Lounge access rules
 

Hi,

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I can't find it. I'm arriving in DOH from FRA in Business and have a connecting flight to AUH in Economy two hours later. Will I be able to access the al-Mourjan lounge in Doha?

JanBre If you look at https://www.oneworld.com/ffp/lounge-access you will find answers.
You should have access to Al Mourjan.
Note that this requires that both flights are OW flights.
This topic has been covered in the QR Lounges at HIA thread but there is so much extraneous 'noise' that it is nearly impossible to find.

Err... Have I missed something here?

Last I heard access to Al Mourjan was dependant on class of departing OneWorld flight, economy in this case. So no access to AM.

impeymac That is what I thought since it was published on the website, but assuming that QR is following OW rules there are exceptions, that have been published. Below are the OW lounge access rules from the link in my previous post. I have set the relevant sections as BOLD. There is also a clip from the tier status rules showing the exception for Al Safwa and Al Mourjan.

It is interesting that Long haul to Long haul and Short haul to Short haul are not mentioned.

"Oneworld lounge access for First Class or Business Class customers
Indulge yourself before departure in a wider range of airport lounges when you fly First Class or Business Class with any oneworld member airline.
Customers flying First or Business Class have access to the equivalent class of lounge regardless of their frequent flyer status. First Class passengers may use a Business Class or frequent flyer lounge if a First Class lounge is not available.
First Class passengers may invite one guest to join them in the lounge. The guest must also be travelling on a flight operated and marketed by a oneworld airline.
Connecting between oneworld marketed and operated flights:
First and Business Class customers connecting on the same day of travel, or before 6am the following day, can access the lounge when travelling between an international long haul (a oneworld international long haul flight is defined as an international flight marketed and operated by any oneworld carrier with a scheduled flight time longer than 5 hours) and an international short haul or domestic flight (and vice-versa).
Lounge access will be determined on the international long haul ticketed flight (either First of Business Class) regardless of the ticketed class of travel on the international short haul or domestic flight.
You must be prepared to show your boarding pass or itinerary showing travel in First or Business class on the international long haul flight, in order to access the lounge before your international short haul or domestic flight.
The following exceptions apply:
1. First and Business Class customers who do not hold Emerald or Sapphire tier status are not eligible to access American Airlines or US Airways lounges when travelling on solely domestic flights. within the U.S. or between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico [except Mexico City], the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean; customers travelling in First or Business class on U.S. transcontinental flights between JFK-LAX, JFK-SFO and MIA-LAX (and vice-versa) are eligible for lounge access.
2. Guests are not permitted at Qatar Airways Al Safwa and Al Mourjan lounges at Hamad International Airport in Doha or Qatar Airways Premium Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 4."


"oneworld lounge access for frequent flyers by tier status
Qatar Airways Al Safwa and Al Mourjan lounges at Hamad International Airport in Doha and Qatar Airways Premium Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 4 are excluded."

That's a good spot, it'll be interesting to see what happens!

Ehh... your initial referece is to the HIA Qatar Airways First and Business Class Lounges. OP is asking about the Al Mourjan. And by following your link, and looking up the rules for Al Mourjan, it is clearly stated "This lounge is only available to customers traveling in First and Business class cabins Qatar Airways and other oneworld members flights. Guests are not permitted."

And as OP's departing flight is i Y he will have no access to Al Mourjan. This should be basic by now.

RUN4FUN Like you I have always insisted that it was the departure class that determined lounge access. I have stated this several times in the "QR lounges at HIA" thread. I still hold that view but as I have also said there are a number of unpublished exceptions. This however is a published exception.

As you point out "This lounge is only available to customers traveling in First and Business class cabins Qatar Airways and other oneworld members flights. Guests are not permitted." But OW rules modify that "Lounge access will be determined on the international long haul ticketed flight (either First of Business Class) regardless of the ticketed class of travel on the international short haul or domestic flight."

Thus if you arrive long haul in F or J and depart short haul in Y then according to OW rules you are a Premium passenger and can access the Premium lounges.

Thank you. My connecting flight in Y is indeed also on Qatar. Maybe I will just print out the OW lounge rules and try to get into the Al Mourjan ;)

No way OP will have access to AM. He is flying QR on a Y ticket. His status is BA silver. Then he will (only) have access to the Business Class lounge based on his oneworld Sapphire tier.

Run4Fun I entirely agree with you if the flights are Long Haul Y and short haul Y.
But in this case it is arrival in long haul J and departure in short haul Y so the OW rules apply and he has access to Al Mourjan.

The following table tries to explain the application of the rules. If the QR rules apply then it says QR rules. Should this fail then the OW rules are applied. Should this fail then there is No Access.

Long haul J - short haul Y OW rules
Long haul Y – short haul J QR rules
short haul J - Long haul Y no access
Short haul Y – Long haul J QR rules (OW rules also apply)
Long haul J - Long haul J QR rules
Short haul J - short haul J QR rules
Long haul Y - short haul Y No access
Short haul Y – long haul Y No access

First class combinations have been omitted both because it would confuse and because QR already have some unpublished exceptios to these rules.

Hmm, it's getting a bit murky.

Having re-read the above postings wrt OW lounges & access I believe Al Mourjan access will be denied. This is because the OneWorld lounges at HIA are the 'First & Business lounges', not Al Mourjan.

Al Mourjan is for departing OW J pax only & isn't a fully fledged OW lounge. The OP will gain access to the OW lounge only.

Probably.

Wouldn't it be so much more helpful if Qatar Airways could come up with a web page calculator where a traveler could enter flight details and privilege club membership number and access to the relevant lounges would automatically be displayed?

(Mind you, it would probably remove 50% of the discussions on here) :D

Impeymac I agree that Al Mourjan is not available to OW status passengers in Y but OW premium passengers (F and J) have full access.

I understand “Lounge access will be determined on the international long haul ticketed flight (either First of Business Class) regardless of the ticketed class of travel on the international short haul or domestic flight. “ as meaning that even though departing in Y the passenger is still regarded as a Premium passenger departing in J for lounge access and thus has access to Al Mourjan (Premium lounge). As far as I can see he would not automatically have access to the OW (status) lounges. They require OW status.

I also find it strange that short haul Y then long haul J gives automatic access but Long haul J then short haul Y does not. This is surely what the OW rule is trying to alleviate.

As you know I have maintained that it is the departure class that governs lounge access but here is an exception to that (unwritten?) rule.

I agree entirely with your idea. It would solve many problems.
However
1) IT would not be interested in doing it because it does not have enough 'Bells' and 'Whistles' to show what they think they know.
2) Because of all the exceptions to the rules it would be very cumbersome and unreliable in use.

That's fair comment, but Al Mourjan is not a full OW lounge, it has restricted access rules like the BA CCR at LHR. I believe the rules you have correctly identified apply to the specific OW lounges at HIA, not Al Mourjan.

He's a BA Silver & therefore can access the OW Business lounge before his Y flight to AUH.