aoyamaguy

I’ve been having issues getting into the CCR recently. I’d say half the time I am granted access straight away, no questions asked, but the other half has been a struggle. A couple of recent examples:

1. I got a friendly “oh it says access denied, are you GGL”? To which I said yes, would you like to see my card? “No need, please come in”. No drama.

2. I was allowed straight in but when my guest arrived (we were on the same booking, just arrived to T5 separately), went back to the entrance and the agent would not let him in, saying I wasn’t entitled to bring a guest.

I challenged this very politely. She left the desk and went to get “help” from a rather unfriendly colleague who asked to see my card. “This is a Gold for Life card, look there it says GL which stands for Gold for Life. If you were GGL it would have the letters GGL on the card”.

Obviously that’s total rubbish but this lady stood her ground. When I showed the app which states that I’m GGL (and also that I don’t have enough TPs to have made GfL) she responded with a curt “that’s not reliable evidence”. I couldn’t believe it! We were told to come into the lounge whilst she “checked the system” and then to report back to the customer service desk.

I left it 10 mins then went back to the desk to find a different staff member there. I started telling the story again, describing who the colleague was and that I had been asked to come back to the desk. This third lady did a huge eye roll and said “you were wasting your time talking to her, she doesn’t have a clue. Don’t worry, I’ll speak to her”. Not a very professional approach but it did make me feel a lot better as her colleague had made me look like a total idiot and my guest (his first time in CCR) was mortified.

Anyone else experience similar issues recently? There is obviously some glitch in the system to do with my account as the agent in example 1 above showed me her screen and it clearly said “access denied”. Just a bit odd that it seems intermittent.

KARFA

well it is fairly normal to get a red x for denied, but in the notes section on FLY (bottom right corner) it should say "GGL" which should be sufficient for the agent. for paper bps on exLHR flights they usually say "GGL" under your name. either should be sufficient.

also on the card, there are actually photos of the cards in the lounge eligibility guide - it clearly shows the GGL card and how it looks with the "GL". I know you know this, but there is no card for gold for life or anything which would show as gold for life on a normal gold card.




perhaps if the agent spent less time doing their shopping or reading the mail online, they could have a read of the lounge eligibility guide to have some familiarity of the rules they were expected to apply. i mean there really is no defending an agent as dense as that, never mind training they should just be gone from BA and any customer service role. ignorance and arrogance is a poor combination.

stewaran

Only just made GGL and been in the CCR once since, but it worked fine for me (and my guest)

crazy8534

Sorry to hear about your experience OP.
I have also seen reports of people being incorrectly denied entry to the CCR.

But the only problem I have had is when they look at an e.g. CE BP and say “Oh you are in the wrong place…”.
Or if I have a paper BP printed at e.g. EDI it will not say GGL and sometimes the staff on the door will look before scanning it.
But since the pandemic/end of the CCR card I have never, ever had a problem if they scan the BP (sometimes after some persuasion)- it always displays a green tick.
They never have to check the FLY 'notes' section.
Even on a simple domestic itinerary.

Have I just been lucky?
I think as recent threads suggest, the only service on the ground that you should actually be able to guarantee as a GGL is entry to the CCR!

mikeyfly

Agents covering the most coveted lounge entrance really only have…. one job. How can they stuff it up ?

gcuk

It was a bit hit and miss for me in the past with an app based boarding pass so I now stop off in the First Wing and get a manual boarding pass which prints GGL under my name top left on my boarding pass and that worked every time for entry to the CCR.
There was a period earlier this year when the GGL went missing off the manual boarding pass and CCR entry became an issue again but a call to the GGL line had the issue sent to the mysterious back office. GGL has now been restored on my manual boarding pass and entry to CCR works fine again with said manual boarding pass.

chriswiles

To be fair, I'd assume so many people try to get in or mistakingly try and get in thinking they have 'lounge access'. I've lost count the number of times I've overheard crew telling regular business passengers or people who have Dragon Pass or similar, that the First lounge is for First customers only. Some still argue the point. I overheard one guy saying that he was a "Premier client" and turned out he meant Barclays Premier, which gave him lounge access via his account.

mikeyfly

No excuse at all and their job is to allow access to the correct people, and deny the incorrect people. Denying the correct people is poor particularly at the CCR. It’s not an overly complicated sub set of people who are allowed in!

KARFA

but you would acknowledge that an agent sat at the CCR entrance should know at least the main people who get in, so BA F and GGL, and have some familiarity of how to check that. this isn't a niche case of access, say involving connections or AA F which could be a little less clear cut.

your example seems to be of an agent at GF who was clear on what the rules were, so i am not sure why that excuses one who doesn't as in this case.

zen100

To be fair, she has a point - this is the BA app after all



The rear of your GGL card, does explain state "GGL" in the phone number area. Really shouldn't be needed though...

bisonrav

Worth a complaint. It’s really not on that an agent can’t recognise a card correctly.

JayeJ

If one is only flying first and has no status to speak of, s/he can still guest someone into CCR: correct? Would that also apply for those flying business with no status? The reason I ask is that my spouse and I were recently told we didn't have guesting privileges at the south lounge even though we both were in business class...

KARFA

if you are in business and don't have status you can access the galleries club. but it is correct that you don't have any guesting entitlement. only F does.

GumshoeW12

Flying J with no status = no guesting privileges.

c1223

They were correct re: business class. Only available to first class ticket holder. And yes, first class would allow one guest into CCR.