Chancing my arm - First Wing - LHR-NCE - 19th May
 

My wife and I are taking our daughter to Nice for a one night surprise for her 18th Birthday. We are 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze just about to be silver. What are the chances of sweet talking one of the team in the First wing to allow us to use the first class lounge. I know I shouldn't but it would be a nice treat for her.....I could always leave the wife in the normal galleries lounge?

Very limited. You can probably check in together, but someone will have to go the long way round.

You have the solution - take your daughter in and your wife can go to club

Or all three of you just go to club lounge and ask for some champers there and celebrate as a family.

That's a little bit of a spikey response.

No harm in trying it.

Or check the ba97 calendar and see if anyone posted their travel there, then if you see someone, ask them politely.

Maybe another GCH will be willing to assist and guest the third person?

This is a good idea.

Couple months ago we went as 1 gold 2 silvers. The trip would have bumped the two silvers to gold. We all checked in in First together but missus went the long way around through security and I took our 7yr old through. On the other end, we asked very nicely and they let missus into GF.

What flight are you on?

Are you sure? My personal feeling is that you may well be right or completely wrong on that depending on the people involved and unless you know them personally, cannot possibly know that. It would be true if human beings were creatures who just wanted to obtain something and did not mind if they did not, but this is not the way most people function. If the OP asks and it doesn't work, what are the odds that this will make his wife feel a little frustrated or his daughter - who should have one of the happiest days of her life - a little embarrassed thereby unnecessarily worsening a mood that should have been all festive?

I can't speak for the OP. If he thinks that both wife and daughter would really much prefer GF and would equally be totally unaffected by a rebuttal and little public scene, then sure, ask. If it were my family, however, I would think that surprise trip, 18th birthday, Mum, Dad and daughter travelling together, start in a lounge would all make for a fabulous start of the trip and people happy all round. Personally, I wouldn't risk ruining it by bringing a likely slightly sour experience for what is ultimately an extremely minimal additional gain. Personally, I wouldn't even mentioned that I thought about trying to chance it into GF, I'd go to GC, would find a staff member, mention it was my daughter's 18th and ask if they would kindly bring three glasses of champagne and maybe if they have a little cake somewhere (even if it is not the afternoon tea time) that they could bring along. I think that they would say yes and at least it is something I could ask discretely without my wife/daughter knowing anyway, so even if by chance they say no to the cake, there would still be the Champagne and nobody would know about what didn't come.

That said, once again, this is what I would do, and maybe the OP feels that from the point of view of his daughter who should be at the heart of the celebration and wife whom he knows, they certainly wouldn't mind trying and wouldn't be affected if it attracted a less than ideal answer. At any rate, however, I know that "no harm" is certainly not a generally true statement in such situations. Rejection has a way of taking an affective toll on many people, even when it is about something unimportant and which they do not fundamentally care about. Asking for something and being rejected is not the same of not having asked at all - we know it as obvious when it is about people who proposed to someone and got rejected or applied for a job and did not get it, but strangely enough, it is easy to think of far more casual and unimportant things and still remember that slightly bitter taste we feel we shouldn't even be feeling considering that we didn't even give a monkey about whatever it was that we wanted to get - a parking space, an authorisation to enter an area which we were not technically supposed to have access to, an answer to a quiz which we gave first but which someone else was credited for, whatever. However silly it may sound, I don't think that that potential harm should be ignored especially when it is about others whom we hold dear, and especially when we know that it is a special day for them which we want to be perfect and free of any frustrating experience.

Meanwhile, OP, a very happy birthday to your daughter and congratulations on a most excellent choice of destination, which I'm sure she'll love!

A couple of times I've been at the First passport/BP check, just behind a family of 3 or in one case 4. The Agent looks a bit embarrassed and says - only two can come through. I stepped fwd and offer to guest the other pax - everybody happy. With the chap who had two daughters (about 12-16) I stepped fwd at the same time as another lone traveller stepped fwd too - we all went through, with a nice Thank You from the dad.

No harm done as the two teenagers weren't going to drink my champagne! :)

It sounds like a lovely surprise for your daughter. It would be a pity if your wish to get the party into the first-class lounge ended in embarrassment for your wife and daughter, and rancour for you.

It would make the standby - the other Galleries lounge, where you stand a good chance of being sent - very much the second-rate, soured, option. Which is silly: the GC is perfectly fine place to launch your trip - I'm not certain what elan you feel GF would bring to the occasion.

Just have a great trip, bask in the warmth of your family. Recognise that the FT-style enthusiasm for getting into the GF lounge is yours, an ambition unlikely to be shared by your two family members.

PS the idea of splitting the party across two lounges sounds bonkers.

Thanks for all of the replies. I was being a little tongue in cheek and just curious about the experiences of my fellow flyertalkers. I was going to say that the real reason for wanting to use the first wing was to avoid the retail stores hence saving myself even more money but I fear that humour may also have been lost in translation. We will have a good time and thanks for those who gave my daughter their regards.

If the F wing has 'swing gates' as all the other security checkpoints (never been there!) and if these gates are governed by the same set of business rules as the other ones at South/North security fast track, if you're not entitled they shouldn't open.