Official announcement for NO Lounge access if you score complimentary upgrades
Nov 24, 2018, 1:22 am
#16
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: CX Green, QF Platinum, BAEC Silver, Hyatt Glob
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And then it’s a double whammy for CX as they will need to pay for access to the lounge.
Nov 24, 2018, 2:03 am
#17
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: HKG
Programs: CX DM, SPG Pt, Le Club Accor GO, Shangri-La GC Jade
Posts: 1,327
Yes. All lounges (except PPL ok...) will check your booking class and FF status before giving you access to the lounge as that is all about cost... Guess if wrongly admitted a passenger to the lounge the lounge owner need to absorb the cost so I don't think they will let you in
i feel this is just so petty
1/ say a J gets upgraded to F. i mean is the marginal cost of admitting him to F lounge that much more?
2/ if a PE or Y gets upgraded to J. Ok maybe marginal cost is more (say US$50 a pop). but you have sold extra tickets (at a better yield too given cabin is full)! is it that difficult to build some customer good will?
basically i feel that they are being penny wise pound foolish. the marginal cost of providing this benefit is not that great, and can build goodwill. but they choose to toast it.
as sxc said - most opups have status anyway. it is only a very rare few I think that get upgraded as a newbie.
instead of pissing people off - if they want to implement this policy, they should do a strict opup upgrade at gate. this is actually a win-win. customer is super happy at gate, and CX dont have to provide the lounge services.
1/ say a J gets upgraded to F. i mean is the marginal cost of admitting him to F lounge that much more?
2/ if a PE or Y gets upgraded to J. Ok maybe marginal cost is more (say US$50 a pop). but you have sold extra tickets (at a better yield too given cabin is full)! is it that difficult to build some customer good will?
basically i feel that they are being penny wise pound foolish. the marginal cost of providing this benefit is not that great, and can build goodwill. but they choose to toast it.
as sxc said - most opups have status anyway. it is only a very rare few I think that get upgraded as a newbie.
instead of pissing people off - if they want to implement this policy, they should do a strict opup upgrade at gate. this is actually a win-win. customer is super happy at gate, and CX dont have to provide the lounge services.
But once it's made so high profile they have to clarify and sort of forced to take away such discretion allowed by the front line staff
Nov 24, 2018, 2:10 am
#18
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Seat 1A
Programs: Non-status paid F/J (best value for $$$)
Posts: 4,124
Yes. All lounges (except PPL ok...) will check your booking class and FF status before giving you access to the lounge as that is all about cost... Guess if wrongly admitted a passenger to the lounge the lounge owner need to absorb the cost so I don't think they will let you in
...
However, I suspect CX might stamp "No Lounge" on the boarding pass. This does not stop the passenger from using the mobile boarding pass on their phone instead!
I guess CX wants to prevent Y to J op-up pax with no status (eg. One in a lifetime grandmas) from going to the lounge and stuffing their carry-on bag with free food and drinks obtained from the lounge. These type of pax are typically not that saavy to go and try to get into the QF lounge anyway. They are simply told "no lounge for you" and are less likely to further pursue it.
Nov 24, 2018, 8:38 am
#19
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: HKG
Programs: BA(GGL) QF LTS CX AM, Hilton Diamond, PPL(A)
Posts: 1,654
Lounges operated by Oneworld Partners (eg. QF Lounge in HKG) do not know whether a CX passenger is op-up or not. All they see when they scan the boarding pass is the passenger's cabin (F or J) and FF status.
However, I suspect CX might stamp "No Lounge" on the boarding pass. This does not stop the passenger from using the mobile boarding pass on their phone instead!
I guess CX wants to prevent Y to J op-up pax with no status (eg. One in a lifetime grandmas) from going to the lounge and stuffing their carry-on bag with free food and drinks obtained from the lounge. These type of pax are typically not that saavy to go and try to get into the QF lounge anyway. They are simply told "no lounge for you" and are less likely to further pursue it.
However, I suspect CX might stamp "No Lounge" on the boarding pass. This does not stop the passenger from using the mobile boarding pass on their phone instead!
I guess CX wants to prevent Y to J op-up pax with no status (eg. One in a lifetime grandmas) from going to the lounge and stuffing their carry-on bag with free food and drinks obtained from the lounge. These type of pax are typically not that saavy to go and try to get into the QF lounge anyway. They are simply told "no lounge for you" and are less likely to further pursue it.
Nov 24, 2018, 10:41 am
#20
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Singapore
Programs: MPC, KF, Accor, SPG, HH
Posts: 902
This is bollocks of trash. An op-up without status should not be allowed into the lounges on any condition. You get what you paid for. For operational reasons, you were graced a seat in a higher class and lounge benefits should not come with the seat upgrade. The person would got op-up should be glad that CX did not IDB him.
Birthday upgrades and milestone upgrades are treated differently. Though status allowed me into the lounges when I was flying Y, I was told during my birthday day and 5 years anniversary this year in SIN and HKG that those were processed as special upgrades.
Birthday upgrades and milestone upgrades are treated differently. Though status allowed me into the lounges when I was flying Y, I was told during my birthday day and 5 years anniversary this year in SIN and HKG that those were processed as special upgrades.
Nov 24, 2018, 1:30 pm
#21
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Taiwan
Programs: IHG Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold, oneworld Emerald
Posts: 1,164
This is bollocks of trash. An op-up without status should not be allowed into the lounges on any condition. You get what you paid for. For operational reasons, you were graced a seat in a higher class and lounge benefits should not come with the seat upgrade. The person would got op-up should be glad that CX did not IDB him.
You get what you paid for? How about stripping off statuses of corporate flyers and removing them from lounges? They haven't paid for anything from their pocket. But you are worried about one person in 6 months who gets operational upgrade due to pure luck, when zero elite flyers were booked in Y. Lounges are crowded not because of operational upgrades.
Nov 24, 2018, 2:47 pm
#22
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 6,752
I'm not a CX expert, but I suspect these OP upgrades are petty rare. In all my years of flying, I don't recall ever getting one, ever. So, if a pax is lucky enough to score a, literally, once in a lifetime upgrade, why not just allow the access? Surely, with all the Oneworld's running around in the F lounges on coach fares, one more in a Business lounge isn't going to exacerbate overcrowding anymore than it is in its current state.
Nov 24, 2018, 7:17 pm
#23
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX Diamond (OW Emerald), former SQ Krisflyer Gold
Posts: 2,527
I'm not a CX expert, but I suspect these OP upgrades are petty rare. In all my years of flying, I don't recall ever getting one, ever. So, if a pax is lucky enough to score a, literally, once in a lifetime upgrade, why not just allow the access? Surely, with all the Oneworld's running around in the F lounges on coach fares, one more in a Business lounge isn't going to exacerbate overcrowding anymore than it is in its current state.
This happens routinely on full flights and I've been the beneficiary more times than I care to count.
Nov 24, 2018, 7:59 pm
#24
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Nov 24, 2018, 8:02 pm
#25
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Sapphires/Golds getting an upgrade to F might be more common but again there should already be capacity in the F lounge for at least the number of physical seats on the plane which is less than the number of emeralds flying J and Y.
Nov 24, 2018, 9:34 pm
#26
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: MPC-DM, Enrich-Plat
Posts: 1,310
A non status member getting an upgrade would be quite rare.
Sapphires/Golds getting an upgrade to F might be more common but again there should already be capacity in the F lounge for at least the number of physical seats on the plane which is less than the number of emeralds flying J and Y.
Though on the other hand I can understand CX does have some reasons to have this rule in place. It'll give less smart azz people fishing for a free op-up at the check-in counters, to obtain lounge access.
As well as the F lounge will not reflect the accumulated F class seats on board, though reflect the "average" occupation of the on board seats, which can be quite different. Could easily be 50%. Add on top of that all expected DM's/OWE, again a statistical item reflected in the lounge capacity. Granting the op-ups also F lounge access, just shifts the average and distribution of the F lounge access to higher figures, or so to say, it costs money.
And, as has been raised many times at this board, the F lounge (as well as the F seats on board) should reflect exclusiveness, or aristocracy, if you want to express is that way. Granting free op-ups access to the F lounge decreases that exclusiveness at a cost for CX.
The op-up occupation of the F class seat on board comes with a high money reward for CX, being the extra seats sold, probably at the walk-in fee. Money speaks in airline world, so to say.
Nov 24, 2018, 11:24 pm
#28
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: MPC-DM, Enrich-Plat
Posts: 1,310
Yes, I had considered that to, though it would violate the principle of assigning no more then 1 passenger to one seat and/or not assigning a seat at check-in to a passenger with a confirmed booking.
Nov 25, 2018, 12:09 am
#30
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,799
I thought about it, but how will it work logistically?
Say a DM has 39A
DM checks in as 39A
Final non-status passenger does check in and given 39A, DM gets bumped to PE
But what if it is the other way round
DM checks in after all non-status has been checked in
Does final non-status passenger and DM get both 39A and then DM's BP gets swapped at gate?
Say a DM has 39A
DM checks in as 39A
Final non-status passenger does check in and given 39A, DM gets bumped to PE
But what if it is the other way round
DM checks in after all non-status has been checked in
Does final non-status passenger and DM get both 39A and then DM's BP gets swapped at gate?