*A Lounge access
 

Hi All

As a lowly NZ Airpoints silver member is there anyway to gain access to *A international lounges? I'm planning a small RTW which should push me up to *A Gold on completion, which would of course allow me into *A Gold lounges but isnt much good while I'm actually doing the RTW.

Specifically I will have a 5 hour stopover in Toronto which I would like to spend in a nice comfy lounge.

Welcome to FT, WGTN1!

The only options I can think of for getting into the lounges as a *S are

1. Purchase a Business or First Class ticket,
2. Buy a lounge membership, or
3. Find a friend who can bring you in as a guest.

- perhaps a polite request to Air Canada Customer Services ?

- or buy a pass off E-bay

Welcome to FT WGTN1!
If you buy your RTW ticket in business class or first class you will get lounge access based on class of service, if you fly economy class you will not be entitled to lounge access.

Perhaps you can contact Air NZ member service and ask them if they would consider giving you the gold card before you leave if you can prove that your itinerary will indeed qualify you for gold and the ticket already has been paid.
I wouldn't count on it, but nothing to lose.

Otherwise you may want to consider applying for a Priority Pass which will give you lounge access at airports all over the world irrespective of airline and class of travel.

Welcome to FT WGTN1 :)

mahasamatman has the answers. If you post dates & times it is possible someone on FT can help.

Knowing NZ, most unlikely. However if WGTN1 still has the airpoints silver complimentary lounge card that is good for a one-time lounge access at a koru club - depends on your itinerary as to which one would be best for you.

Already a Koru member so will have access to all NZ International Koru's anyway, this solves most problems but as I say am going to be stuck in YYZ for 5 hours.

From mahasamatman:

1) Not practical, dont have the cash
2) This might be a goer, how do I do this?
3) Unfortunatly traveling alone, I do have *A Gold friends thou, I guess its a bad idea to flash someone elses card in a security restricted area (ie airside)

2) Either buy a maple leaf lounge membership (likely hundreds of $) or priority pass (also hundreds of $). I'm not sure if MLL has day pass options.

3) Borrowing someone else's gold card to use is a bad idea. If they compare name on card with name on boarding pass you could find your friend's account gets terminated (and you'd be denied use of the lounge). However if another traveller (or FTer) was flying the same time & date as you and able to bring in guests (eg flying in F on *A or a *G member) then you might be able to be guested in.

No idea about MapleLeaf, however PriorityPass std is 99Eur/year + 24 Eur/visit to a lounge. I'm *G and various other things that give lounge access, but still keep a PP (std+) around since it's quite handy ;)

MLL lounge membership is ~400 CAD and not worth it for one visit, although the lounges in YYZ (and in general) are excellent. The Priority Pass lounges at YYZ are in Terminal 3 (AA and KLM lounges). The OP will be in Terminal 1. MLL does not have day pass options except via lounge certificates that its own Elites can give as gifts.

Better value for $$ could be a UA RCC membership, which would give the OP access to *G lounges throughout his entire RTW, although it costs 500 USD.

YYZ T1 is brand new and not exceedingly unpleasant. For a single 5h layover you can sit in a bar or a cafe with a book and do perfectly well.

gaining access to Lounges
 

If you have a 5 hr. layover in YYZ then you need
the Priority Pass. In YYZ you can go to the KLM
lounge in T3.
try prioritypass.com
dbase