thepinkponce

Can anyone else see the irony of people complaining about the lounges being too full yet there's the 2015 master lounge 'meet up' thread with hundreds of offers and requests for access?

People on the 'you can tell it's the school holidays' thread applauding BA for sticking to policy regarding someone signing a young child in as an extra guest, yet going against policy and signing strangers into the lounge?

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a nice gesture and all that but I've been stopped previously from signing a silver BAEC member who I work with, in the T5 GF, because we were on different flights (departing within 15 minutes of each other). First time in years of flying but was told by the Flounge that this was BA policy.

I rang the exec club the next week to discuss and was told that this IS policy however it's at the discretion of the person on the desk.

I also can't help thinking that this in part goes some way to explaining the various exec club changes which is making status much harder to get for some people, with the reduction in tier points etc inevitable meaning less people qualifying for lounge access and hence quieter lounges.

And then eventually no doubt further 'enhancements' - I.E lounges closing because they're no longer fit for purpose (too big etc).

shorthauldad

Welcome to the "BA agents making stuff up as they go along" club!

You get a status match to Silver membership with that story. If you can manage getting turned away from a lounge on Domestic connection after a l/h premium redemption, we'll give you GGL

headingwest

You don't seriously think that the 'Lounge Meet Up' thread makes a difference to the numbers of people in the lounges? I would be surprised if there are any more than 2 people at any one time that have been guested by members of this forum.

Anyhow, we are all 'friends' here on the Flyertalk community, not strangers.

Lioneye

I've been pointing this out for the past few years and am usually shouted down.

The more extreme practice of guesting in people you don't know requires medical intervention.

fripperies

That's casuistry.

OP has a point. You can take the view that lounge access is best restricted to people who qualify. Alternatively you can say it's fine for anyone who can wrangle it, eligible of not. What you can't do is object to folks trying to guest their tribe of children in when you yourself are guesting strangers who happen to frequent a social network site.

themapelligroup

I disagree. Pretending to guest a second person, even if it's a kid, is against policy. However as a a GCH I can guest one person who's on a OW operated flight, it's up to me to decide whether and who to guest. If I'm flying alone I'm happy to offer lounge access to a fellow FTer.

headingwest

It's one thing to guest in one person whom you've chatted with on Flyertalk, but to try and guest in 2 or 3 children, friends or relatives is definitely a different story and certainly adds to lounge numbers. Even so, sometimes it's nice when the lounge angel/dragon permits 2 guests when the lounge is quiet, which I don't consider to be a problem.

Have a look at the 'Lounge Meet Up' thread...how many request/offers are there daily? We're not talking dozens of people being guested into the lounge every day.

Having said that, I've not been guested or have never guested anybody into the lounge.

Foltan

I would imagine that meet-up threads don't have a significant effect on the number of people in the lounges. It's more the principle of complaining about someone being annoyed that they can't take their children in, but then willingly guesting in someone that you're not travelling with.
To be fair though, the majority of 'guestings' on FT seem to be between people that know each other fairly well through the forum anyway.

It wouldn't be surprising if the lounge guesting does get officially enhanced down to only those on the same flight as you.

fripperies

That's precisely the casuistry I'm referring to. It's specious. The guidelines say you're entitled to introduce a guest. But I think we all know the provision is intended for travelling companions, not any waif, stray or chancer who blags it. Making a distinction between Fters and strangers who accost you at the door doesn't really alter the substance.

flibbly

You'll get no argument from me that this would be the height of hypocrisy. However (and because I can't be arsed to check myself) are you sure that the people complaining are also guilty of guesting via the meetup thread?

Personally I'd be more than happy to see guesting restricted to people on the same flight or even perhaps the same PNR - the latter option which would have got me out of guesting my MD (an SCH) into the Flounge in the past when we were on separate PNRs ;-)

RedcardPingle

If it were intended for travelling companions only then it would say so.

Lounge guesting from this forum must be statistically insignificant. On any given day there's no more than around 10 offers/requests. Of these perhaps half are T5 and split between three lounges (I wont bother including GCN or T5B). And how many offers are actually taken up or requests met, maybe 2-3 per day? So that's maybe 1 person, per lounge, per day, probably for a couple of hours, that you can pin on this thread.

The age-old family guesting thing is unfortunate, but the main problem is that everyone wants to bring their families in at the same time of year and so you really would feel a noticeable difference in the lounge numbers when its school holiday time.

I disagree.

fripperies

You disagree for a reason? Or you just don't want to accept it?

themapelligroup

If OW rules intended only traveling companion they would clearly state it. Of course the large majority of people being guested will be traveling with their host, but the rules don't prevent me from guesting someone who's not flying with me.
I see a huge difference between a stranger and a FTer, this is primarily a virtual community, though where meeting are encouraged: otherwise we wouldn't organise DOs, share TRs or spend time resolving someone else's issues. We all help each other posting here everyday, if I can offer my little contribute by guesting a member of this community into the lounge I will be happy and s/he will be the same.

jonas123

I guess I won't be voting at the general election then because my vote doesn't really have an impact on the outcome

RedcardPingle

I do want to accept it, but I can't.

I (generally) make a distinction between regular FT contributors and the 'waifs, strays and chancers'. I was once accosted inside GF by one of these (I think she was a chancer who wanted me to guest in her waif but it was hard to tell).