How good is the Qantas First Class lounge in Sydney?

[thommo50]

It's a great place to spend an hour or so before a flight, but the mentality of some here on AFF of arriving hours and hours before to eat everything in sight and drink everything in sight isn't founded really. Personally (and I think most sane people) I wouldn't book a 'lounge run' flight just to eat some lounge food and drink some wine...

Cant agree more. Much rather spend an hour and half at Manila airport or Bangkok airport and have a massage before getting on a plane than sitting in a boring Qantas first class lounge be it Sydney or anywhere else. Maybe its more of a status thing for some people. E.g. the first class lounge in Bangkok is absolute rubbish, the business lounge is much better and roomier, yet people still go and sit in the first class lounge. The girls at the front desk always try to direct me to the first class lounge across the hall because I'm entitled, but I always refuse.

Sydney lounge is nice, but to go there and spend hours there before a flight would bore me to tears. Spent 20 min there last week, quick bite and then to the gate, that's a perfect lounge experience for me.

 

[JohnK]

Sydney lounge is nice, but to go there and spend hours there before a flight would bore me to tears. Spent 20 min there last week, quick bite and then to the gate, that's a perfect lounge experience for me.

Reminds me of my own experience a couple of years ago. I had scheduled to be in the lounge for ~2-3 hours and then one of my flights was cancelled which left me an hour or so in the lounge. So I called and got on an earlier flight BNE-SYD to have ~4 hours in the lounge.

I was bored after ~45 minutes and I had totally lost interest after ~90 minutes. I have since realised that ~45 minutes is a perfect time to spend in the SYD First lounge before a flight. Just enough time to sample some of the food and have a couple of glasses of champagne and a beer.

Of course in saying that some transits are unavoidable so you may need to spend longer or when someone organises a lounge crawl and you end up spending ~5-6 hours lounge hopping. But that is not quite the same.

 

[Kangol]

Including the $9 domestic JQ flights price matched to TT flights?

There's probably always an exception to the rule

Does anyone know which arm of the QF group lounge maintenance comes under? Or are they just incorporated into dom and int respectively? Or even part of "QF loyalty"...

 

[drewbles]

Cant agree more. Much rather spend an hour and half at Manila airport or Bangkok airport and have a massage before getting on a plane than sitting in a boring Qantas first class lounge be it Sydney or anywhere else. Maybe its more of a status thing for some people. E.g. the first class lounge in Bangkok is absolute rubbish, the business lounge is much better and roomier, yet people still go and sit in the first class lounge. The girls at the front desk always try to direct me to the first class lounge across the hall because I'm entitled, but I always refuse.

Sydney lounge is nice, but to go there and spend hours there before a flight would bore me to tears. Spent 20 min there last week, quick bite and then to the gate, that's a perfect lounge experience for me.

Why wouldn't you just have a massage gratis in the lounges spa? And I can't see how you'd be in and out of the F lounge restaurant in 20 minutes.

I'd say 90 minutes is a good spot time wise. Massage, meal, champagne and 15 minutes to just relax, organise myself and my thoughts then head to the gate.

 

[anat0l]

Cant agree more. Much rather spend an hour and half at Manila airport or Bangkok airport and have a massage before getting on a plane than sitting in a boring Qantas first class lounge be it Sydney or anywhere else.

Horses for courses, I'd guess.

For me, I can't stand spending 90 minutes in either of those airports' concourses unless I had no choice. Maybe I'm biased because I used to travel through MNL plenty when I was a kid; now it is very aged and the place is kind of falling apart. Bangkok... I tell people it's like the airport authorities took over a new warehouse.

Either way, neither of those ports provide a lounge which is similar to SYD QF F Lounge. Yes there is a "F Lounge" in BKK but it is not the same let alone conceived in the same vision, so that doesn't count. Similarly in MNL, going to the CX Lounge may be preferable to going to the contract QF Lounge.


I like to spend my time in the lounge because I find it easier to do what I want to do there. Whether it be work or relax, it is easier in the QF F Lounge. Maybe for "relax" it may be easier to find a disused corner of SYD T1... but for most of the time it is easier in the lounge. For work, the facilities are mostly there and a pot of tea is never far away.

Why wouldn't you just have a massage gratis in the lounges spa? And I can't see how you'd be in and out of the F lounge restaurant in 20 minutes.

I'd say 90 minutes is a good spot time wise. Massage, meal, champagne and 15 minutes to just relax, organise myself and my thoughts then head to the gate.

90 minutes is likely what you may need for some times in the restaurant if you are having a three course affair. For one course, 20 minutes may be enough, but that'd be express service (and fast eating)!

Massages are nice... if you can get a spot before your flight time.


Main thing about the F Lounge is enjoy them for what they are. Oh, and be nice to the staff, too. They have to put up with enough.

 

[footy99]

Why wouldn't you just have a massage gratis in the lounges spa? And I can't see how you'd be in and out of the F lounge restaurant in 20 minutes.

I'd say 90 minutes is a good spot time wise. Massage, meal, champagne and 15 minutes to just relax, organise myself and my thoughts then head to the gate.

Desired time in the lounge is very much an each to their own thing.

Personally, I always try to get the maximum possible time. The restaurant serves delicious food and wine and I like to consume slowly and savour. The longer I am there, the better the chances of getting a spa treatment too. And I can sit/lie on those loungers staring out at the concourse for hours. Whether that is just personal mulling time, having a chat with someone, over-indulging on great wines, working, reading, net surfing - I even borrowed one of those game things once and had a blast! I can't imagine ever getting bored there, even being there all day, but then bored isn't a regular feeling state for me so different personalities may vary.

Like anything it's a subjective experience and for me, they have always been great. I look forward to every trip there. I've been fortunate to visit the majority of F lounges accessible by oneworld emeralds now and the Qantas ones in Sydney and Melbourne are easily the benchmark so far.

 

[amaroo]

Morning flight = minimal time if any in the lounge

Afternoon/evening flight = >3hrs

These days my visits to the lounge are mainly for holidays with the family. Nothing better than enjoying a lovely meal with the family and a few drinks while the wife hits the spa and the kids hit the macs.

Living in QLD we always fly out via SYD and would be sitting on >99% afternoon flights

 

[JohnK]

Why wouldn't you just have a massage gratis in the lounges spa? And I can't see how you'd be in and out of the F lounge restaurant in 20 minutes.

What are you ordering?

Salt and pepper squid shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes.

 

[zainman]

What are you ordering?

Salt and pepper squid shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes.

I tried the S&P squid for the first time recently and It didn't blow me away. Some of the other food we had was excellent but didn't enjoy the S&P that much..

 

[blackcat20]

What are you ordering?

Salt and pepper squid shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes.

That's assuming you only want an entrée, if you want to enjoy several dishes then you definitely need more than 20 minutes.

 

[JohnK]

I tried the S&P squid for the first time recently and It didn't blow me away. Some of the other food we had was excellent but didn't enjoy the S&P that much..

The salt and pepper squid is the one most people rave about.

I think it is OK. I have some Findus salt and pepper squid and lemon and pepper squid defrosting and will cook tonight.

 

[drewbles]

Desired time in the lounge is very much an each to their own thing.

Personally, I always try to get the maximum possible time. The restaurant serves delicious food and wine and I like to consume slowly and savour. The longer I am there, the better the chances of getting a spa treatment too. And I can sit/lie on those loungers staring out at the concourse for hours. Whether that is just personal mulling time, having a chat with someone, over-indulging on great wines, working, reading, net surfing - I even borrowed one of those game things once and had a blast! I can't imagine ever getting bored there, even being there all day, but then bored isn't a regular feeling state for me so different personalities may vary.

Like anything it's a subjective experience and for me, they have always been great. I look forward to every trip there. I've been fortunate to visit the majority of F lounges accessible by oneworld emeralds now and the Qantas ones in Sydney and Melbourne are easily the benchmark so far.

Agreed it's a personal thing, but was responding to 'why would you spend 90 minutes in the terminal eating and having a massage, when you could have it in the lounge for no charge'

 

[footy99]

The salt and pepper squid is the one most people rave about.

I think it is OK. I have some Findus salt and pepper squid and lemon and pepper squid defrosting and will cook tonight.

Can you cook it like they do? I haven't been able to get close!

 

[drewbles]

What are you ordering?

Salt and pepper squid shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes.

It can often take 10 minutes to get a table alone.

 

[blackcat20]

The salt and pepper squid is the one most people rave about.

I think it is OK. I have some Findus salt and pepper squid and lemon and pepper squid defrosting and will cook tonight.

I don't usually eat seafood but I love their salt and pepper squid.

 

[JohnK]

That's assuming you only want an entrée, if you want to enjoy several dishes then you definitely need more than 20 minutes.

Maybe I take shortcuts and eat too quickly but I can easily eat 2 meals in <30 minutes. Order them together. And eat one after the other. I have no desire to replicate the restaurant experience.

 

[QF029]

For long haul, I find it relaxing to be at the airport several hours early to know that you're not subject to last minute problems such as traffic or immigration lines. If this means more time spent in the MEL or SYD F lounge then all the better.

 

[serfty]

I have not had their S&P squid since they served me a dish that was somewhat "off" in early 2008.

 

[JohnK]

Can you cook it like they do? I haven't been able to get close!

No I couldn't possibly cook it as good as them but the end result is still quite nice. If I had a deep fryer though it would be even better.

 

[boomy]

I tried the S&P squid for the first time recently and It didn't blow me away. Some of the other food we had was excellent but didn't enjoy the S&P that much..

Agree, the squid is average IMO. My favourite entrée is the tuna sashimi.