New Ability to Purchase Single-Visit Lounge Passes

[justinbrett]

You clearly think nothing is going to change. Qantas would never screw over its loyal customers (lol).

No, I think QF has and will keep its hands on the levers of when it will offer the passes and to how many people.

Very easy to implement, it knows flight loads and approx number of guests for a given time period, it can work out excess capacity and restrict sales once that is exceeded.

In any case if people are spending $60 to go to a domestic QP, let them. They'll be subsidising the rest of us and gives QF more money to fund the lounges and associated renovations.

 

[Guvner]

I see the step to this new platform as the expansion of that offering — indeed, why would Qantas spend all the time and money on creating a new platform if it weren't intending to expand paid lounge access?

That made me laugh. A new platform... Update their Excel spreadsheet macro you mean?

 

[levelnine]

One of the funnier (ie more transparent) forms of Qantas apologia you see in these forums is the one where there's no version of the future where Qantas does something wrong.

Qantas doesn't expand paid lounge access? See, nothing to worry about.

Qantas expands paid lounge access? Nothing to worry about, all these new people are cross-subsiding lounge access for elites by paying for renovations.

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2024

That made me laugh. A new platform... Update their Excel spreadsheet macro you mean?

You laugh, but it probably took Qantas 3 years to build this functionality lol.

 

[justinbrett]

One of the funnier (ie more transparent) forms of Qantas apologia you see in these forums is the one where there's no version of the future where Qantas does something wrong.

Qantas doesn't expand paid lounge access? See, nothing to worry about.

Sure there is. Qantas expanding free lounge access. Increasing guest entitlements.

QF has had paid lounge access for years.

 

[levelnine]

When a OWE/OWS elite enters an overcrowded AA lounge, the first thing they definitely think to themselves is: we're so lucky to have all these paid members cross-subsidising these facilities lol.

 

[justinbrett]

When a OWE/OWS elite enters an overcrowded AA lounge, the first thing they definitely think to themselves is: we're so lucky to have all these paid members cross-subsidising these facilities lol.

Well the BA Galleries lounges are coughhouse, and they don't have a paid access program (not sure if they do single day passes).

Their F lounge at LHR is one of the worst F lounges in oneworld; AA Flagship lounges cough all over it, and they're not even F lounges.

Many people in US lounges are there because of the credit cards they hold, which is an entirely different problem I'm glad we don't have here.

 

[PumaPilot]

My pennies worth.......it's wrong to sell lounge access to the first lounges, either pay to fly first of pay to sit on many many flights to get to Platinum. After the pandemic, I transited through MEL a lot. I would be in the Biz lounge as a Plat member and the lounge was full of idiots and I do mean Idiots who had cashed in there Wollies points etc. to fly Biz to Sydney of Brisbane and they had no idea how to behave. I saw 2 people empty a full glass jars of sweats into their handbags, another was grabbing handfuls of jams/vegimite etc. On my next visit, the same scene awaited me, idiots taking advantage of lounge access. Please start abusing me for my post, I don't care, I'm not being elitist, just what I saw multiple times.

 

[The Astronomer]

I read "up to" as they can be purchased any time prior to one hour before your departure time. So that if your flight departs at 3pm then you cannot buy the pass after 2pm.

I would read it as prior to one hour before departure, too. However, the use of 'up to' in sentences like this is ambiguous. I was confused last year when reading conditions for applying for a visa to visit a certain country, with the wording that one could apply for visas 'up to 45 days before travel'.

 

[Beano]

I remember buying access to the Air NZ international lounges in SYD and BNE at the door, but not sure that is still available..

 

[p--and--t]

The pedant in me says everyone using a lounge is/has bought access to the lounge (one way or another).

 

[elanshin]

I don't think there's anything crazily wrong about QF selling lounge passes if they're targeted and not available to evey flight.

SYD/MEL QP at 6pm is a very different place to 1pm. They could sell a bunch for flights in the middle of the day then blackout from 4-7.

Overall they have the data to make this work, they know when the lounges are empty at any given day with all the data they need. Whether they end up doing it correctly or not is the question.

 

[TomVexille]

As is expected for Qantas, the implementation is a dog's breakfast.

100 points for the MEL QC lol.

View attachment 365563

That's about what it's worth based on my last visit

 

[Seat0B]

Correct. Seeing them pop up everywhere in the last couple of days.

View attachment 365571

oh those poor sweet newbies!

 

[Seat0B]

another was grabbing handfuls of jams/vegimite etc.

Might have been me or someone like me .... Vegemite under 100mls for carry on

But I did have a good reason....

 

[lovestotravel]

Another enhancement to make the lounges even busier, a great revenue opportunity

Luckily I don't fly QF

 

[AFF Editor]

Qantas has clarified a few things about the new paid lounge passes tile on its website.

Basically, anyone who was already eligible for a paid lounge pass invitation can now also purchase this online using either cash or points. There are no changes to the eligibility to purchase a lounge pass, although Qantas says it is progressively rolling out this option on certain routes.

If you have an existing booking and want to see if you're eligible to buy a lounge pass, you can long into the new lounge passes page. This is in addition to the emails that get sent to eligible customers ahead of upcoming flights inviting them to purchase lounge access.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Qantas has clarified a few things about the new paid lounge passes tile on its website.

Basically, anyone who was already eligible for a paid lounge pass invitation can now also purchase this online using either cash or points. There are no changes to the eligibility to purchase a lounge pass, although Qantas says it is progressively rolling out this option on certain routes.

If you have an existing booking and want to see if you're eligible to buy a lounge pass, you can long into the new lounge passes page. This is in addition to the emails that get sent to eligible customers ahead of upcoming flights inviting them to purchase lounge access.

Awesome.
So the sky isn’t falling in and everyone won’t be able to buy their way into a lounge on any flight.

 

[levelnine]

although Qantas says it is progressively rolling out this option on certain routes.

Talk about burying the lede lol.

More paid access coming to a Qantas lounge near you. We've seen it has already been extended as far as the dire and horribly cramped HBA QC, which means they're intending to go very far indeed with this roll out on the new platform.

 

[CaptJCool]

The best way to obtain loyalty is Lounge access. They’ve known this a long long time

https://www.actuaries.asn.au/Library/Events/FSF/2012/AnalyticsOfLoyalty3BChandlerTubman.pdf

What it suggests is
1. After all the recent fanfare many regular flyers have walked away
2. To bring In the next “wave” of loyalty you need open the door to the lounge to the newbies or the waverers
3. The long term offering (book 45 days in advance) of $449 J fares between Syd & Melb or Bris brings fancy lounge access but since I’d not seen this before (ever) suggests there’s been a significant enough egress to cause them to majorly reduce the J fare for Josephine Public

 

[RichardMEL]

I expect QF would be very careful with this. We've already seen lounge crowding issues go to ridiculous levels for some carriers (hello Delta) and just look at the endless numbers of people eligible for VA lounges (and the - rare - times I've been in them they've been packed). I have no problem with the airline looking at an extra revenue opportunity, but not at the expense of lounge amenity (or just throw all the paid pax into the current SYD dom J lounge where they'll soon reconsider their life choices )

I also agree that QF is unlikely to sell access to the F lounge - but do note that QR for example *do* sell access to theirs (though only to QR ticketed J pax and some other restrictions, so not a free-for-all). At times the SYD and MEL QF Flounges (and even LAX in the evenings when you have QF bank/BA/CX flights all going can get quite crowded as is.