Denied access to J class lounge in DXB
 

Greetings from KUL

I booked a flight with Emirates (rather than Srilankan with their super cheap fares in J class) since EK is my favorite airlines. My flight to DXB got delayed by approximately 5 hours due to the boarding system malfunctioning. I received an e-mail from Skywards that my card is available for pick-up from the J class lounge in Concourse A. I arrived there yesterday only to be kicked out "You can only collect your card IF you are J or F class passenger" I told her that I received an e-mail to pick it up from here but she refused to give it to me.

More importantly, my hands were bleeding from the dry weather, I asked if I can just use the body lotion in the J class lounge since EK flights don't have body lotions in their lavatories in J class. I showed her my boarding pass that from KWI - DXB I was J class, and DXB - KUL I was flying economy but I also got kicked (all I wanted was just the body lotion but she kicked me out.)

So to summarize, not only she refused to give me my card, but also refused to let me use a body lotion for my bleeding hands. Srilankan and CX flights have body lotions in their J class lavatories so I think this will be my last time flying J class with EK (I'm returning to Kuwait with J class to DXB, and F class to KWI.) :td::td::td::mad:

Srilankan is my favorite airline now. Even if you get screwed by them you should not get mad since their prices are ultra cheap in J class (half the prices of EK J class) :)

She caught you red-handed.

You seem to have a lot :td: :td: :mad: recently
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/searc...3702591&query=

Thread title might be less misleading if it was changed to

Denied access to business class lounge when not entitled to access it

I'm sure you'll be happy with Sri Lankan.

Something tells me (actually it's your posts that tell me) that you and Emirates are just not meant to be together ........;)

Not sure why EK should be assisting you with the dry weather that's causing your hands to bleed, but perhaps you should carry lotion in your carry-on if your skin is susceptible to bleeding?

I did not attempt to "access" the lounge, I attempted to receive my skywards card (which emirates themselves e-mailed me and told me to pick up from when I land in Dubai)

Because other airlines like Srilankan and CX do to their J class passengers, so I expect to be treated accordingly when I fly a premium airline in a premium cabin.

Last time flying EK premium cabin, farewell EK.....

I agree with Dave Noble.

As for getting your Skywards card. What tier was it? and why did they place it there instead of mailing it to you?

It seems like you are rapidly running out of airlines to fly, given this and your CX experience. Are you seeing the same pattern that I am?

I can't believe everyone has let this joke slide :D Well done!

OP, as you didn't technically have access to the lounge, you would be relying on the goodwill of the lounge agent for them to either telephone the Skywards desk or check with her supervisor to see whether someone at the desk could bring it to the front for you.

However, goodwill from front-line customer service agents who have to deal with pretty much lots of complaints about things that have nothing to do with them (I recall from my experience at reception desks one gentlemen complaining for what seemed like half an hour about cabin crew on a flight two weeks beforehand, one person shouting f*** this and f*** that because he was not entitled to access in front of his presumably girlfriend "I just want to use the wi-fi", the QF CL who needed to change his FFP to QF to access the lounge but also wanted to collect EK miles but refused t) people trying to get things they aren't entitled to is in short supply - so your manner and charm is critical. I find that going with an expectation that you know that the agent has to do you a favor, not demand x,y,z, because I am paying a,b,c and this is supposed to be d,e,f as agents who follow rules aren't going to get in trouble. Bending them for demanding pax might do. You can see why when it comes down to discretion, you need to convince, not expect. Expressing frustration and taking it out on the person in front of you only leads people to retreat behind protocol (especially if the person in front of you is empowered to do things such as deny/allow access).

That said, I think Skywards should have had the card placed at the entrance for you. I suspect they might have helped you out had you not also attempted to ask for additional access to get hand cream, which could be construed by them as trying any excuse just to get in. It's not as if any staff have time to follow you there and escort you out afterwards - or have the time go and get any for you. I suppose there was one poster also complaining that they didn't have amenities in the bathrooms anymore (at outstations) but kept them at the desk...they can't win! :D In any case, the thought running through their minds: if your hands are bleeding, you know there are pharmacies all over DXB airport...

Additionally, there actually is lotion in the J lavatories - and if there isn't any, you can always ask the crew to get some from the F ones.

Blue tier. I asked EK to pick up my card from the airport since I don't use a P.O box in Kuwait. They agreed for me to pick up my card from the airport, but when I asked to pick it the agent refused to hand it to me since I'm "not a J/F class passenger" (what does this has to do with picking up a simple card?)

Well, I'm glad that I did not convert my RC points into EK miles :rolleyes:


On my flight to KUL the crew asked every one to keep their window blinds closed (I was surprised as well) but like 2 - 3 hours prior to landing some people kept their blinds open and the crew didn't care.

At least with CX, even when the flight was freezing they had body lotion in the lavatory to keep my skin comfortable. However with EK my skin got worse and kept bleeding :td: Despite my experiences with these 2 airlines I think I may fly CX again..... Especially when they are a member of OneWorld alliance as opposed to EK which is difficult for me to upgrade to silver tier :rolleyes:

Finally, although I did have some negative experiences with Srilankan, I would still fly them only because of their price. If they increase their prices and try to compete with EK or CX then I wont even consider flying them.

I have been escorted by a staff member to the Skywards desk should I need their assistance and am not allowed in the lounge due to age. Yesterday the dragon at C lounge escorted me to the Skywards desk to check for available upgrade on my flight. He also allowed me to sit in the chair area in the front to use the wifi for a few minutes to transfer some miles.

Upgrade didn't come through though, as all J pax turned up.

I wasn't allowed access into the lounge this time. The supervisor at A told me to try C because there was a very senior manager there and she would be really risking it. I appreciated that. But the walk from A to C for nothing - then back to A after wasting money on transferring miles was just awful.

A) You did try to access the lounge

B) You titled the thread "Got KICKED from J class lounge in DXB"

Maybe it should have been titled "EK did not provide my Skywards Card as promised" instead. That would have been a valid discussion. Saying you got kicked, makes it sound like you had access and then were forced to leave; when infact all that happened (in relation to the lounge) is that you were denied access because you were not entitled to it.

I have sympathy for you not getting your card if that is what EK had instructed you to do (though I am always at a mystery why people care about getting them). If they told you to go to the J lounge in Concourse A to pick it up, then it should have been there. Do you know why they asked you to get it from there? It is normally posted, did you request to pick it up instead? I'm assuming you are EK Blue (as you didn't have any lounge access)?

EDIT: Ignore my questions, you answered them whilst I was typing. Well look at it this way, there is no benefit to physically having the Blue card anyway, infact I know very few people who have ever received them - I know I never did, so I wouldn't worry about it :)

I asked for the cream only after the agent refused to get me my card (which I still was entitled to according to Emirates officials/Skywards team themselves.) When she told me she can not give me the card unless I'm J/F passenger I then asked to get the cream.

When I fly J class I hate to pay for extra things such as airport transportation, food before flight (lounge,) and body lotion, as I expect all these services to be included in my J fare, else why would I fly EK J-class in the first place when Srilankan J class is half the price of EK's J-class?

I flew the A380 from KWI - DXB, and the crew themselves told me "we used to have body lotions in the past, but we no longer have them now." :td::td::td::td::td::td: