y-lice in first lounges is nuts
 

Oneworld policy to allow top elites traveling in economy to access first class lounges is nuts. LAX Bradley first and T4 flagship are packed to the rafters, with most of the boarding passes showing economy.

Stupid policy. Elite status should get you some lounge, but the best lounge. Star is far more sane. If oneworld insists on being more generous, surely one level of lounge above what your travel class entitles is sufficient for top elites.

If not liking what 1 World offers then perhaps may wish to use another alliance. I suspect that there are many that would disagree and would also remove one of the few differentiators between Sapphire and Emerald

Hmmm ... In my considerable experience with evening flights out of LAX to OZ, the TBIT lounge has indeed been generally jammed. FWIW, this is little different from the NZ lounge at T2 at the same time.

However, I take issue with your comment re the Flagship Lounge at T4; I have never seen it more than comfortably full; and generally less than that.

I agree with Dave Noble; maybe you should travel FirstClass with airlines aligned with other alliances. (I do see you are regular poster on *A fora)

That is the best feature of the oneworld. The solution to a crowded lounge is a bigger lounge, not a change in lounge access policy. I never found the F lounges at ORD/JFK/LHR/SYD/MEL/HKG/NRT to be too crowded, the problem is LAX specific as the lounges are too small. The TBIT lounge is almost always too full for Australia departures, T4 gets full but usually not too crowded.

One can only imagine how much it would annoy you to find a OWE/OWS in a domestic AAdmirals Club Lounge (while flying economy) when AA's own elites can't get in regardless of their cabin of service.

... and domestic AAdmirals Clubs are not exactly the height of sophistication. ;)

You pays your money and you takes your choice .... If you sign up for AAdvantage, awards are less expensive (than, say, BA or QF), but you don't get into AAdmirals Clubs for free.

You should protest by never entering another OW lounge ever again.

*G gets you into first class-type lounges too (LH Senator, etc.)

Yes, but not really. In OW the best lounges an airline has can be entered with OW Emerald status. The only exceptions are the BA Concord Rooms. In *A the best lounges of most airlines can not be accessed with *G status (LH, LX, TG, SQ, OZ, NH, UA etc). Yes, LH is calling the SEN lounges F lounges and they are better than the business lounges but each carrier reserves the best lounges for their own Über-Elites or their own F passengers.

+1

Mike

So, even oneworld emeralds become "lice" when travelling in economy? :rolleyes:

^
The *G lounges I have visited in LHR and FRA have been packed to the gills, more than any OW lounge I have ever visited in the US, FRA, LHR or SA.

Be glad that you are in OW. *A and ST have lots more carriers, which means there are a lot more elites that are able to access lounges.

Indeed.


Colin I think the real problem is that people who describe others as 'lice' are let in to the lounges.
Ideally, arogant tossers would not be allowed onto the aircraft or into the terminal.

100% agree.

how frustrating it must be to live amidst others who have a sense of humor.

*lice reference are part of FT culture (i.e. gatelice)

Carriers created this mess for the future to save themselves during the economic downturn. Everything was for sale: elite status, access to premium security line, check-in & boarding. If everyone is elite, nobody is elite. Now that the economy is improving and businesses willing to pay for premium seats: 1) the other premium benefits mean less; and 2) the sole meaningful benefits of premium status are before one boards the aircraft becs. UG's are declining and soon to be a thing of the past (can't blame carrier for wanting to sell an F seat for an F fare!).

All comes down to short-term strategy to save the carrier vs. long-term strategy to maintain loyalty.

My travel is much better now that I am not hog-tied to a mileage program. I am flying in F on the carrier & flights which best suit my need for a particular trip. That's great for me and terrible for carriers.

No, there is a line and that crossed it.
The sad thing is that you didn't notice it and/or can't see it.

[Oh, and humour has a 'u' in it, but it isn't appropriate in this case.]

I may have to agree here. The guy who parked himself and his carry-on in the Priority AAccess line at ORD on Tuesday and did NOT board with F qualifies as a louse. The person who flies 100k+ on OW carriers and enjoys his published entitlement to a layover at the Flagship/Wing F/JAL F/Galleries F lounge does not.

Entitlement to F facilities (check-in, boarding, and lounges) is something that sets OW apart from the other alliances. It makes the limited coverage of OW a bit more bearable. OW has its problems - limited coverage, poor integration of carriers, limited codeshare availability between some partners, and no reciprocal baggage allowances. But overcrowded F lounges and a deteriorating F product among its major carriers is not among them.

BA CCRs are for their F pax and they have them at JFK (i've never seen it packed) at T5 (again busy but never packed from my experience). I haven't found the CX F lounge in HKG ever overly full, nor the JL F lounge at NRT, so I can't really agree with OP's comments.

The only places i have seen F lounges overly stuff is the tiny AA FL in ORD. I've never noticed JFK or LAX FLs as being too full.

I actually see (as others have said) the OW lounge policy as a big plus over the other two alliances.

humoUr is supposed to be humorous . I find insulting members / general passengers is rarely humorous . Neither the terms "lice" or "tosser" come across as vaguely amusing to me

Dave

[No hat to put on yet] While I am only moderator-in-training for this forum (Kiwi had to pass the baton and I'm the replacement-designate) I'd like to ask members to keep it civil and respectful. This is a great forum, seldom touched by TOS problems; let's keep it that way.

Speaking personally, I think using terms like "lice" and "kettles" in reference to fellow travel(l)ers is not in the best taste. We're a' Jock Tamson's bairns.
[/no hat]

Though some in this thread seem to not be aware of this, humor is spelled without the letter "u" in American English. I would be careful before I correct someone next time if I were you ;)

With regards to the issue of F access for Emeralds, I think it is a legitimate way that OW differentiates itself from *A and ST. Some *A carriers allow their own top tier elites into F lounges (LH, LX, OZ, SA, SQ) so it's not a foreign idea in *A. If you frequently fly across your alliance, then the benefits of top-tier status are greater on OW than on *A, as a UA 1K gets no more recognition on any other *A carrier than a UA 1P. There isn't any differentiation in *A between medium and top-tier status.

Looks like Mr. Colin here is a prude premium-only traveler... and he is indirectly bragging about his ability to buy premium class, etc. here on FT by complaining about y-lices in the F-lounges.

Nonetheless, back to the topic... I think allowing Emeralds into F lounge is one of the novel perks to be had with OW. If this 'perk' is gone, there really is not much better reason to fly OW as in most parts of the world (with an exception to Australia) OW does not offer good connecting service (especially in Canada!)

Hence, having been LAN Comodoro (2 years) and AA EXP (1 year), I am moving back to *A with CO/UA. So, Colin, you will see one less y-lice in your F lounge. Ciao!

It sounds like LAX needs a bigger lounge. I can't think of any reason why one would want to downgrade the OneWorld proposition.

I have been called many things in my life, some good & many bad, but this is the 1st time I have been likened to an obligate parasite!!