AndersB

I have Oneworld Emerald status and my wife has Oneworld Saphire. We will travel RTW with our three teenage sons in September.

OK, I know the rules. You are only allowed to have one guest. But generally, do the lounge dragons allow families to enter together or do we have to leave the young one outside?

What are our chances at the First Class lounges vs Business lounges?

fm747

AFAK in elite card holders in *A can bring immediate family members into the lounge when travelling together. Immediate family inclludes husband/wife/children. I presume the same is true for OW so you should have no problems getting in as the family, especially since both of you have hight status. Are you flying J or F then the kids would get in anyway.

everywhere

Not True. Certain * member carriers such as AC offer this policy.

Dave Noble

They may let the 3rd person in , though expect to not be allowed access for the extra person. Given that only 1 of you have 1st lounge access, I doubt that you will find many places which would allow you 3 guests into the First Lounges. Get your sons enrolled on the AA Platinum challenge; at some point along your way they will attain Platinum status (OW Sapphire) and have access in their own rights

Dave

TerryK

Business Class lounge should be no problem as you have 2 members bringing in 3 guests. First Class lounge would be tough as you have 1 member bringing 4 guests.

Dave Noble

Well, I really wouldn't be particularly expecting success at places such as LHR where the lounge staff do tend to be pretty good at enforcing the access rules

Dave

Darren

Agree with Dave about London. I have seen the biz lounge turn away a family in the exact same situation. The guy was an a**hole so I didn't have pity on them. Actually, I have seen it twice, the other being in the lounge pavillion but this was with two friends instead of family.

Cathay also tends to enforce the rules pretty stringently as well as Lan Chile.

Two things. First, if youre traveling in biz or first then you obviously get lounge access by virtue of your COS. Second, if youre asking for a favor, I suggest you don't refer to the keeper of your fate as a "lounge dragon" and that you recognize that they would be doing you a favor and that you have no entitlement in this case.

AndersB

Thanks for all that info.

I have a vague memory that NM has travelled with his large family and managed to sweet talk himself in to all the lounges. Perhaps I should ask for some of his lines next time I see him.

thagale

Does anyone have any experience trying to get one Emerald and two Sapphires into a First lounge? My brothers and I are planning a DONE5 for next year. I'm an AA EXP, and they'll be signing up for the AA PLT Challenge, so they'll be Sapphire quick-fast. I'm hoping that we can get F lounge access as a party of 3, instead of defaulting to the Biz lounges (which we would all 3 have access to individually.)

I know the 'letter of the law' for OW rules states 1 guest, and that some carriers might allow 2. Does anyone know if many F lounges are lenient if the guests are themelves OW elite?

NM

NM reporting for duty.

I have never had any issues getting into lounges with my children (was three for the RTW trip, now 4). Before the RTW trip, I purchased a Partner Qantas Club membership for Mrs NM, so along with my QF Platinum status gate us two members permitted into QF, BA and AA lounges.

We travelled with Mrs NM's parents, so that was 4 adults and 3 kids (ages were 10, 9 and 6 at the time). Some QF lounges asked us to use the J lounge instead of F lounge, which was fine by us. At AY lounges, we left the inlaws behind and just visited the lounge with the 5 NM's.

For some lounges, I warned them first. For AKL where we were just transiting on QF25, I was stopped by the lounge the week before on a QF26 return to Australia and mentioned I would be through the following week with the family. They noted it in the diary at the desk and were expecting us when we arrived and welcomed us all (7) to the F lounge. For the BNE lounge at the start of the trip, I phoned the day before to ask about access, and they noted it in the diary at the desk and were also expecting us when we arrived. We were asked to use the J lounge, which was fine by us.

We have visited the BNE domestic lounge on many occasions and they have always welcomed the whole famil (2 adults and 3 or 4 kids). In the days of visitor passes, they would sometimes ask for one or two, and that was never a problem from my perspective.

WildRice

CX will let you the F area with one guest only. The others will have to remain in the J section.

CX only allows 2 guests for their Diamond Marco Polo Club members. No exceptions. It's on a little list on the reception table and they have no problems showing it to you if you object.

thagale

I should further add that, as I mentioned, the two other travelers are my brothers. Even though we're no longer in the same household, we are immediate family and young enough that it'd be plausible that we could still live in the same household. Does anyone have any experience with the guest rules being bent or fractured if the guests are immediate family?

Worst-case scenario, we'll all just hang out in the J lounges, as we'd be on a DONE4 and all at least Sapphire anyways, so I doubt they'll be turning us away.

Thanks!

Dave Noble

Had exactly the same mix recently at LHR and we were all able to use the J lounge of course but I was only permitted to take one guest into the F lounge as per the rules

Dave

thagale

Blast! OK, thanks!

Darren

Might not make a difference because you are on a biz ticket, but a lot of airline lounges will not allow you in without your sapphire or emerald card. Where it hurts is when you gain status in the middle of the trip. I am trying to remember which airlines are sticklers but I just can't recall. I believe BA is one and possibly QF.