CBR Business Lounge food

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texter

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After my meeting finishing at 5PM, I now realise that I have a good 2 hours at the airport next week before the next flt out (8:30). Given it is dinner time, would it be a wrong strategy to request an upgrade to J so that I can eat something more decent(?) in the J lounge (as opposed to the QP)?

What would be served for dinner?
 
Flying to MEL? You will get better food in Y than in J, so for that reason alone I would not burn points for an upgrade.

As for the lounge, there isn't much of a difference between QP and J lounges, as far as I'm aware. In the J lounge you'll get a nice salad, possibly some soup, and a hot dish (usually a stew with rice). There may also be a plate of the day, which could be something like chicken wings or satay sticks, or just a cheese plate.

If I were you I'd stay in town, have a meal, then head to airport a bit later.
 
Disagree with kermantu as I always feel that the food in the JLounge is much better than food in the QP.
That said, I wouldn't waste my money or points to get an upgrade for the sole purpose of getting dinner in the JLounge. To put bluntly the JLounge just isn't that good.

Save you're points and/or money, get dinner before heading out to the airport. Whilst you don't say where your meetings are, getting to the City / Braddon is pretty easy, get something to eat there, you could easily have finished by 7pm and start making your way out to the airport with tons of time up your sleeve. Esp if you've already OLCI.
 
I wouldn't waste money on an upgrade to gain access to business lounge over Qantas lounge.

It is debatable whether the food in the business lounge is always better than the Qantas lounge. That would depend on your tastes and on the day.
 
Arrived at the CBR J lounge about 6pm a few weeks ago. Was pretty disappointed with the dinner options. Some kind of curry and rice. That was it for hot food. Not really sure how that's any better to what was on offer in the QP.
 
Curry and rice would be nice. My favourite J lounge buffet hot dish is beef rendang (I've never been to the CBR J Lounge but I assume they do that there too, not just in the other J lounges).

The J lounges that have been done up more recently have a wider variety of food options (PER, BNE). MEL is next. No idea when they'll do up CBR but presumably that'll get a better range once that's done up as well.
 
I doubt the J lounge in CBR will be renovated any time soon. It is quite new, and there's rarely enough passengers there to warrant a refurb. Other than foggy morning delays, the only time I've seen it crowded is around 5 to 6pm when there are MEL, SYD, ADL and PER flights. But then it's dead by 6:30pm. And if memory serves, they start to focus on cakes / sweets etc. So another reason for the OP not to bother upgrading.
 
Dinners in domestic J lounges are meh. The breakfasts are OK though. If you've got a flexible ticket, why not get an earlier flight? Don't hang around the airport if you don't have to!
 
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wanderer_au said:
Dinners in domestic J lounges are meh. The breakfasts are OK though. If you've got a flexible ticket, why not get an earlier flight? Don't hang around the airport if you don't have to!
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Different people have different tastes. I find the breakfasts are pretty poor in the J lounges and the dinners are often fantastic.

Sure you get a few extras compared with what's in the QANTAS Club for breakfast, but I don't think there's much difference. The scrambled eggs I've had in MEL/SYD, whilst nice to have are a buffet option. Eggs are done a lot better imo when cooked on demand for an individual order (which isn't practical for the J Lounge).
 
mviy said:
Different people have different tastes. I find the breakfasts are pretty poor in the J lounges and the dinners are often fantastic.

Sure you get a few extras compared with what's in the QANTAS Club for breakfast, but I don't think there's much difference. The scrambled eggs I've had in MEL/SYD, whilst nice to have are a buffet option. Eggs are done a lot better imo when cooked on demand for an individual order (which isn't practical for the J Lounge).
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Agree. Most buffet breakfasts in lounges feel like cafeteria fare to me. Unless you are lucky to catch a fresh serve of bacon / sausages / eggs etc.

I don't think there are MEL flights between 17:30 and 20:30, but could be wrong.
 
Daver6 said:
Arrived at the CBR J lounge about 6pm a few weeks ago. Was pretty disappointed with the dinner options. Some kind of curry and rice. That was it for hot food. Not really sure how that's any better to what was on offer in the QP.
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Dinner in the CBR QP a couple of weeks ago was the usual sandwich station, a pasta/rice salad from memory and some sausage rolls.

Definitely a difference compared to my previous visit to the J-Lounge around dinner time.
 
Thanks everyone for their replies
Yes, this is a flex ticket, however the earlier flight on that day is 1830 I think, so I will have to wait for the 2030.

I didn't have that great of an expectation and yes, there might be better use of the points. But it is only 5000 compared with the usual 10000 if I was on a red e-deal.

I am curious now, so is there meant to be any difference between the food offerings at night between the two lounges?
 
In my experience, the J lounge and Qantas Club in CBR tend to have similar food, but the J lounge will also have 1 or 2 more hot options (e.g. a curry), and possibly better wine and dessert options. The Qantas Club does have better views of the runway though.

Personally, for 5,000 points I would upgrade. At least the flight is longer than CBR-SYD!
 
I was in CBR QP on Wednesday evening from 5:30pm-9pm (flight got delayed) and they were serving curry, pumpkin soup and pasta salad. Sounds like what others described as being J lounge standard - so I wouldn't think there is any difference.
 
The food differences between the CBR QP and J lounge at breakfast and dinner can be boiled down to: the J Lounge has hot protein on offer (sausages, mushrooms and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and curry/stew at dinner) and the QP does not - it relies on ingredients for toasties, and boiled eggs at brekkie. I like a nice hot cooked breakfast, I do, so it's the J Lounge for me. Stuff the view. YMMV.
 
Interestingly, I put an upgrade request through and it was not immediately approved.
I thought if an award ticket in J is still available for the flight I would get the upgrade straight away?
FWIW Expertflyer shows the whole cabin is empty....
 
texter said:
Interestingly, I put an upgrade request through and it was not immediately approved.
I thought if an award ticket in J is still available for the flight I would get the upgrade straight away?
FWIW Expertflyer shows the whole cabin is empty....
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Is there U class? (i.e. Can you book a business award seat for the same flight?)
 
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