Qantas club is a scam

[mcguyver]

Just checked in at Gatwick airport for flight to Dubai on EK16 only to be informed that we do not qualify for lounge access. WTF?.... Why not.
Only at Heathrow replied the very polite lady. What's the difference. Just flew in from Barcelona and just wanted a shower.

QANTAS IS an absolute joke.

Not happy.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Are you flying on an EK or QF flight number on the EK aircraft?
Have you read the QF lounge acess t&c when at on EK tickets?
It is very clear if you have lounge access or no lounge access as a QF club member

 

[ketsuzei]

Frequent Flyer - Earning Points - Fly - Emirates Partnership FAQs
3. As a Qantas Club Member do I have access to all Emirates lounges?
For travel on/after 31 March 2013, Qantas Club Members will be welcomed at the Emirates Business lounge in Dubai when their next onward flight that day is with Qantas (QF) or Emirates (EK).
Qantas Club members will have access to Qantas International Business Lounges in Australia and to the American Airlines Admirals Lounge at London Heathrow T3 when their next onward flight is with Qantas (QF) or Emirates (EK) to Dubai or Australia. The current lounge benefits for Qantas Club members will remain unchanged when travelling on a Qantas marketed flight.

 

[markis10]

It is very clear if you have lounge access or no lounge access as a QF club member

I disagree when the first line about access is worded the way it is on the Qantas Club site:

New! Qantas Club Members and Eligible Skywards members as well as customers in First and Business cabins will have access to Emirates and Qantas Lounges.

That implies plural in the context of Emirates.

 

[maroonone]

Suggest OP should have used a less confronting title as it took me a whole minute find on the QANTAS web site an unambiguous
"Qantas Club members will continue to have access to Qantas operated International Business Lounges* and will be welcomed at the Emirates Business lounge in Dubai when their next onward flight that day is with Qantas or Emirates."
I can't find any evidence of a scam

 

[mannej]

So is that what we call ignorance now? A scam?
You learn something new everyday...

 

[nlagalle]

Just checked in at Gatwick airport for flight to Dubai on EK16 only to be informed that we do not qualify for lounge access. WTF?.... Why not.
Only at Heathrow replied the very polite lady. What's the difference. Just flew in from Barcelona and just wanted a shower.

QANTAS IS an absolute joke.

Not happy.

Difference is there is a Qantas lounge there which QP members have access too.. The only time you may have had access at Gatwick was before BA change their lounge names...

 

[basso]

I disagree when the first line about access is worded the way it is on the Qantas Club site:

New! Qantas Club Members and Eligible Skywards members as well as customers in First and Business cabins will have access to Emirates and Qantas Lounges.

That implies plural in the context of Emirates.

The first line is then followed by the second line

For First and Business customers, this includes access to Emirates' First Class and Business Class Lounges in Dubai Terminal 3 including new lounges in Concourse A as well as Qantas and Emirates Lounges in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Taken together, yes, it is plural, and no it's not Gatwick

 

[timster]

I can't find any evidence of a scam

Maybe not a scam. However the value of QP for Europe-bound travellers was decimated by the EK deal.

Before the deal, QP members had access to BA-owned lounges in any UK or European port when flying into Europe or flying home on BA or QF, including Gatwick. QF offered to refund QP memberships at the time because of this loss.

In the final years of the QF/BA JSA, BA lounge access was also often granted for intra-European travel to QP members (although no longer guaranteed), as it had always been previously.

One would have assumed that equivalent access would have been made available under the EK deal. One would be wrong - unfortunately.

Maybe not a scam .. but just as bad as one.

 

[mannej]

Maybe not a scam. However the value of QP for Europe-bound travellers was decimated by the EK deal.

I would suggest that it was decimated prior to the EK deal. QP members had a greater access to the BA lounges without the caveats of connecting to a QF/BA flight home.

 

[nlagalle]

Maybe not a scam. However the value of QP for Europe-bound travellers was decimated by the EK deal.

Before the deal, QP members had access to BA-owned lounges in any UK or European port when flying into Europe or flying home on BA or QF, including Gatwick. QF offered to refund QP memberships at the time because of this loss.

In the final years of the QF/BA JSA, BA lounge access was also often granted for intra-European travel to QP members (although no longer guaranteed), as it had always been previously.

One would have assumed that equivalent access would have been made available under the EK deal. One would be wrong - unfortunately.

Maybe not a scam .. but just as bad as one.

Actually the benefits were diluted by BA renaming lounges well before the announcement of the EK tie up.. You only need to look here and see that it happened at least 12 months prior to the announcement..

 

[JohnPhelan]

Indeed, BA had stopped allowing QP members access to any BA Lounge that wasn't named "Terraces". If a "Terraces" lounge was rebranded "Galleries" - access was denied!

So access for QP members in Europe disappeared long before the EK deal.

 

[timster]

So access for QP members in Europe disappeared long before the EK deal.

That was not my experience. I was in BA lounges flying Y into and out of Europe (AMS, LHR, BRU, STR) with only QP status just months before the EK deal.

The only lounges I was refused access to were BA lounges but third-party operated, eg ZRH.

Others' mileage may have varied.

Even by the restrictive "letter" of the BA "law" in the latter stages of the JSA, there was greater access with BA than with EK (ie in continental European ports when flying home out of Europe).

 

[under the radar]

No big deal.. if you feel that QC membership no longer provides the value/benefits you require...don't renew your membership

 

[Danger]

According to the ever-helpful QF FAQs, Qantas Club members do indeed have access to all British Airways lounges:



It's one thing to not be able to rely on what a QF agent tells you about a particular rule or regulation, given it's essentially hearsay; quite another to not be able to rely on the airline's own FAQs.

 

[mannej]

That was not my experience. I was in BA lounges flying Y into and out of Europe (AMS, LHR, BRU, STR) with only QP status just months before the EK deal.

In and out of Europe? Were you directly connecting to long haul flights back to Australia? If not you were indeed lucky to gain entry.

 

[harvyk]

According to the ever-helpful QF FAQs, Qantas Club members do indeed have access to all British Airways lounges:

View attachment 30163

It's one thing to not be able to rely on what a QF agent tells you about a particular rule or regulation, given it's essentially hearsay; quite another to not be able to rely on the airline's own FAQs.

In QF's defense, this particular FAQ is not the first thing which pop's up when you start searching for QP, and it does link you back to the main lounge access page which does have the right information.
Still, something they really should fix, because you are right, it is on their main website.

 

[Steelo]

Yes maybe sloppy management of their website content - but not a scam? Why don't just have a thread called "lets bag Qantas" - and all the irrational complaints and whinging can go into that.

 

[medhead]

No big deal.. if you feel that QC membership no longer provides the value/benefits you require...don't renew your membership

Actually Qantas club members are entitled to a refund of remaining value if changes have significantly reduced their intended use of the membership.

According to the ever-helpful QF FAQs, Qantas Club members do indeed have access to all British Airways lounges:

View attachment 30163

It's one thing to not be able to rely on what a QF agent tells you about a particular rule or regulation, given it's essentially hearsay; quite another to not be able to rely on the airline's own FAQs.

The FAQ answer says that access is provided according to the partnership agreement guideline, not that BA lounges can be accessed. Clearly you're inferring too much from the FAQ without checking the clearly listed supporting documentation.

 

[MelUser]

BA were never very welcoming of Qantas Club members travelling in economy class even during the heyday of the QF/BA Cooperation.

Would it make any difference if the passenger (flying in economy class on EK) was a Qantas Gold or Platinum?

Would a QF flight number (operated by Emeriates) have helped?