paul4040

To be honest it's probably a combination of all of those, with a member of staff not empowered or inquisitive enough to check if the customer is actually right.

I agree that the lounge manager is the first port of call in these situations - then BA. It's an advertised benefit and it really is abundantly clear on both Oneworld and BA sites.

Let us know how you get on.

lorcancoyle

+1 (now if there was no LPGS in the lounge that could justify writing to the UN)

bedelman

Multiple people in this thread have reported BA staff using this kind of method at many lounges. Suppose one wants to hold the company to its stated contractual obligations -- not to make them do anything they haven't promised to do, but to make them do exactly what they promised. Does anyone have any suggestion of how to do that, other than escalation to management and ultimately to litigation?

It's not a tongue-in-cheek suggestion. BA promised a benefit and didn't deliver it. It's a classic consumer claim -- small harm to a large number of passengers, none of whom would ordinarily have adequate incentive to carry the dispute through to resolution. Personally I'm usually inclined to thank those who pursue matters like this, so that when I try to claim such a benefit, the vendor or service provider has been adequately motivated to honor its obligations.

PaulN

You don't know it is an intentional act. I would ask for an explanation rather than making assumptions.

Am I the only one that thinks trying to track down an individual and email them personally is a bit stalkerish? If somebody I didn't know contacted me about a work matter through my personal contact details I would ignore them.

Why are you pursuing it anyway - surely it should be your friend that does this - would carry marginally more impact I'd have thought?

bedelman

I contacted [Staff name redacted] through his business email address, which is also readily knowable to the interested public. He is the BA employee best positioned to answer my question. If he can't answer or doesn't care to answer, there are other options.

Paul, I agree that it's best to begin with seeking an explanation and not making assumptions or accusations. I am proceeding accordingly.

My friend is not inclined to pursue this. But I talked up IB (including the BA lounge, not that it's great, but at least it's the best we have in BOS) in encouraging my friend to choose this routing. My name is on the line. And I have a personal interest in this too -- I've flown IB transatlantic and would want to be able to use the BA lounge when departing BOS on IB. More generally, I certainly want to be able to depend on lounge access rules; I often make plans in reliance on lounge access, whether for phone calls, Internet access, or just a quiet place to rest during a long journey. Take that away and I'd be less willing to pay a premium price or accept an inferior routing for BA and OneWorld partners. So I definitely want to know that I can trust BA to honor its commitments.

Globaliser

I'm sure I'm not the only person who takes the view that I'm not going to go around making companies do things, even if they've promised to do them and have failed. I'm not that important and I'm not that powerful. If this sort of small customer service hiccup really upset me, I'd take my business elsewhere rather than engage in some sort of willy-waving power struggle that ended up in litigation. I'd save litigation for important things.

And in your friend's situation, I'd remind myself that I'm not even BA's customer at that point. It might not be right, but it's not worth getting upset about.

CCayley

On what planet would the holder of an Iberia ticket have a breach of contract claim against BA? If anyone has failed to honour contractual obligations to the ticket-holder it must surely be Iberia - the only relevant company with whom the passenger has contracted.

Captain Schmidt

+1. And whilst this used to be the exclusive preserve of our American cousins, the entire world now seems to increasingly get its knickers in a twist about the most trivial things and then threaten to sue the nearest person as a remedy.

HilFly

I expect that this denial is based purely on capacity and timing.

There are 3 flights depart BOS - LHR in rapid succession and the small BA lounges fill up very quickly. Frequently, passengers departing on the first of the three sit in the preflight supper area long after they have finished eating because the rest of the lounge is full. This blocks the tables for those on the next flights wanting to dine preflight.

I can understand completely why passengers flying IB are turned away. Three full BA flights departing at 7:15pm, 9:35pm and 10:45pm.

EDI_Martin

It is pretty small to be fair, it did fill up very quickly last time I was in.

windowontheAside

I think many people unhappy with the capacity argument don't appreciate that it is not the capacity at the time of attempted admission that is the critical factor.

NickB

What promise? BA has no contractual relationship with your friend. BA has not promised him/her anything. The only entity that might have promised him/her something is the entity with which he/she has a contract, namely Iberia.

Now, if you can find something in the Iberia contract of carriage that implies access to the BA lounge at BOS when flying IB in business or that implies that OW lounge access rules are incorporated into the contract of carriage, then your friend might have a contractual claim against IB. But, frankly, I think that your friend will struggle to find this in IB's contract of carriage.

Your friend could also in theory have a tortious claim against OW for negligent misstatement on their website. I would, however, wish good luck (they are going to need more than plenty) to anybody wanting to go down that route and convince a jurisdiction that there is a negligent misstatement here.

Now, there may well be a contract (I would be surprised if there was not) between OW airlines regarding reciprocal lounge access for their FFers and premium class passengers. However:
1) I do not think that many of us, if anyone, know the precise terms of that contract, so we do not know the extent of the obligations and possible derogations to it nor what the contract provides in case of non-observance;
2) more importantly: your friend (or any other passenger) is not privy to that contract and cannot enforce it. OW airlines, which are the parties to that contract, could probably seek to enforce it. So, your friend should complain to Iberia and ask them to demand that BA allows access to their lounge according to OW rules. Just a quick recommendation for your friend, though: do insist that they do not hold their breath while waiting for IB to put heavy pressure on BA on this issue, as it could be a very, very long time coming...

bedelman

I disagree that BA does not make promises directly to passengers as to lounge benefits. See e.g. https://www.britishairways.com/en-us...ation/oneworld : The "Find an airport lounge" button there specifically includes the Boston lounge.

Windowontheaside correctly points out that my friend was at the BA lounge hours before any evening rush. There just wasn't a capacity problem then. Barring exceptional flight delays, there wouldn't and couldn't have been -- the timing is hours off.

Were it not for federal preemption, this would be an easy case under MGL 93A (the main Massachusetts consumer protection statute). Preemption leaves contract claims available, and here there is certainly an offer from BA (fly OneWorld in first/business and we'll let you use our lounge) which my friend accepted through purchase. One could question privity, but 1) I don't think that defense would play well in small claims court, 2) I don't think that defense would play well in light of the overall feel of the case with federal preemption, and 3) BA and IB are commonly owned, making privity issues particularly shallow.

I'm hopeful that there's a way to reach an appropriate here without going to court. But it's serious business to promise consumers one thing, in writing, to induce them to spend $$$$ (business class tickets) or transfer multiple long-term purchases (elite status), then deny the very benefit that was promised. I'm fortunate that I have both time and ability to hold companies accountable when they try this kind of nonsense; most people with time don't have the ability, and most with the ability don't have the time. I will put a bit of effort into seeing that BA in BOS honors its commitments. Will report back when I have done so.

sgm

In May, IB were using the Air France lounge for J and elite pax at BOS. It was a pretty bad lounge - BA lounge is slightly better.

lorcancoyle

Seriously - you would try to go to court over this when there's a massive loophole in the lounge access rules saying they reserve the right to refuse entry. If someone took this sort of case I'd be rooting for the defendant and hoping costs were awarded against the claimant.

Complain to Iberia, complain to BA and if you (sorry, your friend) doesn't get satisfaction then publicise issue or complain to local equivalent of trading standards / advertising standards authority. Court case sounds like a lot if aggravation / risk with no great point of principle at stake