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The two airports that I travel through the most are LAX and London Heathrow and while at Heathrow I usually have to “put up” with the very average offerings from British Airways, one of my pre-pandemic travel joys was being able to access the Qantas First Class lounge at LAX.
Unsurprisingly, the Qantas First Class Lounge at LAX closed down almost as soon as the travel world came to a screeching halt in March 2020 and it has remained closed ever since. The oneworld Business Class lounge at LAX which Qantas also operates reopened late last year but until now, there has been no sign of the First Class lounge reopening.
That’s about to change.
Executive Traveller (a publication that’s very well connected with Qantas) has today reported that the Qantas Group Chief Customer Officer, Stephanie Tully, has confirmed that the airline’s LAX First Class lounge will reopen “hopefully in July, if not, August”.
To say that I’m happy with this news would be an understatement as a small part of me had been fearing that the lounge may not reopen.
Yes, Qantas sees significant premium traffic moving through LAX but it doesn’t exactly do badly in Tokyo and Hong Kong either and we already know that Qantas lounges in both of those locations will not be reopening their doors. My fears weren’t completely illogical 🙂
For anyone wondering why I’m such a fan of the Qantas LAX First Class lounge, it’s all down to the staff, the food, and the service.
The space itself is large enough so that it’s not often overly busy but it’s not a space that is particularly aesthetically pleasing. What it may lack in character, however, it more than makes up for with its friendly staff and its consistently good food (if you visit and don’t try the squid, you have no soul! 😁) and those two things are more than enough to put a smile on my face. In fact, as pathetically geeky as this is, I’m smiling right now just thinking about it!
Bottom line
A Qantas representative has confirmed that the airline will be reopening its LAX First Class lounge in July or August and that’s fantastic news for oneworld Emerald flyers passing through LAX T4 or LAX’s Tom Bradley Terminal.
I’ll be traveling through the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX a couple of times in July (and possibly even in August) so as well as taking a look at the recently reopened Amex Centurion Lounge at LAX, I’ll make I make time to stop by the Qantas Lounge to see what’s on offer. Stay tuned for updates.
Qantas has not first class lounges. They are known simply as Qantas first lounges.
Qantas has no first class lounges. They are called simply as first lounges.
If you have time to worry about nomenclature difference like this one, you have way too much time on your hands.
It behaves like a First Class lounge and it is known, colloquially, as the Qantas First Class lounge (even Executive Traveller called it that) and that’s good enough for me.
Perhaps I do have too much time on my hands. But I also know what’s correct and what’s not. I also care about accuracy in writing. As for Executive Traveller, if you’re relying on that publication, well, that speaks volumes about this site.
Lol! I do love it when people nit-pick for absolutely no good reason at all. It’s pathetic. But it’s also very amusing.
Still, just in case…
I unreservedly apologize to anyone reading this who then goes looking for a “Qantas First Class lounge” at LAX but after only having found the “Qantas First Lounge” decides not to try it out because they think it isn’t the same thing.