[angled]

I wonder how much of their business is a result of QF selectively giving membership to the Chairmans' Lounge? It would surely mean a lot of revenue is steered / kept their way through travel policies.

Do any other airlines have an equivalent to CL? I assume the greater availability of private jets in the US rules it out there.

[jen729w]

I don't know, I think the general preferences of a lot of people count for more. I mean, you only have two realistic choices for business: Qantas or Virgin. A friend of mine chose Virgin, for whatever reason, and he tells us their lounges are as nice if not more so than Qantas'... but still he wishes he'd chosen Qantas.

They've got just enough of an edge, plus the whole tie-in to the global Oneworld program. Our company's Chairman is a member of the CL, but AFAIK if I requested a Virgin flight that wouldn't be an issue.