As initially reported by Executive Traveller, Qantas is now offering paid access to its London Heathrow lounge. The offer extends even to non-oneworld passengers.
Today, a Qantas spokesman revealed further details about the offer, including the fact that it has now been rolled out to other lounges – including the first class lounge in Los Angeles – as well.
Six Qantas Lounges Offer Paid Access Now
The paid access to lounges, which reportedly costs 55 GBP in London, is being offered by Qantas to allow for better utilization of its lounges during off-peak hours.
Besides London Heathrow, Qantas currently offers paid access to its lounges in Los Angeles (both business and first), Hong Kong, Auckland, Wellington, and Perth. It’s worth noting here that besides non-Australian lounges, one lounge in Australia is included as well.
While the airline sells access to all passengers – including those not traveling on Qantas or other oneworld airlines, its spokesman has confirmed that:
Paid access is dependent on sufficient space being available, after eligible customers from Qantas, oneworld airlines and partner airlines are accommodated.
The airline has not specified what “off peak hours” means, however, below is a list of the eligible lounges, their opening hours, and the Qantas departures from those airports:
- London Heathrow (open from 8:00AM until 9:05PM)
- 11:55AM flight to Perth
- 8:35PM QF2 to Singapore
- Los Angeles (open from 6:30AM until 10:30PM)
- Flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, all leaving after 9:00PM
- Hong Kong (open from 7:30AM until 11:59PM)
- 6:20PM and 10:10PM flights to Sydney
- 6:30PM flight to Brisbane
- 7:05PM flight to Melbourne
- Auckland (open from 4:00AM until the last Qantas departure)
- 6:00AM, 8:30AM, 2:05PM, and 7:15PM flights to Melbourne
- 6:05AM, 8:40AM, 1:50PM, 4:25PM, and 7:00PM flights to Sydney
- 6:35AM and 4:30PM flights to Brisbane
- Wellington (open from 4:30AM until 6:30AM everyday, 1:00PM until 4:30PM everyday except for Wednesdays, and 1:30PM until 4:30PM on Wednesdays)
- 6:50AM and 4:00PM flights to Sydney
- 3:50PM flight to Melbourne
- Perth (open for one hour prior to each Qantas departure)
- 12:20PM flight to Singapore
- 7:20PM flight to London
As you can see, most of the lounges are open throughout the whole day. That’s in spite of the fact that at those outside of Australia and New Zealand, there are no Qantas flights departing during the day other than the noon flight from London to Perth.
While some of Qantas’ partner airlines send their passengers to the lounges as well, based on my experience – with the London and Hong Kong lounges in particular – they can go almost empty for hours outside of the evening hours.
Summary
Considering how expensive lounges are for airlines to operate – and the fact that the expenses involved are largely fixed costs – this seems like a smart move by Qantas.
Especially so considering that with the schedules they operate and their outstation lounges’ opening hours, the lounges can go (almost) empty for hours.
While I am not sure about the other lounges, I can imagine quite a few situations – especially if you need to take a shower, are hungry, and like gin – in which paying 55 GBP would be a decent deal for access to the excellent Qantas lounge in London. While the Hong Kong lounge doesn’t offer gin bar and a la carte dining like the London one does, it is a great lounge as well.
Overall, I think this is a great news. The only thing I wonder about is how the airline plans to promote the fact that it is offering this service.
