Qantas Club access for non-flying guest refused

[Mattg]

Does anyone know what the deal is at the moment with guesting in people who aren't flying with Qantas/Jetstar on the same day?

I've seen people bringing in guests who weren't flying at several lounges (e.g. CBR & ADL) over recent weeks. But last Thursday I was told at CFS that all guests must be travelling and need a boarding pass. They had a QR code at the door which my guest could have scanned, and there was only 1 other person in the lounge the entire time I was there.

Is there a different rule for regional lounges, perhaps?

 

[serfty]

Is there a different rule for regional lounges, perhaps?

I suspect some have failed to read or understand "the Memo".

There are no longer any caveats re guesting on the "fly with us COVID-19" page.

Service updates | Qantas

The latest updates to Qantas network, inflight and airport services.

www.qantas.com

No restrictions are on the eligibility page:

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

 

[Lynda2475]

Back in December after the AFF weekend in CBR Airwin and I tried to guest some fellow AFF'ers who were flying virgin into CBR J lounge and it was a no, were told they needed to be flying on a QF or J flight.

Similarly when i flew on Anzac weekend i saw non flying guests ahead of me get turned away from SYD and CBR J lounges - both lounges reasonably busy at the time.

If policy now allows entry there are definitely some staff that are still playing covid rules card. Probably trying to avoid needing to manually capture the guests details as in SYD you need to check in using service nsw app and also by scanning boarding pass.

 

[Mattg]

Back in December after the AFF weekend in CBR Airwin and I tried to guest some fellow AFF'ers who were flying virgin into CBR J lounge and it was a no, were told they needed to be flying on a QF or J flight.

Yes, that was definitely the rule back in December. But I saw a family being allowed into the CBR J lounge in early May when only the father was flying. The rest of the family signed in using the QR code.

 

[Mattg]

Well I asked Qantas about this on social media, and they confirmed I should have been allowed to bring a guest into the lounge who wasn't flying.

It seems the staff at CFS haven't been informed of the rule change?

 

[serfty]

It was the rule back when the lounges reopened in July:
Eligibility requirements
Lounge access eligibility conditions apply, however there's some new temporary measures in place.

• If a Qantas Club lounge is closed and a Business lounge is open in that same airport, you’ll be able to access the Business lounge if capacity limits haven’t been met.
• If you’d like to bring a guest into the lounge, you both must be travelling on the same Qantas flight.

Qantas lounges reopening 1 July 2020

Qantas lounges start to reopen from tomorrow. Post your experience in this thread! Date Lounge 1 July 2020 Qantas Business lounges: Canberra, Perth and Sydney Qantas Club lounges: Adelaide, Alice Springs, Broome, Coffs Harbour, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Launceston and Tamworth Mid-July 2020...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Looking at the wayback machine, the domestic "travelling on the same flight" guesting rule disappeared between 28th Feb and 13th Apr.

Wayback Machine

web.archive.org

 

[Fergo747]

Well there's Qantas being its usual inconsistent self.

Whilst I agree that the rules should allow you to bring a non-flying guest into the lounge, I do understand in a smaller regional lounge like CFS why they may restrict access. It's a tiny lounge that in pre-COVID times was sometimes difficult to find a seat and often times unmanned so capacity wasn't really monitored.

 

[Mattg]

Well there's Qantas being its usual inconsistent self.

Whilst I agree that the rules should allow you to bring a non-flying guest into the lounge, I do understand in a smaller regional lounge like CFS why they may restrict access. It's a tiny lounge that in pre-COVID times was sometimes difficult to find a seat and often times unmanned so capacity wasn't really monitored.

Completely understand this. However the lounge is now staffed at all times (staff need to hand you food/drinks etc.) and there was only one other person in the lounge at the time of my visit. The staff member at the door had a manifest of all eligible passengers on the departing flights, so would have known this.