Blogger denied entry to United Club (issue with LX "BP")
Jul 6, 2021, 12:16 pm
#106
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: LAX
Programs: UA
Posts: 120
Not sure what the point of this is. OP had a separate Swiss ticket and was not flying United. I can give you endless example of verifiably being checked in on a flight and not being provided a BP until ID and/or other document(s) checked . Let's stick to the OP's situation.
From earlier post: "UA's internal guides reference "proof of same-day travel" not a boarding pass or barcode as being required for lounge access".
So, if you fly UA to SFO, have a connecting *A flight in 4 hours for which you have no BP, but proof of same-day travel, you'd be happy to sit outside the Polaris Lounge for an a hour, exiting and re-clearing security after the *A airline counter opens? That's probably fine with everyone inside.
Again - being checked in and getting boarding passes are two separate things. And, yes, having to go through the trouble to wait for the Swiss counter to open, exit and re-clear security, in order to provide an idiot-proof BP to an incompetent agent would have avoided the problem. So, the onus is on us to avoid any challenge to the most minimal understanding of the rules, no matter how troublesome it can be. That's great customer service.
So, if you fly UA to SFO, have a connecting *A flight in 4 hours for which you have no BP, but proof of same-day travel, you'd be happy to sit outside the Polaris Lounge for an a hour, exiting and re-clearing security after the *A airline counter opens? That's probably fine with everyone inside.
Again - being checked in and getting boarding passes are two separate things. And, yes, having to go through the trouble to wait for the Swiss counter to open, exit and re-clear security, in order to provide an idiot-proof BP to an incompetent agent would have avoided the problem. So, the onus is on us to avoid any challenge to the most minimal understanding of the rules, no matter how troublesome it can be. That's great customer service.
Last edited by alwaysflyingLA; Jul 6, 2021 at 12:45 pm
Jul 6, 2021, 12:37 pm
#107
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 2,531
The United image posted above says "you are not checked in".
OP said they were checked in on Swiss, just didn't have a boarding pass. You can be checked in and not have a boarding pass for a variety of reasons -- no seat assignment, etc.
As far as I'm aware there's no T-60 deadline to receive a boarding pass, just to check in.
BUT, it's pretty clear what is and what isn't a boarding pass. A boarding pass is the document that allows you to board the plane. If you can't get on the plane with the document in your hand, it's not a boarding pass, even if it gets you past security or into some lounges.
OP said they were checked in on Swiss, just didn't have a boarding pass. You can be checked in and not have a boarding pass for a variety of reasons -- no seat assignment, etc.
As far as I'm aware there's no T-60 deadline to receive a boarding pass, just to check in.
BUT, it's pretty clear what is and what isn't a boarding pass. A boarding pass is the document that allows you to board the plane. If you can't get on the plane with the document in your hand, it's not a boarding pass, even if it gets you past security or into some lounges.
Jul 6, 2021, 12:46 pm
#108
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,461
IMO, the Swiss document in question isn't a boarding pass, at least to the eyes of United's lounge agents.
It is not analogous to "UA's document-check sticker or DOCS OK stamp" on a barcoded boarding pass. It's more like United's "Airport check-in required" printout. On United's version, it clearly states it is not a boarding pass.
But I mostly agree with others' comments about UA @ SFO.
Pre-Covid, I did get admissions to a number of lounges with only flight confirmations, i.e., both ANA lounges and UA Club at NRT. YMMV.
img
It is not analogous to "UA's document-check sticker or DOCS OK stamp" on a barcoded boarding pass. It's more like United's "Airport check-in required" printout. On United's version, it clearly states it is not a boarding pass.
But I mostly agree with others' comments about UA @ SFO.
Pre-Covid, I did get admissions to a number of lounges with only flight confirmations, i.e., both ANA lounges and UA Club at NRT. YMMV.
img
Again - IMO the Swiss document isn't a boarding pass. I am not commenting on how UA or its agents operationalize, interpret, or enforce the published requirement of having "a boarding pass." I quoted earlier comments comparing this Swiss doc as a "United's doc ok stamp." I respectfully disagree. This Swiss doc is equivalent to UA's "This is not a boarding pass" document. Well, this is just my interpretation. If the doc did say "boarding pass" on it, I would take my words back.
The United image posted above says "you are not checked in".
OP said they were checked in on Swiss, just didn't have a boarding pass. You can be checked in and not have a boarding pass for a variety of reasons -- no seat assignment, etc.
As far as I'm aware there's no T-60 deadline to receive a boarding pass, just to check in.
BUT, it's pretty clear what is and what isn't a boarding pass. A boarding pass is the document that allows you to board the plane. If you can't get on the plane with the document in your hand, it's not a boarding pass, even if it gets you past security or into some lounges.
OP said they were checked in on Swiss, just didn't have a boarding pass. You can be checked in and not have a boarding pass for a variety of reasons -- no seat assignment, etc.
As far as I'm aware there's no T-60 deadline to receive a boarding pass, just to check in.
BUT, it's pretty clear what is and what isn't a boarding pass. A boarding pass is the document that allows you to board the plane. If you can't get on the plane with the document in your hand, it's not a boarding pass, even if it gets you past security or into some lounges.
Jul 6, 2021, 1:09 pm
#111
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: LAX
Programs: UA
Posts: 120
Jul 6, 2021, 1:16 pm
#112
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 2,531
Yes, for some flights you need a stamped boarding pass.
If you have a boarding pass that is for a reservation you've cancelled after printing the BP, that won't get you on the plane either.
But you always need a boarding pass. If the document you have is not the type of document that will let you onto a plane, it's not a boarding pass.
If you have a boarding pass that is for a reservation you've cancelled after printing the BP, that won't get you on the plane either.
But you always need a boarding pass. If the document you have is not the type of document that will let you onto a plane, it's not a boarding pass.
Jul 6, 2021, 2:08 pm
#113
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: CT/NY
Programs: UA 1K/1MM, AA EXP, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Plat Amb
Posts: 6,020
Here's an article from Feb 2021: https://www.traveldailynews.com/post...st-requirement
There is a similar notation on Lufthansa's website as well. https://www.lufthansa.com/ch/en/check-in-information
...SWISS is making temporary modifications to its online check-in process. With immediate effect, customers checking in for their flight to Switzerland will not be sent their boarding pass but will receive a confirmation instead. Upon presentation of this confirmation to the check-in agent at their departure airport, they will be issued with their boarding pass, provided they meet all of Switzerland’s new entry requirements.
There is a similar notation on Lufthansa's website as well. https://www.lufthansa.com/ch/en/check-in-information
Jul 6, 2021, 6:32 pm
#114
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: LAS ORD
Programs: AA Pro (mostly B6) OZ♦ (flying BR/UA), BA Silver Hyatt LT, Wynn Black, Cosmo Plat, Mlife Noir
Posts: 5,992
I've been fortunate enough to have been granted access to the PL at SFO with only proof of check-in when connecting to a BR flight (BR being another airline that allows check-in but often does not issue a BP until conformance in the form of documentation check - and typically the last connecting flight on UA that I can take still arrives hours before the BR departure gates are staffed).
Customer service is often about making common-sense exceptions to literal interpretations of published policy in good faith situations - and this is especially applicable when, as in the case of BR at SFO, one of the reasons BR pax have to wait so long nowadays to do conformance is that the SFO PL closed the BR lounge at SFO.
I refuse to accept that it is at all reasonable that a checked-in passenger should have to exit airside, get a BP at the landside counters, and reclear security just to gain access to a lounge. If UA adopts such a nonsensical and moronic position, I'll simply stop flying.
Customer service is often about making common-sense exceptions to literal interpretations of published policy in good faith situations - and this is especially applicable when, as in the case of BR at SFO, one of the reasons BR pax have to wait so long nowadays to do conformance is that the SFO PL closed the BR lounge at SFO.
I refuse to accept that it is at all reasonable that a checked-in passenger should have to exit airside, get a BP at the landside counters, and reclear security just to gain access to a lounge. If UA adopts such a nonsensical and moronic position, I'll simply stop flying.
Jul 6, 2021, 7:16 pm
#115
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,852
I've been fortunate enough to have been granted access to the PL at SFO with only proof of check-in when connecting to a BR flight (BR being another airline that allows check-in but often does not issue a BP until conformance in the form of documentation check - and typically the last connecting flight on UA that I can take still arrives hours before the BR departure gates are staffed).
Customer service is often about making common-sense exceptions to literal interpretations of published policy in good faith situations - and this is especially applicable when, as in the case of BR at SFO, one of the reasons BR pax have to wait so long nowadays to do conformance is that the SFO PL closed the BR lounge at SFO.
I refuse to accept that it is at all reasonable that a checked-in passenger should have to exit airside, get a BP at the landside counters, and reclear security just to gain access to a lounge. If UA adopts such a nonsensical and moronic position, I'll simply stop flying.
Customer service is often about making common-sense exceptions to literal interpretations of published policy in good faith situations - and this is especially applicable when, as in the case of BR at SFO, one of the reasons BR pax have to wait so long nowadays to do conformance is that the SFO PL closed the BR lounge at SFO.
I refuse to accept that it is at all reasonable that a checked-in passenger should have to exit airside, get a BP at the landside counters, and reclear security just to gain access to a lounge. If UA adopts such a nonsensical and moronic position, I'll simply stop flying.
Jul 6, 2021, 7:23 pm
#116
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 4,126
I've been fortunate enough to have been granted access to the PL at SFO with only proof of check-in when connecting to a BR flight (BR being another airline that allows check-in but often does not issue a BP until conformance in the form of documentation check - and typically the last connecting flight on UA that I can take still arrives hours before the BR departure gates are staffed).
Customer service is often about making common-sense exceptions to literal interpretations of published policy in good faith situations - and this is especially applicable when, as in the case of BR at SFO, one of the reasons BR pax have to wait so long nowadays to do conformance is that the SFO PL closed the BR lounge at SFO.
I refuse to accept that it is at all reasonable that a checked-in passenger should have to exit airside, get a BP at the landside counters, and reclear security just to gain access to a lounge. If UA adopts such a nonsensical and moronic position, I'll simply stop flying.
Customer service is often about making common-sense exceptions to literal interpretations of published policy in good faith situations - and this is especially applicable when, as in the case of BR at SFO, one of the reasons BR pax have to wait so long nowadays to do conformance is that the SFO PL closed the BR lounge at SFO.
I refuse to accept that it is at all reasonable that a checked-in passenger should have to exit airside, get a BP at the landside counters, and reclear security just to gain access to a lounge. If UA adopts such a nonsensical and moronic position, I'll simply stop flying.
Jul 6, 2021, 9:04 pm
#117
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton ♦ , Hyatt Carbonado, Wyndham ♦, Marriott PE, "Stinking Bum" elsewhere.
Posts: 4,998
I've been on separate tickets and been allowed access before, more than once. In one case (at ORD), I walked into the Polaris lounge and asked them if I needed to go landside to get a BP for my onward LH flight. They called a senior agent who came out, looked at my intinerary and check-in docs, and told them no, to just admit me to the lounge.
As an aside, separate tickets used to be pretty common for me when I couldn't find domestic saver award inventory to connect to an international itinerary. So, I would pay for a domestic positioning flight on UA and use miles to fly LH F or J internationally.
As an aside, separate tickets used to be pretty common for me when I couldn't find domestic saver award inventory to connect to an international itinerary. So, I would pay for a domestic positioning flight on UA and use miles to fly LH F or J internationally.
Last edited by zombietooth; Jul 6, 2021 at 9:31 pm
Jul 7, 2021, 12:38 am
#118
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: LAS ORD
Programs: AA Pro (mostly B6) OZ♦ (flying BR/UA), BA Silver Hyatt LT, Wynn Black, Cosmo Plat, Mlife Noir
Posts: 5,992
Yes - for my routing, BR conformance would not be necessary on a single ticket. Sorry I didn't make that more clear.
It honestly boggles the mind - as if so many people have never experienced this type of customer service interaction, worked with customers in any capacity, or even read a book about it.
It honestly boggles the mind - as if so many people have never experienced this type of customer service interaction, worked with customers in any capacity, or even read a book about it.
Last edited by gengar; Jul 7, 2021 at 12:46 am
Aug 23, 2021, 7:27 pm
#119
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SFO
Programs: MP AA
Posts: 33
Aug 26, 2021, 3:21 pm
#120
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,852