Any first hand reports on Canberra - Doha and beyond?

[IrishPete]

This direction will be in Business Class.

Do we leave the plane at Melbourne? And for how long? Presumably business class lounge access is available, but is it worth it for the length of time?

And presumably we get back into the same seats for the Melbourne-Doha leg?

Contrary to my claim on another post, we do actually have a decent length of time to sample the lounge in Doha. It does make me dread the return trip which will be Cattle Class, probably with Qatar and tight connections that will prevent us having a shower in the spa in Doha airport. And although my AmEx card gives me some free lounge access in Melbourne Airport, I don't think we'll be able to access it during our brief stopover there (I assume we get off the plane?). Even if we do, the AmEx lounge doesn't have showers, which would be the main thing we would want. Maybe the public showers if we have time?

 

[moa999]

No first hand experience but believe it's 2.5hrs in MEL both ways, which is plenty of time to visit lounges.

And with that stay I'd definitely expect you to disembark.

Don't believe any showers in Amex Mel lounge, and I'm assuming you don't have Qantas Club/ Gold + to access the Qantas Biz Lounge.

 

[masco131]

This direction will be in Business Class.

Do we leave the plane at Melbourne? And for how long? Presumably business class lounge access is available, but is it worth it for the length of time?

And presumably we get back into the same seats for the Melbourne-Doha leg?

Contrary to my claim on another post, we do actually have a decent length of time to sample the lounge in Doha. It does make me dread the return trip which will be Cattle Class, probably with Qatar and tight connections that will prevent us having a shower in the spa in Doha airport. And although my AmEx card gives me some free lounge access in Melbourne Airport, I don't think we'll be able to access it during our brief stopover there (I assume we get off the plane?). Even if we do, the AmEx lounge doesn't have showers, which would be the main thing we would want. Maybe the public showers if we have time?

Yes, I got first hand experience as I just did this last month return.
You do leave the plane at Mel and get back on the same seat as you get 3x boarding pass presuming you are taking CBR-MEL-final destination.
You can do whatever you want with the time you have in Mel. I had access to The House lounge and used that in Mel using my priority pass. You do also get access to the virgin australia lounge in Canberra.

 

[IrishPete]

No first hand experience but believe it's 2.5hrs in MEL both ways, which is plenty of time to visit lounges.

And with that stay I'd definitely expect you to disembark.

Don't believe any showers in Amex Mel lounge, and I'm assuming you don't have Qantas Club/ Gold + to access the Qantas Biz Lounge.

Sadly I have no status that brings lounge access.

I was just looking at the reverse trip, and the Qatar website actually says 1.5 hours and disembark plane in Melbourne.

So I did a dummy booking for our outward flight, and yes, it shows disembark plane and 2h 25m. It doesn't in my booking, hence the silly question!

Yes, I got first hand experience as I just did this last month return.
You do leave the plane at Mel and get back on the same seat as you get 3x boarding pass presuming you are taking CBR-MEL-final destination.
You can do whatever you want with the time you have in Mel. I had access to The House lounge and used that in Mel using my priority pass. You do also get access to the virgin australia lounge in Canberra.

Thank you. In Business I would definitely expect access to the lounges!

 

[Rebus]

The lounge for QR pax at MEL is the Marhaba. I was there last month and it was ok, nothing special. There were 5-6 hot dishes, rice, soup, salads, self serve wine & beer. Plenty of seats ahead of the evening QR departure. I didn't look to see if there was a shower but according to their website there is one.

If you are flying J I would save your appetite for the plane.

 

[markis10]

Thank you. In Business I would definitely expect access to the lounges!

Depends on the fare, access to lounges is not a right flying J with Qatar by default

 

[IrishPete]

Depends on the fare, access to lounges is not a right flying J with Qatar by default

The lounge for QR pax at MEL is the Marhaba. I was there last month and it was ok, nothing special. There were 5-6 hot dishes, rice, soup, salads, self serve wine & beer. Plenty of seats ahead of the evening QR departure. I didn't look to see if there was a shower but according to their website there is one.

If you are flying J I would save your appetite for the plane.

Yeah, it's just somewhere to hang out and drink with nibbles.

 

[IrishPete]

Depends on the fare, access to lounges is not a right flying J with Qatar by default

A J paid for with Velocity Points? How can I find out?