Qantas trials new airport lounge day passes
Want to trade the crowded airport waiting area for a VIP luxury lounge? Qantas is offering just that, for a price.
Lower-tier Qantas Frequent Flyers can now experience the luxury that is a Qantas lounge with the airline's latest trial offer. Select frequent flyers will be offered the opportunity to purchase day passes for Qantas lounges in Australia and overseas from $49.
Previously, only First or Business Class passengers, credit card holders with complimentary Qantas Club passes and top tier oneworld Alliance members with Qantas flights that day could access the lounges. In the trial, however, Bronze and Silver frequent flyers will be emailed be an offer to purchase for themselves and fellow who are on the same reservation. Selected members will receive their email 3-5 days before their flight booking.
At this stage, the trial is invitation-only and is available at the following three prices:
- $49 or 7,000 Qantas Points for Domestic Club lounges
- $69 or 9,900 Qantas Points for International Business Class lounges
- $99 or 14,500 Qantas Points for Premium International Lounges
During the trial, these passes will only be offered to passengers who are travelling during off-peak periods such as midday and late evening flights.
If you're one of the selected Qantas members, you might want to consider how you redeem your day pass reward. Currently, the points value to redeem the passes is less than 1c per point, which is much less than if you were to redeem your rewards for flight rewards. So in this instance, using cash would be a more worthwhile way to go.
Many other airlines, such as Virgin, already offer day passes to their customers for a fee, but Qantas had yet to jump on this trend before now.
We'll keep you updated on whether this offer becomes more generally available.
Picture: Qantas
