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Bits: Lloyds response to our fraud claims, BA changing the policy on children in lounges?

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News in brief:

Lloyds response to our card fraud claims

Our article yesterday on card fraud on the Lloyds Avios Rewards credit card got traction, being picked up by Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’, The Telegraph (read their article here), The Register (read their article here) and thisismoney.co.uk (read their article here) among others.

Thank you to the readers who responded to media enquiries.

For completeness, this is the statement that Lloyds issued yesterday:

“A very small number of Lloyds Bank Avios Rewards American Express credit card customers have been affected by recent fraudulent activity. This has affected less than one percent of customers who hold these cards and we have introduced additional controls to provide further protection.  These controls have been successful in ensuring that fraudulent transactions are identified and declined.  We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused. Impacted customers will receive a full refund of monies that have been taken fraudulently.”

British Airways considering changing their policy on children in lounges

BA runs an ‘invite only’ panel of regular flyers where it occasionally asks for suggestions on topics of interest.

The latest topic is, without a doubt, going to inflame passions both ways:

“BA is looking at the idea of allowing Gold members (and above) permission to bring in all of their children into BA lounges.  Before this is decided, BA want to hear from you about what impact this may / may not have on your experiences.”

One of the options below is whether this policy should be restricted to Galleries Club and not to Galleries First, ie Gold card holders would need to ‘downgrade’ to the Galleries Club lounge in order to bring in their children.

I am for this idea, for what it’s worth.  Not because I have kids of my own – we are usually in premium cabins anyway and so I can get them in regardless of status – but because it addresses a big problem for BA.

In general, most frequent flyers are more concerned about their privileges when flying with their family.  I have pushed Avios on numerous occasions to consider increasing the number of guaranteed Club World seats to four per flight, not two, because BA’s core middle and senior level professional corporate customers are highly likely to have family.  Regular flyers who cannot find Avios availability to fly their family on holiday in the same premium cabins they fly themselves for work are unlikely to be happy.

Some of the smaller hotel chains have addressed this with ‘guaranteed at booking’ suite upgrades for top customers.  They know that you are less bothered about a suite upgrade on a quick overnight business stay but very bothered about a suite upgrade on a weekend away with your partner.  Allowing elites to lock in the upgrade a couple of times a year when booking is a very powerful tool.

The dynamics are different for airlines, but anything that makes it easier for BA’s most valuable customers to feel equally valued when travelling with their family is likely to go down well.

If it really got messy over the summer, one solution would be to allocate one of two Galleries Club lounges in Terminal 5A as the family lounge and block children entirely from the other one ……

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (109)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Jean Baird says:
    18 Nov18 November 08:34

    I tried to use the BA lounge recently with my Daughter and granddaughter aged 5 who isvery quite orderly and well mannered it is ridiculous that we could not travel in comfort together with the use of the lounge. I agree with the comment about people on phones shouting and letting everyone know their business and where they are and where they are going, why not have a separate sectioned off area for them, put them in a box like the smokers. Most lounges have a children’s section and this could be easily managed.

  • vindaloo says:
    18 Nov18 November 08:41

    I’ve weighed in on too many “kids in lounges” fights on FT to want to do so again!

    Regarding the credit card fraud, the claim of less than 1% being affected seems incredible. How many HfP readers posted comments saying they were affected? And not all readers have the credit card, and not all of those whose cards saw fraudulent activity will have posted comments (I am one such person who didn’t post).

  • Olly says:
    18 Nov18 November 08:43

    I think most people use airport lounges to get away from the hustle and bustle either to do some work or just have a more relaxing experience. When that is negatively affected by noisy children (my experience is children usually being the problem although I did have my first experience of a man watching something on his phone without headphones the other week at LGW) or rowdy/ inconsiderate adults the solution is not a difficult one. A staff member, backed up by T&Cs of entry, advises the cause of the problem, or the guardian if it is children, “I am going to have to ask you to leave the lounge if this continues” Some people just need reminding that they are not the center of the universe or that being a parent involves being responsible for your offspring.

    • Peter K says:
      18 Nov18 November 09:30

      I have to agree with this. The other week at Gatwick I was going to go to the upper level of the club section. I’d not long got up there and was enjoying the extra level of quietness when a family of 5 came up the stairs and it became so noisy I went back down again. There were pained expressions on the faces of the other people who had been there with me as well.
      It’s not children though, it’s adults with no consideration for others that are the real problem.

  • StMcG says:
    18 Nov18 November 08:51

    It’s easy to see both sides of the debate – if you’re travelling with children then of course you’d like to be able to take them into the lounge. As a responsible parent, you’d ensure they were reasonably well behaved and no more of a disturbance than anyone else in the lounge. With the benefit of a few lounges in certain locations, a more family lounge and a no children lounge might keep everyone reasonably happy. And even better, a family zone on aircraft is a great idea. For families and for crew who can focus the different requirements in this area.

    For those flying without children, it might be seen as a bit of an inconvenience but so is disorganised, having to ask for a champagne in the terraces lounge or trying to get one of the hosts attention for a drink in the Concorde Room when they seem intent on ignoring you!

    As a regular flyer without children it would be a little annoying to me if families of any size were admitted whilst I was only allowed one or two guests (depending on status). It would mean a lot if perhaps a couple of extra companion vouchers were issued with the gold or silver renewal so that on the very odd occasion that you might be travelling with a group of friends, you might be able to extend an invitation once or twice a year for one or two others to join. A nice gesture which would probably only be used rarely but gives an extra little perk which ensures those who don’t have families aren’t disadvantaged.

    Just a thought!

  • Malcolm says:
    18 Nov18 November 08:52

    From reading the comments on here there is one thing that’s clear – we all should be a bit more tolerant and considerate of one another. This goes for adults and children alike.

  • Tracey says:
    18 Nov18 November 09:09

    Will this extend to adult children?

  • kt1974 says:
    18 Nov18 November 09:13

    Puh-lease. Not more discriminatory practises against non-families. The pointless Amex 2 for 1 benefit is bad enough… And I thought there were already 4 redemption seats available on each flight. In Economy.
    Suggestion: 4 accompanying guest passes a year. You can use them for your sprogs. I can use them for my friends/parents/whatever. End.

    • Gingernut says:
      18 Nov18 November 11:06

      Discriminatory policy for non parents was my point exactly on BAFutureLab yesterday. Also pointed out I would feel less valued as a gold card holder than someone who happens to have children. For me it would be yet another reason to switch loyalty to another airline

  • Tilly says:
    18 Nov18 November 09:14

    I’m concerned about space. Can barely find somewhere to sit as it already is in the galleries lounge at T5.

    Interesting reading everyone’s comments.

    Some kids are ok as they’re quiet and just sit in one spot, others run riot and need to be controlled. Adults can equally be as bad when they’re talking loud on phones or not using headphones when watching things on their devices. For me, yes those things are irritating but all i want really in a lounge is a clean spot, a seat and a nice cup of tea without felling like I’m in a zoo.

    I’m off to buy a lottery ticket so i can win big and afford that private jet 😉

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