Australian Business Traveller reports that Qantas will begin enforcing their dress code at their Qantas Business Lounges and Qantas Club Lounges in Australia as of April 1, 2015.
The lounge terms & conditions do already state a dress code:
Smart, casual dress standards apply at all times. Individual lounge managers will have discretion to administer these standards as they reasonably deem appropriate in the circumstances.
Though apparently they haven’t been enforced, and that will change in a couple of months. Via Australian Business Traveller:
“The dress guidelines for our lounges are the same as most restaurants and clubs” the Qantas spokesperson said.
“The vast majority of our members meet and exceed the guidelines, but we have had some feedback from customers that they want to see those guidelines apply to everyone.”
Until April 1, signage will also be displayed at the entry of each lounge reminding travellers of the guidelines.
I might be in the minority here, but I’m actually kind of opposed to this move by Qantas:
- First of all, I think it’s ridiculous that they’ve had a rule but haven’t enforced it, and are now arbitrarily setting a date as of which it will be enforced.
- If they’re going to turn away people over how they’re dressed, they need to be more specific. “Smart, casual dress” means different things to different people. I’d rather they be more specific and say what isn’t allowed.
- There are things in airport lounges that bother me a lot more than how people are dressed.
Regarding that last point, maybe it’s just me, but I couldn’t care less how people are dressed. What bothers me in lounges? The guy in the suit that’s yelling at the top of his lungs on the cell phone, the people taking things off the buffet without utensils, the people stealing food from the lounge, the people clipping their nails, the people putting their bare feet on furniture, etc.
Whether someone has “smart, casual dress” on or not is a moot point, in my opinion.
And what I guess makes this seem slightly backwards to me is that there’s no dress code for flying, aside from being publicly decent. So you can pay for a business class ticket and fly in your premium cabin seat, but you can’t use the lounge pre-flight to get work done? It’s funny to me because airlines actually encourage you to wear pajamas on the plane, which aren’t “smart, casual,” I’d think.
Again, I’m not saying any of this because I travel in flip flops and a wifebeater. Instead I just think it’s a silly rule. Though in fairness I guess I’ve violated Qantas’ dress code once, by those standards. 😉
What do you think? Should airline lounges have dress codes, and what is “smart, casual dress,” anyway?
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