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Enhancement to US domestic lounge access?
Is it true that oneworld sapphire and emerald members may no longer access AA lounges when flying within the US? It was always the case for AA PLT and EXP, but new verbiage on oneworld.com appears to suggest it has been extended to all other carriers' members too.
Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, A3 Gold, BMI Gold, DL Silver
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Wow. There it is:
American Airlines AAdvantage® members and oneworld top tier status holders, regardless of their tier status, cannot access lounges when travelling solely on North American itineraries within or between the U.S., Canada, Mexico (except Mexico City), the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean.
Programs: AA 2MM, UA Slvr (til June - then GLD), SPG LT GLD, GP Plt, Mets fan (we have no status at all).
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Does this impact non-AA OW top-tiers who are on international connections? If not, it seems to me to be designed to take away an incentive for a USA-based passenger to make a non-AA program his program of choice...
Does this impact non-AA OW top-tiers who are on international connections?
No, it doesn't appear to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CO FF
If not, it seems to me to be designed to take away an incentive for a USA-based passenger to make a non-AA program his program of choice...
Precisely. Which makes it understandable. But it's still bad news for the many OW elites who take "domestic" flights during business and leisure trips to the USA. AA elites, meanwhile, can still use e.g. BA lounges in Europe.
Programs: AA EXP (1 MM), EK Silver, Former CO Plat and AF Gold, SPG Plat, Avis First
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IMH
AA elites, meanwhile, can still use e.g. BA lounges in Europe.
But so can BA elites.
This change would simply make things more consistent. Previously BA elites could access a OW lounge AA elites could not, all other things being equal. That situation no longer exists.
This change would simply make things more consistent. Previously BA elites could access a OW lounge AA elites could not, all other things being equal. That situation no longer exists.
Isn't the previous exception denying AA elites access to North American lounges on domestic itineraries the inconsistency in the Oneworld Lounge Policy? Does involving more customers in this inconsistency make things more consistent?
I thought that AA got revenue from other carrier elites using their lounges anyway. Except for the few Flagship lounges it would be hard for the cost of a few glasses of cheap plonk and a bowl of pretzels to make this a cost burden on AA
Programs: AA EXP (1 MM), EK Silver, Former CO Plat and AF Gold, SPG Plat, Avis First
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3544quebec
Isn't the previous exception denying AA elites access to North American lounges on domestic itineraries the inconsistency in the Oneworld Lounge Policy? Does involving more customers in this inconsistency make things more consistent?
I know that this is how it is on SkyTeam at least. SkyTeam elites, regardless of tier, cannot access lounges on domestic itineraries. So in that sense, it would make things more consistent. I don't think it would be practical to simply allow all elites (including AA elites) in solely on domestic itineraries.
Anyhow, it looks like this may all be moot since the policy is not changing, as pointed out by HilFly in this thread:
This seems a lot like a case of poor proofreading by the oneworld web team. I think the sentence is supposed to say something like "AAdvantage members who have top-tier oneworld status...".
Such a drastic change would not have been announced through a footnote on the oneworld website. (And anyway, it makes no sense. AA makes plenty of revenue on oneworld elites' lounge access — why would they put a stop to it?)
Sounds like it could be a way for AA-BA to reduce their costs at the expense of customers' benefits acquired (previously) via a good degree of non-AA OW "loyalty" program participation. [If that turns out to be a done-deal, then that would seem like another "positive" of governments granting AA and BA antitrust immunity as much as has already been granted. ]
Thank you AA-BA if this is really a done deal.
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Like TSA, DL SkyMiles management treats airline customers as if they are the enemy or sheep to be fleeced and it shows.
I know that this is how it is on SkyTeam at least. SkyTeam elites, regardless of tier, cannot access lounges on domestic itineraries. So in that sense, it would make things more consistent. I don't think it would be practical to simply allow all elites (including AA elites) in solely on domestic itineraries.
Anyhow, it looks like this may all be moot since the policy is not changing, as pointed out by HilFly in this thread:
All Skyteam ElitePlus are lounge access eligible (by way of ElitePlus status) on all US-Canada and US-Mexico Skyteam trips. Can't say the same goes generally for all OW Sapphire/Emeralds flying Oneworld trips internationally within North America.
Things will still be inconsistent between Skyteam and Oneworld on intra-North America international trips.
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Like TSA, DL SkyMiles management treats airline customers as if they are the enemy or sheep to be fleeced and it shows.
Now that's a bummer. I chose to fly AA with a three hours connection in DFW over a nonstop SEA-MSP next week becaiuse of the tier points. If I'd knew this I would not have done it. 3 hours in DFW without lounge access?
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If this change holds true, that's a downer.
On the other hand, Qantas Club paid membership grants access to AA lounges (except Flagships) when flying AA. I assume this will not change?
Then, just to make things more confusing, Qantas Gold and Platinum members are technically also Qantas Club members (we get our membership for free, as it were). Does this effectively render QF Golds and Platinums immune from these changes?
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