ggmmrr

flying international to London, then on to Europe,
NOT flying First or Business....

do they sell day passes to the British Airways lounges

any information is appreciated

thanks

ajeleonard

No, BA don't do day passes

There is an Aspire lounge in T5 you can pay to get into

When I Travel The World

If you can get in

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to the BA forum ggmmrr, please feel free to participate more here.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...s-reviews.html

There is this thread on Aspire, it's nothing like as good as the BA lounges, but if you book in advance via their website you will be allowed in. If you have a Priority Pass card then it can be a bit more dicey. There are, however, a range of other lounges in LHR, and if you have a very long connection then you are allowed to use them and return, however note that you will have to pass through security at the other terminal and reclear security in T5. You have to enter via T5 too, since at landside the boarding pass must align with your departure. So quite a hassle, unless perhaps you land initially at (say) T4, go to a T4 lounge, and then go to T5.

seaskybound

how does one get into another terminal, airside if no appropriate BP?

tomparskate

You will be stuck in T5 I assume,

Aspire isn't a bad lounge! Beats waiting around the terminal and internet is fast😀

Book it online and safe money and your guarenteed entry as it can get busy with priority pass and other lounge cards.

Also, keep a look out on BA97.com and Travel Meetup thread. People will happily guest you into Lounges normally

corporate-wage-slave

Only T5 has Ready to Fly, and T2 has a cut down version of it. You are free to move to the other terminals for lounges and shopping. Moreover they don't always check your boarding pass if not using Fast Track at the security points after Flight Connection (and with the exception of T3 most BAEC members would not have eligibility for Fast Track anyway).

dddc

What about buying the cheapest fully flexible and refundable ticket that gives you access to a lounge, using it to get into the lounge and then cancelling it as you leave to go to your "real" flight? Or does that sound like I've been thinking about this too hard!

corporate-wage-slave

This may have been suggested before.

There are remarkably few fares easily available from BA which give 100% refund, and of course make an error on the no-sho timing and you could get nothing back at all.

dddc

Just tried a one way LON-AMS booking selecting Business and Fully flex and got the following conditions:
The APD should be refundable, but what about the PSC?

QueenOfCoach

Short answer: No.

Long answer: BA's lounge access system is really different from (example) AA's.

Being an AA Aadvantage member, I am used to AA's system. AA, essentially, SELLS lounge access. With exceptions for elite level (Plat, ExPlat) international flights or premium seats (business, first), the passenger has to pay in some way for access. The passenger buys an annual membership or gets day passes. I get day passes with my Business Extra account.

As far as I know (AND I INVITE CORRECTION!!!), BA AWARDS lounge access as a benefit to frequent flyers free of charge. Thus, BA high elite members get lounge access, but others do not, not for any price. Again, there are exceptions for international flights in business or first.

If you want lounge access in LHR T5, and you are not flying in a premium cabin (first, business) and you are not in the upper tiers of an BA-partner frequent flyer program, then forget about the BA lounge. Your only option is the Aspire lounge, near gate A-18.

710 77345

If you were to cancel this flight, you'd get an email showing that your refund was in reality reduced by a cancellation fee. The quoted term is an ongoing error that strangely doesn't get fixed.

QueenOfCoach

There have been tales of people busted for buying a ticket with the sole purpose of gaining access to airline facilities.

Personally, I don't think any lounge is worth taking that chance. There are plenty of nice restaurants in LHR where you can spend your time.

NWIFlyer

Indeed it is fraudulent, and Lufthansa successfully sued a passenger who did this, albeit a much more serious breach because they kept moving their flight to ensure access on multiple days rather than opt for a refund so the behaviour became much more noticeable.

It's against FT rules to encourage fraud, so with thanks to those who have gently cautioned against this plan, perhaps we might return to more practical and honest ways of helping the OP.

/mod

PeaSouper

I booked LHR-AMS on AA.com as a codeshare once, and accessed the lounge, before deciding that I wasn't going to take that flight today. As it was booked on AA.com, there were no cancellation fees.

As FT doesn't condone fraud, I wouldn't recommend doing this just to go to the lounge, but if you thought you might be traveling somewhere and wanted to get a full refund on a BA flight in the event that you decided not to travel, book it on AA.com instead.