Do you get BA lounge access flying codeshares on Vueling, Aer Lingus, Loganair or airBaltic?

Do you get British Airways lounge access on codeshare flights, such as with Vueling, Aer Lingus, Loganair or airBaltic?

British Airways lounge access policies are, on the face of it, straightforward.  You get access if you are flying in Business or First Class or have a Silver or Gold card or equivalent oneworld status.

The devil is in the detail ….

Can you get lounge access in Edinburgh if flying economy to connect to a Club World flight?  Does it make a difference if the Club World flight is tomorrow and not the same day?  Do you get lounge access at Heathrow on the way to Edinburgh in economy if you just came off a Club World long haul?  How about if you came off a Finnair Business Class short haul?

(I’m not going to answer these questions, but I might do a separate article!)

Today I wanted to look at whether you are allowed access to British Airways lounges if you are flying on a BA non-oneworld partner?  This means an airline with whom BA has a codeshare relationship, such as – from the UK – Vueling, Loganair, Aer Lingus or airBaltic.

This is a situation which comes up frequently ever since British Airways moved to Gatwick South from Gatwick North.  Vueling and airBaltic (to Riga) also use that terminal and British Airways has its impressive lounge complex (click for our review) which is well worth a visit. Aer Lingus no longer flies from Gatwick.

Note that if you are flying Vueling from Heathrow, you will be in Terminal 4 where British Airways does not have a lounge.  The same goes for Loganair which uses Terminal 2. You can stop reading now ….

Getting lounge access on British Airways codeshare flights

Imagine ….

• you book an economy flight on ba.com

• …. with a British Airways flight number …..

• …. but which in the small print says ‘operated by Vueling / airBaltic / Loganair / Aer Lingus’

…… should you get lounge access, assuming you have British Airways elite status and are departing from an airport where BA has a lounge?

Logically, you would think you should.  In practice, it is complicated.

For reasons no-one really knows, these are the rules.  Even some lounge agents don’t understand them.

• A British Airways Gold cardholder DOES get access to a British Airways-branded lounge when flying Vueling, airBaltic, Loganair or Aer Lingus, when the flight has a BA flight number and was ticketed by British Airways.  No guests are allowed.

• A British Airways Gold cardholder does NOT get lounge access when flying Vueling, airBaltic, Loganair or Aer Lingus if the lounge is not directly operated by British Airways.  Remember that British Airways has no other lounges in England outside of Heathrow and Gatwick.  In Scotland you have lounges at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

• A British Airways Gold cardholder does NOT get BA lounge access when flying Vueling, airBaltic, Loganair or Aer Lingus if the flight does not have a BA flight number or was not ticketed by British Airways

• A British Airways Silver cardholder does NOT get BA lounge access when flying Vueling, airBaltic, Loganair or Aer Lingus, even when the flight has a BA flight number and was ticketed by British Airways

Bottom line – forget lounge access on a British Airways codeshare flight if you are not a British Airways Gold card holder. Even then, you need to be at an airport where there is a BA-branded lounge.

If you are a BA Gold, be careful where you book your ticket (the number needs to start 125-) and whether a BA flight number (eg BA1234) is shown on your booking.

Flying Aer Lingus from Heathrow Terminal 2

There is an extra quirk to this if you are flying Aer Lingus from Heathrow.  As Aer Lingus is based in Terminal 2, there is not a British Airways lounge you can use.

Aer Lingus DOES have a very pleasant lounge of its own, however, as I reviewed here.

The rule is that British Airways Silver or Gold cardholders can use the Aer Lingus lounge at Heathrow when flying to Ireland.

Your ticket does NOT need to be issued by British Airways and it does NOT need to be a BA codeshare.  If you have BA status, even a super-cheap ticket booked on aerlingus.com will do the job.

This does NOT include the Belfast route (if it restarts – it is currently suspended) since this is Northern Ireland and not Ireland.

Flying Aer Lingus from Ireland

It gets even more complex.  Inbound, the arrangement above – letting a BA Gold or Silver member use Aer Lingus lounges – only applies to flights from Dublin to London Heathrow.

If you fly from Dublin to, say, Manchester you will not get Aer Lingus lounge access in Dublin with a British Airways Gold or Silver card.

Similarly, if you fly from Shannon or Cork to London Heathrow, you will not get Aer Lingus lounge access in Shannon or Cork with a British Airways Gold or Silver card.

Yes …. complicated, I know!