LGW lounge use

Old Feb 3, 2019, 5:05 pm
  #1  
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LGW lounge use

I have a flight coming up on Norwegian out of LGW South. Could I book a fully flex ticket to a BA destination to use the lounge and then cancel it later?

Besides the legality (or not) of the situation, my question is a practical one - if I have come through security on my Norwegian BP, will I be able to use my BA BP to use the lounge, or will the lounge agents be able to somehow tell that I haven't cleared security?
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Old Feb 3, 2019, 5:29 pm
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This is certainly unethical.

just pay for one of the commercial lounges or grab a meal in one of the other bars and restaurants in the terminal.

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Old Feb 3, 2019, 6:51 pm
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Not just ethics, a very clear violation of OP's contract with BA. Do this once and it's unlikely that you will be caught. Cancel last minute refundable tickets with any regularity and it is a good way to see your Gold status go away.

Just as easy to use one of the commercial lounges and if one is short of cash, perhaps ask friends and family to help out.
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Old Feb 3, 2019, 7:07 pm
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I suggest anyone doing this needs their moral compass recalibrating....
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Old Feb 3, 2019, 7:31 pm
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Just when you thought people had run out of ideas for attempting to circumvent rules on lounge access ..........
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Old Feb 3, 2019, 8:19 pm
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Originally Posted by rsak
I have a flight coming up on Norwegian out of LGW South. Could I book a fully flex ticket to a BA destination to use the lounge and then cancel it later?

Besides the legality (or not) of the situation, my question is a practical one - if I have come through security on my Norwegian BP, will I be able to use my BA BP to use the lounge, or will the lounge agents be able to somehow tell that I haven't cleared security?
Where are you flying to? Could you not get there on BA?

Just a thought when you say say you aren’t travelling you will possibly have to wait up to an hour and then be escorted back landslide so how will you catch your Norwegian flight.

As as others have said plenty of pay lounges, plus the wait for a refund could be a while.


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Old Feb 3, 2019, 8:35 pm
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a good compromise would be to perhaps redeem a cheapier RFS to somewhere and use / throwaway that?

what do others think?
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Old Feb 3, 2019, 8:38 pm
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Originally Posted by KeaneJohn


Where are you flying to? Could you not get there on BA?

Just a thought when you say say you arent travelling you will possibly have to wait up to an hour and then be escorted back landslide so how will you catch your Norwegian flight.

As as others have said plenty of pay lounges, plus the wait for a refund could be a while.


But they're both South Terminal.

I can't see how it's unethical. But I can't see how booking a paid for lounge would be more expensive than another BA ticket.
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Old Feb 3, 2019, 8:38 pm
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Any future complaints by the OP about lounges being overcrowded for any reason I presume will never exist based on the thread.
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Old Feb 4, 2019, 1:10 am
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The easiest thing to do is pay the 32 admission fee for the No. 1 Lounge underneath the BA lounge. If the OP has Priority Pass and is travelling in the morning or at the start of school holidays they should pre-reserve entry for 5.
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Old Feb 4, 2019, 2:00 am
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Originally Posted by ermen
a good compromise would be to perhaps redeem a cheapier RFS to somewhere and use / throwaway that?

what do others think?
Won't the cost of this (including a cash value of Avios) be higher than the cost of paying for access to one of the other lounges? Also this will potentially deprive somebody of a reward seat when they do actually want to fly.

Didn't BA used to have an 'open access' lounge policy for golds at Gatwick, i.e. fly with another airline and use the BA lounge? It's a shame in some ways that they removed this (it would have solved the OP's problem also), but the benefit of course is quieter lounges.
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Old Feb 4, 2019, 2:16 am
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Some suggested I did the same when I wished to surprise my parents at the airport and take them into the lounge, it is as people point not only completely unethical, it is illegal as fraudulent and may well result in loss of your status loss of any unused Avios, cancellation of future Avios based travel or indeed a ban on future travel with BA.

Certainly not worth it and I paid for a quick RFs trip to PRG in order that I could guest my folks in, which they absolutely loved.
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Old Feb 4, 2019, 2:22 am
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@ volar - I don’t know how often you make use of the various BA J or F lounges, but can assure you that there are many periods when they are far from the quiet haven one might wish them to be.

I simply dread to think just what sort of atmosphere would result if access were (officially) widened yet further, so as to include non-BA flyers.
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Old Feb 4, 2019, 2:38 am
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@subject2load a while ago BA used to allow Golds to access BA lounges when flying on other airlines. I think it was called ‘open access’

It it turned out there were an awful lot of BA Golds flying EasyJet and ryan air out of Gatwick so they soon stopped the benefit.
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Old Feb 4, 2019, 3:51 am
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@subject2load I'm in there weekly at the moment, mostly Gatwick Flounge but sometimes Heathrow T5 Flounge or T3 CX FLouge and whilst I agree they can all be busier than one might like at times (especially the T5 Flounge can be a zoo), my point was that the Gatwick lounge is quieter than it would be if the open access benefit referred to above was still available. Anyone know how long that lasted? I never used it myself and it's not something I'd like to see reinstated!
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