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ARCHIVE: Lounge Access Based on Class of Service (master thread)

Old Apr 11, 2013, 8:02 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
Lounge Access for oneworld First or Business Class Passengers

NOTE: This thread has received little use since the establishment of the thread HELP DESK: Will I Have Lounge Access? Access, Rules (2017). Please use that thread to inquire about Lounge access. A few more recent posts have been moved to that thread.


Relax in more premium lounges around the world

If your oneworld® frequent flyer tier status is Emerald or Sapphire, or you are traveling in a First or Business Class cabin on a oneworld member airline, you can access more than 600 airport lounges throughout the world.

This means you can relax or catch up with work in comfort and style before departure, regardless of which oneworld member airline you choose to fly with.

To be eligible, you must be departing on a flight that is both marketed and operated by a oneworld member airline.
  • Some lounges may get busy at peak times, and access to them may be restricted as a result.

  • Lounges operated by third parties are identified in the lounge finder tool (above). Access to these lounges is restricted to eligible customers when travelling on specific oneworld airlines as shown in the lounge finder tool.

  • Arrivals lounges are excluded.

  • Spa and Pre-Flight Dining facilities are excluded.

  • British Airways Concorde lounges are excluded.

  • Other exceptions may apply (see below).

oneworld lounge access for First Class or Business Class customers (link)

Indulge yourself before departure in a wider range of airport lounges when you fly First Class or Business Class with any oneworld member airline.
  • Customers flying First or Business Class have access to the equivalent class of lounge regardless of their frequent flyer status. First Class passengers may use a Business Class or frequent flyer lounge if a First Class lounge is not available.

  • First Class passengers may invite one guest to join them in the lounge. The guest must also be travelling on a flight operated and marketed by a oneworld airline.

  • Connecting between oneworld marketed and operated flights:

  • First and Business Class customers connecting on the same day of travel, or before 6am the following day, can access the lounge when travelling between an international long haul (a oneworld international long haul flight is defined as an international flight marketed and operated by any oneworld carrier with a scheduled flight time longer than 5 hours) and an international short haul or domestic flight (and vice-versa).

  • Lounge access will be determined on the international long haul ticketed flight (either First of Business Class) regardless of the ticketed class of travel on the international short haul or domestic flight.

  • You must be prepared to show your boarding pass or itinerary showing travel in First or Business class on the international long haul flight, in order to access the lounge before your international short haul or domestic flight.
The following exceptions apply:
  1. First and Business Class customers who do not hold Emerald or Sapphire tier status are not eligible to access American Airlines lounges when travelling on solely domestic flights within the U.S. or between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico [except Mexico City], the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean; customers travelling in First or Business class on U.S. transcontinental flights between JFK-LAX, JFK-SFO and MIA-LAX (and vice-versa) are eligible for lounge access.

  2. Guests are not permitted at Qatar Airways Al Safwa and Al Mourjan lounges at Hamad International Airport in Doha or Qatar Airways Premium Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 4.

Please see the following resources for further details on Class of Service Based Lounge Access Rules:

. . . oneworld Lounge Access Wizard , created by FlyerTalk member imagineertobe

. . . ● AA.com: AA Lounge Access Rules

. . . ● oneworld.com: Lounge Access Rules and Search Tool

. . . ● FlyerGuide Wiki: Lounges

. . . ● FT thread: AAdvantage status-based access to AA & oneworld lounges (consolidated)

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ARCHIVE: Lounge Access Based on Class of Service (master thread)

Old Apr 5, 2009, 6:03 pm
  #1  
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ARCHIVE: Lounge Access Based on Class of Service (master thread)


oneworld Lounge Access via Class of Service
JDiver is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 3:19 am
  #2  
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Class-of-Service-based Access to AA & oneworld Lounges (consolidated)

I'll be arriving at T7 on CX 830 HKG-JFK in First and have a 3 hour layover at JFK before my next flight (to ORD). Seeing that I'm flying inbound on a oneworld carrier in First, do I have access to the Flagship Lounge in T8 by showing my CX First same day boarding pass, or is lounge access only allowed only when DEPARTING in J or F?

Thanks!

Last edited by JDiver; May 24, 2015 at 6:16 pm Reason: Restore original post
UnitedSkies is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 4:25 am
  #3  
 
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yes I do it all the time when coming from Europe and connecting to another US city. Just keep your boarding pass although it should be in your record when you check in at the AC. I am EXP so I qualify even in Y but I believe if you are flying F with no status the same rule still applies.
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Old Jan 6, 2010, 7:13 am
  #4  
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Originally Posted by emilygrx
yes I do it all the time when coming from Europe and connecting to another US city. Just keep your boarding pass although it should be in your record when you check in at the AC. I am EXP so I qualify even in Y but I believe if you are flying F with no status the same rule still applies.
The same rule applies.
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Old Jan 6, 2010, 7:34 am
  #5  
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Thanks for your response - the oneworld website somehow clearly states that you must be connecting *to* a oneworld flight in J or F, so that was why I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be given access. In any case, the ticket was booked via AA anyway, so they can easily pull up the reservation. Oh, my "Location" is incorrect - I am AA Gold, not that it really means much!

Would love to get a shower in before JFK-ORD (if it ever goes, since it's only 1x daily now - albiet on the international 757 - there is a huge snow storm hitting Chicago all day Thursday!).

Another question - how good is AA with pro-active reprotects on alternate routings, or even alternate carriers - if my JFK-ORD is cancelled? I see that DL has two JFK-ORDs leaving after 3pm on Thursday January 7. I suppose I'll just wait to find out once I land in JFK!
UnitedSkies is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 8:51 am
  #6  
 
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I would not hold my breath that AA will protect you on DL, especially as a Gold only.

You also don't specify if you are traveling on an award or paid F, that also may make a difference in the end if you want to be protected due to weather.
Deltahater is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 9:26 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by Deltahater
I would not hold my breath that AA will protect you on DL, especially as a Gold only.

You also don't specify if you are traveling on an award or paid F, that also may make a difference in the end if you want to be protected due to weather.
I'm on an award ticket... I guess that may not bode well for me. In any case I'm not holding my breath regardless... DL flies CR9s JFK-ORD... which are probably the FIRST to be cancelled if the storm is as bad as they predict!
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Old Jan 6, 2010, 9:27 am
  #8  
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The Oneworld site is very clear about the access benefits for elites traveling internationally. It is not nearly as clear about class-based access. Both of the members assuring you that you will have access (emilygrx and spiff) are EXPs, so they would get access regardless of class, so I'm not sure their experiences are definitive. We have had reports both ways over the years, so I suspect that it is a YMMV situation. Wouldn't hurt to ask and see, but I wouldn't get bent out of shape if you are denied.
gemac is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 1:35 pm
  #9  
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Yeah, I would expect not to be admitted but be happy if I am. And maybe they'll let you into the Admirals Club as well. I'm not even sure there are showers in the FL. And if that fails, you can always purchase a day pass to the AC.
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Old Jan 6, 2010, 1:48 pm
  #10  
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Originally Posted by ijgordon
Yeah, I would expect not to be admitted but be happy if I am. And maybe they'll let you into the Admirals Club as well. I'm not even sure there are showers in the FL. And if that fails, you can always purchase a day pass to the AC.
The showers are shared between the FL and the AC. There is access to the showers directly from the FL.
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Old Jan 6, 2010, 2:58 pm
  #11  
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I've taken the liberty of making this the new thread for Class-of-service-based lounge access discussion. It's the third leg of the 'lounge access tripod' that we've been missing for the User's Guide Sticky, along with non-AA oneworld status-based access and AA status-based access.

/Moderator
dstan is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 4:30 pm
  #12  
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I've put a family member with no status on an F award ticket (AA on the international segment). She was able to access the FL upon her return to ORD before she connected to the domestic segment.

I've also upgraded a non-status friend using a eVIP (i.e. ended up flying in J), and he was able to enter the Business lounge before he connected to a OW flight in economy.

Maybe I'm reading a different page or just reading the verbiage differently, but the OW Lounge Access page seems to be clear re: class of service.

From http://www.oneworld.com/ow/ffp/loung...lass-of-travel:

In all cases, lounge access eligibility is based on:

* Departing carrier - you must be flying on your next onward segment, on the same day, on a flight marketed and operated by a oneworld member airline AND
* Frequent flyer tier status - you must also hold a frequent flyer card equivalent to oneworld Emerald or Sapphire status, OR
* Class of travel - you must produce a First or Business Class boarding pass for the journey's international segment on the same day.

Advice for travellers

* If you do not have oneworld Emerald or Sapphire tier status you are only eligible to access a lounge if you are travelling in First or Business Class, or if you are travelling in Economy on a domestic or intra-European flight to connect to or from a longhaul segment in a oneworld carrier's First or Business Class.
So in order to gain access into the FL, OP would have to A) be departing on a OW flight and either B) have OW Emerald status or C) have an international F boarding pass for a flight that day. OP satisfies A and C, so should be fine.
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Old Jan 6, 2010, 7:36 pm
  #13  
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Originally Posted by JY1024
So in order to gain access into the FL, OP would have to A) be departing on a OW flight and either B) have OW Emerald status or C) have an international F boarding pass for a flight that day. OP satisfies A and C, so should be fine.
It seems so, although the fact that the HKG-JFK flight departs the same day as the JFK-ORD flight is what I believe works in OP's favor. I think if one was going, say, EZE-JFK-ORD then based on the language you quoted, AA would be within their rights to deny you lounge access at JFK.

I know that when I was in F on CX from JFK-HKG-SIN with the leg to SIN in J, I was NOT provided access to the First Class lounge in HKG, only Business. And in HKG it's all automated with printed lounge invites.
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Old Jan 6, 2010, 9:05 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by JY1024
I've put a family member with no status on an F award ticket (AA on the international segment). She was able to access the FL upon her return to ORD before she connected to the domestic segment.

I've also upgraded a non-status friend using a eVIP (i.e. ended up flying in J), and he was able to enter the Business lounge before he connected to a OW flight in economy.

Maybe I'm reading a different page or just reading the verbiage differently, but the OW Lounge Access page seems to be clear re: class of service.

From http://www.oneworld.com/ow/ffp/loung...lass-of-travel:

So in order to gain access into the FL, OP would have to A) be departing on a OW flight and either B) have OW Emerald status or C) have an international F boarding pass for a flight that day. OP satisfies A and C, so should be fine.
It also says: "Emerald or Sapphire level top-tier members of oneworld® airlines' frequent flyer programmes have access to almost 550 departure lounges across the globe, no matter which oneworld airline you are flying." It does not say that passengers flying Business or First Class have access to the lounges of other airlines. That's the ambiguity, and FT members have had variable results trying to do this.

Of course your family member was able to access the FL - they were in F on AA.
gemac is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2010, 10:24 pm
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http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInforma...hipLounges.jsp

http://www.aa.com/i18nForward.do?p=/...worldCustomers

You might find these links to aa.com's explanation of lounge access benefits helpful.
john93711 is offline  

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