Location: In Bangkok’s mega airport it pays to listen to the lovely staff check in when they detail how to get to the lounges, as it can be a little tricky to find being a level below the main area of the terminal. Once you clear immigration turn right and keep walking until the first four way intersection with E gates to your left, F gates straight ahead and G to the right. Take the escalators on the left down to level 3 and then head straight down the G concourse past the Cathay lounge and the Qantas & British Airways lounge is the next lounge on the right (Directly opposite the First Lounge which you can read the review for here). On the airport map its pretty much on the G concourse between gates G1 and F2 on the neighbouring concourse.

Entry: The entry rules have recently changed, and as always you should always check with your airline before travel for the most up to date rules, however at the time of posting access was as follows. Entry is open to all Business class, Oneworld Sapphire frequent flyers (Qantas Gold) and Qantas Club passengers traveling on a Qantas or British Airways flight that day. First Class and Oneworld Emerald (Qantas Platinum) passengers are also permitted but there is a First lounge across the hallway which I’d recommend over the general Business lounge.

According to the Qantas webpage the lounge opens from 16:00 until the last departure, which accommodates the Qantas and British Airways flights between Sydney and London. If you happen to be on another Oneworld carrier such as Finnair, Cathay or Japan Airlines, the flight times may not line up well enough for you to get access, and given the changed entry rules this will only really affect the Platinum members.

Space & Comfort: The lounge is a decent size, although it felt very crowded while I was doing this review which, granted was before Qantas ceased its onward flights to London, thus I’d imagine that the numbers might have thinned out a little. Regardless, the lounge basically consists of one long main section with windows overlooking a garden type area near the drop off area along the outer wall and the food and drinks counters lining the inside wall and a smaller area to the left of the main entry.  Standard Qantas Club style chairs are arranged in pairs facing each other along the window with a bar bench running the length of the lounge down the centre, separating the food and drink buffets from the general seating.

Horizontal timber beams are used to break up the long lounge into smaller sections, although these would be slightly more effective if they were angled more, as when sitting they do nothing to break the line of sight or baffle any sound. But hey I’m no interior designer or architect. At the end of the lounge are the toilets and showers, which could also use another door to the entry as it feels they are a little too connected to the main lounge. Overall the lounge has lots of natural light, which is supplemented by the very bright food and drinks buffets.

Food & Beverages: Given the number of people in the lounge I was quite surprised with the low quantity of food available, although the staff seemed to be keeping everything topped up well, which means the food isn’t sitting around for ages, which is a plus. There was the usual selection of cheeses and other odds and sods that you find in every Qantas Club as well as some hot selections which on my visit included Chinese Noodle with Chicken, Paris Ham Croque Monsier and a Ratatouille, Spinach and Cream Cheese Tart.

The drinks fridges on the other hand were much larger and nicely stocked offering a range of soft drinks, beers, wine and even premixed Milo. If that isn’t enough there were a decent range of spirits to get you nicely toasted before any flight. Tea and coffee are also available via the espresso machine, sorry no Barista service in this lounge.

Staff Service: Like the first lounge, there is very little interaction with the staff, however they are all very polite, keep the place looking spick and span and keep the food and drinks stocked. The ladies at the front desk were a little surprised to see me snapping photos of everything, and asked why I wasn’t in the First lounge were I should be, but once I explained they all had a giggle and were quite accommodating.

Airport Views: If you like to plane spot, then this is definitely not the lounge for you with no airport views at all. If you want some views, take a walk outside the lounge and explore the terminal a little. The first lounge across the hall has an ok view, but if you had access to there you wouldn’t be in this lounge anyway so it doesn’t really help you out.

Amenities: The lounge has a toilet / shower complex complete with several showers available. As I was just a visitor I didn’t really check the showers out much, but unlike the first lounge the toilets are not unisex and are your standard Qantas Club issue variety.

Business Facilities: There is a small and relatively unused business centre tucked away behind a half height white wall, with several computers and a printer available. It seemed most people were just relaxing and grabbing a drink so this area was rather quiet.

Overall: If you are lucky enough to have a choice of which of the Oneworld Business class lounges you spend your time in, I’d go for this lounge as its relatively large, has a decent amount of seating, good quality food and drinks and the staff service is really good and unobtrusive. If you are on Cathay, try and get in here if you can (and its open) as the quality is much better than their own lounges. I’d be interested to hear of people’s experiences since Qantas discontinued their service to London from Bangkok and whether its still a little crowded or if the numbers have also been discountinued.