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After a recent experience where I was told that to gain access to the BA lounge with my BA silver status that I must have that BA club number on my boarding pass (I had my Finnair Plus number on there for a BA flight) to enter, it occurred to me that this situation is similar to accessing the American Airlines Flagship lounge on Miami which presents no problems. I fly AA to Miami a couple of times a year and show them my BA silver status card to access the lounges. Usually the FF flyer number on my boarding pass is the AA one which I have no status with and they give me access with a smile. Can someone tell me why this is different with BA at Gatwick? Maybe I should have just shown my BA silver card at LGW to gain access and not showed them my boarding pass?
After a recent experience where I was told that to gain access to the BA lounge with my BA silver status that I must have that BA club number on my boarding pass (I had my Finnair Plus number on there for a BA flight) to enter, it occurred to me that this situation is similar to accessing the American Airlines Flagship lounge on Miami which presents no problems. I fly AA to Miami a couple of times a year and show them my BA silver status card to access the lounges. Usually the FF flyer number on my boarding pass is the AA one which I have no status with and they give me access with a smile. Can someone tell me why this is different with BA at Gatwick? Maybe I should have just shown my BA silver card at LGW to gain access and not showed them my boarding pass?
You were entitled to enter the Gatwick lounge as you were a Silver (OW Sapphire) member traveling on a OW airline (BA) and as per the OW lounge access policy for Gatwick (https://www.oneworld.com/airport-lounge-results?location=LGW#access-policy) “Emerald and Sapphire members may invite one guest to join them in the lounge. The guest must also be travelling on a flight operated and marketed by a oneworld carrier. You must be prepared to show your boarding pass and frequent flyer membership card, with oneworld Emerald or Sapphire tier status, to access a lounge. Access is available on the day of travel (or before 06:00am the following day), at the airport from which the oneworld flight on which the eligible customer is travelling departs“.
Your boarding card (regardless of the FF number shown) along with your FF Silver card from the BA app entitles your entry.
I used the first wing at Heathrow this week for the first time entering using my Gold card and boarding pass with a non-BA FF number and didn’t encounter an issue. The staff member did ask if I wanted her to change the FF number to my BA one but I just thanked her and declined.
I used the first wing at Heathrow this week for the first time entering using my Gold card and boarding pass with a non-BA FF number and didn’t encounter an issue. The staff member did ask if I wanted her to change the FF number to my BA one but I just thanked her and declined.
That sounds like some sneaky market research right there…. Of course they can track behaviour online, but having a Gold member chasing other status would be interesting to them (esp so early in the year).
as a data point, i used Gatwick’s Gold lounge, despite using my Finnair Plus number on my boarding pass
Thanks for the replies. I guess I should have been more persistent at the desk. What do you do if the person on the desk says no because the the scanner won’t accept the boarding pass? Ask to see a manager? The person at the desk just looked away and said it won’t let you in with that boarding pass and kept scanning it to show me that it didn’t work. Maybe I should email BA about it.
Classic “computer says no”! I would have politely but firmly asked for a second opinion as it’s status and airline which count, not what it says on your BP. At MAN they just do a visual BP check so it’s nonsense to say that a scanner dictates access.
Classic “computer says no”! I would have politely but firmly asked for a second opinion as it’s status and airline which count, not what it says on your BP. At MAN they just do a visual BP check so it’s nonsense to say that a scanner dictates access.
The above may be fine in theory, but it’s not right in reality. If a pax wishes to use one FF programme for benefits and another for points collection there is a process for that and others simply change the FF number after entry to the lounge precisely to avoid this entirely self inflicted problem.
BA or indeed any airline is entitled to determine lounge access by electronic means or the boarding card. It avoids staff allowing their mates in and makes cost allocation easier. Many lounges won’t insist on this but to avoid disappointment or dispute, the pax needs to get the admin right.
If a pax wishes to use one FF programme for benefits and another for points collection there is a process for that.
The pax needs to get the admin right.
Out of interest, what is the process and admin required for the above and where is this documented?
@Points-Hound – it’s documented in the Amadeus manual and any competent airline or travel agent should be able to put the two relevant cards into the PNR. Some airlines are much better at this than others.
Alternatively, as many newly fledged RJ status birds have reported doing successfully, you need to toggle between two FF numbers at the right times, one of which is post lounge entry.
This ‘admin’ wasn’t often very relevant for BAEC passengers until recent times with the RJ hotel status matches and now people transitioning to other OW schemes (where they don’t yet have status) while obviously wishing to retain benefits of currently higher BAC status. Now, getting the ‘admin’ right matters both to avoid potential lounge disappointment and to ensure points credit to the right scheme. The latter can sometimes be reversed, but it’s rarely easy. We will surely read of more sorry tales on both fronts.
It’s not the OP’s problem that BA staff might contravene the rules. This could happen anywhere and yet there are plenty of lounges which allow access via digital membership card (DOH is another). One is either entitled the use the lounge or not – there is nothing in BA’s Ts & Cs to say what needs to appear on a BP. It’s ridiculous to say that it’s fine to have different rules in place at different lounges.
It’s not the OP’s problem that BA staff might contravene the rules. This could happen anywhere and yet there are plenty of lounges which allow access via digital membership card (DOH is another). One is either entitled the use the lounge or not – there is nothing in BA’s Ts & Cs to say what needs to appear on a BP. It’s ridiculous to say that it’s fine to have different rules in place at different lounges.
The issue is that there simply aren’t any absolute rules, lounge entry always remains at the discretion of staff and in the instance cited above by the OP, the BA lounge staff followed their instructions correctly. There was no contravention of any rule.
You refer to digital membership cards, but these would commonly be checked in conjunction with boarding cards because they too have relevance to lounge eligibility. The reality is that there are different policies or rules, applied differently in different locations beyond any official carve outs.
All this talk of grandstanding, quoting of ‘rules’ or ‘entitlement’ or seeking a ‘second opinion’ is no substitute for providing the right documentation when required. We have all seen these people who think they are asking “politely but firmly”, or in reality insisting/lecturing/demanding/hectoring and how staff and other waiting passengers respond.
You say there’s nothing in BA’s T&Cs stating what needs to appear on a boarding pass, but that’s such a red herring. There are anyway IATA requirements for what must appear on an e-ticket or boarding pass. BA’s Conditions of Carriage and the BAC terms understandably don’t cover this either way as they don’t cover a whole raft of rules, policies and procedures which you probably often rely upon in your favour. Is there an absolute rule that a digital membership card trumps a digital boarding card?
here are some rules for eligibility at BA lounges… so the staff have no reason to deny a BA Gold/Silver being refused because they aren’t using that FF# on the boarding pass. Simply show the your status and according to the link below, you’re fine…
https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/lounges/businessno mention of boarding passes, whatsoever
Mmmm. No one was grandstanding, I was far too embarrassed for that thanks!
Isn’t the point of the club being “entitled” to some benefits? I wasn’t sneakily trying to get something extra out of BA. I earned my tier points from my own hard earned cash spent with BA last year and now I want something back from them. I thought that was the deal? If I flew enough with BA, then I get access to the lounge when flying with BA or Oneworld. Nowhere does it say that you have to have your FF number attached to your booking for access.
If there is a process/documentation needed then the customer service representative at the desk should have helped me sort it out and explained what I needed to do to enter the lounge as per BA’s eligibility statement on the website.
I think I will BA about it and ask them what documentation is required and complain about what happened. I wasn’t that bothered about it because my partner got me in to the lounge, but I am now.@ayearinmx – yes, we all know there are so called “rules” applying to oneworld benefits as there are “rules” for some hotel status benefits saying you will get an upgrade subject to availability etc. Thry aren’t really rules in the traditional sense of the word, but more guidelines. The “rules” may or may not get you anywhere and seeking to rely on those isn’t at all good advice or a good policy vs having the easily obtained right documentation in the first place. Once you start feeling the need to spout rules at the lounge staff, it’s not clever. Why complicate ones life and create an embarrassing scene for everyone?
@mattymoo – I’m sorry if it came across as suggesting you were grandstanding but it was in fact others others in this thread who were suggesting upbraiding the staff by seeking a “second opinion” or telling them “politely but firmly” (we all know what that’s actually going to sound like to a staff member or passengers waiting behind) or your “Silver card from the BA app entitles your entry” (‘entitlement’ never sounds good) etc. You say nowhere does it say you need to have your BA FF number attached to your boarding card but equally nowhere does it say you don’t. It’s sort of fairly obvious. There is a way of doing it right provided for in airline systems which would have avoided the issue you encountered. For better or worse, much discretion has been removed from airline staff and you met an automated decision making process that acted correctly.yes, the right documentation is your BAC status on your phone (wherever)… because that’s all you need. You keep talking about not having rules, but apparently ‘your’ made up rules and advice are the right ones
yes, the right documentation is your BAC status on your phone (wherever)… because that’s all you need. You keep talking about not having rules, but apparently ‘your’ made up rules and advice are the right ones
I have neither made up any rules, nor proffered advice beyond using the FF system properly and as envisaged. The advice offered by you and @NorthernLass to wave the ‘rules’ at staff (when they aren’t even rules, a word you both erroneously use) is highly likely but unnecessarily to result from time to time in disappointment and or embarrassment.
So how are we supposed to read the unqualified list of cardholders who BA welcomes into its lounges @JDB? At the very least, BA is being disingenuous in its website marketing. Most likely the lounge staff just made stuff up on the spot. We will never know whether that’s true or just speculation though.
Where it’s been tricky in my experience is showing a BAC gold card at a 3rd party lounge but ticket is economy and FF no. From another OW Is only showing a lower status.. one can’t expect their busy check in staff to know the intricacies of OW policies
I just got my PP card out which solved that problem.Where it’s been tricky in my experience is showing a BAC gold card at a 3rd party lounge but ticket is economy and FF no. From another OW Is only showing a lower status.. one can’t expect their busy check in staff to know the intricacies of OW policies
The admission policy is on the OneWorld website, an alliance which BA chooses to be a member of.
You must be prepared to show your boarding pass and frequent flyer membership card, with oneworld Emerald or Sapphire tier status, to access a lounge
It’s not really an “intricacy” IMO, staff should ask for boarding card to show flying OneWorld, and, if required, the evidence of status via a membership card. This is hardly a monumental training task. If you sit firmly inside those rules and are denied access I’d definitely complain. I may have to put this to the test in a few weeks, as I’m flying in economy, crediting to Alaskan, but hold BA Silver.
Having two different statuses on different FFPs on the same booking? — yes, I’d call that an intricacy.
Where it’s been tricky in my experience is showing a BAC gold card at a 3rd party lounge but ticket is economy and FF no. From another OW Is only showing a lower status.. one can’t expect their busy check in staff to know the intricacies of OW policies
I just got my PP card out which solved that problem.A third party lounge will want to get paid which means they can’t just let you in by glancing at your BA card, in the way that BA lounges are sometimes not bothered.
The LGW lounge staff do seem to be very serious about applying (what they perceive to be) the rules. I once encountered one staff member absolutely convinced that Gold could only take a guest into the J lounge and not the F – even as his colleague on the other computer was granting F entry to another Gold with a guest. Took a bit of persuasion before he would deign to check with his colleague, who told him to look at the manual, after which he did apologise and thanked me for correcting his misconception.
The F lounge at LGW is like a morgue most of the time…!
Where it’s been tricky in my experience is showing a BAC gold card at a 3rd party lounge but ticket is economy and FF no. From another OW Is only showing a lower status.. one can’t expect their busy check in staff to know the intricacies of OW policies
The admission policy is on the OneWorld website, an alliance which BA chooses to be a member of.
You must be prepared to show your boarding pass and frequent flyer membership card, with oneworld Emerald or Sapphire tier status, to access a lounge
It’s not really an “intricacy” IMO, staff should ask for boarding card to show flying OneWorld, and, if required, the evidence of status via a membership card. This is hardly a monumental training task. If you sit firmly inside those rules and are denied access I’d definitely complain. I may have to put this to the test in a few weeks, as I’m flying in economy, crediting to Alaskan, but hold BA Silver.
Having two different statuses on different FFPs on the same booking? — yes, I’d call that an intricacy.
I fully understand what you are saying and you are not exactly wrong, but you are falling into the trap that some others on this thread have fallen, namely that the OW benefits are bound by some immutable rules that confer absolute access entitlement to a status passenger but that simply isn’t the case. This is why some of the above posts about waving the ‘rules’ at staff are so hideously unattractive. Staff should not be criticised or hounded for correctly applying the rules, even if the passenger finds that highly inconvenient.
There are some stated access guidelines (and that’s what they are, not rules or absolutes) and these guidelines are administered by a range of staff working for airlines (which might or might not be OW airlines), airports or third party lounge operators and they have wide discretion as to who to admit, who to deny entry to or to determine that the lounge is full etc. There are some official carveouts, some OW airlines protect access to lounges (or sections thereof) for passengers on their own flights at the expense of others and so on. There is an increased move towards automated access decision making, precisely because the access guidelines are complicated. BA does require you to have the correct boarding card for entry so even if many lounge reception staff will permit access on the basis of membership, nobody has a legitimate complaint if they don’t and we will no doubt see many more access refusals as people transition to other schemes.
As noted above by @John , having a boarding card showing the correct status permitting access by a BP scan matters because that’s how airlines or other operators evidence passenger access and get paid.
There are other OW benefits which aren’t uniformly applied (as I think some have discovered using RJ status with AA or AS) such as free seat selection which is decided “in accordance with the individual policy of the oneworld airline operating the flight“.
@jdb is right in that when you enter a lounge someone has to pay, and it’s when you swipe boarding card info is submitted to determine who pays
Say it’s BA metal but OW codeshare available
BA ticket , BA FF number obvious BA pays
Finnair Ticket , Finnair FF number silver and above obvious Finnair pays
BA ticket , Finnair FF silver and above, Finnair paysBA ticket, Finnair FF number below silver, BA won’t pay you’re economy, Finnair won’t pay you don’t have status. No entry
The system is not setup for mixed FF and ticket, staff can’t overwrite it.
…BA require you to have the correct boarding card for entry…
Is this just implied or is it explicitly written down somewhere? If so, where?
…BA require you to have the correct boarding card for entry…
Is this just implied or is it explicitly written down somewhere? If so, where?
It’s implied in the OW guidelines but written down explicitly in the BAC terms and conditions at 10.2:-
10.2. Members must produce their membership card and/or a boarding card or ticket (where their membership number and tier are clearly visible) before they can be admitted to a lounge. If a member is unable to produce either of these items, this may result in not being invited into the lounge. Anyone under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by a responsible adult when using a lounge. Local laws relating to the consumption of alcohol will apply.
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