travellertales

I flew on a BA codeshare from Dub-Lgw-Mco in late October in World Traveller. As a Silver Exec member I expected to be able to take a guest into the Air Lingus Lounge which is the designated BA lounge for the flight to Lgw.

I have often taken a guest into the lounge at Heathrow so did not anticpate any problem.

When the Air Lingus receptionist eventually acknowledged my presence I passed across our boarding cards. I was informed I could not bring a guest into the Lounge as a silver member flying World Traveller. I asked why and was told it was because British Airways refused to pay Air Lingus for a guest and had given Air Lingus instructions not to allow guest access.

I was not convinced this was the true reason and asked to see the written instructions. Of course the reply being as I expected, that it was an "unwritten" rule.

The receptionist went on to add that I would not be allowed a guest even if the rule did not exist. She did not give a reason, I was flabbergasted. By this time my young companion was embarrassed enough to want to leave.

I wanted to see if the Lounge was busy, so after depositing my "non-guest" back in the Terminal I returned to the Air Lingus Lounge. I was given solo access and the Lounge was not very busy with plenty of empty tables/chairs.

On my return home I contacted BA customers relations. I have had a surprising reply from BA.

"We can only allow you to take one guest into the lounge, as we need to make sure there’s enough room for our other Executive Club members." (This is what I wanted to do!)

"We’re only able to have a certain amount of people in the lounge at once and I hope our lounge receptionist explained this to you. To be fair to all of our customers, we have to be consistent at all times. Therefore, on occasions when the lounge isn’t busy, we still may not allow you to invite a guest."

So apparently there is no instruction that BA will not pay Air Lingus for a guest at Dublin - so I was lied to. Instead there is capricious arrangement that if the receptionist decides your guest is not lounge worthy it is ok and fair because sometimes guests are also not allowed when it is busy.

This seems a very casual arrangement open to discriminatory practice based around the personal bias of the receptionist. Was I refused a guest because I was a female holidaymaker casually dressed rather than a suited businessman? I would guess yes.

So if flying on a BA codeshare from Dublin don't be surprised when you are a refused a guest at the Air Lingus Lounge at the whim of the receptionist. As BA added in it's closing response "I know this isn’t the answer you were hoping for and I’m sorry to disappoint you."

corporate-wage-slave

Aer Lingus, which isn't part of oneworld yet, has a special lounge arrangement for Silvers and Gold, but which does not extend to guests. We can't really complain about it since (a) it's not new (b) by dint of not being oneworld we are lucky to have any lounge arrangement at all and (c) the agent was correct, BA doesn't pay for guests in these lounges, since it is a limited exception for limited circumstances.

More details here;
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-l...s-lounges.html

It isn't helped by (e.g.) lack of clarity on the airlines' websites about this.

The unfortunate problem for you was further compounded by a cut / paste answer to your problem which I suspect came from someone in BA Customer Service with no clue about the situation you were in. I'm afraid if you wanted a correct answer, BA Customer Service is unlikely to know the answer, whereas the people in this forum probably do, even if they don't work for BA. And you'll get an answer within 11 minutes!

But you were not discriminated against, a male Prem would have got the same response.

JohnIreland

This is the rule when using your BA card on EI.

It predates the take over so hopefully we will get guesting soon.

Aztec_Flyer

I would guess no.

Although it can be tempting to think we were treated differently because we were black/white/Irish/male/female or whatever, the reality is that the lounge access rules (and many other airline related rules!) can be difficult to follow or be misinterpreted by either side - in reality there's usually a much simpler answer than discrimination.

gcuk

..at which point the lounge will become mysteriously larger and guests will be allowed

obduro

Alternatively, them's the rules...

jose2000

I think BA is generous enough giving Silver members lounge access. I can't imagine it's particularly profitable if every WT is getting guests in. Maybe they'll update their program to reduce all this overcrowding then we get away from the discrimination debate.

travellertales

The "rules" that only seem to exist through word of mouth.

From following the Gold Club link posted above it seems guests are sometimes allowed by EI and often they are not. It seems a very haphazard way of doing business. I shall just avoid all BA codeshares on EI.

TyneTraveller

Unfortunately I have a feeling the OP isn't going to get anywhere with this one, with comprehensive reasoning listed above. I do have sympathy however as the rules aren't overwhelmimngly clear here, or should I say difficult to pin down in writing. I think the first mistake is believing/assuming that this lounge is a designated BA lounge for EI flights...it is not (in the usual sense anyway). Unfortunately, no such Oneworld or BA rules apply here, and is as stated a special access arrangement for the cardholder only.

I fear over the coming months there will be further confusion regarding EI access across the network lounges due to the recent codeshare arrangements.

Just one thing however, someone might like to check the below thread for a possible mistake.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...-europe-2.html Post #17 seems to suggest the OP has a point about a guest. I'm not so sure if that is correct.

corporate-wage-slave

I think that is a mistake, in fact possibly two of them, it's no guests and it certainly was London flights only, not UK. I guess the recent codesharing deal for UK and Ireland may have altered the last point in the last 10 days, though I don't actually know. I have a feeling the problem is the lounge agents in Gold Circle are relatively lax about guesting (e.g. family members) but at least since the start of this year they have been tougher on at least the BA arrangements. I'll put a cross reference to this thread into that Lounge guide. If you extract the EI PNR from your booking, you are able to go online and book paid for lounge access, subject to availability.

TyneTraveller

London bases aside I think the only other UK codeshare at the moment is to/from MAN. I wonder if access will be arranged for the Aspire lounge in T1 just to complicate things further; will wait and see what transpires on that one.

KARFA

It's more than MAN according to Head for Points http://www.headforpoints.com/2015/11...oday-from-695/

I wouldn't be surprised to see this expanding soon to all other EI UK destinations - there are quite a few.

TyneTraveller

And of course they/you would be correct, apologies. There may be even more guesting issues in DUB with these routes than I thought then

steve170461

Without wishing to hijack the thread, we have a 3 hour layover after our upcoming HNL trip. We will have to get bags awaiting our flight back to SOU. Is it worth paying for access to the T1 exec lounge at DUB at 20 euros each or is there any chance we may be able to get access to the BA lounge having arrived on a BA J flight? The latter is unlikely I know.

corporate-wage-slave

No chance of BA based arrival access, it's not even a BA lounge, it's a third party/airport provided lounge (the same lounge as the paid for option), so BA get a bill for every visitor, and they won't be paying for arrival passengers, and Flybe won't be paying it for departing passengers unless on that is on your ticket. Is it worth it? Only you can judge that. It's a typical European lounge, somewhat below Galleries Club in LHR, and about the same, maybe not quite as good as, Breeze in SOU.