Can you buy one-day lounge access?
 

One month from tomorrow, I'll be taking my first BA flight, thanks to being a winner in the BA Face Of Opportunity contest. I'm flying JFK-LHR on a chartered flight with the other contest winners, then on to CDG on the 6th and back home on the 10th.

My intra-European flights are in Euro Traveller (not really a big deal for an hour flight) and my LHR-JFK flight is in WT+.

Since it's been many years since I flew an airline with which I have no status or lounge access, I paid the fee to pre-book seats but the one thing I was really hoping was that BA sold one-day lounge passes (like DL does). I looked on the BA website and searched this forum but don't see anything about that. Is buying a day pass not an option or am I missing the information about it?

Any information about what to expect is appreciated. (I've spent lots of time reading through the threads here and it seems that WT+ is basically not much more than WT with a little more legroom.)

Thanks!

Firstly congratulations on your win!!

Unfortunately though BA do not sell passes to any of their lounges. I'm not familiar with JFK having not been through there recently. However on your return from T5 there are a great array of dining places where you can while away some time.

Have a great trip!

Surely you mean fortunately? ;)

Planefood is actually quite good, and I'm not a GR fan by any means.

Thank you! I'm very much looking forward to flying BA! :)

There's a contest-related event at JFK before boarding, which I believe is in the lounge, so I'll get to see that one. I was thinking about my return trip, when I have around 3.5 hours in between flights at LHR and was hoping to be able to check out the BA lounge there. But I'm sure I can amuse myself in the terminal since lounge access isn't an option.

can i suggest checking out ba97.com and see if a fellow FTer is about and will guest you in to a lounge?

+1. AC's MLL in Canada which are nice lounges especially by NA standards are overcrowded because of their recent policy of selling lounge access. It is a shame that BAA hasn't provide a lounge in T5 that Priority Pass holders and people willing to pay could access though. Might even add to their bottom line.;)

I did that and there is one person departing LHR around the same time I am on the 10th, but I don't know if s/he has lounge access. I will also post on the lounge thread here on FT.

I agree - I already paid for seat assignments and would have been happy to pay for a lounge pass if I had the option to do so.

if you click on their name in ba97.com, their profile will usually show which cards they hold, or the lounge visit calender or their trip will usually show which class they are travelling.

Hope that helps!

You people who aren't stuck in the cesspool of domestic US flying are so spoiled. :p

My top tier status with United gets me nothing re: their "clubs". Membership is upwards of $500 per year. I could buy a full fare first class ticket and still nada. And when you fly international and finally get in with gold status, the food is barely more than cheese and crackers.

And yet a BA Silver member gets in every for every flight? Paradise! Warm croissants! Thai curry chicken!

Oh, wait, I see your point. DO NOT SELL PASSES. :D

Can't you upgrade your Paris flights with cash? Or is this option greyed out in MMB?

I can only see two persons registered on BA97 LHR the 10th, both are Gold card holders and active here. Drop a pm to the one you have in mind. No guarantee though as they may already guest spouse/colleague/friend.

Yes, it's odd. I've never quite understood why BAA don't have a non-BA, e.g. ServisAir, lounge in T5 for non-status passengers. I'm sure sufficient people would be willing to pay £20/head to make it viable.

T5 is probably the best terminal at Heathrow if you don't have lounge access - Plane Food and several other bars (e.g. the V Bar underneath the South Lounge complex), loads of shops, lots of seating and excellent views of the airport goings-on.

I personally love sitting at T5 and watching the world go by and people go to their planes..

But then I a people watcher person.:D

As *G you can enter LH Senator Lounges, though, which do have better food. There aren't many, though, and all of them are in the international departure areas. About as useful as Open Doors on BA to me... Most of their lounges are either in the non-Schengen area, third-party lounges, or closed when I fly another airline than BA.

Argument Against third party lounges: As the terminal is exclusively BA (for the present time) I would imagine that BA want to encourage people to buy CW/CE/UK Biz to gain access to Lounges or higher fare tix to gain TP's and status. Therefore they would ask BAA not to allow a third party lounge.

Argument for third party lounges: By giving greater choice for those with access or willing to pay for third party lounge access travellers may possibly choose BA rather than looking at other carriers in another terminal/airport.


I think that the argument for far out weighs the against but there again I am not BA/BAA!

I for one would have considered airlines on the basis of which terminal/airport they fly from and the availability of lounge access. There are those out there who will scoff at this. However given the amount of time I spend in airports and as I invariably transit through one to reach my final destination this is important.

I have BA Silver and BD Gold (although I did in days gone by also have AF/KLM Platinum and Priority Pass). I gave up flying Skyteam and when I realised I could buy lounge access to most PP lounges when needed (very seldom) I gave up on PP too.

Unfortunately, because this is a complimentary ticket, that's not an option.

There's just one that has a departure time around the same time as my afternoon LHR-JFK flight. Is that considered appropriate on the BA board? I've guested plenty of DL people into SkyClubs but wasn't sure if it was okay here to PM someone to beg for lounge access.

True, but the options are shrinking if you're flying domestic. Many *G lounges are in physically separate international terminals. There's also a thread going on in the UA forum about *G domestic flyers losing access to the Singapore Airlines lounge at SFO, despite it technically being allowed by *G rules.

There's also the problem that LH Senator lounges sometimes refuse entry to anyone but LH business or first passengers, again despite the rules. This happened to me at EWR with an int'l ticket, because the lounge is small.

One membership advantage (if you can call it that) of UA/US/CO's "clubs" is that you don't have to be flying them, or their alliance, or really anyone. You can be admitted even if you're meeting an assisted passenger airside.

In any case, if I ever decided to use Oneworld for domestic flights, I'd probably be better off with gold status from BA than AA.

Pm them with a link to this thread, and say it was suggested by other FTers. Look at my strapline to see whether it is acceptable! Thats why we post the flights publicly on ba97.com (there is an option to withold from public view)

Logengula has said both are regular posters here, so you can take it that they are well familiar with this scenario.

Yes, but as has been discussed on here before, not everyone posts on ba97.com with the same intention. I used to use ba97.com to see if there was a chance of being around at the same time as an FTer I'd like to meet in person, not as a way of getting access to a lounge. I would consider offering lounge access to someone I felt I knew somewhat from their posts on here, but not to someone I'd never heard of; nor would I ask it from anyone. Obviously some feel differently, but other threads about this show that I'm not the only one to feel this way.

I really can't understand what the big deal is here. If you're travelling in economy then the unpleasant part of the trip is being squashed on the plane, not sitting for a little while in the main departure area. The majority of travellers cope without ever seeing the inside of a lounge. The average time I spend in a lounge is around half an hour - pleasant enough but hardly a life-changing experience. Quite a lot of airports have no lounge at all for anyone - try flying domestically in Brazil for example.

Isn't this a bit like asking why an economy pax can't pay for a glass of PJ Belle Epoque? I'd be surprised if it's the top priority for someone contorted into their middle seat at the back on their SIN-LHR flight.

A large number of economy passengers don't fly regularly, but when do they wish to escape the 'mayhem' of the airport for a quiet lounge with snacks and drinks (at least according to threads on other forums, trip advice websites etc).

Of course, they are also unlikely to chose an airline / airport based on lounge availability - I'd assume they'd chose whomever was closest or cheapest.

T5 really isn't a bad airport to relax in before a flight.

I doesn't hurt to send a polite question. If the member on ba97 doesn't want to guest it's easy just to respond: "Sorry, I can't this time".

I don't consider it polite to ask someone you don't know (and the same usually applies even to someone you do know) for an invitation to something you are not yourself invited to. Invitations are offered not requested.

Yes we're all different. I don't mind a polite question if it's an FT member. Maybe ba97 should have an additional field: "accepts lounge guesting questions yes/no"?

Yes, we are most definitely all different. :)

As a SkyClub member, I have guested many people into lounges and quite a few were complete strangers. I have no issue with whether it's a request or an invitation - most of my travel is solo, so I almost feel like I'm getting better value if I guest in a companion. There's a sticky thread in the DL forum regarding SC meetings and I scan it before each trip to see if I can help out someone seeking access.

Regarding what one's entitled to, as I indicated, I would have been happy to pay for lounge access if single-visit passes were available for purchase. I also did not have the option to upgrade my ticket to a class of service that would have included lounge access.

I know I can easily kill the few hours between my flights in T5, but I own a travel business and am often asked by clients regarding whether or not lounges are worth it. Since almost all of my flights are on SkyTeam airlines, I can only comment on their lounges. Since I now have a rare flight that's not SkyTeam, I thought it would be good for me to check out another airline's lounge, if I could.

However, in light of some of the posts here, I'll just let it go. Although I've met many FTers at DOs, I'm not a regular on this forum and don't know any of the posters here personally. There will be plenty for me to do in the terminal (if there's a Boots, I can probably spend an hour there!).

Thank you all for your advice.