Dob in a dragon!

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juddles

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G´day there all,

a small ¨first world¨ issue I have is with the lack of training of those dear folk that control entry to lounges. The beloved ¨lounge dragons¨¨.

Surely it is not a difficult job. These people should be experts at eligibilty, etc. If it takes more than a few hours to teach the rules for entry, I would be amazed.

But perhaps airlines are guilty of not clarifying their hazy rules? Leaving staff to sink or swim, or enforce unpopular enhancements?

In any case, I hoped that if people could share their experiences here, it gives some focal point for where the issues lie. And it gives airlines the opportunity to see and resolve small issues that affect their ¨most valued¨ customers.

So any perceived difficulties with lounge staff - please share your experience!!
 
friends and family have constantly had problems with flying first class on UA and thai and accessing the SQF lounge in Sydney.
I usually get them to download the access requirements on the star site and demand access. many have still been turned away. its rediculous
and try to ask at checkin for access they demand you go to the air NZ dump. they bully so bad many of my friends arent game to go to the SQ lounge.
I have always gained access most time with reluctence but I dont really care as it is an entitlement I want to use it.
they just need to not be so precious.
 
Surely it is not a difficult job. These people should be experts at eligibilty, etc. If it takes more than a few hours to teach the rules for entry, I would be amazed.

Actually I would say it would be a very difficult job. You need to be able to say no / handle people who have absolutely no right to be in the lounge (eg the non-FFer flying discount Y who is not a guest / bothering actual real guests begging for entry) who are edging for free entry. You would need to be able to decipher rules that do change from time to time, and since communities like this exist to share loopholes in access policies, you need to be able to make on the fly judgement calls on access on fringe cases. Plus you'd have the cases where people are trying to overstep their guest limit.

Furthermore, not only are you dealing with the general public, each person who approaches you is potentially (and often more than likely) the the cream of the crop in terms of VIP flyers as far as the airline is concerned and until you have accessed their credentials you are not exactly sure what their status is with the airline.

Whilst there are certainly dragons out there, I would not say it's an easy job.
 
friends and family have constantly had problems with flying first class on UA and thai and accessing the SQF lounge in Sydney.
I usually get them to download the access requirements on the star site and demand access. many have still been turned away. its rediculous
and try to ask at checkin for access they demand you go to the air NZ dump. they bully so bad many of my friends arent game to go to the SQ lounge.
I have always gained access most time with reluctence but I dont really care as it is an entitlement I want to use it.
they just need to not be so precious.
I'm glad I saw your post , my wife & I have a TG SYD-BKK in F in January , it would be nice to try the SQ lounge .
I checked the star site , one of the access req says "must be a revenue customer" , ours is a USDM award , would we still have access ?
 
in a word YES
down the bottom it says
Type of Eligible Customers



  • Eligible guests: International First, Star Alliance Gold and Eligible Paid Lounge Membership customers are entitled to one guest
  • The guest must enter the designated lounge with the eligible customer
  • The guest must also present a boarding pass for any Star Alliance flight departing from the local airport
  • International First Class customers: Customers travelling with a boarding pass for a Star Alliance flight in International First Class departing from the local airport
  • International Business Class customers: Customers travelling with a boarding pass for a Star Alliance flight in International Business Class departing from the local airport
  • Domestic First Class customers: Customers travelling with a boarding pass for a Star Alliance flight in Domestic First Class departing from the local airport
  • Domestic Business Class customers: Customers travelling with a boarding pass for a Star Alliance flight in Domestic Business Class departing from the local airport
  • Star Alliance Gold customers: Customers holding valid proof of their Star Alliance Gold level status
  • Eligible Paid Lounge Membership Customers: Some of the Star Alliance member carriers have Paid Lounge Membership Programmes included in the Star Alliance Lounge Access Policy. These include members of United Club, Air Canada Maple Leaf Club - Worldwide .


Others



  • Star Alliance flight: Flights operated under the two letter code of a Star Alliance member carrier
  • Boarding pass for a Star Alliance flight: Boarding pass must display the two letter code for a Star Alliance member carrier operated flight departing from that airport
  • Revenue ticket/customer: All customers excluding airline staff. Customers travelling on discounted fares, frequent flyer award tickets or upgrades are considered revenue customers and are included as revenue customers. Airline employees flying on free or service charge tickets, or Industry Discount (e.g., ID50. ID75, ID90) tickets are not considered revenue customers

Harvyk
as for difficult . they make it difficult if someone comes in with a valid F BP on a valid airline what is the difficulty in allowing access??
they make it difficult as they don't seem to want anyone there that is not SQ then if that is the case don't agree to the t and cs of the star lounge access.
 
Last edited:
G´day there all,

a small ¨first world¨ issue I have is with the lack of training of those dear folk that control entry to lounges. The beloved ¨lounge dragons¨¨.

Surely it is not a difficult job. These people should be experts at eligibilty, etc. If it takes more than a few hours to teach the rules for entry, I would be amazed.

But perhaps airlines are guilty of not clarifying their hazy rules? Leaving staff to sink or swim, or enforce unpopular enhancements?

In any case, I hoped that if people could share their experiences here, it gives some focal point for where the issues lie. And it gives airlines the opportunity to see and resolve small issues that affect their ¨most valued¨ customers.

So any perceived difficulties with lounge staff - please share your experience!!

It’s actually not as easy as you think ....

For every valid person that shows up to the front desk, they also get quite a few people who are not valid for entry. For example I was recently in DFW using my QFF Gold card to access the AA lounge. The 5 people in front of me were all turned around as they were trying to use a type of credit card to gain entry( it appears that the access rules had recently changed).. By the time I got to the front of the line I could see her about to explode.... I made a bit of a joke that put a smile on her face ( and got a few extra dink vouches)

If part of a alliance, most airlines have 3-4 status levels.. take for example Star has 26 airlines, that would be at least 104 types of cards that the staff would need to know. on top of that , throw in lounge membership cards and Credit cards ( ie like Amex) and it could be over 200 types of cards that are valid for entry... Then to confuse the issue new designs of cards are released so could be 2-3 designs of the same status member card in the market.... That could make it over 300 types of cards that need to be identified at a glance!

Outside of the core alliance, airlines then have other partners that access lounges ( eg VA access NZ lounges).. These access rules are also different with regards to the number of guests etc.. this is also very complicated for the staff.

Throw in a few DYKWIA every 5[SUP]th[/SUP] person that walks in and I hope you can understand that working in a lounge is not a easy job!
 
I had the lady at the MEL SQ lounge gently try and redirect me to the NZ lounge but she immediately relented as soon as I stated that I wanted to use their lounge.
 
Re TG F out of SYD, boarding pass says "You are invited to Air New Zealand Lounge". Can't recall if this was previously the case.
 
Re TG F out of SYD, boarding pass says "You are invited to Air New Zealand Lounge". Can't recall if this was previously the case.
Yes , TG CSA told me check in would give us a voucher to use NZ lounge , but as this is our first F flight we want to make the most of it .
.
To tinkybelle - thanks for your reply .
 
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Yes , TG CSA told me check in would give us a voucher to use NZ lounge , but as this is our first F flight we want to make the most of it .

I used SQ F lounge recently when flying TG F. No problem to enter in my case.
It's a small lounge so the only reason I can think of trying to deny access is if it's already full. But they have no right to force you to use the NZ lounge. It's your choice to make, the T&Cs are very clear.
ImageUploadedByAustFreqFly1402438042.775202.jpg
 
My most vivid experience of lounge dragons is in LHR T3, where I often end up as I use LHR as my European base for short hops to the continent.

As a *O Emerald, I can access any *O F lounge I want as long as I am flying on a *O marketed and operated flight. Too often the staff at the CX lounge attempt to turn me away, though they usually relent very quickly when it becomes clear I am aware of my entitlement to use the lounge. Things only ever got heated one time.
 
And in case you don't get a friendly dragon, make sure you have a screenshot of the T&Cs on you mobile.
Remember, they HAVE TO let you in.

Well they don't have to if they are at capacity, however that should really be the only legitimate reason.
 
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