Qantas Brisbane International lounge reopens: what to expect

Overseas travel is back – at least, to New Zealand - and Qantas is reopening its international lounges at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to cater for flyers eager to take advantage of the quarantine-free 'travel bubble'.

Sydney and Melbourne are getting all the attention – perhaps understandably, as both feature flagship first class lounges – but what's in store for Brisbane-based flyers at Qantas' Brisbane International Lounge?

Opening hours will be restricted to when Qantas and Jetstar are flying.

Access will be largely as before: business class passengers; Qantas frequent flyers with Gold, Platinum or Platinum One status (and their equivalents at partner airlines such as Oneworld carriers); and Qantas Club members.

Executive Traveller understands that complimentary lounge passes will be added to that list in early-mid May.

Qantas' Brisbane International Lounge has a refreshingly open, tropical feel.

However, the lounge's opening hours will follow Qantas' schedule for international flights from Brisbane: it'll open three hours before the first departure, and close after the last flight leaves.

At the start of the NZ travel bubble, this will generally mean around 6.30am – ahead of QF119 to Auckland – to 12 noon (for QF135 to Christchurch).

In line with current health regulations, buffets and other self-service food and drinks won't be available.

The days of self-serve are over, at least for now...

"We'll be doing some à la carte offerings," Qantas' Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Tully tells Executive Traveller, with lounge staff taking orders and delivering food to your table.

This will include a variety of dishes from healthy breakfast bowls to Bircher muesli and yoghurt.

Staff will bring dishes of the day to your table, or you can relax with a drink at the bar.

Tully says "there will also be some hosted buffet-type offering", similar to what was seen in the domestic Qantas Business lounges when they first reopened.

Here's how the 'hosted' service worked at Qantas' Sydney domestic lounges.

Also read: Qantas reopens Sydney, Melbourne first class lounges

Ignite your Qantas Points balance with our roundup of Australia's best credit card sign-up deals, beginning at a hefty 150,000 points

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.