New MXP regulations- I'm miffed!
Jul 25, 2005, 3:43 am
#1
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New MXP regulations- I'm miffed!
Effective sometime within the last couple of weeks, you are not allowed to cross over from Area B to Area A unless you're in possession of a Boarding Pass for Area A. In practice this means that you can't use the more spacious Alitalia Caravaggio lounge or the very quiet AF one. Which means that, whenever flying Skyteam outside Schengen and unless you are flying to PRG (OK have an arrangement for the Aeroporti Di Milano lounge), you're stuck with the always crowded Boticelli. Also the only wireless internet available here (AZ's computers have been dead for quite some time now 
) costs 6,50 Euros per hour as opposed to the Telecom Italia price of 3 Euros! Not happy. 
) costs 6,50 Euros per hour as opposed to the Telecom Italia price of 3 Euros! Not happy.
Jul 26, 2005, 7:21 am
#3
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Originally Posted by slawecki
If I have an international biz class ticket on AZ, can I use the AF lounge?
If you 're flying business class and don't have elite status, you can only enter the lounge of the airline you're travelling with.
If you are flying business class as a Skyteam Elite, you are allowed to enter any Skyteam lounge.
If you're a Skyteam Elite Plus, you can get into any Skyteam lounge irrespective of class of service (as long as it's international).
AF flights from MXP are, of course, international. Therefore, as per Skyteam rules, you are allowed to go to any lounge. But these flights also happen to be domestic in the sense that they require no passport control (both Italy and France are Schengen treaty members). Consequently, they depart from the Schengen part of the airport, which is where the AF lounge is located. That part of the airport cannot accessed by anyone not holding a valid boarding card to a Schengen destination.
Short answer: You are welcome to enter the AF lounge, but you have to be flying AZ (or AFKL) internationally within Schengen. The AF lounge is absolutely nothing special in terms of facilities (no showers or computers), but it tends to be very quiet and it's self-service so you can treat yourself to that sixth glass of red without getting too embarassed or bugging the barwoman too much.