For the people using FF miles to fly first class from Sydney
 

People who regularly fly first class might know this, but FF users don't usually know about the cool first class lounges available. The Sydney one is new (just opened 5 months ago) and FABULOUS!! They called us (unfortunately at home instead of our cell phone) to tell us that we could book a complimentary spa treatment (!!) ahead of time while we waited for our plane. Unfortunately we didn't arrive at the airport early enough for both of us to get in, but I, saint that I am, gave up the slot to my husband for a foot massage. We did get a great lunch (order off a menu with good selections--no mere cheese and crackers for Qantas in Sydney!! Just thought I would give anyone leaving Sydney a heads-up on the first class lounge, so arrive early and call in ahead of time to book your massage. I don't know if business class is included in this, so you might ask. By the way, the architecture of the lounge is beautiful, too.
Sally in Seattle

Business class flyers, except those with Oneworld Emerald status, unfortunately can't use the new Qantas F lounge at SYD. The business class lounges are very nice, however, but nothing like the new first class one.

If you don't mind my asking, <i>how</i> did you get first class FF tickets on Qantas? Assuming your flights were trans-Pacific, those are among the most difficult FF award tickets to score in all of FF land.

Well, Gardyloo, we called up 330 days ahead of time, and got coach seats. Then kept calling for about 6 weeks until we got the firsts (we had 5 weeks to spend in country). DH's work changed and he wanted to cut it down to 4 weeks and we called --daily in the last month--to get them changed, and had no luck so we &quot;had&quot; to spend the 5 weeks. There were coach seats left, BTW, even up to a week before we left Oct. 1. We didn't ask about seats in the middle of the time period we had available since we had booked some non-refundable things there, so I don't know if they were available. I think the keys are booking early and calling often.
Sally in Seattle

Congratulations neighbor (also in SEA.) You did all the right things at all the right times.

Hi, there - I did the same as Sally and started calling every day last December for this November. At first I just had first going over but kept calling every day and eventually got the first coming back. Unfortunately, my cruise was canceled so some lucky person got my seats. As an alternative, last May I was able to very easily get first class with my Alaska Air miles on Cathay Pacific and flew to Vietnam for a September/October cruise. Louise (living very close to Seattle)

You guys can't get access to the info on-line? I can get AA's award seat availability via the Qantas site for some routes. Qantas FF seats on points are often snapped up soon after their release but I find that it's easier to get seats mid-week.

Glad to hear the lounge is good. Took a long time to upgrade it. Melbourne had been upgraded too and is pretty much the same I believe. Am looking forward to using it next week when I head off to NYC. Congrats on using your FF points for 1st Class. Have to agree with Gardyloo they are like gold. I have applied for an upgrade from bus. to 1st and it's looking OK going over but not so good coming back. Think I'll employ your tactics and see how I go. Thanks for the tip