When I use to use my AMEX to get into the MLL and would pay for a guest they would stamp the guests boarding pass. Clients of mind used this to enter the lounge in their connecting city. Don't know if this is still something they do.

My kids have used the passes to stop enroute from YYZ-LHR via YUL. That is back in the days when I used to get them as part of the base SE package..... sigh but that's another thread.

DF

Still doesn't mean YEG is far out...

I should tell you how it went.

Checked in at the executive line in YOW. Mentioned to the agent that it was my first flights in Executive (not First - see, I learned something), and she smiled and told me to have a glass of wine for her. I did.

Didn't use the lounge in YOW (waited to use my MLL pass in YYZ) but perhaps should have since the flight ended up being almost an hour delayed.

YOW-YYZ was a nice flight - quiet and comfortable. A snack and a couple glasses of wine (they offered a third time, but I passed - have to pace myself). The wine was nice, cold and smooth. The glasses were small, but since they kept refilling them, so what? Smaller glasses means it stays cold in the bottle longer.

Went to the lounge in YYZ. Asked if my boarding pass allowed me access, and the agent very politely said no, so I offered a MLL pass as a back up saying I though I would ask first, anyway. She smiled at me and told me to enjoy my stay.

Unfortunately, I only had an hour, but I had some cheese and crackers (the soup was gone) and a glass of wine. Sitting in nice comfortable chair, reading my book in the quiet with some wine and cheese - I could get used to this.

Flight YYZ-YEG was also nice. Great dinner - I had the salmon, as I had had chicken for lunch. Another glass of wine (only one due to the long drive ahead of me to get to the downtown Westin in YEG). Didn't sleep, because I was worried I would not sleep when I got to the hotel, so I watched the movie.

So, all in all, a great way to travel. I hope to be so lucky again.

Thanks for your tips and suggestions.

Now if I am reading between the lines correctly you enjoyed yourself

Glad you had such a great experience ^^^

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip up front and in the lounge. Makes me realize how much I take for granted some of the perks that go along with travelling so much. It makes me almost want to sit in the back with no lounge privileges for a trip or two...ALMOST. Thanks to your wake-up call I'll forego that part of it and just enjoy the perks more.

sharkshooter, has anyone warned you that lounges and J-seats are addictive?

Glad to hear you had a good time!

Yes, I was warned. But ...

Wow thanks for your post!!!!!!! I forgot how much fun my first upgrades were... now I just assume I am flying up front with all I learned from FT. I think we have you hooked!

Is the no-lounge-on-upgrades policy well-enforced? I knew it was policy but always sort of assumed the lounge agent would simply see Executive on the BP and wave you though.

I thought maybe, too. But I didn't want to push it, because, rules are rules.

Also, I guess you don't get any bonus status miles either. Is that correct?

Others with experience in this might confirm or deny this but if it were me I'd give it a try. Just flash your BP like a business passenger who flys paid executive all the time and has divine right to be in there (having first removed the cert from the back of the BP if it's there)

You won't get any extra miles from the upgrade, status or otherwise.

I assume it's well enforced because so many of us have talked here at one time or another about being asked to show our AE cards and our BPs when entering the lounge. If you are E or SE, your card will get you in the lounge whether you have upgraded or not. The Prestige card alone won't get you in, nor will being up front with a cert or a flight pass upgrade. For those passengers who are on full J with no AE status, the receptionist can call up the record and see pretty quickly that it is J.

In my experience as a P it's hit and miss. YVR I have never had a problem with lounge access. YYZ I've always had to give in a pass, and at YUL it seems to depend if the agent is busy and just wants to waive you thru or wants to actually check your status.

I think most of the conversation about being asked to show AE cards has been when flying Y though. I have never been asked to show a card when flying J, a wave of the BP has sufficed 95% of the time.

Solution, get some MLL passes, even though you might not end up having to use them