Our series of flights back home from Australia to North America had us starting off in Adelaide, Australia at about 3:20 AM. Since we were flying on standby most of the way, the only confirmed ticket that we had was our Qantas Business class ticket from Adelaide to Sydney. We were up bright and early for these travels back to America, and a friendly stop by The Qantas Club Adelaide.

Review: The Qantas Club Adelaide Domestic Lounge, Adelaide International Airport, Adelaide, Australia.

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After a quick 4 day visit, it was time to make an attempt to head back to Canada. We were up at the awful hour of 3:20 AM for a shower ahead of a full day of travel to the United States, then a taxi to the airport. It was a quiet drive from Adelaide Hills and only $67 AUD.

The airport concourse was a nice area with an outside walkway to the terminal (no immediate curbside check in) across a nice plaza. The only bad part to this story was that we were here in the cover of darkness.

Checking Into Qantas Business Class:

The Adelaide International Airport Departures Hall was another Qantas branded exercise, with prominent airline branding throughout the hall. 

We checked in at the priority check in which was guarded by a Qantas host. As in Sydney, the majority of people were checking in with the computer kiosks. We experienced a bit of a glitchy IT system. Somehow my sisters industry ID90 Z fare attached itself to our revenue award fare causing our boarding passes booked in confirmed business to be printed out as being in business class standby without a seat assignment. The tickets weren’t booked together, booked through the same booking portal or one after another so it was a bit of a surprise between us and the agents. It was sorted out with several attempts with a colleague to override, and a phone call to a manager and we were underway. 

However, at the last minute, the agent took a look at my bag and decided on a visual inspection that it was over 7 kilos and that it had to be checked. It was removed from me unfortunately. I don’t know what is with Qantas and their light carry on policy but it’s different than most of the world and a lot different than North America and Europe. The check in agent advised my sister that the Qantas flight we were booked on was +1 overbooked so my sister headed over to Jetstar to try her luck flying out standby over there. We parted ways here aiming to meet up at Sydney Kingsford Smith since the Jetstar kiosk wouldn’t print out a boarding pass for her and she had to wait on the non secure side to get her matter sorted out.  

We headed over towards the secure side of the departure hall was nicely decorated for the holidays, complete with a Christmas tree. 

Locating The Qantas Club Lounge:

MrsWT73 and I proceeded through security to a spacious concourse, complete with a Christmas themed gingerbread house with a train. The Adelaide International Airport is situated in a long rectangular shape, with both domestic and International flights leaving from the same terminal.

There are two lounges located at Adelaide International Airport. This version, operating as the Qantas Club, was located in the domestic terminal and serviced its domestic travellers. The Qantas Club was centrally located after turning right after security. There is also a Qantas Business Lounge situated in the International Terminal.

Accessing The Qantas Club Lounge:

Access to the Qantas Club Lounge is allowed for travellers that are travelling on a departing flight in Qantas, Emirates, Jetstar or One World Business Class. Two guests are allowed and do not have to be travelling in order to access the lounge. Access is also afforded to Platinum One or Platinum Qantas Frequent Fliers. Eligible One World travelers that have Sapphire or higher level status (eg: Emerald Status) are also afforded access. Paid Qantas Club members are also granted access with one guest allowed, provided that they are departing on a Qantas, Jetstar or Emirates flight.

If for some reason you don’t meet the requirements, and are desperate to visit, you can still purchase annual access to the Qantas Club. There is an initiation fee and an annual fee that is in the range of $500 AUD per year. You may also be offered a day invitation for fee, dependent on lounge capacity.

We were admitted access courtesy of the class of service travelled. Somehow with the seat mix-up our boarding passes printed out seats in separate parts of the business class cabin. Thomas at the front counter took our boarding cards and said that he would work on it.

Inside The Qantas Club Lounge Adelaide:

Once we were inside the Qantas Club Adelaide, we found another really spacious domestic lounge. The first impression was a spacious area with lots and lots of seating. Thanks to prominent reds and great interior design, you’ll never forget that you’re in a Qantas Lounge. They look like no other lounges in the world.

In addition to the regular lounge seating, there was also a cubicle farm. It was located near the lounge entrance, although at 5:15 AM, there weren’t many people doing that. 

Qantas seems to want its customers to use their space as workspace as they had several meeting rooms available to be booked. It was an interesting use of space considering they are probably only used during daytime business hours. 

Despite the large space, most of the lounge customers this early morning were crowding around the food and coffee stations.

Food and Beverage:

Like I have mentioned earlier, the Qantas Lounges always excel in food and beverage options. There was also a full service barista coffee bar served by actual baristas. Wow – what a concept! No messy stations or discarded garbage belonging to other people at the coffee station. 

The food offerings were above average for a domestic lounge. This morning there were baked eggs and tomato ragout along with the famous instant pancake machine “Just press ok.”

My sister indicated via Whats App that she could not check in on the public side until 6:40 AM (40 minutes after we were scheduled to have departed) so we virtually parted ways through What’s App messaging from opposite ends of the Adelaide Terminal and arranged to meet in Sydney at the Sydney International Terminal United check in desk. We had some nice airside views as the sun came up in Adelaide this morning.

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My thoughts on The Qantas Club Lounge Adelaide Domestic:

The Qantas Club Adelaide was another impressive space in the spectrum of domestic lounges. It offered ample food, fresh coffee, actual food that could substitute for a meal, office space and lots of loungers to sit around in. It’s too bad that other domestic lounges worldwide don’t meet up to these standards. It certainly was a welcome respite and a great start to a very long travel day.

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If you travel to and from Adelaide International Airport, is the Qantas Club Lounge your first choice of available lounges?

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