Qantas updates access rules for domestic & international lounges

Qantas will tweak its lounge access policies across both domestic and international lounges, with some winners and losers along the way. An eagle-eyed reader of Australian Frequent Flyer first spotted the somewhat ambiguous notice on the Qantas website:

From 15 June 2023, we’ll be simplifying our lounge access policy. Guests will be eligible to use lounges when travelling on Qantas-operated and eligible partner flights that depart on the same day.

– Qantas website, taken on 17 May 2023

We elected to approach Qantas for comment first to verify the actual changes before publishing. Qantas has now clarified to Point Hacks the upcoming policy changes, which are twofold.

Qantas Club members can bring a wider range of guests to international lounges

First off, the good news. Qantas will enhance the ability of Qantas Club members to bring guests to international Qantas lounges. At the moment, Qantas Club members can only bring guests travelling on the same international flight as themselves.

But from 15 June 2023, Qantas tells us that the policy will expand to cover any guest travelling on Qantas, Jetstar, or a oneworld partner flight that same day, in order to streamline the rules overall.

Based on the information provided by Qantas, it means Qantas Club members will ironically have more flexibility in bringing in a guest than they have in accessing a lounge themselves. That’s because Qantas Club members can usually only access the Qantas lounge before QF and JQ-coded flights, but soon, their guest could also be travelling on a Oneworld member flight.

We’re aware this interpretation of the rules means Qantas Club members would have stronger guesting rights than a Qantas Platinum member flying Jetstar, for example. We’ve reached out back to Qantas to clarify these quirks of the new rules, especially with flying Jetstar internationally.

There’s no change to the guest policy for international First or Business passengers, or those with Qantas Gold, Platinum or higher frequent flyer status.

Domestic lounges will be for travellers only

In a move to reduce pressure on lounges, Qantas will only allow guests travelling on Qantas or Jetstar into its domestic lounges from 15 June 2023. Previously, eligible lounge passengers could bring in any guest – including those not travelling or even those flying a competing airline.

This change affects anyone who could ordinarily access a Qantas lounge, including Business Class passengers, Gold and Platinum members, as well as Qantas Club members.

There’s no change to the number of guests allowed – for example, Platinum frequent flyers can still bring two guests into the lounge. But soon, all of those guests must also be flying Qantas or Jetstar that same day.

A Qantas spokesperson tells Point Hacks that this change is ‘unlikely to affect many customers, as most passengers and guests are already travelling with Qantas or Jetstar that same day.’ Let us know your thoughts in the poll below.

Summing up

Qantas will tighten the access list to domestic lounges from 15 June 2023. But Qantas Club members flying internationally will also benefit from being able to bring in a wider range of guests.

Below is a summary of the changes, provided by Qantas.

The ability to bring non-travelling guests into the lounge before a domestic flight is relatively rare outside of Australia, but it’s still a nice perk. Virgin Australia still allows non-travelling guests into its domestic lounges, but time will tell if the airline decides to make a similar move too…