Rossodio

This picture is being saved into my phone in case I need to present it to the dragon at CCR. Arriving DFW->LHR T3 in AA F (Flagship First), going to T5, then out from T5 to NAP in BA main cabin (Y) on the same itinerary. Hopefully no trouble getting into CCR but having this in my back pocket may help


A question then - I have a flight itinerary I booked through AA. It is NAP->LHR (BA main cabin/Y, arriving into T5) then LHR->JFK (AA Flagship First/F, departing from T3 the next day) and onward to CLT from there. All of this is on one itinerary/ticket - the layover in London here is 23 hours which I did intentionally to get a day/night to explore London and stay at the Royal Lancaster hotel before coming in by Heathrow Express train the next morning and heading out on a 10:30 flight.

In that situation, when I arrive at LHR from NAP at T5 I will be going landside but only due to the 23h layover on the same itinerary as my AA F flight. Would I have access to the BA arrivals lounge then in T5? What about Concorde lounge? If not Concorde, what about Galleries First? If it matters, I am AA Exec Plat with its OWE privileges and will be with a guest who has no status on any airline.

When I come in the next morning for my flight out from LHR to JFK in F from T3 I will have access to all CX/AA/BA/Qantas T3 departures lounges and will probably hang out in them before leaving. Once at JFK I have 3 hours to stop by the Chelsea lounge for their non-existent Krug and LPGS before off to CLT.

ryanbriar

You will not have access to any BA lounges upon arrival as you need an onward ticket (pretty sure same day and in T5) to gain access to the departures area, and then subsequently to access lounges. The arrivals lounge requires an inbound long haul flight.

KARFA

The sign is still the same now and says AA F gets access

ijgordon

Ugh, wish I had seen either this post or this sign. I entered via the First Wing through the F lounge to try to get to the CCR after arriving on AA F (BA-marketed FWIW), connecting to ZRH on BA J. As I’ve noted once or twice in the BA forum, I was summarily denied access to the CCR a month ago - by both the agent at the CCR entrance and the one at the F entrance who confirmed the “BA only policy.”

That said, they could still claim it’s only for AA Flagship First departures…

BTW, I’m confused about where this sign is and the directional arrows. IIRC, the F and CCR were on the same level, one up from the main terminal and the Club lounge was a level above that. Doesn’t tie to the directions on the sign. Did I misremember?

KARFA

this sign is near the secret door

LowValueCustomer

To say that this is appallingly unacceptable would be a gross understatement. I hope you got names, and filed a complaint.

Dave Noble

I am not sure that a complaint is warranted - whether there is an entitlement to access the Concorde Room when connecting from an AA flight in 1st class to a BA flight in economy or business class is not clearly stated. That sign only indicates AA Flagship 1st and could quite reasonably be departures only

The Concorde Room is explicitly excluded from the OW lounge access policy and the lounge details only indicates access for 1st class and BA/AA plus BA Premier / BA Concorde Room / AA CK card holders.

If access to the 1st lounge was refused when connecting to an eligible flight, then there would be grounds for complaint

It would be good to get an official clarification - but AA doesn't seem too good at such things

LowValueCustomer

I suppose I agree that's theoretically possible, but is there a single other AA, BA, or for that matter, IAG lounge benefit which works that way? If the flight is eligible, you should get access on arrival. BA F pax get arrival access; would be a little odd for F pax on BA's JV partner not to (despite having departure access!). Certainly the most comparable lounge, Chelsea, grants arrival access. AA FFD will seat BA F pax on arrival. The next-most comparable lounge that is quasi IAG-affiliated, Al Safwa, also grants access on arrival to all pax who would be eligible on departure. AA's and BA's business class lounges permit arrival access. While the CCR is of course sui generis (as are Chelsea, FFD, and Al Safwa!) and therefore none of the foregoing is entirely dispositive, it certainly seems to me that the presumption should be, barring any written rules/statements to the contrary, that it works in the same way for arriving AA F pax.

Dave Noble

The email from BA customer service sent to a poster regarding this question in post 18 did quite clearly ( see image link in post ) state that for connecting from 1st class to business/economy, it is BA 1st class passengers only that are granted access

KARFA

because no email from BA has ever been inaccurate

ryanbriar

Yes, but that email was quite dated and I accessed the CCR multiple times on an inbound AA F flight onward on both BA / QR subsequent to that email.

I think the biggest supporting fact is that there are now multiple signs up indicating that AA F is valid for entry. Without an onward BA flight, but flying on AA F same day, it is nearly impossible for one to otherwise access the CCR (I’m putting aside those who want to go through the hoops to terminal hop) given that all AA flights depart T3.

ijgordon

I didn’t get names and I also didn’t file a complaint. My intention was to bring a champagne-loving guest into the lounge on my return trip, and the two of us polish off at least a bottle of LPGS each, maybe a taste of JW Blue (or three), as retribution. And *then* maybe file a complaint.

But those plans were foiled by BAs cancellation of ZRH-LHR for my return journey. As YouFirst was quite accommodating in rebooking me on LX F nonstop (and changing from JFK to EWR), and doing similar for my friend who was also on the cancelled ZRH-LHR flight (MFUd to J on the leg to NY) — and THEN again being cooperative in subsequently “voluntarily” changing the LX flight again to the next day when we got stuck in Zermatt due to avalanches on the train tracks, despite major IT headaches from LX (don’t ever declare a checked bag via OLCI!) I decided to let the lounge snafu go.

JJeffrey

I think this is key here, in order to access T5 departures you must have a boarding pass for a T5 departure (unlike T3).

So there is no feasible scenario where an AA F pax could access the CCR before departing on the AA flight. The only way an AA F pax can access the CCR is connecting from AA F to BA.

Dave Noble

Whether accurate or not, it was a response to the comment in the post that there have been no written statements, when there has been and been attached to a previous post

As it stands there seems to be nothing definitive that shows an entitlement to access - there is also nothing that explicitly states that there should not be access

It is a shame that AA cannot publish clear details for this situation

Dave Noble

Or simply that BA has not updated the sign since AA ceased operating services out of T5