Lounge Crawl at SYDT1 with China Airlines J

[SCM]

Hello all

I am planning to do a day-long lounge crawl at T1 at the end of May, and I would like some advice as to lounge access rules and which lounges are best.

Basically I have the following;
- China Airlines ticket from QFF as a classic reward flight, J going SYD -> TPE
- AMEX qantas ultimate
- Qantas lounge invites (general).

As far as I understand, I have access to all of;
- Skyteam Lounge (with my flight ticket, based on China Airlines J ticket)
- Amex lounge (with amex card)
- Qantas International Business lounge (with a Qantas invite, and flying on Qantas partner airline)

My flight is late in the evening (10pm)

So the questions are;

1. Can anyone see any problem with the logic above in terms of lounge access/eligibility?
2. Do any of those lounges have any rules stipulating I can't enter until X hours before the flight? (Ie. if I come 12 hours earlier in the morning or even earlier).
3. Most imporantly, what order would you rank these lounges in terms of food/alcohol and overall quality, so I can ideally go to them in that order?

Using up invites and whatnot is irrelevant, I am not going to use them all anyway because I usually fly J and have access that way, but this is probably the first time I've had access (at least I think) to 3 lounges, and be flying so late in the day.

Any other advice appreciated!
Thanks

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

1. Can anyone see any problem with the logic above in terms of lounge access/eligibility?
If the ticket is issued on QF flight code (which it looks like classic rewards book into) you should have access to the Qantas Business Lounge. If not the qantas lounge passes may work though someone else can confirm, Qantas' wording is a bit ambiguous but it does say eligible on any qantas or jetstar flight number. The other 2 shouldn't be an issue.
2. Do any of those lounges have any rules stipulating I can't enter until X hours before the flight? (Ie. if I come 12 hours earlier in the morning or even earlier).
I think you're biggest issue here will be checking in with China Airlines. This would only be open 3-4 hours before departure. And I think that will be plenty for these lounges. QF first would be the only lounge worth spending any more than that amount of time in.
3. Most imporantly, what order would you rank these lounges in terms of food/alcohol and overall quality, so I can ideally go to them in that order?
Skyteam and Amex will be similar and picks 1/2, most here will rank QF business at the bottom of any list of lounges at Syd T1.

 

[andye]

My understanding was that you can only access QF J with a pass (or Qantas Club) if you are on a QF or JQ coded flight.

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-experience/at-the-airport/airport-lounges/qantas-lounge-access-eligibility.html#international-business-lounge

I find QF J an airier more pleasant space than Amex though I guess that depends how busy it is

 

[RealtimeY]

- Qantas International Business lounge (with a Qantas invite, and flying on Qantas partner airline)

The invite isn't needed here because you're in J, but are you booked on a QF flight number? That's the requirement for getting into SYD QF J lounge when travelling on CI.

I'd usually recommend Skyteam lounge because of the superior view alone and I've found it less busy, but given you will be leaving at night I'm not so sure.
Food wise, QF J > Skyteam and Amex (same operator, slightly different offerings)

Amex feels like a dungeon, especially when it's crowded.

 

[SCM]

The flight number I see is CI52, so it's not a QF flight I guess. Very good point on that, after double-checking here, they don't even list the Qantas lounge -

https://calec.china-airlines.com/bvct/VipLounge?country=us&locale=en

Which means likely I wouldn't be able to get in, either through J partner ticket nor invite, hmmm.

Good point also about the check-in. I see China Airlines have QF codeshare flights to Melbourne, I suppose for those someone would check in with a Qantas counter and China Airlines wouldn't have a counter open until about 3/3.5 hours until flight.

Would I be able to check-in for a China Airlines (non codeshare qantas) flight at the qantas counter by any chance?

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Good point also about the check-in. I see China Airlines have QF codeshare flights to Melbourne, I suppose for those someone would check in with a Qantas counter and China Airlines wouldn't have a counter open until about 3/3.5 hours until flight.

Would I be able to check-in for a China Airlines (non codeshare qantas) flight at the qantas counter by any chance?

Unfortunately no chance. Those codeshare flights are domestic qantas services anyway. Check in is (almost always) determined by who's metal you're on, so in this case CI only.

 

[AIRwin]

Would I be able to check-in for a China Airlines (non codeshare qantas) flight at the qantas counter by any chance?

Not unless you're on a prior QF domestic connecting flight

 

[SCM]

Well that totally ruins my plan for the day. I wish they had self-check in on T1 international!

I guess I'll have to go 4 hours early and line up, hoping to get through quick.