mad_atta
Member
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2015
- Posts
- 212
- Qantas
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- Virgin
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- Oneworld
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- Gold
I along with 3 friends recently flew out of SFO on QF, so finally got to check out the lounge situation. At check-in they confirmed that the AF lounge is the official lounge for Qantas. We'd been at a street party all day and hadn't really eaten, so for us the priorities were 1) champagne, to keep the party going and pretend for a little longer that we were still on holiday; and 2) some food to line our stomachs (knowing how stingy QF's J catering is, I'd hate to get on board genuinely hungry).
We went to AF first, and to my very happy surprise found they were serving Louis Roederer, one of my favourite NV drops, in the very tastefully designed bar area. They also had a very respectable range of other (mostly French, but some Californian) wines on offer, including chablis.
The food offer was pretty good too - had slightly canteen vibes but decent quality and some very substantial options including beef bourguignon, croque monsieur, hearty vegetables etc.
Bar and catering aside, I found the lounge a little odd. It's all very functional and fresh and clean post-renovation, but very very brightly lit and quite antiseptic. It was also utterly, totally silent - not even very quiet music, and nobody really speaking despite being reasonably busy. The atmosphere was like a tomb designed by IKEA.
We then pressed on to CX, which also is a fairly bright and sterile lounge, though not to the same extent as AF. I was happy to discover that they, too were serving champagne - this time Pommery, another highly respectable drop, though a clear step down from Roederer in my opinion. (Probably for the best, as the swill onboard QF was a very substantial step down again. It was apparently Duval-Leroy but I don't know why it tastes much worse on QF than on, say QR. Is it just because I'd been drinking something nicer immediately prior? Or is it just me?)
I didn't eat much in the CX lounge but food spread seemed OK, perhaps a smidge less good than AF. Then again, CX had the made to order noodle bar, which is always reliably good.
By the exalted standards of CX's best lounges this is a relatively weak offering, but for an outstation lounge in a US airport it's very respectable, as is the AF lounge. You could do a lot worse, just don't expect a vibe (and bring your own headphones).
We went to AF first, and to my very happy surprise found they were serving Louis Roederer, one of my favourite NV drops, in the very tastefully designed bar area. They also had a very respectable range of other (mostly French, but some Californian) wines on offer, including chablis.
The food offer was pretty good too - had slightly canteen vibes but decent quality and some very substantial options including beef bourguignon, croque monsieur, hearty vegetables etc.
Bar and catering aside, I found the lounge a little odd. It's all very functional and fresh and clean post-renovation, but very very brightly lit and quite antiseptic. It was also utterly, totally silent - not even very quiet music, and nobody really speaking despite being reasonably busy. The atmosphere was like a tomb designed by IKEA.
We then pressed on to CX, which also is a fairly bright and sterile lounge, though not to the same extent as AF. I was happy to discover that they, too were serving champagne - this time Pommery, another highly respectable drop, though a clear step down from Roederer in my opinion. (Probably for the best, as the swill onboard QF was a very substantial step down again. It was apparently Duval-Leroy but I don't know why it tastes much worse on QF than on, say QR. Is it just because I'd been drinking something nicer immediately prior? Or is it just me?)
I didn't eat much in the CX lounge but food spread seemed OK, perhaps a smidge less good than AF. Then again, CX had the made to order noodle bar, which is always reliably good.
By the exalted standards of CX's best lounges this is a relatively weak offering, but for an outstation lounge in a US airport it's very respectable, as is the AF lounge. You could do a lot worse, just don't expect a vibe (and bring your own headphones).
