Qantas Club vs Qantas Business Lounge food – is it different? This is one of the main questions I get asked by people travelling domestically on Qantas. Is the food a lot better in the Qantas Business Lounge than the Qantas Clubs? You would expect so since the domestic Business Lounges are for business class passengers, Qantas Platinum and Oneworld Emerald passengers, while the Qantas Club is for Qantas Gold, Oneworld Sapphire and Qantas Club members.
But is it?
I visited three sets of Qantas Lounge Precincts on the same day and same time; the Qantas Club in Sydney and the Qantas Business Lounge in Sydney; the Qantas Club in Canberra and the Qantas Business Lounge in Canberra, and the Qantas Club in Melbourne and the Qantas Business Lounge in Melbourne to see what differences or similarities there were. It had been quite a few years since I had been in the Qantas Club (as I am currently Qantas Platinum) so I was quite surprised to see how similar the food was. It is a lot more similar than before covid where I found the food in the business lounge to be a step up from the Qantas Club.
Have a browse at the range of photos in both the Qantas Clubs and Qantas Business Lounges (domestic).
Qantas Club vs Qantas Business Lounge
Take a look at the menus below from 2022, 2023 and 2024 in the Qantas Club vs Qantas Business Lounge and you can see there are only small differences between the foods on offer.
Overview of Qantas Club vs Qantas Business Lounge food (domestic)
A general quick comparison of the foods served in the Qantas Club vs Qantas Business Lounges in the domestic Qantas network:
- Overall foods are similar between the lounges, with small extras in the business lounge.
- Both have very similar selection of sandwich fillings with the ability to make toasted sandwiches in both lounges.
- The soup of the day was the same across both lounges
- Qantas Business Lounge had a small selection of antipasto
- Both lounges had a hot meal option on the buffet however they differ slightly between the Qantas Club and the Qantas Business Lounge. In the business lounge this is usually a stew of some kind with rice or noodles, while the Qantas Clubs it can be anything from e.g. hot potatoes (the only hot food served) or a pasta bake.
- The desserts were similar – small pieces of a slice or cake. The flavours tend to differ between lounges but the style of dessert is the same.
- Bar snacks similar in Qantas Club vs Qantas Business Lounge and sometimes the same.
- The Qantas business lounge in Sydney and Melbourne have a ‘special’ food feature: the Sydney business lounge now has the Panini Bar offering two choices of premade paninis which staff will serve to you and add a side of chips (crisps), while the Melbourne business lounge has the Spice Bar offering two Asian inspired dishes.
Ok lets look now in more detail.
What food is similar?
The reliance on toasted sandwiches being one of the main offerings is similar across both lounges. The Qantas Club Sydney had the same sandwich fillings the day I visited as the Qantas Business Lounge Sydney: ham, egg, cheese, tomato, beetroot, mixed leaves and pineapple. (Read my full review of the Qantas Business Lounge in Sydney.) Both Sydney lounges had rice crackers on offer while the business lounge also had corn chips. The Canberra lounges had slightly different sandwich fillings but nothing dramatically different.
The soups were the same in both lounges. In the Sydney Lounge it was Minestrone with white bread rolls, while in the Canberra lounges it was Cauliflower soup. The salad was also the same in the Sydney lounges – a rice noodle salad with carrot, baby corn and green onions, while in the Qantas Club Sydney there was also a cold potato salad. The salads in the Qantas Club and Qantas Business Lounge in Canberra were different but still a similar offering with 3 varieties of salads available.
The Qantas Business Lounge in Sydney had a small range of antipasto options which the Qantas Club in Sydney did not have including olives, carrot sticks, pickled onions and hummus. While the inclusion of antipasto means there is slightly more variety in foods to choose from, I would say it isn’t that much of a difference and only offers a slight extension.
There also wasn’t much difference in the sweeter foods on offer. Both lounges had cakes/slices with the Qantas Club having 1 flavour of slice and the business lounge having 2 flavours of cakes.
Bar snacks were the same in the Qantas Club vs Qantas Business Lounge in Canberra. (Here’s my full review of Qantas Club Canberra.)
What’s different?
The hot options are the where the main differences occur. On the day I visited both lounges the Qantas Club had hot potatoes while the Qantas Business Lounge had butter chicken and white rice. While the butter chicken might sound more substantial and a better offering than small hot potatoes, unfortunately the quality of the butter chicken wasn’t great. In fact I have found since covid the self-serve hot options in the business lounges in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney have been of poor quality being mainly sauce.
The variety of sweet snacks were slightly different between the Qantas Club and Qantas Business Lounge in Canberra.
The Qantas Business Lounge in Canberra and Sydney (read the full review of Qantas Business Lounge in Canberra) had plates of vegetable crudites, sandwiches and cheeses on offer at different times of the afternoon. When I first visited the Canberra business lounge they had the vegetable crudites plate out and I had just come straight from the Qantas Club which didn’t have one of these plates. But I didn’t head back to the Qantas Club in the afternoon so I am unsure whether they brought one of these plates out later on which I didn’t see.
Final thoughts on Qantas Club vs Qantas Business Lounge
The foods in both lounges are fairly similar. The business lounges have a few extras that are not available in the Clubs such as a few extra sandwich fillings, different hot options, and special feature meal. However overall the backbones of the lounges are similar – I don’t find them incredibly different. It is well known that both Sydney domestic lounges are in a desperate need of an overhaul and renovation, even though the recent Panini Bar addition and small expansion seem to be trying to take it in the right direction. The Canberra Lounge precinct is much newer and other business lounges and Qantas club pairings in other states e.g. Melbourne and Brisbane have had refreshes and so the differences between the lounges may be more stark. I will keep updating this article as I visit more Qantas Clubs.
Also to note I have only looked at the foods in this lounge, not the size, facilities or how busy it is. The business lounge is smaller and more exclusive and doesn’t feel like you have to fight your way to your buffet all the time.
If you are Qantas Gold or Qantas Platinum (Oneworld Sapphire or Oneworld Emerald) and you would like to see more differences between Qantas lounges for international travel – check out my comparison of the Qantas First Lounge and Qantas Business Lounge.
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