Fastrack at Dublin for Silver
 

Last Monday ( Sept 3rd 2018 )., Mrs Flame and myself and my daughter were flying with Aer Lingus. Mrs Flame & myself are Silver with AerClub, my daughter has no status.

On approaching the Fastrack, the gate guard refused to allow our daughter through and rudely pointed to her to go through the regular channel.

While technically the "Gate Guard" was correct, I felt that as 2 of us were Silver, it would have been nice to have our daughter go through with us. Bearing in mind, that under the old system, this issue would never have arisen

I'd be interested in hearing the views of others on this

Well rules are rules and sometimes it depends who you get. Of course if it was not busy it would have been a nice gesture to let you all through but who knows what their boses have instructed them to do.

I believe the Silver guest at fast track was removed a while ago and DUB staff have been instructed to enforce it. Had a situation a few weeks ago whereby i wasnt aware guest wasnt allowed. The staff member guarding the fast track was very kind about explaining it and allowed my guest in as a once off exception

Silver was always card holder only, no guest, same with lounge access.

Can't see an issue, as this has been the position for some time

Hi Dellas;

Apologies for my extremely late response. I omitted to mention that there was no other pax going through the Fast Track at that time

How old is your daughter? If she is under 15-16 it seems pretty outrageous that they wouldn't let her through with you. I understand that rules are rules but come on. If she's 18-20+ then I'm sure the normal line is perfectly acceptable, but if she's young it's pretty mean to make her go on her own / have one of you go with her.

Slightly OT but sometimes I wonder if 'fast track' systems could be re-imagined or re-worked. In my thinking a fast track lane should be reserved for those that are by and large fast and efficient through security (i.e. frequent fliers for the most part). Giving fast track access to anyone who spends a few quid or is flying business or is qualified but travelling with a young family* (buggies etc) will render fast track very quickly not so fast and at times busier and slower than normal lanes (as most of us on here I'm sure are aware of in T2 especially).

I'm obviously aware that if you are flying business you would expect a preferential service and the airport authority makes money on these systems by offering them to the public so it's not an easy fix. Maybe 2 lanes, frequent fliers and others. Even just at peak times separate the 2 to ensure a smooth flow of frequent fliers.

*I'm not trying to cast aspersions on the OP's topic here on the rightness or wrongness of bringing children through fast track in the current system. I would be in agreement with the OP if it's a quiet time of the day then allowing kids through with adults who have access should be fine.

You would be amazed at how fast the fast track moves on a weekday morning when its just frequent flyers.

We all know the score, we don't set the metal detector off and we don't get bags pulled for secondary beyond the random swab thing which is done extremely fast.

Just an observation - paid fast track at Dublin is not expensive (EUR6-7?). We have paid for 2 passes a couple of times when travelling with the full family (and after being told on a trip about a year ago that the access rules for guests were being enforced). The passes also come with a free Bewley's beverage (Dark Hot Chocolate is the way to go).

I use fasttrack at T1 quite frequently when flying on Qatar Airways or BA and have found it incredibly fast very time, literally every time I go in, I immediately get straight to putting my things in the bins. I don't generally use it on week days however.

I agree anytime I need to use T1 fasttrack with BA it is very good. Goes to the complexity of the problem, not all airports or terminals in airports experience the same issues.

Same here, T1 fast-track has always been exceptionally quick, no matter what day of the week I've used it. I think the most I've ever had to wait is two minutes - usually it's seconds. I really appreciate that, because the reliability means I can time my arrival to the airport so I get there, get through, have half an hour for a snack and phone recharge in the lounge, then head off to board.