The New Qantas Business Lounge Experience Reviewed

Last week Qantas started re-opening select lounges around the country. In Perth, the Qantas Business Lounge opened back up on July 1, a great coincidence since I had my first flight since February coming up!

Qantas introduced a few changes to how the lounge experience would work, so I was interested to see how this would reflect on the overall experience. Some of the notable changes implemented were:

• Capping the number of guests to comply with state-specific restrictions on indoor gatherings
• A hosted All-Day Snacking Station replacing ‘self serve’ buffets and drink stations.
• Disposable coffee cups
• Additional cleaning protocols
• Sanitising stations
• Upgrade To The Business Lounge (if you have QF Club or Gold status)

Arriving At The Qantas Business Lounge Perth

Nothing unusual here other than the plastic “splash” screens installed between the staff operating the front desk and guests, apart from that, everyone seemed to be excited to be working again and for some form of normality to domestic WA state travel.

Qantas Business Lounge Perth

As part of the opening, Club and Gold status holders are also invited to the business lounge (club lounges are set to open later). This is a logical choice, and considering there aren’t that many flights going anywhere, the lounge wasn’t busy when I visited.

First impressions on walking in were the amount of staff on hand; this seemed at least double to pre-COVID levels with a few dedicated cleaning staff disinfecting seats and tables while the rest were busy taking drinks orders from customers and clearing plates — I thoughts this was an improvement over the usual lounge experience.

Food & Drinks At The Lounge

The buffer is closed, but individual items are on display and managed by a dedicated staff member. There’s also a small a-la-carte menu with items cooked to order. Since I visited in the morning, this was scrambled eggs with sourdough and butter. After ordering, there was no need to wait around with staff offering to deliver it to my table; excellent!

Coffee is served in takeaway cups; not sure why but it seems very wasteful. Surely modern dishwashers can adequately clean the usual porcelain coffee cups? This seemed like an odd decision since plates and cutlery we’re still in use.

Is The Bar Open?

After 12 the bar does open so there’s no cost-cutting or restrictions here since I was there before noon, I did not notice anything new, but one would assume you can still go up to the bar and order a drink which was the norm before COVID.

Qantas Lounge Experience Conclusion

I honestly think all these measures are an improvement over the regular lounge experience. Everything was nice and clean, the staff were proactive and friendly, and the food was on offer minus the buffet. The pizza oven in Perth is still in operation, so overall I had zero complaints other than the fact that there is no need to serve coffee in takeaway cups.