Qantas is turning travellers away from overcrowded Singapore lounge

I think the reality is that Qantas needs to find a way to build a seperate First lounge in Singapore.

As a frequent traveler to the singapore lounge every 4 to 6 weeks I find it too crowded and go to the BA lounge which is next door. Even as a first class flyer I often walk in and walk out within 5 min. Emirates is also quiet for qf36 home at 6pm.

I like the QF lounge for a shower ,meal & Espresso Martini then retire to the BA Lounge before QF2 home

I really like the Singapore lounge but it’s not very peaceful anymore. They probably don’t have room to expand it, but I think if they are going to have first to a destination they need to have a space for first.

Let’s hope Qantas are looking at there options regarding additional space in Singapore as it is needed urgently. Being with 500 other people in a crowded space is not many peoples definition of ‘relaxing’ pre flight when they are paying a premium.

It has been busy for a number of years and has got worse with London flights now routed via Singapore. It does not help when a Qantas Club member is allowed to bring his wife, mother and four children. Agree need a first Class/platinum lounge. Perhaps Qantas should talk with BA and other OneWorld Alliance members and have an Emerald lounge with better food and drinks, including champagne. Fear any improvement will take years since Qantas don’t like spending money and are busy fixing-up other lounges, Sydney Business Class lounge to take two-years I think.

I have mentioned this before in a previous post - but I visited the QF Singapore lounge for the first time a month ago. I had heard good things about the lounge and was looking forward to the visit. Unfortunately, while the lounge was nice, there were just too many people crammed into that space. It lacks privacy and felt like a bit of a zoo. If Singapore is going to become a serious hub, they definitely need a first lounge. I had a few hours to kill at Changi and later went to the BA and Emirates lounges. They were oases of peace and quiet - which is one of the most important things for me.

Visitied Sept last year and it was overcrowded then, couldn't imagine what it's like now.

Went through Singapore last week.....not surprised at all that Qantas are trying to do something to make the lounge work. We found Qantas lounge OK until when QF2 landed....became very busy very quickly. Food good, wine good, but when it became busy, became noisy and crowded. Went over to Emirates....much better. You have a view of the runway, much quieter, though wine not as good. All in all, I would choose Qantas for the food and wine and then go over to Emirates for peace and quiet.

I think it is a real testament to how incredibly well Qantas does lounges that everyone wants to be in their lounge rather than the others.

It's my understanding that Qantas has to pay the other airline lounges when Qantas passengers use them. So it's no free ride for Qantas diverting passengers. As that bill adds up over time expansion is the only way forward.

I visited a month ago and made sure I showered and had a seat before QF2 arrived. I got there at 2 30pm sharp, then headed out to BA and came back prior 5pm as staff suggested me to grab a seat and get everything I needed prior that

That lounge gets incredibly busy when 3 flights arrive around the same time. The issue here is that a lot of OW flyers get there prior 5pm.

But if Qantas are even turning away their own Gold FF, clearly we have a problem. I would say that BA is a pretty decent alternative (obviously food is not as great, but would probably eat before at QF lounge) or even EK. It is quiet and has tarmac views!

If you were a Qclub member and got told to go to another lounge I don’t think many would be too upset but I think Gold pax would be peeved, many Gold would only travel overseas once or twice a year and really look forward to the business standard lounge, it’s the only time they get to enjoy it.

There was a line up of around 30 people queuing to get in when I visited last month! From what I could tell the queue had formed because people were in discussion with the lounge attendants not happy at being turned away.

As a QFF Platinum and a Singapore PPS I now avoid flying with Qantas to Australia as the lounge is too crowded. It is not the only consideration when purchasing a ticket but a significant one.

Singapore has always been an issue, remember the good old days when QF and BA were partners? The F and J lounges always used to be a zoo during peak hours....

Yes not an ideal situation, but the lounge wasnt designed for 8 QF flights all departing at the same time, it must easily be the busiest overseas port for QF. There does need to be more provision for First / Platinum FFs, but then again Qantas seems to be moving towards the one lounge concept for most places.

Simple solution. Fly SQ they know how to look after premium customers. Especially First Class and Platnium passengers. Plus the SQ product is far superior. Hence the company has moved all its international travel from QF to SQ......One day Qantas will learn

I'll check it out this Sunday. I'm on QF36 to Melbourne in First. Will be interesting to see how First is handled. I actually like the Emirates lounge so will end up there I'm sure.

QF have the solution planned - Project Sunrise!

I was in the Sin lounge in April & the experience was ghastly made worse by a pretentious white coated "Maitre D". I'd been seated in an area reserved I guess for premium passengers and he came up to me & was quite officious as to why I couldn't sit there. I didn't bother to show my P1 card or first class ticket (and nor did he ask) but referred him to the charming person who had seated me there. He gave me a wide berth after that.

It can't possibly be any worse than the Qantas lounge in HNL. I know there's only one QF flight per day, but seriously?

Hahah Phyllisbird, I haven't been in that Honolulu lounge in a very long time but you are right, it is pretty bad on a daily basis! But Melbourne tonight takes some beating and is normally not quite as bad as this. Singapore on the other hand has become like this since the escape from Dubai!

An appalling lack of foresight on the part of Qantas. Everyone knew this problem was going to arise. As part of their decision to redirect AUS-LHR flights from DXB to SIN, they should have made an appropriate plan to deal with the increase in lounge customers rather than adopt after-the-fact band-aid measures.

Poor planning and the turning away of First Class Passengers is appalling. Visited the lounge in January and wasn't impressed. HK is so much better with great choices of CX lounges.

The same occurring at Sydney. Entered the Business class lounge this morning ( 7th ) at 9.10am not a seat to be found in fact guests were queueing for the prospect of securing a seat when someone left . It was unbearable.Left and sat at the gate,at least I could find a seat!

As p1 with QF I'm pissed when I sit in an over crowded lounge with ya all.i never asked for that,and paid QF club members should be pissed because they don't get what they paid for.be real be pissed by piss pore planning by Qantas.

I cannot help but imagine what would happen if Qantas was to reinstate Adelaide-Singapore services in both directions say five times a week to feed into the QF1/BA12/BA16 and the Finnair services to Europe in regards to how crowded the lounges would get.it already feeds the other twice daily services ex Melbourne,Same ex Sydney,one a day ex Brisbane,and one sometimes two a day ex Perth plus the London services.that would be a total mad zoo.If I was to go to the UK again and could afford a lounge membership I might go via Perth even if it means making do with a domestic lounge there before connecting onto QF9 To avoid the insanity of Singapore.

QF kinda shot itself in the foot when they closed the F lounge some years ago when they moved the LHR flights to DXB.

I’m transiting through SIN on Monday week, transferring QF35 to QF1. After reading all of this, I think I’ll just head straight to the EK lounge which I can do because I’m a Platinum.

There are not that many of us left that actually pay OUR OWN money for lounge access.. most people here don't pay for their own flights but get automatic entry based on status - then they don't agree that it's unfair when a fully paid Qantas Club Member gets bumped to the cheaper (or sometimes sent off with a bloody voucher to the food hall) - let me tell you, WE have more right to be in the lounge because we have taken money out of out own pockets to be in there!!!

A few years ago I invested in a Priority Pass unlimited annual membership for about 260GBP (I live in Europe). I'm also Star Alliance Gold, but having both has given me great back up options in some airports where the Star lounge is ordinary (like Singapore). In Aus I think it includes some restaurants in the domestic terminals. At Heathrow you get arrivals lounge access in most terminals (sadly they've dropped the Sofitel).

Good for this. Hopefully all those who look like they've just come off the beach in Sentosa will be among those shunted. And I agree that there needs to be consideration for a 1st lounge or just make arrangements with BA to use the concorde room. And before anyone says ba will never agree, any airline is happy for the extra bucks.

I must be in a minority (of 1 perhaps) but the DXB stop was a godsend. Rarely if ever were the lounges at Dubai full or close to. Singapore is fine but not a patch on HK. Switching from DXB to SIN is a retrograde step in my view from the lounge perspective. Recently was on a QF/CX combination through HK to LHR which worked well and gave access to superb lounges with CX and QF for a reasonable amount of time on the transit in HK. In the meantime we have to make do with what we have in Singgapore...ho hum

I think turning away non-QF flyers who gain entry to with OW Sapphire / Emerald status flying with other (non-QF) OW airlines for example CX, MH or BA out of SIN would be a good start.

I was in the EK J lounge on Tuesday morning for EK412. whilst not standing room was very full prior to the flight.

I have been there a few times and it is not an impressive lounge. Often overcrowded and definitely not at the same standard as SIA's Krisflyer lounge.

After reading this last night on my way to Singapore airport, i was expecting the worst. Got to the airport early prior to QF38 and the lounge was only around 20% full. Even after QF1 landed there was only a small increase in the visitors. Got straight in for a shower and there was plenty of seats all night.

Lets be honest the Singapore lounge is a business class lounge only. Not even close to what is offered to First/Platinum customers in Sydney or Dubai. It is also very generic and has little Australian culture. I was there on Grand Final day and there was zero coverage of Australian sport. Just EPL. You could visit dozens of bars in Singapore that would be showing the footie but not Qantas.

AS a BAEC Gold card holder, I'd be extremely p'd off if QF's unwanted were allowed to enter the BA lounge. If that were the case, BA should issue a similar policy to QF.

Sadly, QF has reduced the value of self-paid travel and Club membership over the years, whilst regularly increasing the prices of access to seats, on both aircraft and Lounges. And which actions appear to be the future direction Corporate have chose ... no doubt when the exodus increases it’ll be too late for the airline to regain the status it once enjoyed.

I've been using this Qantas Lounge for many years, and last time I dug into it, the Singapore Lounge is a Qantas Lounge as different to a Qantas Club. There is a difference: just look at the First Lounge in Sydney.

Currently seated in the Sin lounge after the chaos has abated (20:00 hours). I've used this lounge regularly over the past 4 years and my overwhelming impression is that its quality in terms of space, food, and beverages has diminished significantly over that period. The crowding issue has been well addressed by others, but the freshly-cooked food bar now serves, admittedly high quality, Asian fast food. The creative Asian cuisine of a couple of years ago has gone! Now onto my pet subject: the wine. Every bottle on offer could be purchased for well under $10 at DM's. This is not a Business Class offering! It's lower quality than the wine QF hands out on the flight to Australia in economy class!

We all seem to agree its average at best and far from what a platinum or first class passenger should get. The old BA/QF first lounge was far superior.

Thanks everyone for their comments. It made interesting reading. I fly out tomorrow from Singapore to Syd and will checkout the lounges. To alleviate the problem for starters, why can’t Staff deny members bringing extra guests instead of the one allocation?. A long time ago when I was travelling with two friends my partner and I joined as members so we could both get them in., To this day we still pay separately to maintain our membership for this reason,

I travelled last month on QF1 & 2; made a beeline for the lounge as I was desperate for a shower. I had to wait about 5mins for a shower (both ways), so i checked out the lounge. Maybe about 2/3 full, almost completely full after the shower. Seemed to be a good range of food on offer. Only Seppelt sparkling on offer. Impressed with Heathrow T3 lounge on the way home, lovely cold Croser and a Beef Pasty to go with. I was flying Economy, but Gold FF. If I were Platinum of flying First, I would appreciate a small more exclusive experience.

Reminiscent of a Coles Cafeteria and that is probably being unkind to Coles. Noise, clutter people, ordinary food and very ordinary wine.

I have not used such facilities except as a Kid with my parents years ago with my family prior to heading to America with the old captains club lounges in Melbourne but things were way different internationally.food selection while very basic and drinks were a lot better.I will never forget those little sandwiches,these days other than a balfours cafe or charlies club sandwich such things are hard to come by.

I was in both the SATS and Qantas lounges two days ago. My impression was that the seats were about the same, the Qantas lounge is bigger and has windows to the terminal, so appears more spacious. The SATS food had more meat and sandwich options, the Qantas food had more fruit and salads. The SATS reds were on a par with Qantas, but Qantas had the edge in whites and sparkling.

Qantas also had tables reserved for first passengers by the windows overlooking the terminal.

Frankly, I wouldn't be fussed by getting sent to SATS if the Qantas lounge was busy. In fact, at busy times, it would be the better option.

Good! I’ve long argued for a lounge dedicated to First/Business travellers travelling in those classes.

How crazily coincidental this is. I just opted to join the Qantas Club for the first time in my life. I am travelling to London on Mon 24th September from Melb on QF35 MEL-SIN and the flight gets into SIN at 1755, and guess what, I have a 6 hour layover until the QF1 departs to London at 23:55. I cannot believe I am reading this!

Come to think of it, I have actually thought of a fairly "fair" solution to this problem. Whilst I believe that loyalty to an airline should come with perks such as lounge access. A person such as myself, (QFF Bronze + Qantas Club member), and an infrequent flyer pay specifically to access the lounge/Qantas Club.... So people in my situation should get access too.

I have read every single response to this post and it seems to me that the majority of respondents to this article are QFF Gold (at a minimum,) which means they have CHOICE when it comes to lounge access during peak times at the QF Lounge in SIN. By this I mean that they have the choice to visit either the BA lounge OR the Emirates lounge. Considering the fact that Qantas Club Members with low QFF status can't access the BA or Emirates lounges, I think it would only be fair that Qantas Club members with low status should have priority to the Qantas Lounge, because a) Thats is what they have paid for, and b) they have no other choice.

imo, reading comments about people visiting multiple lounges because the showers are better in one lounge, or the food is better in another, or they serve champagne in the Emirates lounge are literally not just spoiled for choice, they are simply spoiled! (Who needs to visit 3 lounges?!)

As much as the frequent flyers/Business/First travellers will probably see this as more unfair to them.... until a proper solution is figured out, I think this should be QF policy with regards to the QF lounge in SIN at peak times.

Also, If anyone can answer this question for me.... Since the Kangaroo Route has now been swapped out of Dubai into Singapore, is there not the same problem at the Qantas Lounge at Heathrow? IE When the A380 flights depart LHR, wouldn't there also be a flurry of pax wanting to use the QF lounge pre flight for a shower and a quick feed there since the Sydney and Melbourne bound A380's presumably leave at similar times? Or is the LHR QF lounge much larger?

6.30 pm at the Qantas Singapore lounge now and it's 110% full with no seats and passengers waiting outside. Long que for showers.

Currently in the SATS Lounge after receiving my email directing me here and giving me 5000 points. Perfectly acceptable alternative, same view, food fine. I've always found the SIN Lounge just OK, noisy and very snooty staff.

I have a question for all you guys and gals. I am flying into Singapore on QF35 on Monday 24th feb. I have a 6 hour wait to catch the QF1 to London. When I log in to the QF app, it says "relax in the SATS Premier Lounge," as opposed to QF 2 which says "Relax in the Qantas International Business ounge at LHR."