I'm flying international to FRA, cheapest coach seat I can find. What if my ticket is not in Y? I plan on purchasing my ticket through a search engine (e.g., travelocity), so I'm not likely to buy a full Y fare. Will they still let me in if I bring my PC card?

p.s. if I instead buy a non-LH ticket, but still *A, will I receive admission to the LH club if I show my PC membership card?

I meant "Y" as in the coach cabin. Your PC card should be enough to get in, regardless of ticketed cabin.

Is a LH boarding pass req'd, or will any *A ticket get me in with my PC card?

All you need is a PC club card. If you are a PC club member, you have reciprocal access to any *A member airline club.

So a PC member flying AA out of the DTW North terminal has access?

I know this quote is old, but just FYI, CO will be using D1, D2 & D8 at North Terminal. D4 & D6 are already occupied by UA and D5/D3 are shared-use widebody international gates (D5 is the primary for LH). The LH club is right there with all of those gates. (US is the only *A member not co-located -- they are down at the other end of the concourse using D14, D24, D25 & D26.)

The LH club actually opens much earlier -- more like 9 a.m. -- though I have heard they may open even earlier after CO moved over.

That's not true. All *A airlines must grant members of any *A club reciprocal access as part of the *A agreement. Your PC (or US Airways Club, RCC Club, etc.) card will grant you access to the LH club.

Yes. It's all detailed on CO's Web site: http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...affiliate.aspx

Don't think so unless the DTW LH lounge is special somehow.
From the 'PC members' section of http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...ge/access.aspx (although these two quotes from the same section seem to disagree with each other - but both are clear that a *A BP is required for PC members at *A lounges other than US, UA, and CO lounges).

Worth noting that these lounges owned by international carriers are sometimes segregated into two lounges with different credentials.

LH, for example, has the Senator and Business lounges in the same space. The PC card will get you into the Business lounge, whereas the *G card should get you into either. The Senator lounge is better.

SAS is the same way with Scandinavian Lounge vs. Business Lounge.

So if you have multiple credentials, in these cases it's better to use the *G card instead of the PC card.

Just to clarify, neither *G status nor a LH boarding pass are required for admission to the DTW LH lounge? Any *A boarding pass and a PC member card is all that is needed for admittance?

Again, that is correct. Don't take my word for it... visit the table on CO's site that details access requirements to all affiliated clubs worldwide at http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...affiliate.aspx.

Did you READ the page to which I posted the link? It has a table of every airport and then notes the credentials required to access each specific lounge at that specific airport.

If you select "affiliated lounges" -- then go to Detroit -- you'll clearly see that all PC members have access to the LH lounge. It couldn't be more clear.

That said, you'll note that the site explains all PC members have access to the LH Business Lounge, whereas one must be a BusinessFirst Customer or Eligible Star Alliance Gold Member to access the LH Senator Lounge. At DTW, the lounge is generally empty except just before the LH departure, so they don't generally open the Senator Lounge until the late afternoon anyway.

IMHO, especially since DTW was the first to get the "new style" LH lounge concept in the USA (though it's no longer alone), the Business Lounge is MORE than adequate... it's a heck of a lot nicer than most of the PC's I've visited!

Missed your snarky response when it was on page 1. It could actually be a lot more clear, and to me it seems 99.9% likely you are wrong. Unless you have actually tried accessing this club using a PC card while not flying a *A international itinerary and got in.

The page you linked to says that there are circumstances under which PC members have access to the LH Business lounge in DTW. (That is why there is a blue dot there.) But the general conditions for PC members must still apply. You are ignoring the small print at the top of the page saying Customers must be ticketed on a Continental flight to gain access to international affiliated lounges. Now, I realize DTW is not international for CO, but I'm sure this exception is intended to cover this case. You are also ignoring the general PC member lounge access conditions I linked to in my previous post.

The CO access is through *A lounge reciprocity, so it should be the same as for RCC members unless CO has a special deal with LH or with this lounge. RCC members would not get access if not flying *A internationally ('Reciprocal club privileges extended to United Red Carpet Club members at U.S. Airways Club� when traveling on domestic U.S. Airways flights, and at the lounges of Star Alliance� member airlines when traveling internationally on those carriers' says the pre-CO in *A page at http://www.united.com/page/article/1...ccMoreFeatures).

So, in summary, your argument is based on the absence of a little footnote for Detroit on a long listing of lounges that clearly wasn't designed around the highly special case of *A lounges operated by airlines other than US, UA, ans CO within the USA. On the other hand, there are lots of indications that PC members do not get access to *A lounges in general unless flying a *A carrier. Unless you have tried it, I don't believe you are right. I hope you are right, but I don't think so.

A boarding pass on a *A flight is required in all circumstances. What else you need (*G card, PC card, nothing) varies on what is on that boarding pass of course.

Furthermore, before you get gungho about what continental.com says, be aware that lufthansa.com doesn't even mention paid memberships as a valid access mechanism. (Sure, that may be just because it's a rarely used one). In any case, you'll find much better luck looking at the operating carrier's website than any others (CO included); most airlines could care less what any other airline's website says.


As per lufthansa.com the hours are 2:30-6. I would very much like them to open earlier, but considering they only have one evening flight they have no reason to do so. Pardon my pessimism until I see something to the contrary (I take frequent morning flights out of DTW and yet to see them open then).

With some notable exceptions, including the LH FCT/FCLs in FRA/MUC which are strictly LH/LX only.

Let me try to summarize. PC members without status can NOT access the DTW Sen Lounge if they are flying a *a carrier domestically. Access for PC members is only allowed for international itineraries on a *A carrier. Correct?