Originally Posted by
James1715
I know from vague memory there has been rumblings of this before and I don't want to sound Daily Mail, but I must say I found this rather annoying. Probably because I haven't fully understood the rules.
Flying on a booking through expedia, LHR-TXL on BA following by TXL-KRK on AB all through the same PNR. I thought it was a decent option as pricewise not much different to flying direct on Easyjet. No problem at T5, both boarding passes given, all bags checked thru etc.
On arrival at TXL went to connect, found they have an 'exclusive waiting area' lounge, operated by AB. Swiped the BA card, not recognised. Same with the boarding pass (showing OW Sapphire), same result. Called the lounge phone, I was informed very bluntly absolutely no oneworld passengers, just AB and EY only, then sent on my way! The tone of the guy seemed to suggest that this happens a lot and that I was trying it on, wasting his time.
Ironically the inflight magazine states the benefits for gold and above topbonus passengers 'Exclusive waiting areas' at several airports plus the oneworld lounges worldwide. Seems a bit unfair that the lounges on their side of the OW agreement are not reciprocal.
Yup it's an odd quirk of what AB have been able to get away with. In future the best strategy is to head to the BA lounge in Terminal A (you're allowed in there) and stay there for as long as possible.