*The main bar area at the LAX Qantas and Oneworld business class lounge.*

NOTEWORTHY DETAILS

Qantas and Oneworld airline Business Class lounge
Full tended bar
Large variety of food with dishes on rotation
600 seat capacity at Tom Bradley International Terminal (Terminal B)

Being able to settle in at a relaxing airport lounge pre-flight is always a welcome experience, but is especially valuable before a long-haul journey, such was my recent visit to the Qantas LAX lounge before boarding my LAX to SYD 14 hour flight. The ability to settle in for a couple of hours or so whilst grabbing a drink, food and perhaps a shower to freshen up is worth its weight in gold to me, and I was certainly keen to experience this lounge for this first time in a couple of years.

Read on to see my honest thoughts about the Qantas/Oneworld lounge, which will hopefully help you in your future travel plans.

Lounge Access and General Information

The lounge is located airside on level 5 of TBIT, or Terminal B, which is a short walk (5 mins) from Terminal 4 and Terminal 5, often a terminal you’ll arrive at if flying into LAX on American Airlines prior to catching the red roo to Australia. The lounge is accessed by a lift or escalator that is well signed and easy to find once you’re though security and customs at LAX.

You can gain access to this lounge through the following methods:

From Flying

Flying Qantas, or Oneworld airlines business class, or first (Qantas has First Class Lounge at LAX).
Flying Emirates Business or First class.

Note one travelling guest will be permitted.

From Airline Status

Qantas Platinum one, Platinum or Gold flying on a Qantas, Oneworld, Emirates or China Eastern flight.
Qantas Club flying on Qantas or Emirates flights.
Emirates Platinum Skywards members flying Qantas or Emirates.
Emerald or Sapphire Oneworld members flying Oneworld

Note one travelling guest will be permitted, however more may be allowed with Platinum and Platinum One status.

Other methods

Qantas guest pass holders may be permitted entry, however this is restricted based on lounge capacity at the time. You must be sure to link your pass to your upcoming flight through the Qantas app or website at least 24 hours prior to entry.

Lounge Atmosphere and Layout

This lounge is huge!, there are multiple seating zones, some based around business areas, some around leafy areas with comfortable chairs and tables, some around this fire place:

*A lovely area aesthetically speaking, however, the fireplace and its surrounds are often crowded.*

Throughout the lounge are darker and warming tones of greys and browns softened with timber panels and warm soft lighting to provide an overall relaxed atmosphere, great for settling down before what is typically a late evening boarding time back to the East coast of Australia.

At the time of entry I have to say, this lounge was packed despite its huge size. I entered at peak time which was around 8pm, before any of the Qantas flights have boarded bound for Australia, and that’s without accounting for other Oneworld airline passengers using this lounge. Compouding this, It was a busy time of year when I entered, and a few trips around the lounge were required to find a suitable space to sit.

Some zones were certainly noisier than others, but I was able to find an area slightly more subdued. The heavy passenger load lasted approximately 1 hour before guests started heading to gate to board their respective flights, so, it was a short lived crowded feel.

With that said, even at its busiest, the lounge had plenty of staff clearing tables and serving drinks, it was not as though matters had devolved to a Mad Max state of affairs.

One thing this lounge does not have in abundance is natural lighting, or views of the runway, or of much at all other than some internal art installations. Though it is preferable to have views outwards, its not something I miss terribly here.

Food and Beverage

In a comfortable spot I headed to the wonderful, very well stocked and tended bar. The guys here were constantly serving drinks during my stay, cocktails, wine, beer or spirits, it was all go. Note you can of course serve yourself wines, but the bartenders will naturally pour you a glass should you prefer.

I must always raise the one disappointing thing with Qantas business class lounges again, being that they do not serve champagne when competitors such as Cathay Pacific and American Airlines Flagship Lounges do. I could certainly understand if Qantas wanted to showcase one of the many great premium Tasmanian sparkling wines instead, but this is not the case. First world problems I know, but, the point remains.

The trade-off here might be that this lounge does feature a full tended bar, and barista made coffee, instead of say, the American Airlines Flagship lounges which are a DIY bar setup with machine made coffee.

The bar features a wide range of wines, some Australian and some American. Beers at the time were Heineken PALi, Heads in the Clouds IPA and Allagash White wheat beer. An extensive list of high quality spirits are also on hand, basically anything you could want.

Those keen for a drink or two certainly wont be left wanting, and of course, there are plenty of non-alcohol drinks available, and drink stations are located in other areas of the lounge such as this one:

Food wise is where this lounge really prevailed in my opinion. Despite it being very busy, the food options were fresh, varied and tasty. In the time spent here, different options were brought out at least 3-4 times including pulled pork tacos, hot wings, and more. There are salads and pasta dishes, snacks and sweets available also.

Lounge Facilities

The Qantas and Oneworld lounge does feature a small workzone with divided desks, printing capability and of course, free wi-fi. The wi-fi measured 46Mbps at the time I was there. Additionally there are several shower suites available to book here, which are very much worth utilising pre-flight, espescially if you’ve arrived from another destination prior to heading on to the 14 hour flight.

At the time, there was also a large room right at the back of the lounge open for kids to use and for parents to supervise. Great for kids, and for keeping noise down in the main lounge.

To book a shower suite, visit the counter and if none are available you’ll be given a buzzer which will beep and vibrate loudly when your suite is ready, to the delight of those around you.

The shower suites vary in size, but all feature your own shower, toilet, hairdryer and products to refresh yourself before boarding.

The Bottom Line

There are a variety of lounges at TBIT travelers can opt for, including the Amex Centurion lounge, and Emirates, as well as many pay for entry options. Despite how busy this lounge was initially, it was not chaotic by any means. The lounge was clean, attendants were clearing tables politely and constantly.

Where this lounge really shines is in the food and beverage category. I appreciated the rotation of food with new dishes, keeping things fresh and interesting. Despite no champagne, there are plenty of options to go for at the bar. This lounge is certainly a more attractive option to me, than say, the Amex Centurion lounge which was busy, and you could very much feel it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this independent review of the Qantas and Oneworld Los Angeles business class lounge, and that this helps to inform your future travel plans.

Lounge Review: Qantas Los Angeles (LAX) International Business Lounge