flysas

hey guys

am travelling MAN-LHR-BKK TG First class redemption

will i be able to access to BMI lounge at Manchester as im holding a international same day first class ticket?

many thanks

bmi goldenboy

I can't see the ladies at MAN having any problems with this at all. They're very accommodating and professional and will see that you are connecting F long haul. Sounds like a very nice trip, have fun!

gate4lounge

The strict answer is no (unless your MAN-LHR is a full Y ticket), following a recent revision to the *A Lounge access policy http://www.staralliance.com/en/trave...ss-policy.html

An extract from the rules;-

"International First Class Customers: Customers have access to International First Class and/or any Star Alliance member carriers' own lounges.

* Customer must present a boarding card for the same day travel in international First Class on a Star Alliance flight
* Customer must be departing from the local airport in International First Class
* Customer is entitled to one guest"

As bmi goldenboy observes, you may well be OK.....certainly worth the try.

littlevoices

Hmm, a bit off topic, but, is this a side-rule to stop people starting in FRA just to then go to ZRH to experience two first class lounges in a single trip?

KenF

Only slightly OT, and in any event, no!

The LH FCT/FCL's in FRA are outside the *A lounge access rules anyway, as it appears the SR FCL in ZRH is becoming too

So, you can still do this AFAIK - there are still people confirming having done this quite recently on the M&L board.

I'm not really sure what loophole they thought they were fixing with that change, unless *A members were getting antsy about giving F-lounge access at every point to someone on an itinerary like HKG(J)->SIN(J)->BKK(F)->LHR.

But if so it would seem to be a very small percentage of travelers and a lot of collateral damage to "real" F passengers with local connectors on regional one-class flights.

Ken.

Willard the Bear - But this rule doesn't apply to bears any way, does it?!

NewbieRunner

You are correct about FCT/FCLs but what's SR? Do you mean LX?

They have stopped enforcing the new rules or are denying that there were rule changes at all. What they did stop is a car transfer from the F check-in area in the main terminal to FCT.
LH does not have any one-class (i.e. Y only) flights but since there are no F class flights intra-Europe, pax with FC tickets still have to fly in C.

KenF

Hey, I'm a Dinosaur, I've accepted it, and to me it'll always be Swissair not Swiss and LX will forever be Crossair (and who could forget the "Concordino" and "Jumbolino")!

Agree with the above, but the rules change I was referring to was the one in the latest *A lounge access rules. Previously, the rules said you needed a "same day F or C ticket", now they say you need a "Same day F or C ticket departing from the same airport as the lounge" which effectively denies lounge access based on class of travel on a connecting flight. This will not affect LH as long as it has at least C on all flights, but it will be a real hardship when dealing with airlines which have "one-class" short-haul connectors, such as BD. I can't see what loophole they were trying to fix, as this change only really inconveniences paid premium itineraries. The airlines main bugbear seems to be "lounge hoppers" (like Willard) and that change does not seem to affect the ability to visit many different *A lounges if you have a premium ticket!

As an aside, the *A rules define the concept of a "Designated *G lounge" but have no concept of a "designated" F or C lounge - the rules state that if you hold a premium ticket you should be able to access any *A premium lounge for that class in the airport - though increasingly *A members seem to be re-defining these rules (LH, SR (OK, OK, LX!), SQ and now even TG!).

To keep this on Topic (a bit), I'm hopeful that BD would not deny lounge access to someone holding a same day premium ticket as long as it was on the same PNR, but I've heard stories.........

Ken.

Willard the Bear - After due consideration, I've decided I want my own Star-Gold card, as I cannot consider taking the risk of not being in the lounge - Ken - Make it so!

gate4lounge

My view is that the recent changes in *A Lounge access rules may have originated with US based airlines. We all know how much the RCC likes to exclude entry to US based flyers. Under the previous rules, a US based flyer on an international F itinerery with a domestic connection to/from a US hub would have access to lounges at 2 domestic airports both ways. Under the revised rules he would only have lounge access domestically at the hub airport on the outbound sector.