Proving status to BA as EXP card has not arrived
 

I am flying BA in a day or so & do not (as yet) have my EXP card, only my expired one.

I will need to spend a couple of hours at the airport in Marseille France where BA have a lounge.

How will I gain entrance without a card?


Keep the faith..............keep flying.

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Good luck---some of the BA gate keepers are very anal about the rules. It will not matter if you can prove to them in many other ways that you are EP--no card, no lounge. Sometimes they won't let you in even if you do have a valid card.

A boarding pass that says "Emerald" works at most lounges.

I hope so. I have the same problem come Saturday.

I know that we are talking about BA here..But at CX , another OW airline , all you have to do is to give them your AA FF nbr and they check it in their computer and do let you in with no problem at all...Wonder if BA can do the same ???

I happen to know, to my cost, that they can't check AA numbers (at least a few months ago). After a lengthy argument with a real battleaxe at T1, she let me in eventually, but it was literally 15 minutes and I took the 'I'm going to stay here and annoy you about this until you relent, so why don't you just let me in' approach.

"]Good luck---some of the BA gate keepers are very anal about the rules."

What is anal about simple following of the rules. Is it BAs fault that AA are not competant enough to ensure that people get their replacement cards by the time they need them. They do have 2 months from end of December to get them out.

Other airlines can manage to get membership cards out.

Perhaps if there were less people trying to pull fast ones , there would be less suspicion. I have often seen people ineligable to get into the BA lounges ( not necessarily AA members ) trying expired cards and ruby status cardholders expressing astonishment that they cannot get in. Its hardly surprising that lounge agents have distrust. Emerald on a BP means nothing given that it could have been put in by the traveller themself when using online check in

Dave

[This message has been edited by Dave Noble (edited Mar 10, 2004).]

Bring the letter that came with your card-less EXP welcome kit. That should do it.

Sure, we should follow the rules. But BA & AA should surely follow some simple rules like getting their act together and their systems integrated before promoting cross partner benfits of the OW Alliance they've had about 6 years to get that right and they still haven't managed it.

I mostly agree with you, but...

isn't this also a bug in BA's system? Why are travellers allowed to modify that field?

It is BA's fault that they cannot validate status on a partner carrier through a simple database query. Perhaps this is just another indication that BA really does not want "partners" and its partership with OneWorld is more a consequence of competition than a strategic position on its part.

Also, people do have their cards stolen or lost, and as a consequence of a merely lost or stolen card, does BA want to also forego said revenue? If it does, then BA needs a bit more wisdom than that found in Willy Wonkaland. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

A print out of your status from aa.com would be good.

Can't AA fax you a letter confirming your status? That is what BA did for me as an interim measure when I went up to Silver and then Gold.

Also, for those getting on their high horses about BA's policy, AA can be equally difficult about wanting to see cards - I've had this at LAx, MIA and DFW in the past.

I have used BA lounges in different parts of the World where they took my AA card and made a photo copy of it. If you take view that everyone is guilty until proven innocent, nothing but having a valid card in hand will do.

"isn't this also a bug in BA's system? Why are travellers allowed to modify that field?"

Its not a bug. When you use OLCI, you can change the FF card to be assigned to the booking. There is a drop down list and , for most cards, you can select the desired colour and OW status.

Also, check in staff can manually put in status.

Just becuase a person decides to give their fragile ego a boost by selecting an incorrect card colour is no reason, imo, for them to get lounge access

Dave

What CRS system does BA use? It is very easy to verify status using Sabre.