Qantas business lounge at Sydney T3 is the mainstay of thousands of Australian Frequent Flyers from all over the country. This is where weary executives and jet-setters retreat to, after a long hard day, or week of slog in their offices, to unwind over a few drinks before they jump on their flight home.

Since most of my flying these days is with Virgin Australia, I hadn’t visited this lounge in quite some time. That changed when I recently flew to Perth with Qantas and spent sometime checking out this facility prior to my flight.

Location

Qantas operate all their domestic flights in Sydney from Terminal 3 (T3). The entrance to the lounge is located on the main concourse, with the actual facility being 1 level up. After clearing security, look for this information board directing you to the lounge.

Turn left and walk for about 25 metres until you see the automatic glass doors entrance to your left. Once in, take the escalator up to the lounge. As you come up, the business class lounge is to the left and the Qantas Club is to the right.

Turn left for the Business Lounge

I arrived at the reception and attempted to show my boarding pass, but the staff for reasons best known to them didn’t wanna check it, and just pointed me in.

Reception at Qantas Domestic Business Lounge, Sydney Airport

Inside the Lounge

The lounge is laid out in a way that most of the seating hugs the massive glass windows and go right around the facility.

The seating area is mammoth and probably takes up a good 60% of the total lounge space. There are all kinds of seating to cater for every conceivable group type or size. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Seating, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Seating, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Seating, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Seating, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Seating, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Seating, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Seating, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

If you want to get some work done, you may either sit at one of the many communal work desks, or pick one of the very roomy individual pods.

Communal work Desk, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Individual pods, Qantas Business Domestic Lounge – Sydney Airport

Unlike many lounges these days where they don’t make flight announcements anymore, Qantas have bucked the trend, and to be honest, I quite like this part. There’s a certain old world charm to it that many of the so-called ‘silent’ lounges have done away with. I was in the lounge for over 1 hr and never really felt like the announcements were too loud or intrusive.

However, if you are one of those people with permanent earphones or pods in your ears, there are numerous display boards in the lounge to track the progress of your flight.

Monitor your flight on these display boards

The toilets and showers are located, sort of in the centre of the lounge and have two-way access to them. There’s no need to make a booking should you with to use them.

Two-way access to Toilets, Baby Change Room and Showers, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

The facilities looked clean and well maintained, which you would expect them to be early morning. From what I could tell, there were total of 3 shower suites and none of them were in use.

Shower, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Dining

The dining area is back towards the entrance. As you come in, the large, L shaped buffet station is straight up. At the time of my visit, breakfast was in full swing. I thought the breakfast fare was impressive and certainly a notch or two above what I generally see at Virgin Australia lounges.

Self-serve Buffet Station, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Breakfast Menu, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

There was a decent selection of breads and pastry items, whole and sliced fruits, a DIY pancake maker, muesli and breakfast juices.

Breakfast, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Breakfast, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Breakfast, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Breakfast, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

There was a notice saying Qantas no longer offer spreads such as butter and margarine in individual packaging.

So if you haven’t visited the lounge in a while, this is what you will see next time.

Qantas claim this is being done to reduce single use plastic, a nice thought indeed, however, the sceptic in me thinks this is more of a cost cutting measure. Moreover, on busy mornings this may potentially lead to bottle neck of sorts, with too many bunched-up patrons disrupting the movement around the dining area.

The hot food offerings consisted of whole and scrambled eggs, sausages and baked beans.

Breakfast, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

If the pre-prepared juice in dispensers isn’t your thing, you could even squeeze your own juice on one corner.

Breakfast, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Then as you go around the corner, there is the bar which doubles up as a cafe. Although the bar was closed at the time I visited, I did get the on-site barista to whip-up a steaming cup of cappuccino, which was really good.

Bar, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Cafe, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Finally, away from the buffet area, there were a few communal dining tables with high-top seating which nobody seemed interested in utilising.

Shared dining space, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Other Amenities

The lounge offers a generous collection of magazines & coffee table books to it’s guests. These are neatly placed in shelves all around the facility, although it’s rare to find people these days who don’t have their heads buried in some kind of gadgets.

Book Shelves, Qantas Domestic Business Lounge – Sydney Airport

Lastly, there is free and fast wifi internet available throughout the facility. I didn’t get a chance to run the speed-test, but for the short duration I used it, it felt more than adequate.

In Conclusion

The Qantas Domestic Business Lounge at Sydney Airport offers guests an excellent pre-flight experience. It has loads of seating and decent food and drinks offering. The views across from the large floor to ceiling glass windows are exquisite and they also allow plenty of natural light to filter in.

The lounge first opened doors in 2008 and to my knowledge hasn’t undergone any major refurbishment since then. It is said to get quite busy during morning and evening rush hour on weekdays. In that sense, it’s perhaps due for an upgrade. However, don’t let that deter you from coming in and spending some time here, as it still remains an above par facility.

What is your impression of Qantas Domestic Business Lounge at Sydney T3? Leave a comment below.