Article: Qantas Auckland Lounge Upgrade: The End of an Era

[henrus]

Once the catering switchover after 4pm is complete , they take photos of the buffet.

A classic at all EK lounges, my guess they have to send them to head office in Dubai.

 

[QFFHntrGthr]

Woo hoo, you read about it here first back on 5 Oct. Hearsay no more. Here's hoping the part about the availability of french bubbles is also spot on too.

Not sure if anyone else is aware, in the new QF AKL lounge, there will be a separate area for F and P1 pax. A QF manager told me this when I complained to him about the absence of champagne during non EK hours. He said since it's a F/P1 area, he would assume there will be champagne available in that area.
A QF host also told me that the AKL lounge work is ahead of schedule and it might reopen in Dec.
We wouldn't know any of this for sure until it does reopen. Unofficial chats aren't always accurate and is mere hearsay.

https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qantas-reopens-auckland-lounge

 

[Berlin]

The headline surely must be a silly joke though- right?!? “Pleasingly ahead of the previously-stated “early 2026” timeframe.”

That’s ridiculous- like ahead of the 55th timeframe we have been offered on this project? Are they serious? We always knew that Qantas marketing are the best spinners of cow$t anywhere in the world but this is a new high/low, even for them! And the gullible so called “media” of course prints exactly what they got forced fed by Qantas comms department

 

[elanshin]

The headline surely must be a silly joke though- right?!? “Pleasingly ahead of the previously-stated “early 2026” timeframe.”

That’s ridiculous- like ahead of the 55th timeframe we have been offered on this project? Are they serious? We always knew that Qantas marketing are the best spinners of cow$t anywhere in the world but this is a new high/low, even for them! And the gullible so called “media” of course prints exactly what they got forced fed by Qantas comms department

Its one of those, its not wrong, but just tinted. It bringing forward the timeline is at least better than the norm these days which is "due to unforeseen circumstances, its now delayed" which tends to happen with most infrastructure builds when they start.

 

[bussyboy]

Oh I'd hoped for the early reopen, but I'm on an AKL-PER flight in the previous week

 

[justinbrett]

The headline surely must be a silly joke though- right?!? “Pleasingly ahead of the previously-stated “early 2026” timeframe.”

That’s ridiculous- like ahead of the 55th timeframe we have been offered on this project? Are they serious? We always knew that Qantas marketing are the best spinners of cow$t anywhere in the world but this is a new high/low, even for them! And the gullible so called “media” of course prints exactly what they got forced fed by Qantas comms department

But it’s not like they closed the old lounge and then kept extending the completion date.

Sure, the work was deferred many times, but from when they started, it was completed (slightly) quicker than advertised. I’d much rather than the first scenario.

 

[jbda2017]

Did anyone see the bit in the Platinum News email about a new bespoke a la carte NP dining experience exclusively for platinum and above in the new akl lounge? Anyone got any news or further info on that?

 

[DrJ]

Did anyone see the bit in the Platinum News email about a new bespoke a la carte NP dining experience exclusively for platinum and above in the new akl lounge? Anyone got any news or further info on that?

Saw that today also. While it makes me think of a F lounge within a lounge thing (on the spectrum of the private room at SIN), the current reality has taught me to dismiss such things and see what is actually there when I get back to AKL next year...

 

[johndoe]

But it’s not like they closed the old lounge and then kept extending the completion date.

Sure, the work was deferred many times, but from when they started, it was completed (slightly) quicker than advertised. I’d much rather than the first scenario.

also to be fair - I understand delays were due to issues with Auckland Airport and some building defects.

 

[kiwitripper64]

It will be interesting to see how the new lounge looks and feels. I hope its stunningly good. But I always remember that old news comedy "Frontline" when they brought in a new set designer to give all the improvements that were "needed" not wanted. I think S1E4
In this case we need a champagne tower in the entrance, decent coffee, Hungry Jacks walk through, enough private seating, a kids play area and the F spa experience.
As we are being fair, we will allow punters to vote and remove 2 of the above to keep costs down