Qantas treading on toes with jandal ban

Travellers have been turned away from capital city lounges for the crime of was wearing jandals, or "footwear that separates the big toe from the other toes". Illustration / Emmerson

"Feels like home" is the catchy slogan of Qantas' latest advertising campaign. But it doesn't apply to the airline's lounges, it seems, where a "smart-casual" dress code is being enforced - including a ban on thongs.

Travellers turned away from capital city lounges this week vented their fury on social media. Mostly their crime was wearing thongs, or Jandals, which a Qantas spokesman helpfully defined as "footwear that separates the big toe from the other toes". (So, no Birkenstocks either.)

While a dress code has long existed for people entering the airline's club- and business-class lounges, Qantas began enforcing it only on April 1 - in response, it says, to complaints from passengers about deteriorating dress standards.

Even expensive leather jandals are banned, as some found out to their cost this week.

Bare feet are also a no-no, as are singlets and midriff-revealing tops. And "clothing with offensive images or slogans ... [is] in most cases likely to be deemed unacceptable", according to the airline.

Estelle Lucas was denied entry to the Qantas Club lounge in Melbourne, despite teaming her thongs with a designer coat and a A$1200 ($1214) Prada handbag. Lucas had three pairs of designer heels in her check-in luggage, she fumed on Twitter.

Cassandra Hann suffered the same fate in Perth, where she had three hours to kill between flights and was travelling with two tired children. As the family were setting off on holiday, she was wearing Havaianas. She had to spend A$80 on a pair of shoes "I didn't need nor want" before they could enter the lounge.

A Qantas spokeswoman said of the crackdown: "We appreciate this may have caused some frustration, but we're not in a position to flip-flop on the policy."