Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

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

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

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 now that British Airways has moved to Gatwick South. Vueling, Aer Lingus and airBaltic also use that terminal and British Airways has its impressive lounge complex (click for our review) which is well worth a visit.

Note that if you are flying Vueling from Heathrow, you will be in Terminal 2 where British Airways does not have a lounge.  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 BA lounge access when flying Vueling, airBaltic, Loganair or Aer Lingus, when the flight has a BA flight number and was ticketed by British Airways.  I believe that you can bring a guest if they are travelling on the same flight, except ….

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 London.  In Scotland you have the lounges at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

A British Airways Gold cardholder does NOT get BA lounge access when flying Vueling, airBaltic, Lognair 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.  If you are a BA Gold, be careful where you book your ticket 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 since this is Northern Ireland and not Ireland.

Flying from Ireland to the UK?

It gets even more complex.  Inbound, this deal only applies to flights to London.

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.

Yes …. complicated, I know!

Comments (84)

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

  • Damien says:

    Can you check that Aer Lingus Belfast thing. Just I’ve been in this lounge loads of times with my old BA Silver.

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:

      Same here, both as silver and gold. I’m not sure of the guest situation though. Back when T2 first opened was the only time I tried to guest someone on the LHR-BHD route. I was told then (silver at the time) that I wasn’t allowed a guest.

  • YH says:

    Flying Vueling in a few hours from LGW – my understanding was that even as a Gold I’m not able to bring a guest into the lounge. Will give it a go anyway and report back!

    • James Sutton says:

      Yes please! V interested to hear your experience. I’ll be trying the same on Friday. Good luck!

      • SamG says:

        I imagine that LGW are up to speed on the Vueling rules considering how many flights operate from there now

  • vol says:

    Informative article thanks

    They should make this clear on the website somewhere – someone flying BA or business plus for the first time without status might not be aware of these finer nuances.

    I imagine this causes disappointment in some cases and an exchange of words in others

    Are these rules always enforced?

    • Dubious says:

      “disappointment in some cases” I remember some years ago before my BA status got me into lounges and before CE on domestics. I had an expensive last minute BA ticket in ‘Business UK’ from Glasgow – even that wasn’t good enough to get into the lounge, much to my disappointment.

  • Neil says:

    Very interesting!
    I flew out of Gatwick South yesterday, on a Vueling flight which i purchased from BA. I am a silver card holder and got access to the lounge. They even let me bring a guest (which I know is a normal silver perk)
    Maybe I was just lucky!

  • SydneySwan says:

    ”Even some lounge agents don’t understand them.” Surely the ”even” is completely unnecessary!

  • Chris H says:

    I recently booked Manchester to Dublin to Toronto and paid an extra couple hundred for a BA Code in order to get Avios and Tier Points and really hoped my Silver card would get me access due to it being a BA Code. Shame!

  • David says:

    Yes please Rob to the separate article that answers your (different) questions at the start above.

    • Alex says:

      That is not a BA own lounge though?

      • Points Hound says:

        Yes they are.

        In relation to the questions asked at the start of the article, the BA lounges in Edinburgh and Heathrow are BA’s own lounges, as are the ones in Aberdeen and Glasgow which the article also points out further down.

  • Colin Thames says:

    +1 definitely!

    Is the lack of access because these three airlines aren’t proper members of Oneworld? No wonder lounge agents are confused.

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

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.