Is the "International Departure Lounge" at CBR any good?

[bernardblack]

In a few months I have an FJ award in J (using QF points), SYD-NAN-DFW. Unfortunately on the day in question they had only the early-morning B737 SYD departure available as an award, not the lunchtime A350. I will keep my eye out for a QF or AA alternative (or UA using different points), or swap to the A350 departure if it opens up.

However, I really don't want to spend a day finding stuff to do in Nadi. On the same day, the CBR and ADL afternoon departures on B737s also have space and would connect more cleanly to the DFW flight. ADL has the Plaza Premium but it would mean an extra hour or more in the narrowbody seat. CBR is a similar flight duration to SYD. What is their shared International Departure Lounge like nowadays? Do J pax on FJ or QR get any special treatment? Is the bar good? And/or is the security/passport stuff efficient enough to stay in the QF lounge until close to boarding?

 

[Wing Nut]

In a few months I have an FJ award in J (using QF points), SYD-NAN-DFW. Unfortunately on the day in question they had only the early-morning B737 SYD departure available as an award, not the lunchtime A350. I will keep my eye out for a QF or AA alternative (or UA using different points), or swap to the A350 departure if it opens up.

However, I really don't want to spend a day finding stuff to do in Nadi. On the same day, the CBR and ADL afternoon departures on B737s also have space and would connect more cleanly to the DFW flight. ADL has the Plaza Premium but it would mean an extra hour or more in the narrowbody seat. CBR is a similar flight duration to SYD. What is their shared International Departure Lounge like nowadays? Do J pax on FJ or QR get any special treatment? Is the bar good? And/or is the security/passport stuff efficient enough to stay in the QF lounge until close to boarding?

We flew CBR-NAN earlier this year when I was SG. So, couple of things: we had acres to the J lounge as we flew on a Sunday, sweet! The CBR international departure lounge is fine. The bar's ok, over priced as usual though Mrs Nut said the Chardy wasn't that good. Is there any special treatment? Not really. There's no separate lounge nor I'm guessing freebies from the bar but that's normal. There's the usual priority boarding and separate line. There's also no priority security screening but given it's the only international flight ATM, it's not required. From our observations, we could have stayed in the lounge longer than what they said. We like the service FJ flight into and out of CBR, no more SYD or MEL transits. We even flew FJ from YVR to CBR via NAN last month just to avoid AUS transits!