BA Blocks Flyertalk For AA Passenger [MXP Lounge]
 

Moderators: I was trying to cast this as an AA post, but you may want to move it elsewhere.

I, as an AA EXP, was flying on an AA issued ticket on AA from JFK to MXP and then on to Amman, Jordan on an AA issued ticked on Royal Jordanian (RJ, a OneWorld Partner). With a layover at MXP (Milan), I had time to spare, so I went into the BA/AA club and tried to log on to Flyertalk to find out what all of you were reporting about AA. Needless to say, no matter how many times I tried, or how I tried, I could not log on as BA, the Club I was at, said that FT was "illegal or offensive" and so they blocked it. I thought with Microwave on board, he would have lighted up Willie by beaming some of his magic on him. Come on, BA, lighten up--please tell me why Flyertalk is illegal or offensive!! Is it because a moderator has slapped me on the wrist in the past? Help!!!

It may be offensive to their bottom line but not illegal regardless. Shenanigans aside, were there any other travel-related blogs/sites you couldn't access?

Okay, now this was just weird mumbo-jumbo -> "I thought with Microwave on board, he would have lighted up Willie by beaming some of his magic on him"

Lost in Translation??

I'm confused over what internet filtering in a BA lounge in Milan has to do with AA anyway regardless of the bizarre latter part of the post

Possible that it wasn't BA that blocked it, but their service provider/government. I've seen it happen from time to time - similar to the great (fire)wall of china.

I also would think that it's the service provider's choice to block or unblock. However, as I'd imagine most people would not describe FT as degrading or offensive [insert wisecracks here], it is surprising that any service provider would choose to block it. This makes me wonder if some additional instruction was indeed made…

I've seen this before looking for facebook and also skype - (Rome I think it was)... the desk agent apologized but said social media sites encouraged people to hog computers when others might be waiting for trip related use... ever been at the BA lounge in LGW North terminal? ... I haven't looked at content but the business area is a long way from staffed areas and is often full of kids using the PCs. The response will be a standard one for non access. They won't program a host of reasons for specific sites. Don't take it personally!

The title of the post sounded like non-AA passengers can access FlyerTalk but not AA passengers. Wow, they have recognition software which can identify AA passengers and non-AA passengers?! :D

It is common for computers in public places to have chat sites or public forum sites blocked. I agree that it has nothing to do with BA, it is simply the company maintaining or providing Internet access to computers at BA lounge at MXP is doing. It is not that the service provider went through content of FlyerTalk and decided offensive. At public forum sites so many different subjects are covered, some serious political topics, some environmental issues, some religious issues, and some sexually explicit topics. It is common practice, even in the U.S., to block public forum sites such as FlyerTalk on public computers.

I can't speak for BA, but I can say that in general the security is contracted out. It usually just means that the filtering software has flagged the site for some reason. It is unlikely that they are maliciously blocking the site.

Was it an AA lounge or BA lounge?
A lot of places block social networking sites.
What you need is a VPN provider that gets you around this.
There are other uses for them, as I am in Israel and I use one so I can have a US ip address and watch Hulu, CBS, Netflix, etc.
A free one is Hotspot Shield (http://www.hotspotshield.com/)
I have used it on my laptop. I was going to use it on my iphone, but some people have reported problems with it and the inability to get rid of it, so I haven't put it on my iphone. You can google for vpn services and find quite a few.

I agree, and I assume someone could appeal to BA on this issue

I visited the Galleries lounge at MXP a few months ago and FT was definitely available. If it really isn't available now that must be a recent change.

Earlier this year I had the same experience in Galleries First at LHR. I don't recall trying it previously so I can't say whether it was just a one-off but I found it odd as well.

When my mobile was with Orange a couple of years ago, FT was blocked as an adults only site. I couldn't be bothered to go through the whole over 18 thing with Orange, so I just accessed it on wifi. Three has no such qualms (or perhaps they recognise me as an adult).