Lounge access RANT
 

Just flew in DXB-CDG, in F. I normally fly BA, but for the last 3 flights to DXB, I flew EK. Was very happy with service etc etc. Used the lounge since the airport is a mall and full of perfume smells that give me headaches.

While at the airport today, I went to the F lounge and was with my 20 something son who was traveling Business, they wouldn't allow him into the F lounge, claiming I couldn't take a guest it. He wasn't a guest, he is my SON, family... it has never happened to me with BA in the CCR, ever, and I would bring in my 2 kids and friends. Was and am really angry with EK, that I am re-evaluating my flying with them and considering going back to BA. I complained to several people and fired a letter to the cs. am sure they don't need my and my family's business or loyalty.

End of rant and goodbye EK, there are lots of other airlines that serve the area.

Why should they change the rules just for you? if everyone decided they wanted to take a guest, the place would be overrun. As for him not being a guest 'but your son', purlease... We should all try that one next time.

As for BA, you are allowed to take a guest in if traveling in F.

Cheers,
Rick

If they stop spraying all those perfumes in the main halls I won't be needing to sit in the lounge. I have gone to the lounge to escape the smells.

And yes he is my son, so their policy is to divide families depending on where are seated?

And believe me I do take my kids and others to the CCR.

Are you a training exercise? :rolleyes:

Your sense of special privilege is clearly strong, but alas, none of the facts are on your side.

Perhaps you should chill out a bit, or, alternatively, wear a peg on your nose around DXB. I have been in some smelly airports in my time - but DXB is one of the better ones.

Or is it that you are "just asking for a bit of flexibility"? :-)

I can and do sympathise with you. Can I ask a question? The last 3 trips between CDG and DXB on EK - have they all been in F? If so, you would have accrued 45,000 tier miles (so not far away from Gold).

I'm a big believer that lounge access (for the most part) is all about how you ask.

I'm sure you would have been polite - but I always say when I take my wife + 2 kids, that I am aware of the 1 guest only policy but was hoping for permission this one time. I've never been refused. Now the caveat is that I am using airports which I fly out of regularly (ie SIN and MEL).

I know EK can be tough re lounge access. Don't write them off just yet...

Look, EK's rules are pretty clear and they don't have reason to make an exception for you. If you ask nicely, maybe. But the rules are simple. F pax only. No guests, even if you're Gold, unless perhaps your uncle is the sheikh.

You could have easily gone to the J lounge with your son. For the purposes of your ticket, he is a guest. And don't compare having no status on EK to being a Gold or above on BA. You're going to get little sympathy on here, I'm afraid.

You could've easily gone in the business lounge without any hassles, it's only a few steps across the F lounge.

[Mod Comment]

You know, the reason I dislike some other boards on FT is because there are many who are quick to jump down the throat of the OP - no matter what their stance. Sometimes, it's quite hostile. I simply don't waste my time.

Frankly, a couple of comments/responses to the OP are a little surprising. I see nothing wrong with the OP expressing her opinion and disappointment about her lounge access issue.

And nothing wrong with any of you disagreeing with her viewpoint. But the "tone" of the responses are a little harsh if you ask me.

I'm hardly wanting the EK forum to be all cotton wool and candy, but I also don't want it to be a place where members feel unwelcome. I know if I was on the end of the comments that the OP was, I would have been pissed off. Completely.

[Mod Comment End]

I *think* that you can take a guest into the first class lounge at DXB IF you are travelling first AND have a Gold card.

That is the impression I had when my colleague (the B***ard) booked himself first and me biz and I went to the first lounge to meet him; they checked if he had a gold card and refused me entry as he did not (I did have gold).
As already mentioned, you can both use the Biz lounge anyway and you should be Gold Card now (or very close) with that number of first class trips on EK.

Of course, 'guest' refers to anyone you want to take into the lounge whether son, husband, mother, business colleague whatever.
Hope you enjoyed your flight regardless.

Actually, F lounge access in DXB is for F passengers only. Gold members cannot enter, unless they are ticketed in F. And no guest benefits.

Ah, well, I stand corrected!
They must have been trying to be helpful....

Just curious whether they also denied you entry to the Business Lounge? It seems that both of you would have been permitted entry there (and also the Gate 122 Lounge). If you were not denied entry, then it was you that made the choice to "divide the family" and not them.

Just sayin'

I am one of the most flexible and undemanding people, and yes I am always on a training regime, but mostly I do have a very sensitive nose and some smells bother me quite a bit, they make me sneeze. That is why in Dubai I use the lounge immediately.

We went there, it was way to busy and ended up going to the hotel, I have no problem paying for what I want.

I could be the SHEIKA as well, and I didn't expect any sympathies from anyone, I was just ranting.

No I wasn't denied entry to the B lounge, but as I mentioned above, it was way to busy so we went to the hotel. And I don't know the Gate 122 lounge. You have to be from the gulf to understand the nuisance of the "divide the family" comment.

[QUOTE=Yahillwe;16003298]I am one of the most flexible and undemanding people, and yes I am always on a training regime, but mostly I do have a very sensitive nose and some smells bother me quite a bit, they make me sneeze. That is why in Dubai I use the lounge immediately.

Nicely put and touche :-)

I think you are the victim of the fact that the T3 business class lounge is just a zoo, as you yourself noticed. Whereas the F lounge is a glorious oasis of calm. The only way they can preserve that F oasis is by severely restricting who may enter, as you found, and that means following the rules to the letter.

MrSoft I really do not like malls, can take, as an example, Gallerie Lafayette in Paris for only a few minutes before I get sensory overload from the smells and sounds. That is why i don't appreciate having that thrust on me in an airport where there is no safe refuge from it. If there was, then I wouldn't bother going to the lounges, as I love people watching. I have been to Dubai's airport only 6 times so I really don't know it at all. All I wanted was a peaceful place. Wasn't doing the DUKWIA, or anything like that. If I ever go again, then I won't bother and would go directly to the hotel. Don't need to beg to be admitted.

Honestly, you should check out how the VIP terminal works, as I'm sure these sort of annoyances wouldn't be there. I don't know if it's only for private jet customers, though you do sound like you're in that category (and I mean that in a good way).

Obviously one easy solution to this whole problem was to have your son fly in F, either using miles or whatever. EK does value your custom, which is why they give you F lounge access. And they value your son's custom, so they gave him J lounge access. Anyway legally in the UAE sons cease to be 'family' after 18.

Yahillwe, I think this is a case of assumption (of guest access to the first class lounge in DXB) being the mother of all screw ups or whatever the quote is.

I would have also assumed that you could guest someone into the first class lounge and in fact you can do this at outstations like LHR and LGW assuming you have a gold, and maybe even silver, Skywards card. Seems that in Dubai you can guest into the Biz lounge which I guess (partly) explains why its so full but not the first lounge thereby keeping it very exclusive. Of course, the outstations are combined first/biz lounges.

For future reference, you can upgrade a Biz fare to first for 25,000 miles (which you should have in your account already) to Europe assuming availability and you can do this right in the lounge; once done you have access to the first lounge. Or, you could just have bought 2 first class tickets to avoid separating the family in the lounge and also on-board or were you expecting an opup as well :p

Suggest you re-assess not flying again with EK. I mean, there's no comparison between first class on the A380 and BA's dated concept so why would you want to deprive yourself? You wouldn't not fly BA again because they don't do chauffeur drive or would you assume they do just because EK does? Different companies, countries and different rules.

Just my observation, but if you were prepared to divide your family inflight by travelling in seperate class cabins, then it shouldnt come as a surprise that EK applied their access policy accordingly.

I never had this problem. Last year i used the F lounge thrice with my friends travelling with me, they were on J and i was ticketed on F but on the same flight and the lounge attendant didnt say a word. I guess it depends on the mood of the attendant.
In another instance 4 days ago i was in mumbai airport and was travelling Air India in J but their lounge is bad so i went down to the EK lounge and asked them if i could enter and she politeliy refused saying you have be travelling on EK to use their lounge. I didnt know that but i guess thats fair. I thought gold members had access to all ek lounges period.

Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't do the private, very environmentally and class conscious... and don't go flogging me for flying F...And the solution, if there is another flight with EK, would be to just avoid the lounge and go directly to the hotel...As for sons and 18, I am originally from th biggest country in the gulf and know the customs very well, a son NEVER, EVER ceases to be a "family" on the contrary will always be THE family, since the son carries the family name forward. The daughter stays a family but when she marries (she keeps her maiden name, never belongs to anyone but to her birth family) her children carry her husbands family. Maybe this was were the confusion was, my son carries his father's name and I carry MY father's name. We can go on and on about this ritual, but this is how it works, my 70 some old mother carries her father's name and never has my family's name.
If you have ever read the BA threads about kids in F, you might get to know my feeling about that, I already feel ashamed that my young adult kids travel in CW, would never and only in few circumstances allow them in F. I feel that a bit of humble pie for kids takes them a long way.. You might come and argue about CW, and you are correct. The last few times I flew my son in Y. As for the lounge vs the plane, one is just down the ail while the other one is on the other end.
Correct different companies, different rules. As I have mentioned before, I only flew them 3 times rt, and when I looked at my FF account it seems that I signed up on their program only the last 2 rt flights. Am not really that good with FF accounts or collections. And you are correct, there is no comparison with the EK planes and BA's. and even on the dreaded 777s, I still fly BA out of loyalty. The chauffeur, they offered it to me the last 3 flights and I didn't ask for them. It doesn't bother me to take my car or a taxi to the airport, I don't need this service. Am a very humble person as I mentioned before. The lounge use was/is to get away from the "mall atmosphere and having to be bombarded by all the perfumes being sprayed. I have no problem not using the lounges as I love the atmosphere of an airport, but not a mall. Case in point, I use the CCR at LHR to use the restrooms and if I have come back TATL to sleep a bit while waiting for my connection. Have guested many people without any incidence. Even reserved Cabanas for fellow travelers. But as you said, different companies different rules. Am still not sure if I would use EK when I go to Dubai for the June meet up. Might try Qatar or back to BA.

I really think you are missing a trick and would not regret it if you participated more actively. Cabin upgrades will become a normal way of life for someone with your travel profile and earning potential. As an example, I regularly go UK to NZ in business class with EK, essentially 4 flights. That sector earns me so many miles, that I can upgrade one of those 4 flights and still end the trip with more miles than when I started. I can upgrade 2 of the 4 sectors and just about break even! All subject to availability but personally I have found availability to be good. With such miles, you could have upgraded your son. Note that unlike BA Emirates has NO costs whatsoever on a miles upgrade. It's a great feeling, putting through an EK miles upgrade (easily done online) and the cost is precisely 0 :D

QR is brilliant in business class but the F product is a long way short of either EK or BA. QR J food is better than either airline's F food!

MrSoft, I should, but I find the whole process very complicated, and I am a hoarder :D. And as HenkyBaby once said, I am the poster child of a person with ADD, can't stay on one subject too long before I loose interest and attention. Besides, I would be worried that my preferred seats would be taken, an example was the return. But I survived the plane, though the terminal's smells caused an irritation to my throat and was coughing all through the flight and now have a full fledged head cold :mad::td:.

Oh another thing, I usually don't eat while in the plane, always have a fruit with me in case I get hungry. And if I did, then it would be a green salad and the cheese plater. Don't enjoy reheated/microwaved food. So don't need to add the extra calories for mediocre food. And yes there goes my training mentality :).

Regarding the lounge.
Last year my GF had to wait outside 122 Lounge while i went for a quick shower, Emirates do have a waiting area for family and mainly kids who are waiting for people to come out of Business. Its only to seats, but least i knew where my GF was.

I've lived in Dubai my whole life, so I know what you mean (bin, bint). But in the UAE, for example, one cannot sponsor their son on their own visa once the child crosses 18. For daughters it is fine till they get married. Which is ridiculous because no 18 year old is completely independent. They don't have jobs. And they do need to visit family!

I was suggesting using the VIP terminal (but flying EK). I'm sure they make exceptions for Sheikhas. In fact, T3 has some VIP lounge that's better than the F lounge, used for dignitaries and sheikhs.


I think it's unfair to dismiss EK for following their rules. Having said that, have you tried Etihad? They have a pretty solid F product (unless you fancy an onboard shower).

I guested my sister into the F lounge whilst she was on the same flight in Y. Maybe I got lucky the one time but I didn't even have to ask, they just told me I was entitled to it

Saudi sheikha/ Emirati sheikha - same thing ;)

But seriously - the J lounge would let you get away from the smells. As it was too crowded and using the F lounge doesn't work, try a different lounge. Doesn't have to be about ego, just about fulfilling your needs. Ego comes from knowing one can buy something if one wanted to (private jet travel or whatever) but not having to make that purchase in the first place.

This is all a bit ironic considering you live in Paris. One would think your Parisian nose would be well accustomed to having to deal with a variety of smells.

Oh yes, I actively avoid Oudh shops in the malls in Dubai. My father loves the smells and bought an oudh burner once, and whenever he uses it is sends my mum into a sneezing frenzy!

Thanks for the note about Saudi royalty. My knowledge on the subject is limited to "The Princess" and Al Waleed's private jets ;)

Actually when buying Oud, if you buy the ones from trees grown in southern India or Sri Lanka, they have more oils in them and are tolerable and in fact smell really good.

They (for the lack of a better word){ you"ll understand what I mean once you've seen how the process is done} fumigate my clothes with them and I wear them later after all the dust has settled down and they do smell very good, not the smokey kind. Long after my return when I smell my clothes it reminds me of mother :)

I am one of the most flexible and undemanding people
 

obviously...

:rolleyes:

:D :D

This is the most bizarre and entertaining thread I have read on this EK section of flyertalk