“No, this way!” Bert said as I bounded into the Qantas Business Class Lounge.
He was pointing to the ‘By Invitation’ door.
On our recent trip to New Zealand, I flew Emirates Business Class on a Qantas flight number between Auckland and Sydney. I was travelling with my friend Bert, myself in Business Class and Bert in First Class. Our first stop after checking in was the Emirates Lounge which serves both Business and First Class passengers plus Gold or Platinum flyers on a Qantas or Emirates flight. After wining and dining in the Emirates lounge, we decided to stop next door at the Qantas International Business Lounge, purely for research purposes 😉
Upon entry it dawned on me that as Bert was flying First Class we could enter a dedicated area of the lounge reserved for those flying First or Platinum and Platinum One Frequent Flyer members.
The setting is quiet, intimate and discreet with working and sitting areas as well as a shower facilities, although there are no a-la-carte dining or spa services as offered in other First Class Lounges.
The buffet and bar area sits along one side of the lounge and features top shelf drinks such as 12 year old Chivas Regal and G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge champagne.
From the buffet, there were four hot dishes available such as southern style Jambalaya and potato, leek and thyme soup as well as mixed savouries and quiches. Alongside the hot dishes were finger sandwiches and pre cut slices of international cheeses.
We didn’t spend long here as we’d spent most of our pre departure time in the Emirates Lounge and soon boarding for our flight to Sydney was announced.
On the way out, I had a quick peek at the Business Class Lounge and was surprised at the amount of food on offer compared to the First Lounge, although still not up to the par of the Emirates Lounge.
While the lounge was nice, I gather its more a place for both Qantas and Emirates high flyers and big spenders to have some privacy before their flight rather than indulge in food and drink. While I enjoyed my visit and was thankful for the opportunity to visit, my personal choice would be the Emirates Lounge when at Auckland Airport.
FreakyFlier paid for his ticket independently.
Matty Somewhere 
Very nice review! I find the food spread to be totally fine for a First Class Lounge. I kind of find it questionable if there is some kind of restaurant service. You’ll enjoy so much more amazing food in the airplane anyway (let’s say you are not in the lounge as an OW Emerald), so at least for me, it doesn’t really matter. Some good snacks are definitely better than average “real dishes” 🙂
Interesting! I guess there are more business class passengers than first. Was the volume more in business or the range (or both?).