Qantas First Class lounge review (LAX-SJC on Alaska; part 2)

On my way back home from LAX, I tried to find an American Airlines flight to take, but the flights were consistently $40-$50 more expensive than Alaska Airlines flights, and the only difference is that Alaska Airlines does not offer a special emerald check-in at LAX, which is really not worth the extra $50.  When looking at flights, I found that the cheapest flight by $70 was an evening flight into San Jose airport from LAX.  $70 is the price of an Uber from the airport, so I decided to fly to SJC. 

In theory, this is the second part of checking if Alaska mainline or Alaska regional aircraft are the better experience

The big event of this flight was the Qantas First Lounge in the Tom Bradley International Terminal, so instead of rating the flight, this article will be virtually exclusively dedicated to the ground experience at LAX as a Oneworld Emerald flying Alaska Airlines.

I started my trip by being dropped off at the International Terminal.  It was busier than I was used to in the domestic terminals on a Sunday night, but that’s probably to be expected given the number of international flights that leave in the evening.  The best about the international terminal for me is the number of and diversity of airlines that you can see.  In this case, I walked past Air France and Qantas.  The Pre-Check line is located farthest to the left as you enter.  The person at the Pre-Check line told me that my flight left from a different terminal, but she let me through as soon once I noted I was specifically visiting the lounges.

After clearing security, I immediately headed for the Qantas lounge.  I had access to this lounge thanks to my British Airways status; Alaska and American Airlines top-tier status holders would only have access when flying intercontinentally.  I was reminded by the lounge agent that they would not be calling out the departure information for my flight (and basically that I was on my own).

Immediately past the entrance was the first seating area (of many).

As I continued toward the dining room, I passed the second seating area, which was remarkably red but filled with comfortable seats.

The next seating area was just before the lounge’s bar.  It consisted of some stylish chairs with a view of… the security line down below.

I didn’t really love the view, but the windows themselves were really nice.

Gotta love the Pre-Check views!

I decided to head to the dining area, which is located in front of the bar. 

The dining area was very disorganized.  They had a big sign that said to wait for a seat, but nowhere was designated as the waiting area for a table, and as is unsurprising in an international terminal, a lot of people ignored the sign and sat themselves.  The host/server also always looked flustered and was clearly used to communicating with people who were not native English speakers and so was not particularly friendly or polite.  That being said, he did everything correctly, so I can’t fault the service itself.  But it definitely wasn’t the standard “service with a smile” that you expect in the United States.

I was presented with the “Winter Menu” and brought a glass of (still) water. 

The menu had a great selection that should cover pretty much anyone’s appetite.  I saw many people order the burger, so I assume that’s a good menu item.  Though I think it’s also just true that a lot of people just like and order burgers by default.  I decided to order a relatively simple meal of a salad and a sandwich.

My Pimms Cup No. 78 was very refreshing, but it’s definitely not the most alcoholic drink in the world (which can be a plus).

Unfortunately, the salad was covered in crispy onions, which, like the burger, I am told other people like.  I was able to eat around them and found the salad to be decent, but the duck was a bit tough.  Maybe that’s just because it was served cold.

Next came my “croque monsieur”, which is a fancy ham and cheese sandwich.  It was great; I generally prefer a croque madame, which is the same sandwich but with an egg on top. 

Unfortunately, it was soon time for my flight back to the Bay Area.  I left to make my way from TBIT to Terminal 6 about 10 minutes before boarding began because it’s not a short walk. 

In summary, the big event of this flight was the Qantas First Class lounge.  I spent longer in the lounge than I did on the flight, and I think it would be disingenuous to try to give this flight a rating because it was no different from any other flight between the Bay and LA. 

So much was this flight like the first one that I paid the same and earned the same number of points, haha.