serfty

I was answering on a class of service basis, not status. (Responding to another post.)

Being EXP on an international itinerary indeed opens up further access to Qantas First Lounge.

shimps1

Going to be arriving to LAX on AA, connecting to TN. Have about 5 hours for a layover. Should we use the TN lounge that is provided (flying J), or use an AA lounge in the TBIT terminal? Curious if anyone has experience with both to provide a perspective on preference. Only access to the AA lounge would be Citi Exec card, so can't do Flagship lounge (if there is one in LAX).

TWA884

AA does not have lounges in TBIT, there are Admirals Clubs in T4 and T5 and a Flagship Lounge in T4. There is a oneworld Lounge in TBIT, but I doubt that its available to TN passengers. There is an airside connector between T4 and TBIT, it takes approximately 5-8 minutes to walk from one terminal to the other.

shimps1

Thank you, will probably stick to the Star Alliance lounge in TBIT, as TN gets access there and I see decent reviews.

happiest_at_40000

Star Alliance lounge is far better than any AC and its much better than the FL at LAX with out a doubt. There is an area overlooking the terminal you can step down to and relax or eat there and then there is a full on outside area too thats nice.

Maybe the food isnt anything super special and possibly FL has some better sounding things but personally I cant stand buffets and hardly touch them. So from simply an appearance and size and the outdoor option I would go Star Alliance for sure. And you dont have to worry about the 7-8 min walk each way.

serfty

Many would disagree with you, including myself. While the view is nice in the *A facility, you can't eat a view and the F&B (including buffet) in the FL is generally superior. (Noting your aversion to Buffets)

In any case, I believe the *A lounge is the only choice for shimps1 assuming they are on a TN flight number.

happiest_at_40000

The food def isn稚 a stand out at star alliance but for me I致e never had one good thing at the FL. It sounds and looks good but never is.

Since writing my above post i was in the OW J lounge. What a dark, depressing and downright disappointing lounge. And food I was told was more plentiful there and superior to Star. It was bad looking and barely much of anything. Also went for a barista made coffee drink and the person didn稚 know much about coffee drinks but also they have no caramel or vanilla to add. Found this to be a horrible lounge.

carlosdca

barista is probably italian

DELee

Ahia!

David

LowValueCustomer

Any recent data points on transcon F access to the QF F lounge? Seems the trend following the lounge reopening late last year has not been encouraging, but I'm hoping (perhaps overly optimistically) things may have gotten sorted in recent months?

phxbarcelona

Was there 2 weeks ago. F in transcon still being sent to AA lounges.

Here was the full story however. I was flying TUS-LAX-JFK-HND in J and got upgraded to F on the LAX-JFK route. However my JFK to HND leg was 1:40AM the following morning. When I landed in LAX from TUS, I walked over the QF F lounge, which I had been looking forward to, and saw the same gentlemen at the entrance who I had encountered several times pre-COVID. I arrived around 10AM and said hello and presented my boarding passes. He first noted that F LAX-JFK needed to go to the AA lounge. I smiled and noted I had access instead because I am an Emerald and flying internationally JFK to HND. He then looked at my BP and noted I was not travelling to HND the same day. He called over to the AA lounge and someone confirmed it had to be same day and he told me I had to go to the AA lounge. I noted that there is a 6:00 AM rule so as long as the next day flight is before 6, I had access. He noted that the AA lounge person agreed that was not the case but if I could find someone at AA who agreed, to have them call him and he would let me in.

So back to terminal 4 I went to the AA FL lounge. Once inside, I went to the agents who do booking and asked for help. It turns out the person I asked was the trainer for all the AA club staff and she immediately agreed I had access because of the 6AM rule. She even took a min to teach the person next to her this fact. She called back over to the QF lounge and spoke to the gentlemen I had earlier met and explained that I did have access because of the 6AM rule. I then went back over and he kindly let me in. I had the lounge to myself for about 30 minutes and had a lovely breakfast. He even helped me book seat 5F on my return JAL flight.

As an epilogue while I was flying to JFK, he called my cell and left a message that I had left my kindle tablet in the lounge and was holding it for when I returned! Super nice

ralphs

Great story but brutal routing.

tfizzle

Can someone kindly remind me of that 6am rule?

thanks.

jtav559

If your itinerary contains a flight that would qualify you for access to lounges (based on cabin (J or F) or OWS & OWE status), that qualifying flight must depart either the same day as your earlier positioning flights OR before 6am the following day, for you to access those eligible lounges on Day 1.

Say you have a red-eye from LAX-DFW, departing at 10pm on Monday, with a connection to a Tuesday 5am departure @ DFW to some far flung international destination (that would make you eligible for FL access or access to another OW lounge like the F lounge @ TBIT), you are allowed to access those premium lounges on Monday.

However, if your "qualifying flight" is after 6am on Tuesday (Day 2), then you are not eligible for access on Monday (Day 1).

JJeffrey

That is a great description of the rule as it's generally interpreted, however it's important to note that it's almost never enforced in that capacity for connecting itineraries.

That is, if you have that itinerary where you depart on a red-eye LAX-DFW at 10pm connecting to say DFW-Tokyo at 10am the next day, it's never problem to access the lounges at LAX before your departure (I have done this exact type itinerary several times, boarding pass scanned, welcomed in).

My feeling is that 1) we've been misinterpreting the meaning of "qualifying flight" all along, as on a normal connecting itinerary like that (where the 2nd or 3rd flight is the long haul) all flights could technically be "qualifying" for lounge access. And 2), the "before 6am" clause is really just there to allow lounge access the day before in certain circumstances, not to deny lounge access on otherwise qualifying itineraries that just happens to span 2 calendar days.

As noted in reality the "before 6am" stuff is there to allow access in certain cases, for example if you're flying say LAX-HKG departing at 1am then of course it's no problem to access the lounges at 10pm the day before.