roarss

It can be frustrating when travelling with colleagues or family with lower or no status with BA; I would love the opportunity to burn some avios in return for entry to one of the lounges - perhaps having a quota available per day not to annoy the regulars/over populate.

I've had a number of trips recently where I've rescinded my use, to save face. Tis a shame I can't share my travel benefits with others, occasionally. I'm sure it would promote the brand more than take away..

7,500 for standard lounges
10,000 for GF?

Thoughts? (Less flames... )

Flexible preferences

Those Avios prices do seem very cheap! Wishful thinking perhaps?

srbrenna

Only for the denizens of this board but I'm even wondering how many of us would shell out this much.

Let's look at 10k Avios and the value you can get for them:
If you buy them BA will want Ł175
If you look at the BoB you'd be able to get 13.3 spirit and mixers and the value of that would be Ł80. Only the most dedicated FT'ers would be able to put away the 13 large gins in a lounge trip.
So let's say 10k Avios would be about Ł100. Each. You can go to a Michelin starred restaurant for that, not some lounge with self serve food of average qualiity. On this basis you might argue that this is not very cheap.

sxc

Just for comparison's sake, CX does now allow purchasing of lounge access using miles. But it's only for those who are a member of the club (ie excludes people who collect Asia miles only) and for guests accompanied by the member, or for the member when not flying on oneworld.

srbrenna

For redemptions a LGW-AMS one way midweek J would cost Ł310 (more out of LHR and LCY) or 9k Avios and Ł25.

Anyway I'm off back to the real world where one of my friends thinks he has "absolutely loads" of Avios (just over 27k) and is very excited as he will make Bronze soon.

roarss

I was going with this 10k/Ł100 worth ball-park in my head. Would I spend Ł100 to enter GF, no. Would I burn 30,000 getting 3 extended family members into GF to start a holiday off on the right foot, yes. Mainly for times where you travel with non-status friends, family or colleagues & it's rude to scutter off to the lounge.

It seems like there should be, I dunno, 50 wild-card guest entries available, perhaps bookable in advance.

Instead I'll be 'slumming it' with the masses.

Flexible preferences

I guess a potential problem could be lounge capacity in the holiday seasons.

It wouldn't take many glasses of champagne or Johnnie Walk Blue to make a dent in even the cash equivalents posted.

orbitmic

Considering BA's thirsty drive for ancillary revenue, my personal (and totally uninformed) suspicion is that your dream will likely come true this year or soon thereafter. I would imagine only for GC though, and limited to BAEC Bronze or extra guests for BAEC silver and gold (maybe Gold to 'the lounge they are entitled to themselves').

I actually do not think that the prices mentioned are cheap but rather expensive!: 7,500 will get you a peak time London-Malaga or London-Dubrovnik, and as mentioned by srbrenna, buying them costs a little fortune!

For comparison sake, paid lounge access on AF-KL is €45 and many priority pass lounges have fees of about Ł20-30 so I think BA would need to more or less align themselves with those sorts of prices in cash and an avios equivalent that is not too out of line with it.

My personal guess would be something like Ł40 or 5,000 avios

Often1

Be careful. This is more likely to lead to more serious restrictions on guesting under the theory that one may always pay for guests.

You may well see this, but the avios cost will likely far exceed the rough cash equivalent because most passengers do not engage in the sort of calculations which those on FT do. Those with a balance simply see avios as "free" and if they are feeling generous, will make the offer.

The process, however, creates crowding issues on the lounges and social pressure issues on passengers because your peers well know that you can "afford" to guest them in.

Oxon Flyer

They could offer it at the time of booking - say in the same way that you can now part-pay with Avios - and limit it only to passengers on the same booking. That would largely address the crowding and peer pressure issues, and still offer a benefit for "Would I burn 30,000 getting 3 extended family members into GF to start a holiday off on the right foot, yes."

scubadu

I suspect your "dream" might be a nightmare for others. Don't mean that to be a flame, but unfortunately as we move forward on elite status programs/benefits, it's becoming clear that in many ways it is indeed a zero sum game (e.g. physical lounge space is finite). That is to say, a change that you might find to be a net positive to you, turns out to be a net negative to me.

This presents a significant challenge to airlines moving forward as they change and update their programs. A similar example occurring right now on several US based airlines is related to domestic upgrades. AA for example, beginning Jan 1st, will tie the upgrade status for a companion to that of the elite member (even at the airport). My spouse is AA EXP (OWE) so I'm delighted by this change as I'm not OWE. That said, many AA elite travelers who fly alone and are, say AA PLT are not so happy about this change and I can certainly understand why. I'm quite hoping to snag some of their upgrades.

Many people like to say the world isn't "zero sum" but unfortunately micropockets of it are and physical lounge access is one of those micropockets. I'm actually not positive where I'd fall on this, but would probably lean toward not wanting something like this implemented as I think many lounges are already beginning to struggle with capacity, particularly as there seem to be more elite members than ever.

Regards

madfish

One advantage of flying SH in CE is lounge access for those without status. Would less people pay for CE if they could just pay for the lounge access especially at the figures being banded about?

roarss

Yeah I hear & agree.

I spend most of my time in airport lounges alone, 'losing out' on guest access as such, then the when I wish to enjoy the experience with loved ones I can't because we're 1 too many for lounge rules & I default to life outside of the lounge.

It's a double edged sword, I get that. I recognise that the occasions I would most like to spend more time in a lounge, I can't & that frustrates.

atcer28

I agree with the concerns abpout overcrowding. However I think that if it were severely limited to a certain number available per day and you made the price high enough it would probably make a negligible difference. You could make it available to those that are silver or above and travelling on BA with perhaps a maximum of 2 extra per BAEC member.

I mainly travel solo or on a premium ticket in a couple so rarely guest anyone into the lounge. Iit would be nice on the rare occasion I travel with a couple of friends to be able to go into the lounge instead of having to mix with the masses!

MeltingAlf

Doesn't the CX one have a fine print stating that the purchasing of lounge access is restricted to only one occasion?