samuelo

I flew back earlier this week in Business Class from Rome to Hong Kong on CX. CX does not have its own lounge at FCO so I was given a pass to the Priority Pass lounge. After entering the lounge, I could not find an empty seat and, in addition, due to the volume of people the air conditioning was not effective so it was a like a sauna. I therefore exited the lounge and noticed there was a BA lounge next door. As per OW rules, I believed I had entry to this lounge based on my CX Diamond/OWE status. On trying to enter the lounge, however, the receptionist asked for my lounge pass which I no longer had as I had used it to get into the PP lounge. She then said without the lounge pass I could not get in and refused me entry. After some discussion, she said CX would not allow me to come in as they would need to pay BA a lounge fee and had already paid once when I entered the PP lounge.

Has anybody else experienced this kind of a situation? I can imagine BA denying me entry if the lounge was too full (this has happened before) but I have never come across a situation where CX restricts entry to partner lounges, especially for elite members.

brunos

It seems that some OW airlines are applying a strict policy for status pax (in Y). You are supposed to go to the lounge assigned by the operating carrier and not engage in lounge hopping that is costly to the FFP airline.
See for example:
OW Lounge policy restrictions

garykung

This happens more common than you think.

Just because the door says it is a BA lounge, it does not always mean it is used for BA pax at the moment. The lounge can be closed from most to reserve for certain flights.

wyskevin

I had the same experience as OP's but in TPE.
Being CX DM and flying MH from TPE to KUL in J, I was given lounge invitation of CI. (CI is the ground crew angency of MH )
I didnt like CI lounge that much so I went to CX TPE lounge.
CX requested the lounge pass too because they could only charge the fee from MH by the invitation.
Overall, it is all about money!

wyskevin

However, there is something interesting about QF lounge in HKG.

When flying CX , I didnt get denied entering QF lounge in HKG.
Does it mean QF can charge the fee from CX????

samuelo

I understand that but this is not a case of BA closing the lounge to other OW passengers. They said they were happy to let me in but CX told them not to!

samuelo

Thanks but this is the first time that I heard of CX doing this. As you said I have visited the CX lounges and QF lounge in HKIA on the same day and entered QF lounge without any invitation and there has not been any issues.

db07mufan

I’ve got the same thing before now I just use my CI pass for the CX lounge

Sozee

That makes me wonder, does lounge hopping hurt your CIV
thus decreasing your chance of op-ups?

Rain187

I have no problem to visit both QF lounge and CX lounge in HKIA (in either J or Y, just entering it by OWS status). QF lounge never asked my lounge invitation and can just enter by using boarding pass.
Never have a problem in NRT too, enter JL lounge using CX boarding pass then CX lounge with lounge invitation.
Never have a problem in BKK too, enter QR lounge using CX J boarding pass then CX lounge with lounge invitation card.

warakorn

Iberia Lounge with oneworld logo at FRA also denied entry for a J-flight on a oneworld carrier.

Excuse: no contract between Iberia Lounge and the oneworld carrier.

NWplatinum

BA does this same thing with their lounge at ORD too. They turn away other OneWorld eligible members “for their own customers” because there isn’t enough room. They’re not allowed to do this stuff but they seem to be able to get away with it.

lost_in_translation

You didn't read the post fully as that isn't the situation here, the situation here is that the lounge has been instructed to turn away passengers by CX because the OP doesn't have a lounge pass.

For the ORD BA F lounge the issue is that it is indeed absolutely tiny so turning people away becomes the sensible policy around the time of the two BA departures when you have 14 F passengers plus assorted BA status passengers wanting to use the lounge and there are only about 25 seats! The ORD J lounge I think there's less excuse for turning people away.

I've been in BA F as a BA OWE from ORD and been strongly advised I'd be better using the J lounge given how busy the BA F lounge was at the time (albeit not explicitly denied access).

scottishpoet

This sounds more lke a CX issue than a BA issue and should maybe be on the CX board?

danielflyer

This seems like an issue of staff training. It looks like the lounge agent assumed you had access based on your class of service and lounge invitation, not your status. The fact fact that you had a pass to visit the other lounge is irrelevant. Unfortunately not all staff understand access policies and it's often hard to change a decision once it has been made.