Qantas business lounges to close next week, re-open Jan 7th

"Routine maintenance"? Well I guess there's a lot that is hard to do when the lounge is open for long hours everyday - steam cleaning the carpets etc - but I wonder how much of this is actually based on saving $$ by putting staff on leave and not having to bother with the cost of food & drinks. But a smart move really, not like the business lounges will be packed with business travellers over that period, it would more likely be Platinums flying around for holidays. But man, the Qantas Clubs are going to be packed!

I wonder if just one time. just once, Qantas might tell it like it really is, or is it just so embedded in their culture thay cant do it. Be HONEST. They are closing to save money.

I am one of those QF Platinum flyers and just rebooked my QF flights to be with Virgin. I rate their lounge far better than QF Pub.... Not really so much annoyed that they close the lounge (let's be honest, you never leave too much waiting time when flying domestic) but rather annoyed with the "routine maintenance" excuse. Will they also close down QF Clubs at later stage for routine maintenance? I don't think so.....

I find this very dissapointing, and would think that Qantas would schedule their "rountine maintenance" at a more convenient time when there are less people travelling.  How about allowing Platinum members to use the Chairman's lounge instead for the inconvenience, rather than downgrading the service!

That's a very long maintenance period! What could they possibly be doing for almost two weeks? I imagine it would be less inconvenient if they were to close them on a rotating basis, rather than all at once.

I look forward to seeing an ABT review of the newly maintained lounges - they would want to look mighty well maintained to justify the long closure......

Isn't it obvious that this is a cost cutting measure? Like duh?

Clever but completely without candour. Had a look at the Qantas website: Nothing at all about this closure.

Thank you AustBT for spilling the beans.

And Qantas thank you for not trusting your Plat/Business class pax to understand your rationale for making this decision (probably the people who would most likely understand!), choosing instead to hide behind this lame excuse. Good on you!

Some of you are like spoiled children.  "Oh no, they're forcing me to slum it with the plebs in the Qantas Club.  I'm going to storm off in protest!"

Yeah, bit of a bummer, but if that's the worst thing that disrupts your travel plans over the Christmas period, you should count yourself lucky.

Is it just me or are some people getting a little 'hot under the collar' here? Chill out, guys, it's Christmas!

I have to agree with a few people here for different reasons. Yes, Qantas has got to close the lounge some time for maintenance, and it makes sense to me that this time of year would be a quiter time for business travel and also to close the lounge for long enough to get a lot of work done compared to say a long weekend.

These lounges get a lot of traffic and I bet there's a lot of work to be done. People would be quick to complain if they thought the lounges were getting a bit worn and ratty, but when is Qantas supposed to fix them up or even keep them in good condition so they don't get ratty? This is that time. Painting, steam cleaning the carpets, maybe also working on the behind-the-counter floor area where staff work and other 'behind the scenes' stuff, there must be stacks. And once you take away the public holidays and weekends there are not a lot of 'working days' in this 12 day peroid when tradies would be available for standard rates.

But I agree that Qantas is probably also taking advantage of this extended closedown to save some money, and 'why not' I would suggest. I am sure they have traffic numbers for the lounge over the past few years and can see this is the time when it's least used.

Maybe QF could have come out and detailed ther work they are doing, but why should they have to? It's not like we are their boss and they have to justidy every decision to us (yes, even though 'we are the reason they fly'). This is why I agree that there's a bit of a sense of entitlement here, an inflated sense of importance. It's just 12 days for which some people will have to slum it in the Qantas Club, which is still better than a lot of airport lounges and better than none at all!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

amused one would change airlines simply because of lounge maintenance.

it has to be done sometime. makes sense to do it when they did.

i flew through CBR, SYD (T2 and T3), OOL and BNE over the break, i was not inconvenienced, it was quiet.

i did notice the tiles outside SYD T3 biz getting a cut and polish on 28/12.

It looks to me to be a cost saving measure.  They lounge at Melbourne is filthy, dirty carpets, crockery on tables for over half an hour. But I sure hope that when the lounge reopens there is something to show for it.

I had 4 flights through J lounge ports over the break and instead had to use the QC. Not nearly as good. I was a bit annoyed. One of the ladies at the QC was at pains to emphasise that the J lounges were being cleaned; she said it about three times in three different ways in case the point was lost on me! So I guess they've been getting a bit of stick about it.

Please AusBT,  do a follow up and let us know all the " maintenance" that was done.

The common theme here is that everyone who has been spoilt by the slightly quieter Business lounges are not willing to have to 'slum' it in the regular QC. That would be because the regular QC is so over subscribed that the experience is sometimes worse than grabbing a Maccas and sitting out with the crowds in the main terminal. Recently in Adelaide, which hass a very large QC, there were queus for the food buffet, the bar AND no seats - fabulous just after paying the annual fee.....

Will this also apply to this coming Christmas period (2013-14)?  I'm looking at travelling for holiday around then.