salut0

I know that at some airports (MIA? DFW?) BA have denied entry to AA flyers who would otherwise be eligible by virtue of their OneWorld status. Does anyone know what they're doing at LHR T3? Do they shunt AA members off to the Admirals Club, or are they letting us in?

salut0

Bad experience #1 already mentioned here. Who's going to educate BA about OneWorld reciprocal privileges?

benzguy80

this is nonsense. you have every right as a AA PLT departing on a OW flight to have access to the BA clubs.

*sigh*, I guess one needs to print the rules for OW club access and have them ready to produce for the BA lounge dragons along with BP and AA elite status card (PLT or EXP)

I didn't access BA's clubs at T3, only T5, but found them to be vastly superior to the AC @ LHR T3

glad they relented and let you in

smilee

I have read too many threads like this about having problems getting into a lounge.

I believe its only your Oneworld Saphire (AA Plat) that would get you in your business class border pass is irrelevant. However, if the lounge is overcrowded, is the only reason they could say you can not come in.

I was in the T5 lounge the other day and was sitting close to the enterance. I was surprised that in the 45 minutes I was sitting there, I saw 2 people that were denied access. Both those people tried to enter with expired BA cards? The people seemed so surprised that their BA card had expired. A little odd to me, how could you NOT know that you status had dropped or expired??? So I do not see that it is too much of a surprise that the BA dragons have give some attitude, especially if this is common.

RANT: what I hate is that so many US airports do not have any ways to get to the terminals where the international flights are leaving from, hence no access to the Oneworld lounges which are ALWAYS better then the AA in my opinion. JFK - other teminal no access, ORD -other terminal, no access, SEA access but no flights depart when lounge is open LAX other terminal I believe.

billgrates3

I always carry a printed copy of the OW lounge access policy, printed from the OneWorld website.

scubadu

Has that worked? (not being sarcastic at all, genuinely curious)

Regards

mattm00se

Apparently I helped a bit ..They found me and let me know that (...unsuprisingly...) I was right...


However I'd guess they'd still try and push people towards the AA lounge... (or.."we're full" ?).

mattm00se

..*both* are valid for entry (or neither according to them at the time )

chj

With regard to the J or F class BP, the rules are ambiguous. You are entitled to lounge access of some sort, but the rules don't clearly state that you can access any lounge. At LHR T3, with 4 OW lounges and 6 carriers (AA, CX, JL, IB, AY, and BA) it is understandable, if not optimal, that carriers would encourage no-status passengers to go to their own carrier's lounge. OW Sapphire and Emerald unambiguously can access ANY lounge and BA is by far the worst offender on this matter.

The reality is that BA is competing with AA (at least until ATI gets cleared) on LHR-JFK/BOS/ORD/MIA/DFW/LAX and to the extent that AA J/F pax cannot, or think they cannot, use the superior BA lounge facilities at LHR this increases demand for BA's product. It's not in the spirit of the programme but it makes sense for BA to enforce the letter. I personally am very fond of the CX lounge at T3, where I have always been welcomed, and don't plan to trade quite edible dim sum for finger sandwiches (or a rather questionable looking buffet) any time soon. Those who value novelty are welcome to try their hand at getting into the Galleries...more space and dumplings for me!

Sagy

In LHR terminal 1 it didn't work for me when my flight was on a OW partner other than BA. They sent me back to terminal 3 which did me no good since my flight was to leave from terminal 1.

Whenever my next flight was on BA I had no problems getting in with my AA Platinum card (once I even got in with a printout of my AA statement (I forgot my card at home )

Andriyko

I think the unofficial policy (with all OW carriers) is to send pax to the lounge of the airline they are flying that day; at least those who qualify by class of service. So, I understand why BA would not let AA pax in because there are two AA lounges at T3. T5 is different - there is no AA lounge and BA lets all eligible AA pax in.
I understand that rules say otherwise but the fact that BA lounges are superior to AA lounges cannot constitute a valid reason to use BA lounge rather than AA lounge when flying AA. I think AA should simply upgrade the product (which I believe it is doing now!).
Plus, taking into account that AA pays BA each time its pax use the BA lounge it may well be that AA tells BA not to accept its pax in terminals where AA has its own lounges. And is totally logical to me - why pay BA/JL/CX if AA has its own longe?

Mark_T

We don't need a 'valid reason' it is a published OneWorld benefit, the only valid reason to decline is if the lounge is already full.

If BA, or AA for that matter, don't want to adhere to the rules then they should try to get them changed but pretending they don't exist is not the way to behave.

bernardd

If OneWorld is to be a truly seamless alliance it seems logical and inevitable that there will have to be broad parity in the product, both inflight and on the ground. Hopefully this will be highest rather than lowest common denominator!

scubadu

This is the most ridiculous statement I've read this week (and I've read a few!)

BA, contrary to the way they occasionally operate is supposed to be part of an "alliance" which Merriam-Webster defines as, "an association to further the common interests of the members." When becoming a member of OW, BA agreed to abide by certain terms and conditions and to offer certain features and benefits to all OW members. That's why it's called an "alliance." BA was not required to become a member of an alliance, they chose to.

I don't recalling seeing the Lounge Access section of the OW guidelines stipulating the criteria for access, but further adding something like "unless the lounge your requesting to enter has dynamically determined that their lounge is a 'superior product' relative to the OW flyers 'home lounge' in that case you will be redirected"

Furthermore, if the spirit of the OW guidelines was to send flyers to their own carriers lounge and not allow use of another lounge if the "home" lounge is present at that same airport or terminal, don't you think they would have simply written that into the rules for access? (i.e. In the case where the OW elite members "home" carrier maintains a lounge, the flyer shall use said lounge and is not eligible for entry into another carriers lounge)

Part of the reason folks like this benefit is that occasionally some get tired of accessing the same lounge over and over and would like to see some different scenery to shake things up. As long as the club is not over capacity, I think this is a good thing and I'd like to see all alliance members adhere to the guidelines they agreed to by joining the alliance.

Regards

Andriyko

I did not intend to make any statements! Sorry if I seemed to be ridiculous to you. I just tried to understand the situation from AA's point of view. I am sure it is AA that tells BA not to allow its pax into BA's alounges at airports where AA has its own lounges. I am sure AA is perfectly aware that BA has a superior product and that many (if not all) pax would rather visit the latter's lounges. However, it would be too expensive for AA to maintain its own lounges at Heathrow and to pay BA each time AA's elite or premium class pax uses the lounge. I am sure BA does not care who gets to enter its lounges as long as it gets paid and surely AA does not want to pay. So you should really take it up with AA.
I personally don't care who gets access to lounges. I just tried to understand why such situation exists and share my thoughts. Again - sorry for being ridiculous!