Tips on how to convince a lounge dragon...
 

How do I convince a lounge dragon to let me in the J lounge in DXB when I have Gold status on yours and your partner airline and am goddamn flying J, but am sixteen. :confused:

I was denied F lounge access with an F BP and Gold status too.

"Hi" I say walking in happily.
"Sir, the bathrooms are located down the lift, to the left" she says matter-of-factly.
"Thanks, but I intend on using the ones in the lounge" I say presenting my BP, which also says Gold on it.
"I need to speak with my supervisor," she says. Then scurries off into the office and returns with her supervisor.
"Sorry, I see your status and class of travel, but I cannot allow you into the lounge"
"Why!? You do realize I just got off a 15-hour flight from SFO?"
"Yes, I do understand your situation. If you want, I can escort you to the UM lougne where you can sleep"
"I don't want sleep. I want a shower and food." I say, clearly rather upset.
"Unfortunately that is not allowed in Dubai. I have to ask you to kindly leave the lounge, and my colleague will escort you to the UM lounge where you can relax."

I got 1,000 miles for her rudeness. I would have preferred the shower.

I've tried it all, from putting on my best DYKWIA (yes, at 16 :D), to trying to sweet-talk the nice agent, to pretending that my parents were inside. It never works. Ever.

Okay, I lie, it worked once. That lady was so sweet. And the $50 bill thrust in her hands when I walked in was well spent.

I am friggin-16. I will not do anything to your lounge, I swear.

I refuse to give up on this. I demand a shower and some VOSS, as well as boarding without the ridiculous queues downstairs.

Anything...?

Its really interesting how you're always denied lounge access. My friends son, who just turned 17 has been a gold since he was 12, and at 14 started flying by himself in both J and F. He's always been admitted to the DXB lounge and outstations no questions asked. He just flew recently as a 17 year old, alone, in F as a gold, and was again admitted into the lounge no problem. He does look like he's 25 though if that makes any difference.

I am rather small... Hmmm...

I was denied last weekend, and the lead-dragon gave me a talk. Quite a nice lady. Perhaps next time I should record the encounter for people to see.

I once had a 6-hour transit and no shame, so I tried all three lounges and was denied at each and every one. I depart from A 80% of the time, so have become familiar with the supervisor...

You may have to get a Flyertalker to adopt you for the duration of your layover!

Either that, or email the supervisor in advance to have the Voss waiting for you at reception and have them arrange for you to use the hotel/Timeless Spa showers instead...! As for boarding...that might be slightly more difficult...!

That is actually a brilliant idea!

I see the girl so often (and have named her Elixir for some very strangle reason) that it wouldn't hurt to get her email address down so that she can prepare something for me... Hmmm... This could work.

Anyone in DXB on December 3, December 11, December 25 or January 12 and is willing to adopt a wonderful mileage running 16-year old? :D

I do sympathise, but the fact is that your Skywards status or travel class is not the issue here. You are asking the lounge supervisors to break the rule relating to age & alcohol : "Due to local licensing laws, lounge access may not be available to unaccompanied minors and young passengers"


I'm not saying the rules are right or wrong ; but they are what they are, and they have been clearly stated.

Given what Emirates202 relates re his/her friend's son, it seems that your appearance might unfortunately go against you....? And for the lounge staff to say "I have to ask you to kindly leave the lounge" I wonder were you perhaps a little over-insistent in demanding access when the staff are acting within their rights to deny it ....?

They are not that clearly stated since they do not state which are the locations where local licensing laws prohibit lounge access to those of age 16

If it applied to EK's hub , I would have expected it to have been more explicit

It may well be that this is the case in Dubai, but even so , it sounds like the lounge agent could have been clearer at explaining it

to the OP, when contacting EK about the incident did the representative mention an age restriction?

Perhaps the fact that you are referring to the supervisor variously as 'dragon' and 'girl' might make your task more difficult - especially if any of that viewpoint was obvious to her?

The OP has written about their frustration about this, and other limitations of being an unaccompanied young person on EK, on several occasions. I think that the EK staff have been clear about the restrictions in DXB and consistent in applying them.

Yes, they said that it was 18. They did not offer an explanation why. If it were to do with alcohol, I am Muslim and do not drink. :confused:

I am always very nice to all airport staff. The word "dragon" is used here quite a lot to describe the lounge staff. I certainly don't have a liking to the woman, but I feel that I am quite polite in the way I handle myself. The only time I was frustrated was at the F lounge employees, who were quite rude to me.

Elixir, I'm sure, is a wonderful lady. I just don't like the fact that she stands between me and the sanctuary of the lounge.

But they are not clearly stated. Have you ever seen a sign that states this? Or anything on the website that is easily found?

Why does appearance matter? Surely, at least in my view, everyone should be treated the same way. I don't feel that I was overly insistent on getting access. Maybe I was. I had just got off a 15-hour in Y. You know the feeling.

That shower was necessary... I know the UM lounge too well :mad::mad::mad:

Too consistent... It's why I have to fly South African Airways once in a while... ;)

That you may not drink does not impact on what the licensing restrictions may be.

If EK has confirmed that in Dubai the minimum age is 18 , then I don't see what more there is to be done ( other than find someone prepared to chaperone you )

I agree with you that appearance should not matter however checking ID of people entering the lounge is not a standard process. If you looked older, you may not be questioned and so not prohibited

There is totally a "wanted" picture of Ahmed in the supervisor's office.

Your persistence across all various lounges at least demonstrates that EK is actually quite consistent in terms of enforcing the policy at DXB.

One idea (long shot) - have you tried to have your parent contact EK and explicitly authorize (demand!) you to be admitted into the lounge?

Keep up your studies. Life is going to be tough if you're ever "off the payroll".

I think you will just have to accept that it's not your friend Elixir who stands between you and the lounge, but simply the rules governing access.

And the rule in question is indeed remarkably easy to find. I myself was aware of it already - but just by way of a test, I tapped three simple words into google, viz :

lounge access emirates

Instantly, the note about licensing laws & age restrictions came up, even as part of the text on the search results page - ie before even getting to the EK website itself.

So .... not that much of a mystery really.

If the webpage actually stated that min age for lounge access is 18, I would agree, however the webpage simply says that in some locations access may mot be available - that is not something that is really much use