The new Qantas Club on the Gold Coast is now open at Coolangatta airport.
And thanks to pictures flowing in from Australian Business Travellers readers, we've got a sneak peek for you before AusBT editor David Flynn flies up to the Gold Coast for tomorrow's official opening.
The Gold Coast Qantas Club is a made-over version of the airport's former Jetstar lounge.
To save you from asking about that odd-looking character covered in baggage stickers, it's a delightfully cheeky bit of lounge art from Qantas!
The main artery of the lounge is the food area.
You'll find some food-time seating there, which is already being repurposed for laptops by travellers.
The dining area is chic and spacious...
"It's small," AusBT reader Shaun Ewing says of the lounge, adding that he's "not sure how it'll go during peak time".
And if the lighting feels artificial to your eyes, you're not wrong: the lounge is unfortunately windowless.
...but looks to fill up quickly.
The work zone in the lounge for passengers who've brought laptops with them is a long rectangular table with pod-style seating for ten.
(What's wrong with actual chairs, frequent flyers' spinal alignment might ask...)
The long has what reader Kai Koenig observes is a "stylishly embedded power plug," but he warns: "Mac users be aware that your white bricks won't fit."
We predict most business travellers will prefer the laptop-on-knees option, especially with power points next to the couch seating.
A separate work area contains a handful of iMac computers and a printer.
The food options are decent enough for a small lounge.
Barista coffee is also on offer, with a selection of wine in the chillers beyond.
Top marks for a separate area for kids travelling from the Gold Coast -- although we could wish that it were soundproofed somehow.
And Qantas has sensibly kept it to fruit snacks in the kids' corner -- so the rugrats won't be hyped up on sugar during your flight. Excellent move, Red Roo.
The lounge's hours cater to Qantas flights, with nearly a two-hour shutdown between 1pm and 3.40 in the afternoon, and going home time well before 6pm.
Business travellers who have to fly Jetstar -- still the majority of the Qantas Group's Gold Coast flights -- may be out of luck.
But how does it measure up to Virgin Australia's six-month-old Gold Coast Lounge? Share your thoughts in a comment below.
Thanks to Shaun Ewing and Kai Koenig for the sneak peek pictures. We'll have more soon.
If you come across new or interesting things on your travels that you think Australian Business Traveller readers should know about, get in touch!
We're @AusBT on Twitter, and our email addresses are at the bottom of every AusBT article.
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles
27 Nov 2012
Total posts 45
Interesting remark by Shaun Ewing, "It's a small lounge, I don't know how it will go in peak time". At the moment QF are only scheduling a few flights a day, so "Peak" time would be prior to takeoff of each B738, with say 170 pax onboard; number of Club members probably 30% or under, so will have to hold 50 to 60 in the lounge.
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Don't forget that there're an awful lot of Jetstar flights whose Platinum/Gold/Club passengers get to use the lounge too. Have a look at the Gold Coast departure boards for an idea of numbers.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Jan 2011
Total posts 28
Like John said, it's also used by passengers on the Jetstar flights.
I spent about 90 minutes observing the "lounge crowd", and there were many Jetstar passengers in there.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Aug 2012
Total posts 65
Remember Jetstar has a lot of domestic flights per day thru Gold Coast, plus some international. It's the old Jetstar lounge, and it doesn't look like QF did much to it - just a bit browner! Hardly worth an opening. I always found it a bit airless and claustrophobic, and the lounge dragons were legendary (not in a nice way). Virgin have a new and very airy lounge with views. I would mark them as Virgin 8, Qantas 2!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Aug 2012
Total posts 65
PS
ABT had a report on the new GCoast Virgin lounge - nice pics. Frankly from the photos QF have done theirs on the very cheap. My Qantas Club was due for renewal last Friday, and after 15 years membership, I am letting it drop!
https://www.executivetraveller.com/virgin-australia-opens-new-gold-coast-airport-lounge
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
23 May 2012
Total posts 268
By looking at those images from the AusBT readers, Virgin Australia's Gold Coast lounge looks more better and larger. I am happy to be a Velocity Gold member as Virgin Australia's domestic lounges are so good, clean and contemporary.
I haven't visited the lounge when it was ruled by Jetstar but the lounge looks a bit out of Qantas lines.
15 Nov 2012
Total posts 14
Are there no windows in the lounge??
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Nope — as we said in the article, there aren't any. For reference, here's what Virgin Atlantic (fairly undisputed kings and queens of business class lounge design) did with a windowless interior busines class lounge space at Newark.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
23 May 2012
Total posts 268
Wow, Virgin Atlantic did such a good job! I don't understand how Qantas will be able to cope with so much competition.
15 Apr 2011
Total posts 580
I like that timber clad wall, the lounge looks pretty standard overall (not that I was expecting anything more). What's happened to the island dining concept??
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Jan 2011
Total posts 28
Correct me if I'm wrong, but island dining is a Business lounge concept.
This is a Qantas Club.
I'm still yet to encounter island dining anyway.
04 Dec 2012
Total posts 12
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
23 May 2012
Total posts 268
I agree, Ewan! The trading hours are very inconvinient!
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