It would be great if we could just add a aeroplan sticker to the back of one of the cards that we do always carry?

...
 

Anyone ever been asked for the SE card for pre-boarding? I sure haven't.

It would seem that the gate agents are able to figure out who I am and what status I hold based on my boarding pass, so this business of having to show the physical card to enter the MLL is plain silly.

One of the MLL CSRs at YYC laughed when I showed her the boarding card, and said "Nice try kid. There's NO way you're Dr. Ryan" ... I think she soiled herself when I pulled out the passport and the SE card. She hasn't asked to see either since.:p

Once again we seem to have regressed to "this is what I do, so it's what everyone else should do." It's all well and good to say "pick out the cards you'll need and take only those" if you know where you're going, what you're doing and when you'll be back. But if when you get on the plane all you know is what your first destination is, and that you'll probably be back sometime within the next two months, how do you decide? So in my case, that means carrying some 60 cards. They include various credit cards, FF cards, frequent renter and guest cards, medical and related cards required in different circumstances, a large assortment of various ID cards, again required by different people in different places, and of course my Nexus card. Add to that various membership cards that allow discounted cinema tickets, some retail discount programs, and so on, and yes, it's a nuisance.

Nevertheless, the qualification to enter the lounge is not that you have some particular piece of plastic on your person, but rather that you've completed the requirements of the program. All of the arguments presented so far as to why AC has recently started requiring presentation of the card, when in fact they have other more effective ways of truly determining eligibility to enter, are not at all convincing.

The point is they are not asking for your card to determine eligibiligy but instead to record your use of the lounge. If you pay close attention, you'll see that often the agents don't even look at the card, but simply "swipe" it and then hand it back

That point always seemed obvious to me, and was recently brought home when I entered the YVR international MLL. The agent on duty recognized me and even greeted me by name, then apologized for needing to have my card. Clearly, she didn't need the card to determine my eligibility. Later, we had a discussion about how she hadn't seen me in that lounge in some time. (Well, SYD flights used to depart from US, and connecting in YEG pretty much guarantees an upgrade on LHR flights, hence my "disappearnace.")

But the bigger question is if due to some unforseen circumstance you are unable to produce your card, it that a good reason to deny access when they have readily available other means to determine eligibility? I'll give you two examples.

The first was when I had a laptop and satchel stolen from the loading area of a hotel in New Jersey, while I was trying to find the van driver. When I presented myself at the RCC at EWR, I explained the situation. The agent checked something (I know not what) on the computer, then gave me access, as well as her condolences.

More recently I obtained oneworld status on AA. But before my card arrived, I was off to Australia, and a number of Qantas flights. On my first flight, my status correctly showed up on my boading pass, and that was sufficient for the lounge agent.

On my second flight, for reasons still unknown, the check-in agent was unable to get my status to appear on the boarding pass. Nevertheless, she suggested I show the lounge agent my previous BP showing my status. But when I got to the lounge, the agent told me he had a better way of checking. Again, on to the computer, and after a few seconds was able to see my status, and therefore my lounge access eligibility.

Yes, AC has the right to demand to see the card. Yes, they have the right to deny access if you don't have the card, if that's what their rules say. But to deny someone access in special or occaisional circumstances when they have the ability to determine for certain eligibilty with certainty through other methods just seems like foolishly bad customer service.

Sort of like declaring that an almost empty 125ml tube of toothpaste is actually a dangerous object, when in fact everyone on the entire planet thinks otherwise.

I think you have that backwards. Living a life of quiet desperation usually leads to extraordinary levels of frustration, the true cause of colloquial "high blood pressure and ulcers."

My life is a great deal easier and peaceful due to my ability to make the world adapt to my needs.

Nice post - I totally agree.

You're a firefighter and your case represents .00001% of travelers who are elites. The whiners here can easily organize their lives to take one or two more cars along. Just as you know the likelihood of change during one of your trips is very, very high. Would you travel without your credit cards? Why should your AE and other elite cards be any difference. If you want the services they offer, you've also got an obligation to follow the T&Cs. And that includes being able to present them when asked.

Passports are pretty bulky items too, but you've gotta have em to travel these days. Even though you may not need to show it to make use of the retina machines, under the T&Cs you are supposed to carry your NEXUS/CANPASS card AND passport.

Great post Ken.

As far as for my experience...this past week I took a later flight and was actually able to use the YVR transborder MLL (it opens at 05h30 and that's when SFO boards).

I just showed my UA boarding pass which has 1K status on it. It was looked at, handed back to me and then the computer screen facing the agent tapped. (I assume to say someone with UA status accessed the lounge).

I was not testing the agent but when I access RCC louges, they just either (a) swipe or scan the bar code on the boarding passes that do not have the magnetic strip or (b) look at the boarding pass.

To be honest, I did not realize that I had to show my 1K card to access MLL.

Cheers

The denial of entry for someone who didn't have their card that day, which would be an actual incidence of foolishly bad customer service, was not reported in this thread, nor has it been reported by any other reliable source that I can recall.

The various debacles from the past week in this Forum are rather interesting, if not entirely refreshing. They stem from anger over not being able to predict when AC/AP will overlook some rule or another.

This is called "inconsistency" and is apparently a bad thing, even when the inconsistency is between abiding by the terms of a contract, or ignoring some term in favour of the customer. It is bad when the customer is treated kindly, because of the upsetting nature of not knowing when it will happen, and because it's all just so confusing, and why can't it all be like in the good old days when men were men and women were women and children knew when to shut up and let daddy write about air travel on the bloody internet without being hassled.

I am reminded of a quirk of my dear late grandmother who also sought consistency by never ever changing the channel on her television, lest she not be able to figure out how to change it back and end up missing The Price Is Right.

Precisely.

It's not "they're so mean, I forgot my card one day", it's "they're so mean, I should never have to carry my card even though it's their lounge and their entrance rules."

And, FWIW, UA has done the exact same thing when I didn't have my SE card with me.

Simon

Nope.

It's not "they're so mean, I should never have to carry my card even though it's their lounge and their entrance rules," it's "they're so mean, they insist I show a piece of plastic when they're quite capable of determining my eligibility without it."

It's the very rule that's being questioned, Simon. The lounge admins can determine our status from their terminal. I question pointless rules, not blithely obey them. :D

One reason I have the expected credentials available at the lounge entrance is not so much for the benefit of AC, but for the benefit of the people behind me in line to get in.

I don't like waiting behind Don't You Know Who I Am, and if I can avoid it, I don't want people waiting behind me in line for no good reason either.

Then I hope you continue to enjoy your frustration.

But as zorn indicates, please don't hold up the rest of us who have our cards with us and just want to go sit down.

That is exactly one of the reasons why I always bring my card.

This whole thread reminds me what they used to preach at driving school....

"It's not a right, it's a privilege".

My frustration is based solely in the fact that I always travel full-fare J, I don’t upgrade, and I don’t fly Y … my fare alone entitles me to enter the MLL, so why do I need to show my SE card as well?

None of my AE or Prestige associates are ever asked to show their cards when they to are traveling on J and enter the MLL in the same queue as I do.

I totally agree on the annoyance of the "don't you know who I am" folks that jam up the queue though. Perhaps punch a whole in your card and wear it around your neck on a string.