- Best Trip Ever: Introduction
- Review: Emirates First Class A380 Los Angeles To Dubai
- Review: Park Hyatt Dubai
- Review: Afternoon Tea At Skyview Bar Burj Al Arab
- Review: Lunch At At.mosphere Burj Khalifa Dubai
- Review: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai DXB
- Review: Emirates First Class A380 Dubai To Singapore
- Review: St. Regis Singapore
- Review: Westin Singapore
- Review: Singapore Airlines Private Room Singapore SIN
- Review: Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Singapore To Melbourne
- Review: Park Hyatt Melbourne
- Review: Qantas Club Melbourne MEL
- Review: Qantas Business Class 737 Melbourne To Sydney
- Park Hyatt Sydney Review
- Review: Qantas First Class Lounge Sydney SYD
- Review: Qantas First Class A380 Sydney To Los Angeles
- Review: SLS Hotel Beverly Hills
- Review: Oneworld Business Class Lounge Los Angeles LAX
- Review: Qantas Business Class 747 Los Angeles To New York
- Review: Park Hyatt New York
- Best Trip Ever: Dad’s Thoughts
We arrived at Melbourne Airport at around 12:30PM for our 2PM flight to Sydney.
Melbourne Airport domestic terminal exterior
There’s a separate domestic terminal in Melbourne Airport, which is nice enough, though certainly not memorable.
Qantas domestic check-in Melbourne Airport
We decided to check bags for this sector, so quickly found the business class queue, where there was no wait.
Qantas business class check-in Melbourne Airport
The agent that helped us was friendly, and had our boarding passes and baggage tags printed within moments.
From there we headed to the security checkpoint. I find security on flights within Australia to be rather lax, at least from the looks of it — there’s not much “theater” to it.
However, after screening my bag they found nail scissors, so rather than having them confiscated I figured I might as well check my carry-on, since we had plenty of time to spare.
Melbourne Airport domestic terminal security
Once through security we headed to the Qantas Club, which is located just past the security checkpoint up an escalator.
Melbourne Airport domestic terminal
The Qantas Club Melbourne Airport entrance
The Qantas Club Melbourne Airport escalators
We were promptly admitted into the massive lounge after presenting our boarding passes.
The Qantas Club entryway Melbourne Airport
I found it interesting that just inside the entrance was a bookstore, which is convenient.
The Qantas Club store Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club is massive, though was fairly full. Keep in mind that Qantas is one of the few non-US airlines which actually sells lounge memberships, so you have premium cabin passengers, elite members, and club members in the lounge.
The lounge was in reasonably good condition and quite modern. Not cutting edge or anything, but for a domestic lounge it was nice.
The Qantas Club seating Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club seating Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club seating Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club seating Melbourne Airport
There were a variety of seating arrangements, from the more “standard” lounge seating, to a restaurant area, to table-top-seating, etc.
The Qantas Club seating Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club seating Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club seating Melbourne Airport
There was even a rather large “kids zone,” as well as a business center.
The Qantas Club kids section Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club business center Melbourne Airport
The lounge does boast very nice views of the terminal’s tarmac, which was filled mostly with Qantas planes and a lone Air New Zealand widebody. Man, Air New Zealand knows how to paint their planes!
The Qantas Club view Melbourne Airport
There were several small snack stations dispersed throughout the lounge, which had coffee machines and cookies.
The Qantas Club snack station Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club snacks Melbourne Airport
In addition to the small snack stations, the lounge actually had a rather substantial dining selection. The description of the buffet read as follows:
The Qantas Club menu Melbourne Airport
It’s rare that lounge food actually looks good, but that was the case here — the soup looked/smelled good, the salads were all nicely presented, and I loved the make your own sandwich station.
The Qantas Club buffet Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club buffet Melbourne Airport
The Qantas Club buffet Melbourne Airport
Then there was a separate staffed bar area with alcohol. It’s worth noting that there’s also a “real” espresso machine there, so if you don’t want one of the coffee beverages from the other machines, you can order a custom made coffee beverage here.
The Qantas Club bar Melbourne Airport
We had breakfast at the Park Hyatt really early, so decided to have a snack. I had soup and salad, both of which were very good.
The Qantas Club snack Melbourne Airport
Within the Qantas Club is a separate Domestic Business Lounge, which is the “premium” domestic Qantas lounge. It can be accessed by business class passengers and oneworld Emerald members.
It was located in the back of the Qantas Club. We were entitled to access and I had a peek, though it looked more crowded and smaller than the club we were in, so I figured it wasn’t worth relocating to.
We decided to leave the lounge at around 1:30PM for the anticipated boarding time of 1:40PM.
Melbourne Airport domestic terminal
We were departing from gate 10, which was maybe a 10 minute walk from the lounge. While the central part of the terminal is quite nice, the gate areas aren’t quite as nice, with much lower ceilings and limited seating.
Melbourne Airport domestic terminal
Our 737 was already waiting at the gate, though I couldn’t help but eye the A330 which was just being towed into the gate across from us.
Qantas 737 Melbourne Airport
Qantas A330 Melbourne Airport
At 1:40PM boarding was announced for our flight to Sydney.
Departure gate Melbourne Airport
Interestingly they didn’t pre-board business class. Instead everyone was boarded at once, though through different lanes. The two lanes had a bit of space between them, which meant that the process was actually quite smooth.
Departure gate Melbourne Airport
Qantas Club Melbourne Airport bottom line
For a domestic lounge I was really impressed. The Qantas Club was spacious and had a great food and drink selection. It was definitely leaps and bounds better than what we get in the US, especially some of the domestic lounges we’re used to from a credit card with lounge access.
@MD
Oh please, get a grip. I’ve been in Qantas Clubs AND Qantas Domestic Business Lounges more times than I’ve had hot dinners and THERE IS NO BLOODY DIFFERENCE. It’s just smaller. The meal of the day you crap on about is hardly worth it, and half the time it is on for so small a period of time and the seating so limited that you can’t get it anyway! Go have a Bex and...
@MD
Oh please, get a grip. I’ve been in Qantas Clubs AND Qantas Domestic Business Lounges more times than I’ve had hot dinners and THERE IS NO BLOODY DIFFERENCE. It’s just smaller. The meal of the day you crap on about is hardly worth it, and half the time it is on for so small a period of time and the seating so limited that you can’t get it anyway! Go have a Bex and a good lie down, petal…
@Randy You are completely incorrect. Spirits are served in both lounges - trust me; it is the bain of my existence that Qantas only have Beefeater gin available onboard and in Qantas Club AND the domestic business lounges.
If you want the worst First Class lounge,in the world,JFK British Airways,as a one world diamond
the only surprising thing was that Churchill himself was still not there
I have pictures of the food,paintings on the floor ,i could of taken pictures of the chairs all worn out,its a disgrace.
The New Lounge at Newark is great,JFK is still in the sixties
One difference between the regular QF Lounge and the QF Business Lounge is that the Business services hard liquor - the regular lounge only beer and wine.
Once again, you're incorrect. The Domestic Business Lounge is a superior lounge. Both food and beverage are higher quality. It wasn't crowded, it is just a smaller space.
During the day there are hot food items from midday, and in the evening QF offer Island Dining with specially prepared plates of the day served by a waiter with matching wine.
Please do your research before posting such misinformation that people seem to rely on.
@ MD -- Not sure what the misinformation here is. I went into the lounge and looked at it. It was proportionally fuller. The food didn't look much better to me. That's my opinion.
Speaking of "not much theater to security": In Cairns they yelled at us because we put liquids, electronic devices, purse etc separatly in the bin's (as you usually have to do on every other airport). But we shall put ONLY our umbrellas and laptop in the bins, but NO iPad and liquids.
Until today, the reason for that domestic rule is a mystery to me...
@Miles Down Under - I was just going to post the same thing.
@Euro,
Outside Australia, Qantas operates lounges in LAX, HNL, HKG, SYD, NRT, AKL and WLG, where Qantas Club members have access when flying QF or JQ. Qantas only sells annual memberships.
While Qantas does not sell day/monthly Qantas Club passes, a 30-day Admirals Club pass would allow you access to the Qantas domestic and international lounges if you're flying QF. These Admirals Club passes (Annual or 30-days) do not work if you're flying JQ.
@Euro other than yearly access, the only other way to get in is lounge passes given out to QFF silver members or credit card companies. They can be found on gumtree for about $50 or so. Not particularly worth it IMHO for a domestic trip...
Interesting that you found the domestic business lounge way more crowded than the domestic Qantas Club. That is not often the case!
@Euro
Sure do, check ebay. they run from ~$50 all the way to $100, its a one use pass that credit card providers sometimes offer, and yearly tiered renewals receive a couple.
Only really worth it if you have a couple hours layover.
Why didn't you go to the Qantas Business Lounge? As OWE or flying J you have access. It's hidden at the back of the Qantas Club and is pretty much the same but a bit more quieter.
@ John -- As I explained in the post, I did check it out, but it was more crowded and didn't seem nicer.
Qantas have lounges in LAX, SIN, LHR, AKL and I belive the membership gets you into the Emirates lounge at DXB when flying on a QF code.
Fun to see my home airport in the blog. That lounge is never not busy bu then MEL-SYD is the 6th busiest air route in the world.
Does Qantas sell yearly memberships only or do they have a one-day option? Probably not a good value but would still like to see the option, though not sure of where they have lounges outside Australia. I think HKG has one?