Adam1222

Oneworld rules arent very clear on this, but Qantas and American have a separate relationship, and more generous rules than Oneworld in general.

Note that if you held oneworld elite status via AA or US, you would definitely not get access to Admirals Clubs on a purely domestic itinerary.

bgriff

This isn't true. If you have any oneworld Sapphire status other than AA/US, you are entitled to domestic travel lounge access, except in Australia. So BA Silver gets access to Admirals Clubs when flying AA domestic in the US. (And if you have oneworld Emerald you get access to First class lounges when flying domestically as well, except for AA/US top tier status when flying domestic in the US or other North American shorthaul flying.)

Star is similar -- if you have any Star Gold status other than United's, you are entitled to lounge access on all itineraries, including all domestic itineraries. If you have United Gold or above, you are entitled to lounge access for all itineraries except US domestic (including flights to Canada, Mexico, etc., that AA excludes).

SkyTeam is the only alliance which specifically requires an international itinerary for status-based lounge access. Some carriers are more generous--AF will typically allow access to lounges in Paris based on SkyTeam Elite Plus status for example, and I believe AZ used to typically allow access, but has started cracking down more recently. Delta of course will strictly enforce the international travel requirement (though like United they do allow access on travel to Canada and other shorthaul international from the US). Can't speak for other SkyTeam carriers.

Spiff

Oneworld rules are very clear on this. All one needs is an onward flight on a Oneworld carrier. QF can be replaced with any Oneworld carrier other than AA/US.

NickB

Indeed. In terms of lounge access (and I would say lounge quality* too), there is a very clear hierarchy among the 3 alliances:
OW>*A>ST

*: excepted some dedicated First class lounges to which Alliance access rules do not apply (in clear: the AF F lounge at CDG and the LH/LX FCT/FCLs)

TPJ

Not correct: Sapphires can enter Qantas Club, Emeralds can enter Qantas Business Class Lounge (slightly better food & drinks) - no questions asked.

ST really sucks with lounge access while on domestic itineraries - for me it is a reason to avoid this alliance...

raistlin

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BB10; Kbd) AppleWebKit/537.35+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/10.2.1.3247 Mobile Safari/537.35+)

And this is on topic how, on this forum?

Alitalia applied the Skyteam rules. If the poster (who did also thread hijacking, btw) has an issue with those, he's welcome to rant on the Skyteam forum. Complaining that AZ applied the rules is ridiculous.

And BTW, after being denied lounge access on a SFO-MIA-BWI business class ticket, I have good reasons to not appreciate OW/AA rules too much. ST rules may be stricter, but at least they are very, very clear and equally applied everywhere.

wpxstar

I will be travelling in Magnifica class from the US to FCO and then onward to Florence. The connection time before the Florence flight is 2.5 hours so I would like to visit the airside lounge and use the shower. Will I have access to the lounge due to me arriving from an international flight in magnifica? The flight to florence is in their economy plus or whatever they call it (don't believe it is magnifica for such a short flight). Thank you for any insight.

UVAhoo06

Hi All,

I'll be flying in J from JFK-FCO-MAD with a 5:45 layover in FCO. I believe that my flight from the US arrives in T3. I would like to try out the Dolce Vita Lounge in T1. A couple questions:

1) Will I be able to access the Dolce Vita Lounge in T1? I'm traveling on a J award ticket all the way to MAD. I'm also a ST+ pax.

2) If I can access the Dolce Vita Lounge, is it better to transfer airside to T3 and exit through T3? Or, should I just leave T1 and then walk to T3?

3) If I wish to take a shower, can I do so in the Dolce Vita Lounge, or do I need to use the airside lounge?

4) How much time should I budget to get through security to re-enter airside part of the airport?


Thanks fellow FTers!

UVAhoo06

delete

straniero

hello,
1- I assume you travel on SkyTeam metal. In this case you should have no problems entering la Dolce Vita (if I were you I'd also bring my ST+ card with me just in case, although you probably won't need it).

2- not sure I understand the question correctly, but if you want to know the fastest way to the dolce vita lounge, look for transits after passport control coming from JFK, then leave from T1. T3 and T1 are linked together, but the T1 exit is just under the dolce vita lounge, you only need to take the stairs to departures area. Exiting airside from T3 means you may have to walk outside in the road/parking area.

3- no showers in dolce vita that I know of. Lounges in T1 concourse D (or close) have showers.

4- depends on many factors (time of the year etc.) but I would never go under 60 minutes. Being ST+ helps as you will pass through security in a breeze (SkyPriority area is close to dolce vita). As you're flying intra Schengen you won't need to go thru passport control again.

Others may have better info mainly for points 3 and 4.

hope that helps, cheers
straniero

straniero

Just saw this after replying to the latest post in thread; just see one post above and I think the answer applies to you too.

You *should* have no issues flying international in Magnifica but I have seen different approaches from different operators. If you have ST+ status bring your card as it may help.

cheers
straniero

UVAhoo06

Thanks for the prompt and thorough reply! I'm a Diamond Medallion member with DL, and some fellow DL elite pax have reported that AZ lounge attendants have turned them away because they aren't familiar with the Diamond Level. That is, they only knew of Silver, Gold, and Platinum. I will, however, bring my card just in case. I imagine that the Dolce Vita lounge is worth a visit, especially if my transit time is almost 6 hours.

straniero

I would be careful to say it's worth a visit, but it's indeed far better than the standard crap lounge AZ offers. Try the flight emulator though!

UVAhoo06

I haven't been to FCO in a looooong time. What do you recommend I do during a layover that is about ~6 hrs? Anything interesting/fun at the airport? I imagine going to/from the city would be a logistical nightmare.

raistlin

There's no economy plus either, just economy. Anyway you should have access to the lounge. Go to the one at the D pier, it's after passport control and there is a shower.