SilverChris

Satellite/Regional access on a domestic BP has always been a bit of a gray area. Most of the time it's fine, but it can't be taken for granted. Unfortunately, the OP learned this the hard way.

It's fairly common for airlines to have their own unwritten rules that may be inconsistent with alliance policies. For example, in LHR you can expect a good amount of resistance accessing T3 lounges with a T5 boarding pass. I was recently denied entry into an AS lounge on a QR boarding pass, on the basis of reserving capacity for their own members. I know of under-21s being denied access to the QF lounge LAX despite meeting all the OW access requirements.

Fact is, there's very little that can be done in these situations. One can only take it as a lesson for the road and avoid getting too emotional about it.

carrotjuice

That, again, is something that we as passengers will never know for sure, unless we sight the so-called OW rules ourselves...

carrotjuice

At least they make the exceptions clear on OW website, as they should. In this case, not a pipsqueak by MH presumably aside from an internal memo to the lounge dragons - that is the source of the confusion.

hsumh316

But it just shows that airlines can set their own rules for their own lounges plus the exceptions aren't really clear and we are at the whim of lounge dragons. LAX has a true one world lounge that doesn't follow the one world rules and those rules are not explicitly stated on the world page either.

dici

No, it is consistence. It just people never check the FAQ. You can enter Regional and Satellite as arrival as long as travel by J/F. But domestic lounge does not offer arrival service. Basically nothing to do with OWE status.

This is from AskMHBusiness class passengers may enter the Golden Lounge at KLIA under these conditions:-

• All passengers holding Business Suites and Business Class ticket
• Enrich Platinum or Gold cards

Note: Regional and International Satellite lounge passengers are allowed to utilise the lounge for departure, transit and arrival. However, for Domestic Lounge, passengers are allowed to utilise it for departure only.

So, they are correct for deny access for domestic arrival.

And as for on-arrival platinum lounge, they did not state OW emerald. The only arguable portion if the stated on-arrival biz and suite is only applicable for MH flights or all other OW flights

dici

US airlines lounge to me is the most confusing thing for non-frequent flyer... especially when flying domestic

perks of the world

The issue here really isn't using the Platinum lounge as an arrival lounge, but rather as a departure lounge. simpletastes stated clearly already that he had a same-day MH operated departure flight and this should have allowed him into the Platinum lounge with his OWE status.

Oneworld website has a section on lounge access policy exceptions, and inside this section no information (and hence no exception) on Malaysia Airlines lounges in KUL. See also a link below from MH dated June 30 which also clearly states that OWE can access the Platinum Lounge.

Indulge in Premium Service Offerings with the Reopening of Malaysia Airlines’ Platinum Lounge at KL International Airport

With this, it's outright incorrect for MH to say that the lounge agents had their course of action in handling this matter according to Oneworld policy. Clearly they weren't even following their own publicly announced policy. As someone who flies MH a lot, inconsistency can be seen in a lot of things with this airline, and this is one of them. The same applies to their 24 hours call centre where one question will yield different responses from different agents. One really has to try his/her luck when dealing with MH.

dici

Here the catch. OP arrive KUL international, and will depart from KUL domestic.

While he definitely can access to Golden lounge using the arrival J ticket, there isn't any policy indicate that can use the domestic J to enter plantinum with OWE status. But it is definitely that you can enter using arrival J with Enrich platinum (not other OWE).

So that why the only remain questions, whether he manage enter Golden Lounge not Platinum? And did he ask in twitter if Domestic J with OWE can be used is for Platinum ?

carrotjuice

​​​​​​There's no such thing as entering the Golden Lounge "on the basis of arrival J ticket". All 4 MH lounges at KLIA (Satellite Business, Satellite Platinum, Main, and Domestic) are for departures, not arrivals.

(Unless it's a specifically designated arrivals lounge, like what BA has at LHR T5. Or if special accommodations are made for specific categories of passengers, like inbound flyers to SIN on First Class may use SQ's The Private Room.)

As OWE, OP should be able to enter ANY of the 4 lounges, naturally the Satellite Platinum is the best of the lot. At least this used to be the practice - until we hear of OP being denied entry recently.

dici

For Satellite Lounge, you can enter by using MH arrival J ticket. It is explicitly stated, but I not sure if must have enrich gold above or not. Or if either case condition. I know that I did it once before as I bought a last minute Y domestic ticket that fly in early morning next day while fly in as J international.

The condition was stated faq below

https://askmh.malaysiaairlines.com/f...language=en_US

simpletastes

With reference to the original topic (totally fine that the thread may have expanded and diverged):

1. I've said a million times I was not trying to enter as an arriving passenger. I was trying to enter an OWE transit/departure lounge as a transit passenger with an onward departing flight as an OWE elite on a OW flight.

2. All the comments about how other lounges like BA Concorde or QR Al-Safwa or American Airlines cardholders don't follow oneworld rules are technically not correct because the rules themselves include stating that those lounges or cardholders are excluded. Therefore they follow the rules.

3. Even if MH website explains any exclusion or signals some ambiguity, they point is that they may still be contravening OW rules. Having something posted on their website does not allow them to contravene OW rules. They can do whatever they want as they own the lounge but in that case the lounge should not be a OWE lounge.

4. If we don't address first world problems in the first world for people who paid first world prices, we will soon degrade to become the third world. (Yes, Malaysia is in the third world aspiring to be first but I am metaphorically referring to international premium travel.)

simpletastes

Yes, true, and at the same time I do feel that as we earned the OW elite status we do deserve to have clarity on our lounge entitlements and assurance they meet oneworld rules.

SKT-DK

Well, you did not have a valid boarding pass for a departure from the terminal you were seeking to access the lounge in. In addition, it is fully understandable that MH do not want domestic connection pax lingering around the international departures area as that inevitably would be a big cause of delays.

E-mailing the CEO on a lounge access issue (where I would argue you are in the wrong) seems a little self-important to me....

simpletastes

Where is it stated in OneWorld rules that the lounge must be in the terminal where I am departing from and not arriving in (as a transit passenger)? If there is such a rule, then it should definitely be published as it is a pretty major rule. MH's own response to me did not cite such a rule but they claimed that the airline can have their own policy for transit passengers.

MH may not "want" to, but needs to fulfill their obligations to OneWorld elites, if they are operating a oneworld lounge.

I genuinely do not think it is "understandable that MH do not want domestic connection pax lingering around the international departures area". This is because they will admit arriving (and possibly transiting) business class passengers into the business class section (OWS) of the satellite lounge and they will admit arriving (and possibly transiting) MH Platinum cardholders into the business suite / first class section (OWE) of the satellite lounge.

For me, it is obvious that this is them making a commercial profit-driven decision to deny access to their best OWE lounge in contravention to OW rules. I accept that every company is profit-maximizing of course, but that needs to be constrained by rules of an airline alliance they signed up for and not at the expense of passengers who have elite benefits of such alliance. If MH has been granted an exception by Oneworld pertaining to that lounge, then it really should not be a OWE lounge and this exception should be on the OneWorld website, as is the case for BA Concorde Room and the Qatar Al-Safwa, Al-Mourjan and Premium Lounges.

hsumh316

I am not in agreement with what MH is doing. Airlines own lounges don't always follow the OW rules.