jagmeets

Just got an email from UL. Effective July 01, lounge access changed to:

1) Serendib for all First/Biz pax on UL/oneworld
2) Serendiva for all Emeralds and Sapphires in coach on UL/oneworld

The website (access guidelines on the flysmiles page), still reflects the older rules (Emeralds get Serendib, except when on shorthaul).

A downgrade for the few times that I am flying in coach exCMB..I'd reckon that the likes of CX who use UL's lounges might still be following their own (different) lounge invite rules.

ashkale

Serendiva lounge is the one upstairs? wow a definite downgrade..

danger

There seems to be a growing list of exceptions to the oneworld rules which devalues the entire program. SriLankan should not have been permitted to do it for oneworld members; they're own, sure, whatever, but not other oneworld elites.

It's a slippery slope. Others will surely follow.

wandering_fred

It will be interesting to see what CX does in CMB as all lounge access is by invitation given at check-in

Happy wandering

Fred

susiesan

I will be in J on a UL flight from CMB to NRT, my husband in coach. Can he come into the better lounge as my guest?

lcpteck

As per oneworld rules, J class passengers can't guest lounge access. Only oneworld elites can guest 1 additional pax who's also on a oneworld marketed/operated flight. If you're a oneworld elite on a J class ticket, you should be able to guest your hubby. However in UL's case in CMB, I'm not sure how it would go.

Let us know how it goes for you.

jagmeets

Their website now specifies that guests of Flysmiles' elites in J will get access to Serendib- I'd expect them to operate similarly for other oneworld elites.

Anyone have a clue what lounges CX issues the invites for these days? Is it still Araliya/Lotus for biz/first entitlement..or had they moved over to Serendib?

susiesan

I'm not any sort of elite. I'm hoping an award seat in J will open up for my hubby. We'll be on UL 454 Feb. 26, 2016 CMB-NRT which is 8 hours. Hubby is not happy he is in coach but that's all that was available for award ticketing. We don't fly until Feb. 2016 so maybe he'll get lucky and UL will release another J seat on this flight. Our tickets are actually F award tix CMB-NRT-ORD-MCI. Hubby agreed to a voluntary downgrade to coach since UL didn't have a second J seat.

jagmeets

The CMB-NRT timings also make for different dates for the NRT-ORD leg..

Doesn't help susiesan, but do wonder how UL would interpret the rules on lounge access when 'Connecting between oneworld marketed and operated flights'

susiesan

So what should I do about my husband? Do I try to guest him in under my J ticket since he is on an F award ticket? Do they ever bend the rules for premium cabin pax? We will both need a shower as we will have been touring in Columbo during the day on the way to the airport after we leave our hotel in Unawatuna. We'll be all sticky and sweaty and will need a shower before taking an 8 hour overnight flight at 7:15pm.

jagmeets

Does he have Priority Pass? The Lotus lounge, while no great shakes, has comfy sofas and a (very basic) shower. Araliya too- both accept PP.

Also take a look at http://airport.lk/silk_route/packages.php (no clue about the lounges they use).

There's also a spa (one level up, next to the EK / Serendiva lounges), and I think that the massage rooms have an attached shower.

There's also an airside transit hotel & you could ask- I'd asked over email and was told that 'it's for pax in transit only', but I'd been looking for a place to crash after a late night arrival, before heading out the next morning...perhaps they just check the outbound boarding pass...

Else, since you have access- perhaps try asking the receptionists/guests if someone could guest him in? (I used to tell them 'I'm entitled to a guest, but am traveling alone..in case you need to use my invite for someone, please do'..and once, they did).

Not a terrible lot to do at CMB btw! I do head there early at times and snooze in the Serendib lounge, but the airport is quite basic.

BTW biz class pax (not for elites in Y) can use silk route departures, which has a separate entrance road (about 10m before the main dep area)..I head there when I'm too early for the UL counters to open for their evening bank of flights, get my boarding pass and head to the lounge to catch some sleep.

ashkale

You could look at cmb-bkk-tyo, cmb-kul-tyo, cmb-sin-tyo, cmb-hkg-tyo/ usa options ul is not an ideal way to spend those f rewards.

jagmeets

Just snuck into Serendiva for a quick peek (the snooze room in Serendib is closed for a refurb- so, i've time to kill).

Wow! it's dire (relatively) & had me scooting right back to Serendib (thankfully in J tonight- in case anyone needs an invite..). I don't see how this won't get wayy overcrowded, given that the size is less than half Serendib's. Outside the catering, Lotus (priority pass), is *much* better to relax in.

While the F&B is now the same as in Serendib- no amount of Glenlivet 15 would make for a decent extended stay here. The whole complex- transit hotel/ spa straight ahead, lounge to the left and showers to the right just feels weird & not lounge-like.

Time to re-think my early arrivals in to CMB when I'm in coach for a late night flight out..UL might just have pulled a sneaky one successfully, making me bid higher for the online upgrades...

punkhip

All that crap about F pax using a wonderfully premier F lounge and J pax using a wonderfully premier J lounge and OW elites in Y using an average lounge.

This increasingly popular tactic just defeats the idea of an airline alliance. Look at BA, QR and now UL.

It's as freaking easy as this for any Oneworld operated lounge:
- F lounge for F pax and OWE
- J lounge for J pax and OWS
Period.

I wonder if CX would make G16 at HKG the lounge for OW elites in Y and the likes of The Wing and The Bridge exclusively for F and J pax.

Just follow the damn rules or what is the point of establishing these alliances?

77W_12A

Don't be surprised if that happens. Many of the Marco Polo members have complained about the crowded lounges at HKG and there will be changes coming soon.