Passengers have savagely attacked Qantas Club lounges, calling them “dirty and expensive”, “embarrassing” for Australia and “one of the biggest scams of all time”.
Last week, a TikTok user named Kiki went on a rampage at the airline with a video review of the lounge that has been viewed more than 47,000 times.
She joked that her “shitty” toasted sandwich at the lounge was $700, due to the huge membership fee just to get in.
Qantas charges a ‘registration fee’ of $99 plus $600 for a one-year membership to access its lounges. For two years, the membership costs $1,100.
Kiki was also forced to make the sandwich herself, using the ‘make your own toast station’ that is set up in the buffet section of the lounge.
Describing her experience, she said: ‘I got ripped off a lot. It’s dirty and the food sucks.
After the experience, he emailed Qantas asking them to cancel his membership, but claimed the airline did not reply.
“I will never make this mistake again,” he said.
Passengers have attacked Qantas in reviews of the airline’s premium lounges, calling them “dirty and expensive”, “embarrassing” for Australia and “one of the biggest rip-offs of all time”.
On TikTok, a Qantas lounge member named Kiki said it was “dirty and the food sucks”
One customer said of the Qantas Lounge in Sydney that the buffet area was “messy and uncomfortable”. Nothing was refilled and no one seems to do the cleaning’ (Pictured is a photo of a review on airlinequality.com)
Frequent travelers have also taken to online review websites to point out the poor standards of food, cleanliness, and service within the exclusive lounges.
On productreview.com.au, Qantas lounges averaged 1.3 stars from 77 reviews, with many noting that the airline had deteriorated from previous good standards.
‘Why can’t I give 0 stars?’ one member complained.
“Dirty as ever,” one Sydney man wrote after being confronted with litter on the seats and the “sticky tables and dirty carpet” inside the lounge.
A traveler posted a photo on social media of the ‘stale lounge food’ he received in a Qantas business lounge, although he admitted to enjoying it
Customers at productreview.com.au criticized Qantas for their experiences at the Qantas Club Lounge (pictured, website reviews)
“You’d think Qantas would at least guarantee a clean Qantas club, considering it’s their main attraction at any airport.”
A constant complaint was how poorly lounges reflect on Australia’s leading airline.
“If this really is Australia’s premium airline then I’m embarrassed,” one man wrote after being faced with a choice of “greens salad and boiled potatoes, a watery butternut squash soup or homemade ham and cheese toastie.” “. Brisbane.
“I have watched the gradual decline of the Q club for several years.”
“Cooking toast is not my idea of airline lounge food,” wrote a Sydney woman in July.
“The food is very cheap and basic,” wrote a traveler from Sydney in a two-star review on August 23.
‘At the moment, it’s not worth paying. There is better food outside the hall.
Last week, a woman said she paid $350 to bring her daughter, but had to choose between “hot homemade party cakes, watery minestrone soup, and making her own ham and cheese toastie with 15 other people.”
‘My daughter and I have been flying interstate every week for the last 6 months. Sadly the standard of Sydney and Melbourne salons has really dropped,” she wrote.
The airline told Daily Mail Australia that criticism of its lounges was offset by satisfied customers.
A traveler from Canberra left after she couldn’t find a seat for 20 minutes in June.
I didn’t even finish my wine so it must have been bad. Reminds me of a food court. Never more.’
Another traveler posted a photo on social media of the “stale lounge food” he received in a Qantas business lounge, although he admitted to enjoying the toast and hard-boiled egg shown in the photo.
Qantas fared much better on airlinequality.com, achieving an average customer rating of 5/10 from 244 reviews.
But again, the recent reviews were horrible.
‘Terrible coffee, food of such low standard and very, very limited options. All of this in a room that feels dated. Really a shame for Qantas’, posted an Australian woman.
A British traveler said he found the lounge ‘extremely poor’ and found the exclusive attitude of the staff to be at odds with the standards inside.
‘Official staff which I found quite surprising, as if they were doing you a favor by letting you into ‘their’ salon. So many lessons to be learned here, of what not to do.
Some users also stated that they would avoid lounges because they felt staff might be discriminatory based on “the way they look” against members and frequent flyers.
“The club is run down and has poor facilities for such a high price that there is no point in going there as they discriminate in both your clothes and your appearance,” one woman said.
Qantas fared much better on airlinequality.com, achieving an average customer rating of 5/10 from 244 reviews.
Another man said: “We had a pretty hectic time visiting the Qantas Club lounge at Sydney Airport. There were very few seats available, the hall was noisy and the food offerings were ordinary.’
The airline told the Daily Mail Australia that happy customers made up for criticism of its lounges.
‘These reviews do not reflect the comments we receive from our frequent travelers.
‘We regularly receive positive feedback from our customers about their experience after visiting one of our salons.
“Our lounges are often ranked among the best in the world and we continue to invest in new and improved lounges, including Adelaide and Auckland, and some regional cities.”
Across its network, passengers can access 650 lounges managed by Qantas or its partner airlines.
“Whether you’re looking to get involved in an important project or relax with a delicious meal, our lounge network offers a variety of facilities to get your trip off to a good start,” the airline says on its website.
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