impeymac

It's a good point, but QR does provide an alternative lounge in LHR T4. QR elites are given access to the Skyteam lounge (very nice by the way) & I believe OW elites are also given the same access. There's also the MH OW lounge nearby.

Again, QR & OW elite members in Y are treated the same.

irishguy28

No, because the QR lounge at LHR is subject to its own restrictions.

You can, of course, try to enter the Qatar lounge at Terminal 4 when travelling in economy on the basis of your oneworld status, but you will instead be directed to the Skyteam lounge which Qatar has contracted to be made available for oneworld emerald and sapphire card holders travelling in economy from T4.

http://www.oneworld.com/ffp/lounge-access

stargold

My point was that, an argument along the lines of "PT's exclusion from the OW rules is explained by the fact that the PT is a separate terminal rather than a lounge within the same terminal" does not work when QR also has the same exclusion the LHR lounge, which is within the same terminal. You had written this earlier in the thread:

It's probably easier simply to accept that QR refuses to have Y passengers in its own lounges, rather than trying to find reasoning behind how their decision is justified (or not) by the OW rules.

JPflyer123

"I do have a question for anyone with top QR status, though. If you're on a J ticket and have QR Plat (or whatever their top status is), can you use the F lounge in the J terminal?"

I can confirm from experience you can't. It's really very simple and non discriminatory. You fly J with Qatar, you get J terminal, fly F get F terminal. If you fly Q with whatever tier you like (and I've been through them all), you just get your lounge access in the main terminal.

It's not so dissimilar from BA in T5. The first class lounge is really the Concorde, The 'First Class lounge' is in reality for BA golds and OW equivalents.

irishguy28

You've twisted my meaning. The discussion initially only related to Doha. It should be obvious to all that one cannot rely solely on oneworld status to go airside at the Doha Premium Terminal - so "standard oneworld practice" simply has no meaning in this terminal.

Someone earlier stated that oneworld status holders were excluded from the Premium Terminal lounges "in contravention of standard oneworld practice". This is to ignore the fact that normal oneworld practice does not allow passengers to obtain airside access to terminals for which their boarding pass does not allow them access. You can't begin to talk about "standard oneworld practice" when you are not even holding valid travel instruments that allow you to go airside and present yourself at a particular lounge. There are a whole swathe of oneworld lounges provided across the various Heathrow terminals, for instance, but the one (or ones) you have access to is dictated not only by your status, but also by the airline operating the flight you are awaiting. "Standard oneworld practice" does not allow you to override the local restrictions on getting airside in any particular terminal. It's equivalent to accusing Malaysian Airlines of discriminating against oneworld flyers flying on Finnair or American Airlines (or BA...) from Heathrow - they keep their lounge airside at T4, making it inaccessible to AA and AY (and BA...) passengers - regardless of the fact that there are other lounges provided in T3 for these flyers. I've a BA gold card and I would love to be able to use the Flounge in T5 everytime I fly from Heathrow - but in order to do so, I have to be flying on BA or on Iberia. Any other airline, and I have to put up with the (inferior) lounge provided for passengers that fly that airline.

Stated another way - the only people who get the chance to "walk past" the lounges in the premium terminal are those who hold F and J Qatar boarding passes. Flashing a oneworld status card will not allow you to access the Premium Terminal - just as flashing a oneworld status card will not get you access to Heathrow Terminal 5 when flying Qatar - so to talk about "standard oneworld practice" in the context of the Premium Terminal is to completely fudge the matter.

I agree that the situation in LHR T4 is different. Oneworld status holders relying solely on status simply don't have the opportunity to find their way to the premium terminal lounges at Doha, so there is no point referring to "standard oneworld practice" in that terminal. In Heathrow T4, oneworld status holders travelling in economy can definitely find their way to the Qatar Premium Lounge - but the other restrictions then kick in (it doesn't even seem as if the Malaysian lounge is available to oneworld status holders travelling on Qatar - which I guess is fair given that neither of Qatar's lounges in T4 is available to passengers on Malaysia!)

stargold

Not trying to twist any meaning - apologies for any confusion.

But bearing in mind that QR has only two own-operated lounges at DOH and LHR, which both share the same admission criteria with respect to not admitting Y passengers, I was simply suggesting that "QR does not admit Y passengers into its own lounges" is a far simpler way of explaining their policy. That way, there isn't even any need to go into details about OW policy and going into details about whether the lounge is in the same terminal etc, which in any case doesn't apply to the remaining 50% of their total worldwide lounge network

Hypothetically speaking, if they also had a separate PT building at LHR, then I would agree that your commentary about the DOH PT being a separate building is the best summary of QR's position regarding their lounges.

TRAVELSIG

Agree. This is probably the simplest lounge access rule (right or wrong) there is in the airline system-
1) Does your boarding pass say FIRST? Got to FIRST lounge in premium terminal.
2) Does your boarding pass say BUSINESS? Go to BUSINESS lounge in premium terminal.
3) All else- head to the main terminal/satellite (or just look at the color coded boarding pass and follow the video/signs).

By the way JPflyer123- welcome to Flyertalk!

Wozza2404

Thanks, but it's not quite true about BA at T5.

Whilst GF is usually full of GCHs and OWEs, it is a genuine First class lounge. a) You can access it with a F BP on BA, even without status.
b) If you fly into LHR on another OW carrier in F, and connect to another destination on BA (JFK-LHR in AA F, and on to CDG on BA in CE, for example), the lounge you are entitled to use is GF.

It may be used as a Gold holding pen for the most part, but it does exist to service first class pax as well.

correctioncx

So is the onyx lounge or any other J class lounge? I'm sure as a F pax you can access it?

Wozza2404

Unlikely as you'd be funnelled to the PT as an F pax.

impeymac

That's certainly the default process, but there's nothing stopping a QR F passenger going to the main terminal if they want to. Very unlikely, as you've said, but the choice is available for the dafter flyers amongst us, or those who maybe meeting someone.

The Oryx is also the lounge for F passengers from other airlines.

VH-RMD

A friend of mine has just emailed me from the Oryx Lounge having been refused entry to the PT.

BKK-DOH J QR transfer to DOH-MCT J QR (code share actually on Oman Air).

TRAVELSIG

I don't think you get access to the Premium Terminal on a code share- only QR metal.

VH-RMD

No, it appears not.

djsteve

I have an upcoming CMB-DOH-MAN all on QR J. Having read most of this thread, I have established as a J customer with an onward QR J connection I will be taken to the Premium terminal (almost whether i like it or not!).
The layover I have is only 1hr10mins.
Now assuming that the arriving flight is on time, how long does it take to be bussed to the terminal and then bussed back to my onward connection?
It would seem very little time? Any may depend on the random route the bus takes?!

Am I right in assuming that the QR staff come and personally fetch you for the onward flight too? Seems to say that on the QR website.

First time to DOH and looking forward to my first QR flights too!