Qantas launches pay-by-the-month lounge access
The Qantas Club subscription model costs $99 for 28 days of lounging, but comes with a few caveats…
By David Flynn, July 10 2024
Qantas is aiming to attract more travellers into its airport lounges with the introduction of a low-cost Qantas Club subscription scheme based on monthly rather than yearly payments.
Due to be officially launched today, the ‘Qantas Club Flexible’ option will cost $99 for 28-day access to the airline’s domestic and international lounges.
The airline currently sells Qantas Club membership as one-year, two-year and four-year packages for between $699 and $2,399, so it’s positioning this monthly option as “the perfect option for travellers who don’t fly every month.”
Plans for a monthly Qantas Club subscription were first reported by Executive Traveller in February this year, and Qantas Club Flexible membership – which the airline also considered badging as Qantas Club Explorer, Qantas Club Lite or Qantas Club Starter – is almost exactly what we detailed at the time.
The model will no doubt have some appeal to people who face a sudden burst of flying – especially within Australia, where Qantas’ lounge network is strongest and economy-only fares offer solid value on short intercity hops.
Here’s the full rundown on what you do and don’t get with a Qantas Club membership subscription.
28 days of lounge access: Qantas says the 28-day rolling membership can be cancelled at any time, up until three days prior to renewal (with the benefits remaining until the end of that cycle).
During that period, you’ll have access to all Qantas Clubs and Qantas Regional Lounges around Australia, including each capital city plus major regional centres as well as international Qantas Business lounges (in Australia as well as key locations including Auckland, Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Los Angeles).
(And as with conventional Qantas Club membership, if you’re flying for business that $99 fee is a legitimate tax write-off.)
No ‘partner or associated lounges’: Qantas Club subscription members will be restricted to ‘Qantas-branded lounges’. They won’t have access to partner lounges at international airports where there’s no Qantas lounge (such as the Oneworld lounge at Seoul).
Auto-renewal: as is the case with other subscription-based platforms ranging from software and streaming services to gym membership, your 28-day Qantas Club membership will automatically renew unless you cancel it (and you’ll have to cancel before three days prior to the renewal date, or you’ll be on the hook for another $99).
Qantas Club lounge access can now be purchased on a subscription basis.
Joining fee: you’ll still have to pay a $129 Qantas Club joining fee to kick-start your monthly Qantas Club subscription package (this is the same joining fee as annual Qantas Club membership).
Qantas calls this a ‘once-off’ fee, but that’s not really the case: 90 days after the expiry of your most recent 28-day membership, the joining fee will once again be due if you want to re-activate your membership for another 28 days.
For example: if you sign up to Qantas Club Flexible on August 1, it’ll cost you $129 in joining fees plus $99 for those first 28 days.
If those 28 days are all you need at the time and you decide not to renew your Qantas Club Flexible subscription for the next three months but then figure you need another 28 days of Qantas Club lounge access starting in December, you’ll have to shell out that $129 ‘joining fee’ for a second time.
Qantas Club subscription membership makes sense if you only need lounge access for a few months.
No guesting: Qantas Club members can bring a guest into the lounge, but Qantas Club Flexible members have no guesting privilege (although they can purchase an Annual Guest Card for an additional $449).
Additional checked baggage: Qantas says passengers who take out Qantas Club Flexible membership and travel before 31 March 2025 “will receive a bonus benefit of additional checked baggage” to the same level as regular Qantas Club members (for example, a 32kg bag instead of a 23kg bag in domestic economy, and 42kg instead of 30kg in international economy).
However, that ’31 March 2025’ deadline makes us wonder if this ‘additional checked baggage’ benefit will be removed as of April 2025 to help pad out the perks of standard Qantas Club membership.
How the costs (and value) compare
The first year of standard Qantas Club membership will cost you $828 ($699 for one year plus the $129 joining fee).
But a year on the Qantas Club Flexible subscription costs almost 70% more: you’re looking at $1,416 (for 13 lots of 28-day access at $99 each, plus the $129 joining fee).
If you have enough travel ahead to warrant more than six months of a Qantas Club Flexible subscription, you’re better off taking out annual Qantas Club membership.
And this is what it’ll all come down to: each person working out which pricing model suits them best, based on their own unique needs.
There’ll be some for whom the 28-day subscription model is ideally suited, even if that first 28 days effectively costs $228 due to inclusion of the joining fee.
But others – including those who often travel with guests such as colleagues or family members – may find an annual Qantas Club membership delivers the best value.
And there will be plenty of people in between who may well be caught out by the automatically-recurring 28-day fee, could have a ‘sunk cost’ feeling about having already paid that $129 joining fee, or will be caught out by pausing their subscription membership for three months and then have to pay $129 again to restart the plan.
Also read: How to claim your free Qantas luggage tag
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
21 Jan 2014
Total posts 320
If you can just join and leave whenever you want why would anyone pay for anything else, got a bit of travel coming up join and get the benefits, not flying for a few months just cancel your subscription and start again when you have a bit of travel coming up, most people with a regular QC membership would cancel and use this.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 775
Wrong, get out a calculator and do the math. Breakeven is at 7 months, after which the monthly subscription approach goes underwater.
What at first appeared to be a great concept deserving of a 'Kudos to Qantas' accolade, the $129 re-joining fee after a 90 day lapse is beyond 'petty' (actually its downright dumb), it would have been smarter had it covered ANY re-activation within, say, 18 months (BD101 ?). Ater all, the justification of a 'Joining fee' was once to cover the administration time/cost of processing an application, but with data entry all now done online by the Applicant, there's no longer any administrative inconvenience for it to cover. Nah, the joining fee aspect was the brainchild of a 'Spreadsheet Jockey' in Finance at Mascot HQ trying to impress the CEO, not someone with BD acuity. But I suspect REX or Virgin will get it right.
29 May 2017
Total posts 4
Just what the already overcrowded Qantas lounges need - more people. It would be interesting to know if there are any special "subject to capacity" limits as with the Lounge Invitations.
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1564
There should be different rules for people who hold J tickets (including all upgrade even those get via status) and everyone else even those with status.
QF
11 Jul 2014
Total posts 1024
It's a Flop I'm sure of it, let's come back in 12 - 18 months for the kill off. To much heavy marketing required to keep people aware.
18 Mar 2016
Total posts 39
Having read this and trying to figure it out, I have enrolled in a course at University on “Figure Out Qantas”.
Who in the hell thought this up ?
I can just imagine the arguments at the Reception Desks when passengers and staff try to explain the intricate details.
Thank God, I am a Life Member and can just “breeze through”
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Oct 2016
Total posts 117
I was put off the instant I read the first sentence.... "Qantas is aiming to attract more travellers into its airport lounges". Just what we need - more overcrowding in the lounges....
29 Jan 2012
Total posts 184
If Qantas sells it, you know it's already designed for profits. As most of the readers have already discovered it's a marketed scam. Well done Qantas - another reason to question your professionalism and care factor for your passengers. It's time for international carriers to be given domestic rights and give Qantas a run for its money.
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1564
Questionable proposition mainly due to $129 "joining" fee - they should abandon it for "flexible" membership considering that through full year it will cost more . OK, there is no-go for non-QF lounges, but how about Airlines? Say I fly LHR-SIN-SYD on BA, so will I be able to use QF lounge in LHR and SIN?
14 Oct 2016
Total posts 115
They could also be using this as a way to advertise their existing memberships, having people also look at their existing offerings and go I might as well just sign up to the yearly ones.
But as it stands, this product is poor value with the joining fee but would at least improve somewhat if they removed that fee or made it once a life time fee.
22 Jan 2020
Total posts 79
Good option for a solo traveller even for an international flight to the USA - international business class access at each end with increased luggage option. I love to all moaning about it from those that either already have lounge access or have no intent of using it!
28 Apr 2021
Total posts 32
Yes some very good comments posted on this hair-brain scheme and the calculations worked out definitely 'pooh hoo' the introduction of a scheme obviously engineered by someone with a questionable 'bean counter' position in an airline languishing 24th in the pecking list.
Extra bods who have never been able to visit a Qantas Club and fork out the fees to grab a couple of drinks and a sandwich will indeed swell the numbers of already busy facilities both domestically as well as Int'l.
We travel regularly through both airports in Brisbane and even the Dom. J Class lounge and the Int'l lounges are full to capacity at various stages.
Would it not be great before signing off on any 'mind blowing scheme' if the CEO would reach out to regular and long time loyal QF travelers. After all we all see things from a far different perspective by sitting in an aircraft seat and not on our backsides in an office
Not so long ago, it was stated that she would listen and learn.
Air Canada - Aeroplan
28 Feb 2015
Total posts 122
Why object to people on the 28-day lounge version when a better idea would be to remove lounge access from expensive credit cards?
Air Canada - Aeroplan
28 Feb 2015
Total posts 122
Pity. I live overseas and come to Australia for a few weeks twice a year. A couple of 28-day memberships looked to be ideal, but making me pay sign-up fees over and over again, and instituting auto-renewal (i.e., QF will store my CC details, and I never allow that with any company for security reasons) so I have to remember to cancel, rules it out for me.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
15 Aug 2016
Total posts 5
CEO is too busy and getting excited going to Paris on the new direct flight last week
14 Nov 2015
Total posts 44
That $129 is excessive, and whoever thought of making it applicable again after 3 months of inactivity is deranged.
I can see very few cases where this program would be good value.
Maybe if you’re doing a bunch of flying in and out of a bunch of regional airports (or city airports in off peak times) but only for a few months, and you can deduct the expense or charge it to your employer. Or if you are carrying very specific baggage and need the extra limit for a few months only. Or you travel on a fixed quarterly schedule and can be bothered dipping in and out on time every third month.
I doubt all of the people from all of those use cases add up to a pinch of you know what. Strikes me as Qantas still not getting it that that it’s no longer 2002, when they were the only game in town, everyone liked them, and people would pay a premium because it felt special. At the end of the day, the average Qantas club experience doesn’t justify much these days, nor unfortunately on many occasions does the on board experience.
qantas
10 Jul 2024
Total posts 1
Another disappointing decision by QANTAS - they should be focusing on improving the experience within the exising business lounges (which has declined enormously over the last 5 years) to attract more travellers. I can only assume the QANTAS execs only ever use the first class / chairman lounges.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Sep 2015
Total posts 31
Having visited both the Qantas Club and the Virgin lounges in Sydney at various times I am slowly coming to the conclusion that sometimes somewhere in the terminal is more spacious and relaxing. Granted that these were both busy Friday nights, the appeal diminishes greatly when you are searching just for somewhere to sit. Adding more members to me equals these lounges as being less attractive. One benefit though with Qantas is that they seem happy to move you to an earlier flight without charge. Perhaps they need the space haha
Etihad - Etihad Guest
21 Jul 2019
Total posts 189
@JJ1
You're spot on!
This has been my thought about Qantas, and to a lesser extent Virgin lounges for a decade. And it was oddly reinforced after numerous travels thru U.S. airports which made me appreciate our terminals more. U.S. airports are crowded everywhere: both inside airline lounges and public concourses. By comparison, our airports are relatively spacious, and less crowded even in the public concourses, and without exception are also much nicer if you lack lounge access (I've been thru all major U.S. and Australian airports, and plenty regional ones besides, so I know what I'm comparing). Having access to both Virgin and Qantas lounges, it's also sometimes the case for me that more peace and quiet can be had seated outside in the public concourse rather than in the crowded lounge itself . More than once I've quit the lounge after a drink and bite to eat so I can better 'relax' outside.
23 Sep 2022
Total posts 3
The $129 Joining fee should be a once per lifetime of a membership charge. As another commenter pointed out it was likely back in the day applied to cover some actual admin costs of provisioning a new member. I think they even posted out some merch like card and luggage tags. Nowadays it's all electronic/digital so the incremental cost of someone rejoining, even on a regular annual membership after a break of a few years would be three eights of stuff all. It's just a rip.
28 Dec 2016
Total posts 74
The domestic business lounges are far more crowded than the terminal itself.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 775
Even the QF Business Lounge? Is that true (keen to know)? WoW!!
13 Feb 2015
Total posts 70
So instead of improving the quality of their lounges, Qantas has decided to stuff them with even more people…
The airline might have switched CEOs, but it doesn’t seem to have learned anything about how to look after their most valued customers…
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Mar 2014
Total posts 13
There is enough issues with the boarding changes, as in group 1 etc... more confusion for the poor stafff and like mentioned already overcrowded in most domestic lounges
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Jun 2017
Total posts 77
I was looking at utilising this when first announced, to get lounge access for my over 17 year old daughters as part of a UK trip coming up (dumping all my points). I can get access for myself and my wife as I am LTG (we are not travelling J) but not the girls. At $99 each for the month for 4 lounge visits it is probably worth it but add an extra $129 and it becomes a joke!
Again QF totally misses the mark, just more PR spin backed with NOTHING. It is almost as if someone came up with a good idea, then the accountants got hold of it and completely screwed it up. Just one rubbish announcement after another.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
08 Mar 2022
Total posts 13
When we want QF to become more like the US carriers, I was thinking expanded new generation fleets and US-AU frequencies, not having to wait 45 minutes or be waitlisted to enter a lounge.
Releasing this prior to the update / expansion of Sydney Intl Business lounge is farcical. I expect the once a year PE passengers will (rightly) buy this for comfort on QF1 etc. Adding to the existing chaos during peak times at SIN too.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 Mar 2014
Total posts 219
No competition, they can do what they want.
They only have LCC competition and they own one of them.
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