Bizarre Airline Lounge Access Restrictions at Bangkok Airport

If you have Sapphire or Emerald status with a Oneworld airline, such as Qantas Gold or Platinum status, you can generally access any Oneworld airline lounge when flying with any other Oneworld member. For example, if you fly have Qantas Gold status and fly out of Singapore on Japan Airlines, you can access the British Airways Lounge (among others).

Unfortunately, numerous Oneworld frequent flyers have reported being refused entry to Cathay Pacific’s lounge at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in recent weeks.

For example, AFF member Muppet501st got turned away when departing Bangkok three weeks ago, ahead of a Qantas flight. This member has Gold status but could only access Qantas’ inferior contract lounge, which happens to be the Air France – KLM SkyLounge.

Currently sitting in the AF lounge BKK after being denied entry to Cathy’s lounge because of space ( empty when I looked ), seriously what’s the point of airline alliances

Muppet501st on the AFF forum

Other passengers have been refused entry to the Cathay Pacific lounge in Bangkok lately. According to one report, the staff there have blamed this on a decision by the airport authority.

Australian Frequent Flyer requested comment from Oneworld. We’ll update this article if we get a response.

This seems to be a Bangkok Airport problem

It’s likely no coincidence that all of the airline-operated lounges at Bangkok’s main international airport also stopped accepting Priority Pass at the start of this month.

Previously, Priority Pass members could access lounges including the Turkish Airlines, Oman Air and Air France – KLM lounges. These and others have all stopped accepting Priority Pass, apparently at the request of the airport.

It’s unlikely that all these airlines would suddenly and independently decide to remove a useful revenue stream on exactly the same day!

There are still plenty of Priority Pass lounges available at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, but these are all Miracle or Coral lounges. These aren’t bad, but aren’t as good as some of the airline-operated lounges.

Qantas passengers departing Bangkok also cannot access the new Emirates Lounge

Qantas frequent flyers with Gold or higher status can ordinarily access Emirates Lounges when flying with Qantas or Emirates. But in another blow to Qantas passengers, Emirates recently moved its Bangkok lounge to the airport’s new “SAT-1” terminal. Officially, this satellite terminal is only accessible to passengers with flights departing from that part of the airport.

As the Qantas flights do not depart from there, it would now either be impossible – or at best, highly inconvenient – for Qantas passengers to access the Emirates Lounge in Bangkok.

In theory, Qantas Business Class passengers can still access the Qatar Airways Premium Lounge in Bangkok. But this lounge is exclusively for Business and First Class passengers, so Economy passengers with status can’t get in.

What’s your experience?

Have you flown out of Bangkok recently and tried to use an airport lounge? Let us know how it went on the AFF forum!

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.