no more drink chits for BAEC members? [at airports with a Flagship Lounge]
 

Was at LAX this past weekend and was told by the staff at the Eagles Nest Admirals Club that they were no longer offering premium drinks to BAEC members (formerly drink chits and this past fall via your boarding pass). They first said that as of November 1, at airports with a Flagship Lounge like LAX, that we had to go there for premium drinks. Then they said that system wide they were no longer offering BAEC members premium drinks at any Admirals Club period. Just the cheap well drinks. Anyone heard of this or been told to pay for cocktails, bottled water or decent beer or wine?

Yup - I believe that this is the case. I think that the airline has stopped offering drink vouchers altogether and now can get standard drinks free of charge - flagship lounges ( accessible to OWS and OWE ) have higher priced offerings at the few airports that have them

ineresting! So is it still possible in Admiral Clubs to get, say, a nicer wine, but we'd have to pay for it (from the premium menu)?

It sounds like you were in the wrong lounge in LAX, and should have been in the lounge where you can pour your own premium drinks.

However, it does sound as if it's not so good in airports which lack a Flagship lounge (I think BOS and PHL for instance, though the latter might have one now, but didn't when I went through a couple of years ago).

I was also told at LAX that if the airport has a Flagship Lounge then OW elites will not be given drink coupons, however, I was given a drink coupon at PHX a week later (there is no FL there), or they actiually scan BPs there for premium drinks. I believe the 'system-wide' comment is incorrect, and the new policy only applies to ACs at airports where a FL exists.

They don't give out paper chits anymore, instead it's linked to your boarding pass. Had this experience as recently as February.

A non-AA OWS or OWE member visiting an Admirals Club can still receive two premium drinks per visit by showing their boarding card to the bartender.

Note that this is per-visit, and if you lounge surf between multiple Clubs in the same airport, you seem to get two drinks in each Club.

Yes, this is correct; however, what is being discussed here is that at airports where there are both a Flagship Lounge and an Admirals Club (such as LAX), OW elites are required to use the FL if they want better drinks and will not be able to get premium drinks at the AC by scanning their BP. The new policy has been around for a few months now.

Ah, that's a new one on me... bit crap if you're on a flight out of the Eagle's Nest at LAX, but hey-ho.

First World Problems 17.06
 

That is really tragic news, and I’m so sorry for those deeply affected by this awful revelation.

🤪 😢 😫 🙂 🥃 🍷 🍻 🍹

Sorry, couldn't resist! Cheers, and happy/safe travels.

Appreciate the feedback. I'll try at SFO this weekend since there's only an Admiral's Club there and then I'll have the FL at LAX (actually, I'll use the QF First Lounge). Hopefully the Eagle's Nest lounge attendant was wrong when she said that drink chits via the boarding pass had been totally discontinued systemwide and that it was just true for Admirals' Clubs at airports that also have a Flagship Lounge. Still seems kinda cheap to me.

"Drink chits via the boarding pass" have not been totally discontinued, as I used mine in DCA this past weekend.

Seems a bit crap at locations where the Flagship Lounge and Admirals Club aren't adjacent...or even remotely close such as the Eagle's Nest.

MIA has a similar issue with the Admirals Clubs being far from the FL.
At JFK the Flagship Lounge and Admirals Club aren't that far apart but separated by the pedestrian tunnel. For shorter connections within the satellite staying over there would be better.

LAX, ORD and DFW do have Flagship Lounges adjacent to an Admirals Club.

It's really down to what BA is prepared to pay. AA could care less and would hand every passenger with a chit a bottle of JW Blue if that's what BA wants (and pays for). I doubt that BA thought about the Eagle's Nest situation. Or particularly cares as there's still booze to be had.

I don’t see that BA sets the standard here, indeed I don’t expect they are consulted on the arrangements at all. This is about BAEC members travelling on AA metal. Where BA uses an AA lounge as its departure lounge you often see special arrangements, but that’s not the situation being discussed here.

As mentioned by Dan72, BA had nothing to do with this. The policy applies to all OW elites, and the change was made by AA. BA does not even pay AA when BAEC members enter a lounge when they fly with AA.