Thanks for a fabulous report at post 32, jedinite. It has certainly helped some of my planning for a trip next week. My wife and I are in the same situation in that we are both WP and flying AKL-MEL J class on EK metal with a QF flight number. On that basis I was assuming that we would have access to either lounge in our own right, but was wondering which was better. Your post makes it clear we should go for Emirates. We have been into the QF AKL first lounge and find it peaceful enough, but that’s about it really.
As an aside, we are taking my parents (who live in Melbourne) to NZ for their 50[SUP]th[/SUP] wedding anniversary. We decided to fly them back J class (as a small additional surprise) and were originally booked on a Jetconnect flight on the evening of 26 October. I got message from Qantas saying that had been cancelled and we were moved to a flight around midday, which was a hassle as it meant that we would really have to scramble to get back to Auckland on our last morning. So I was able to get Qantas to put us on the EK A380 flight, which leaves at 18.50. This was a great outcome, especially as the original cost was only $NZ549 – I imagine my folks will think it cost loads more when they see the A380 interior.
However, my question is this (and I’m sorry if this has been clearly spelt out elsewhere, but I couldn’t find what I thought was a definite answer). If, as a WP, I was taking the same flight (AKL-MEL, EK metal, QF flight number) but in Y, would I still have access to the Emirates lounge, or would I need J or better? Or does the agreement mean that the Emirates lounges operate in the same way as One World for QFF members, ie, access for Emerald/Sapphire and ability to bring in a guest?
Thanks and regards,
Horatio