irishguy28

How could a lounge that has beer be deemed "dire"?

layz

I've just looked up the access conditions to the arrivals lounge and see you need to be gold if not travelling CW or F.

I wasn't aware of that thought silver would get you in too. I'm mostly a short haul traveller and my two long haul T5 arrivals have both been in CW so I could use the lounge but I always thought my silver card would have got me in if I hadn't been in CW. Shows how wrong you can be when you assume

I've just booked a ticket for DUB for early 2013 and it's still showing as T1 but the lounge section in MMB for the LHR-DUB segment is missing!

layz

Budweiser (US)

LTN Phobia

Not all beer is good! There are some dire beers...

irishguy28

Good points.

I'll just grab my Kaliber non-alcoholic, and leave.

Jenbel

Go sit in the terminal departures lounge if you really want to feel second class and don't use any lounges at all!

You got lounge access. If I 'only' get to use GC instead of F or CCR, do I feel second class? No. Because that's still better than the vast majority of people on the plane will get and it's a perfectly acceptable place to sit and wait for a plane.

Shanagarry

No, not expecting that, just to be able to access the lounge that is already there while on a layover.

Habemuspapam

Jenbel, i must say, your self-righteousness is really startling. Your earlier comment dismissing the complaint as a, "first world problem," was probably one of the most arrogant and sanctimonious things I have ever read on FT.

I don't know about you, but I live in the first world. I earn money and pay taxes in the first world, and I spend a lot of that hard earned money with one particular airline. When I am promised a level of service and access, I don't expect it to be amended and "enhanced" on a whim, and without good cause.

If you stay in a five star hotel, and receive four star service, is that acceptable because it is still better than what most people get? I don't think so.

Have you seen the CE fares from LHR-DUB? They are astronomical. The fact that this route is being treated like a red headed stepchild is unacceptable. If I can physically walk to the GBL without violating any security protocols, I should be able to access it. Period. BA should be able to fix this with one phone call. It is THEIR lounge now.

I say again, my expectations are not based upon any presumption about what I, as a human being, am entitled to....which is no more than anyone else....they are based upon what I, as a reasonably high rev GCH, (GGL and maybe CCR in the next month or two,) feel is appropriate to the level of loyalty and spend I show BA. This does not include being tossed out on my ear from a J lounge.

Also, this is NOT an indictment of the London Room. It was fine. It was the experience of having my options limited that was not acceptable. If that is too, "first world" for some people, I would submit that the first world is so named for a reason, as it has produced those individuals who have built the society and technology that most of the globe now takes for granted.

BA Executive Club

Hi all

I have raised this as an issue with our lounges team and drawn their attention to this thread. As soon as I have an update I will come post back ASAP

Warm regards

Nicci

Habemuspapam

Hi Nicci,

Regardless of the outcome, thank you very much for your attention to this.

layz

Why is "enhanced" in quotes, the current situation is an improvement over the old situation.

The old situation:

As a BA cardholder you'd not be entitled to bmi lounge access as BA was not in Star Alliance. You'd not earn anything on your BA card for flights LHR-DUB. If you had a flexible economy ticket granting you lounge access you'd only have access to the London Room. bmi have never given access to the GBL on UK & Ireland flights.

You could fly EI and get access to the EI lounge in T1 with your BA status. You'd get a few miles and no TP if booked under the EI code, if it was booked as part of a connection under the BA code you would get avios and TP.

The new situation:
The bmi flights now carry a BA code, this gives you access to the London Room on a BA card and also avios and TP on the flights. They've reintroduced a business class cabin on this flight for those who want a better on-board service.

The EI option is still there and hasn't changed.

--

So although not perfect, it's definitely an improvement for a BA cardholder, and no change for a bmi cardholder.

How did you cope before BA took over bmi? Surely if you need to get to DUB the current situation is an improvement, even if not ideal.

Give BA time, they will sort this out, but doubt it's a priority.

Jenbel

Mmmm. You mean they didn't know who you were?! Did you try telling them you'd maybe be CCR in the next month or two?

So the lounge you had access to was actually fine and not substandard. What you didn't like being told was 'no'. Well, BA reserves the right to vary it's lounge rules, and does so in this case. If refusal offends, it's a good idea to do the research so you are not putting the lounge staff in the position of having to offend you.

If only you'd looked it up (or had flown BD domestically, in which case you'd have known all about this rule - it's been in place for several years now) in advance, you'd not be feeling all offended, hurt and unloved now, the staff would not have had the uncomfortable experience of having to refuse you (and I take it from your comments on here that that may not have gone down well with you) and everyone would be a lot happier.

I tend to agree with others here - there are bigger issues to be sorted out with the takeover. You still have access to a lounge which is "fine" when flying domestically. It will likely be sorted in time. Until that time, don't get so hung up that the fact you are rejected from a lounge somehow means you are less valuable to BA.

Habemuspapam

The "enhanced" was simply a reference to the way the word is commonly used here.

No argument that it is an improvement over nothing, but I was always taught that if you do something, don't do it half-a**ed.

What it comes back to is that the policy is without sense or purpose, period, and is not consistent with the way BA aspires to treat its GCH customer base.

It's not the end of the world, obviously, but the purpose of handing out shiny cards is to give people the expectation of a relatively stress free experience at the airport as well as onboard. When that fails to materialize, for whatever reason, it is a service failure.

colm

Ahem. It's an international flight.


I don't really get too worked up about this. In Dublin, CTA passengers pass through regular immigration, and can simply show their boarding pass. In most UK airports that I've been to, the airport is configured such that they can bypass immigration and still go through regular customs. T1 is different in having a dedicated arrivals for ROI/Domestic. (I must confess I've never noticed the customs phone, and didn't realise I was officially passing through customs).

In T5, they could simply arrive at an international gate, and if necessary set up a line at immigration for UK/ROI passengers, to bypass based on boarding pass. Indeed, that's what currently happens at LGW South, IIRC.

LTN Phobia

Totally agreed.

I would also be looking at myself to see if I have the priority right if being told "no" based on the rule about domestic/CTA flights not being eligible for access to GBL offends me so much.