Toasties Vs a Terminal Tipple: Is Paid Lounge Membership Good Value?

If you travel a fair bit – but not quite enough to earn Gold or Platinum status – is buying an airline lounge membership good value?

Given the sky-high airport terminal prices for food and drinks, the value proposition might be better than you think. We crunch the numbers to see if buying an annual lounge membership is good value for you…

Lounge membership costs

The annual Qantas Club cost for a new member is $699, plus a $129 joining fee, so $828 all up. Renewal costs $629 per year.

AFF Gold and Platinum members benefit from the discounted Qantas Club rate of just $689 for the first year and $504 per annum in subsequent years.

Qantas now also offers a 28-day Qantas Club membership option for $99 (plus $129 joining fee). The airline may even email you before your flight to offer to a one time lounge visit. These tailored offers may range in price from $25 to $84.

Virgin Australia annual lounge membership is cheaper at $450 per year, plus a $99 joining fee for first-timers. Renewal costs $450 annually. Alternatively you can pay $65 for one-time Virgin Australia Lounge access, or enjoy unlimited Virgin Australia Lounge access (and a free return flight each year) with an Amex Velocity Platinum credit card costing $440/year.

Remember, lounge access is free if you have Gold status or higher. But reaching Gold might be particularly difficult for travellers who do a lot of short domestic flights on low fares.

For example, on Qantas, you need 700 status credits to initially hit Gold. This is equivalent to 70 one-way Sydney-Melbourne trips on Red e-Deal fares.

Virgin Australia’s new spend-based criteria makes Velocity Gold status a fairly high bar too. Effectively, you now need to spend a minimum of $6,000 per annum on eligible flights to reach Gold. Assuming a typical east coast one-way Choice fare of $160, that’s roughly to 40 flights a year.

If your flying pattern involves a lot of short-haul Economy Class trips, you’d be spending a lot of time in airports without reaching Gold status. Hence, your options are either to book a status run or buy lounge membership.

The toastie or fruit salad test

Let’s look at value in simple terms: How much would you otherwise spend on food and drinks at the airport?

As most seasoned domestic travellers would know, DIY toasties, soups and salads are staples in Australian airline lounges throughout the day.

Similar food can be found in terminal food courts. At Melbourne Airport recently, I spotted a ham, cheese and tomato toastie in a cafe display cabinet for $15. The same outlet was selling a rudimentary packaged fruit salad for $14.50. Fruit salad usually features on lounge buffets at breakfast time.

If you’re paying $689 for Qantas Club membership with the AFF discount, you’d need to eat just over 45 terminal toasties or fruit salads in a year to break even.

Not just toasties

But of course the lounge buffet offers more than just toasties. There’s barista coffee, tea, soft drinks, water and a bar from midday onwards. At dinner time there is usually a hot dish of some description such as pasta or a simple vegetable curry.

This was my light dinner on a recent Qantas Club visit.

I also had sparkling water, two small glasses of wine and a cup of tea, and my lounge ritual sweet snack of two liquorice all sorts.

For equivalence, let’s assume a pre-flight purchase in the terminal of:

• $7 coffee or tea
• $5 bottle of water
• $18 sandwich, soup or salad

That’s $30 per trip. Add a glass of wine or a beer, and you’d be looking at spending upwards of $45 in the terminal to have a light meal similar to what I cobbled together in the lounge.

At $45 per trip, a Qantas Club membership starts becoming competitive after just 18 visits based on this admittedly arbitrary example – notwithstanding the overall better quality food you could probably find in most domestic terminals.

With Virgin Australia Lounge membership at $450 annually, the break-even number of trips is just 10!

Lounges aren’t just about the food & drinks

Of course, every traveller values different aspects of airline lounges. While some head straight for the bar or buffet, others appreciate access to charging outlets, more comfortable and spacious seating, a quieter ambiance (most of the time) and better decor.

Lounge access isn’t just about the food. Membership also buys you peace and quiet away from crowded terminal, fast, free Wi-Fi, power outlets, work stations, and cleaner bathrooms with showers in most locations. You might even get to enjoy some live music.

Australian airline lounges vary in quality

Like so many things in the aviation industry, I think the quality of airport lounges has been on a downward trajectory in recent years. They are often crowded and far from peaceful. While some recently renovated lounges are in good shape (hello Adelaide Qantas and Virgin lounges), others are in desperate need of a makeover (ahem… Hobart Qantas Club).

Hot food options beyond DIY toasties and soup tend to be limited and made of cheap ingredients. Without doubt, you’ll find a wider variety and better quality food in the terminal. However, airport food prices are so inflated that the lounge offering may seem not so bad, despite its mediocrity.

Over at the bar, the range of alcoholic drinks is unlikely to win any awards. I’ve encountered some particularly rough wines lately in Virgin lounges. The wine in the Qantas Club tends to be a little bit better.

On the plus side, both the Virgin and Qantas baristas usually make reliable, if not great, coffee.

Is paid lounge membership good value?

If you’re a regular traveller without Gold Status, and you buy food or coffee at the airport on average 15 or more times a year, lounge membership is a good value proposition. Just don’t set your expectations too high in terms of amenities and catering in 2025 on both major Australian airlines.

There is of course also a range of credit cards available that come with various lounge access perks for Qantas, Virgin, American Express or Priority Pass affiliated lounges.

For infrequent flyers, pay-per-visit options don’t really represent good value in my opinion when they tend to cost upwards of $60, even compared to expensive terminal dining outlets. On the other hand, the once-a-year traveller might find the “special” experience of spending time in an airport lounge to be a great start to their holiday.

Finally, if you’re in the terminal you can check AFF’s “I’m in the Qantas Lounge” and “I’m in the Virgin Lounge” threads to see if a fellow forum member can guest you into the lounge!