About 11am this morning tried to gain access to the TBIT Qantas First Lounge as a BA Gold Guest List card holder on a AA domestic flight from LAX to ORD. Apologetically denied entry. Informed that to gain access the itinerary has to be connected to an incoming or outgoing international segment greater than 5 hours. Not in the argumentative mode today, but would like to see the "rules" posted on the Oneworld website so there is no confusion about access to this lounge.

As has been discussed before the rules are posted on the Oneworld website and say nothing about an international segment. The only explicit requirement is that the departing flight is operated by a Oneworld airline which, as far as we know, AA is - even for domestic flights. Your case is essentially the same as my report from October and people on FT were of the opinion that access should be allowed. The improvement in your case was that they were apologetic!

A post from Australian Business Traveller:

It seems like the problem still exists!!! BA Gold (oneworld Emerald) denied entry into the LAX first lounge yesterday. They stated I needed to be on a international flight or a domestic flight over 5hrs, very confused. Pointed out the oneworld rules but they didn't accept that response. I dont really understand why this is so hard for them. At least the cops weren't called on me.

Plus ca change.........

this experience (and boogen's) matches my recent experience as a non-AA ow elite flying on an AA ticket, even internationally, expect scrutiny if you present a ticket on AA stock. Recommend getting your AA ticket printed on other stock if possible, but if you're flying AA solely domestically, won't work.

Maybe someone needs to print the oneworld rules and stick them to the wall next to the lounge... or AA (or QF) needs to stop pretending that they are part of oneworld

Out of interest - which FF details were in the booking (on the BP)? Was it showing your AA or BA number on the BP itself?

Also - would you mind PM'ing me so that I can follow this up for you?

I know you were asking boogen, but for me usually the AA# is on the BP but I show my AB OWS card. In my experience, upon seeing an AA BP they don't even bother to scan the ticket and just say no. (When they scan the ticket in their machine, a big OWE logo pops up on their screen, from what I've seen.) In the times that they've let me in based on AB status, they've happily punched in the # on my AB card.

Anticipating a problem with the AA number on my boarding pass, I had the BA number on it to no avail and I wanted the tier points anyway. Two strikeouts as the fight ended up credited to AA regardless.

Wow... just wow... this is mind blowing. How hard can this be and why aren't some heads being cracked to get this fixed?

Absolutely bizarre...

Regards

Hi,
I will be flying next month from LAX to LHR on AA. I am BA gold (OWE) and will be flying business class, on BA stock (operated by AA from T4, but flight was purchased as BA1509 with a 125 ticket number).
So my questions are the following :
- Will I get access to the first lounge ?
- My sister will be flying on the same flight as me, also on BA stock, but in economy. She should be granted entry too, as I am allowed to one guest right ?
- Will we have any issues crossing security in TBIT, if we show a ticket for a T4 flight ?
- How do we get out of TBIT afterwards ? I believe we cannot take the AA/QF shuttle nor use the connector yet ?

Thanks for your help !

I don't think you will be able to get into TBIT given that you will be flying from Terminal 4. And honestly, though I very much like the restaurant in the First Lounge, I'm not sure it would be worth all the hassle. AA has a decent Flagship Lounge that you will be able to use. Food won't be anything to compare, but the seating is more comfortable.

You should have no trouble getting into the AA Flagship lounge in T4 or getting into TBIT but you do have to do that land side. The Oneworld lounge and the Qantas F lounge are another matter, though you should be entitled to at least the OW lounge.

You shouldn't have any issues getting into TBIT, if asked just say you're going in for the better shopping (not much in T4).
To exit basically same way as you came in at TBIT, there is a path along the wall next to the security lines.
Then exit the front of TBIT turn right, and into T4.

Downside is having to go through security twice.

Under the rules you and sister should get access to the FL (I would even say the same if you were on a domestic AA flight). Whether it is worth the effort however is another matter.

I highly suspect that there's more going on than just a matter of how to interpret the rules. There's almost certainly some other issue, probably involving payment (or lack thereof) to QF for use of the lounge by AA domestic passengers. Either QF doesn't want to provide access gratis when they should as per whatever the internal oneworld rules are, or AA doesn't want to pay for its domestic passengers to access the QF/oneworld lounge.

Thanks for the detailed answer !
We will see how long before we will be arriving at the airport. If we have enough time and security is not too crowded at TBIT, we will have a look at the OWF lounge, otherwise AAFL will be good enough. My sister does not travel a lot and does not know much about lounges etc... I think that one is a nice one to see before a 10 hour flight in Y !

moa999 is correct - Since May last year, all one needs to go airside a LAX terminal is a same day boarding pass for a flight departing any terminal. (Other anecdotes I have come across indicate this is available at other airports including ORD and JFK.)