (which lacks free spa services but has some great food and beverages and private limo transfers to the aircraft) and is on par with BA's Concorde room in LHR Terminal 5.
26 Aug 2011
Total posts 21
From when I had a tour with the Qantas sales rep we were told the staff are all employed by Sofitel to manage the lounge for Qantas. That might explain why you get such good service unlike other aspects of the business where Qantas employees are involved.
08 Dec 2011
Total posts 4
Ive also been told that Sofitel staff manage the lounge, I understand that Qantas staff man the reception desk as you enter.
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2549
Jetsparrow's correct: the front desk staff are Qantas, the rest are Sofitel.
27 Jan 2012
Total posts 118
quite stunning! Who does all the design work?
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2549
Marc Newson (as it says in the review, 3rd par).
08 Feb 2012
Total posts 4
I'm flying from LAX in QF F class and connecting to a domestic J class flight. Is there a special transfer for F class guests or is the regular transfer bus the only option? Also are F class guests able to use the loung on arrival?
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2549
As far as I know, everyone cops the same shuttle bus from International T1 to Qantas' domestic T3; and you can't use the F lounge on arrival as arrivals-departures are in separate zones, and of course International and Domestic are separate terminals, so you'll be heading from T1 arrivals straight to the T1-T3 transfer bus. And yes, it's all a bit sucky!
08 Feb 2012
Total posts 4
Ridiculous! Can't complain as the flight is on points, got very lucky there. Bummed I'll miss the First lounge in Sydney... Flying J out of MEL to LAX and have a First Lounge invite, but only for one person and as I'm travlling with a partner I'm at a loss of what to do...
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2549
Melbourne First is like a 'mini-me' version of Sydney First (review coming soon!) – one thing it's got that Sydney lacks is a view from the spa treatment rooms, so you may be lying there getting a pre-flight treatment and see your A380 pulling up!
As for partner access, they might be a bit lenient if it's not too busy (I've seen this from the team at Sydney), but your best bet would be to at least contact them ahead of time, explain the situation and ask if they can do anything to help you guys out...
08 Feb 2012
Total posts 4
I hope that is one way glass! Thanks for the tip David. I might email them now. Cheers...
03 Oct 2011
Total posts 32
If you're flying J but have an F lounge invitation, is that because you're a top-tier in QF or a OneWorld FF program? If so, doesn't that permit you to bring in a guest?
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2549
Yes, you can bring in one guest - the earlier question was with regards to special 'First Lounge 'invtiations' which Qantas supplies every now and again, and those don't allow partner access.
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