First time in Qantas lounge

[WayneConnor]

Hi all. I tried the Qantas lounge at Sydney airport for the fist time. It was a bit underwhelming. It was crowded. Hot. Toilets not that clean. I ended up going out to a coffee shop in the man airport. What is the advantage of the lounge?

 

[SYD]

Hi all. I tried the Qantas lounge at Sydney airport for the fist time. It was a bit underwhelming. It was crowded. Hot. Toilets not that clean. I ended up going out to a coffee shop in the man airport. What is the advantage of the lounge?

Which terminal?

Welcome to AFF BTW.

 

[WayneConnor]

Thanks!

Domestic terminal.
I was flying from Sydney to Melbourne.

 

[Hvr]

Depending on the time it can be a bit of a zoo. It's OK now.

 

[WayneConnor]

The Melbourne one was very nice.

 

[Saab34]

Sydney Virgin lounge is much the same in peak. It’s just as busy in the bathrooms etc as the normal terminal.

 

[vhojm]

The Sydney domestic business lounges are known to be pretty awful and due for an upgrade. Not sure it’s worth making a thread for it though.

Personally I prefer to go to the lounge to use the bathroom and then walk up and down the terminal for steps before the flight.

 

[New to this]

Free food and booze and front-row seats to study the species called ‘business travellers’.

 

[SYD]

Thanks!

Domestic terminal.
I was flying from Sydney to Melbourne.

Lounges, especially domestic ones can be polarising. They can be a quiet respite before a flight but during peak times, they’re full of road worriers doing the weekly trudge.

No doubt confronting to the first time visitor.

A very good friend would say to me, “There are more people in the lounge than the terminal”. That was in the mid 1980s!

 

[downgraded]

Hi all. I tried the Qantas lounge at Sydney airport for the fist time. It was a bit underwhelming. It was crowded. Hot. Toilets not that clean. I ended up going out to a coffee shop in the man airport. What is the advantage of the lounge?

Realistically it's the free booze if it's your thing. The terminal offerings are probably now a more pleasant option than the QC at peak times in both MEL and SYD. I too once aspired to the allure of the QC, but have now realised (30 years later, LTG, and a decade or more as WP) that $20 or $30 in the terminal will be a far better experience than the QC lounge. The QC has not kept pace with airport facility improvements, you're just going to find trays of slop with no protein, no decent breakfast/dinner options, spaces without outside windows, the lounge really isn't worth it.

If you're going to be a real frequent flyer and access the business and first lounges, then go for it, but realistically the QF domestic lounges are unlikely to improve your travel experience based on your initial assessment.