I'm QFF Plat flying today from Syd-Seoul on Asiana, booked with a QF flight number.

I'm QFF Plat flying today from Syd-Seoul on Asiana, booked with a QF flight number. Was rejected from the first lounge due to being "very busy" and preference goes to QF metal flyers and their partners. Is this correct? Has anyone else had this before? Was offered business lounge instead.

Current policy is the Plat flyer must be booked on a Qantas, Jetstar or oneworld marketed and operated flight which your's was not.

My understanding is in ICN you should be allowed access to the Asiana business lounge which would be granted to a Gold/Plat member.

In Sydney officially you would have access to the QF business lounge (as per the partnership) but also could have got a pass for Air NZ lounge access at check-in.

He is on a QF flight number, he states that.

I have had that happen too. It's really poor form as you are still Platinum and on a QF code share. You are flying another airline because QF don't fly that route. They should provide alternatives when too full, it's very poor for QF to do that.

Qantas has boxed itself in through its FF accrual policy, which results in a lounge policy that is inconsistent with the spirit of the QFF programme. If Ff84 had flown CX or MH, he would not have a problem accessing the lounge. Instead he has chosen the Asiana QF codeshare service (presumably for better SC and Points) but at a sacrifice to lounge access. This is a product design failure by Qantas.

I agree fully

What a load of rubbish.

What does accruing FF points have to do with lounge access?

Or course if the person was flying a Oneworld airline then they would have been granted access to the First lounge.

As they were flying on a codeshare, only the business lounge is available - which couldn't be clearer on the Qantas website. 

Product design failure? Not sure what this means, but at least Qantas (unlike BA and Qatar) doesn't restrict access to some of their First spaces.

The only thing I can see that Qantas has done wrong is give the person the impression that on a quieter day access would have been granted (if this is in fact what has happened).

I suggest you look at this from a less myopic perspective.

Consider this: What is the purpose of a frequent flyer programme?

There are no model answers but generally a frequent flyer programme (i) rewards frequent flyers with redeemable points/miles for "free" future travel and (ii) access to travel benefits such as lounge access, expedited ground formalities etc. 

Therein lies the inconsistency. Under this Qantas codeshare arrangement the full benefits available items (i) and (ii) can be availed. Hence a product design failure.

It is worth nothing that access to the Asiana lounge was available on the basis of the pax's class of travel i.e. Business class. Had the pax flew Economy (QF code Asiana metal), despite being QFF Platinum, lounge access would still be denied. This further illustrates the product design failure. 

Typo:

Therein lies the inconsistency. Under this Qantas codeshare arrangement the full benefits available under items (i) and (ii) cannot be availed. Hence a product design failure.

What is the purpose of a frequent flyer programme? Sorry, but the purpose not even debatable - it is to engender loyatlty to the airline and it's services. Not other airlines.  

I do like your philoshophical approach, but I think airlines need to set limits. Maybe spare a thought for QF plats based outside of Mel and Syd and who miss out on proper FCLs altogether, even when flying Qantas!

Hi superflyer. Thank you! It's fantastic to be able to engage with you.

I agree on your points.

From the airline's perspective, it is a loyalty programme. But from a customer perspective loyalty means diddly squat if there is no tangible material benefit. I believe how an airline values your loyalty depends on the perks of loyalty provided. Otherwise loyalty becomes just a fuzzy feeling in your heart. 

You are absolutely right. Elite QFF outside SYD and MEL should seriously consider their options. 

the business lounge was offered as the alternative. code shares do not have higher staus as a partnership (alliiance), regardless of your 'plat' status, sometimes lounges needs to prioritize and entry for plats is NEVER QUARANTEED..   ALL airline lounges have a finite space,  and  info is readily available on the internet (website) . as you are are plat i would think you are intelligent enough to research these things.....hmmmm

sh*t happens lind26 and  OP. get over it!

That said, I'd be very disapointed to be rejected entry. If you've bought a ticket through QF (even codeshare) and it allows F lounge entry, you shouldn't be expecting a rejection. Lack of capacity foresight it seems- if they know how many passengers will be seeking entry, they should seek to cater for it. 

The logical conclusion would be to make an assessment and priorities elements of travel that are important to you. These vary depending on your travel circumstances i.e. Class of travel.

If you're platinum and are flying Economy, there is an overwhelming benefit to fly with a OW carrier if Qantas does not fly to the destination on its own metal. The QF code share arrangement with a non-OW airline is a bit of a red herring.

The flip side is that you'll earn less SC and points.

The crunch comes when you consistently have to fly to destinations, which Qantas does not fly on its own metal but other OW carriers do. The question then becomes, do you stick with the QFF programme? Does it continue to be fit for purpose from your perspective?

Of course Qantas would not need to make you choose had it formed code share arrangements with existing OW carriers. But by choosing not to leverage this alliance (this may not be entirely Qantas' fault) the customer is left in a position to choose and would possibly have to consider some hard choices. 

they did offer them alternative, the business lounge. what do you want them to do? extende the F lounge instantly by another 20m 'just like that'???