[Confirmed Fixed - Maybe Not!] No LHR T5 Galleries access for QP before BA/QF flights

[Flying mermaid]

Re: [Confirmed] No QP lounge access BA LHR T5 before BA flights - No "galleries" righ

Nice to see Qantas are becoming even less relevant.

I wonder how much extra BA wanted to amend the agreement to include Galleries, despite Galleries effectively being a renaming of the former lounges.

What sad companies they both are. I’d almost like the competition to step up their attacks and make them fail now. No sense to their customers at all.

This of course is the problem - they just dont seem to care anymore - screw the customers and make profits for the shareholders....

As I have posted on another thread Dr FM and a friend of hers were going to NZ for a weekend different PNRs for the CBR-SYD and SYD-AKL legs with the NZ leg being with Jetstar- being my usual paranoid self I flew my daughter down to sydney with 5 hours to spare. Friend left only 3.5 hours. Anyway friend's flight was cancelled and she was put on a flight at 4pm to make her 5:50 pm flight ex SYD. There were two other earlier ones she could have been put on. When she queried it she was told she would have no problems making her Jetstar flight - her flight was getting into Syd at abut 5pm. Needless to say she was denied boarding in Sydney and came back to Canberra and had to pay extra to change her flight back. Her husband is Platinum and she is partner gold. When she wrote to complain (using the trick of e-mailing AJ with a copy to a radio station, which I told Dr FM to tell her about), she did receive a reply, which was pretty much - yes we totally stuffed up, we apologise but suck it up we aren't giving you any compensation. So if they now treat their status passengers like that, why would they care about Qantas Club no status people?

Right at the moment there isn't another option not locally anyway. Dr FM's friend's husband did swap a few flights to Virgin but has cravenly returned to Qantas because apparently the lounge wasn't any good. However give it a few years. I can still remember the days when if TAA annoyed you, you swapped to Ansett until they annoyed you. Not sure if it did make the airlines any better, but at least you could feel good about being able to vote with your feet

 

[MrJetset]

Re: [Confirmed] No QP lounge access BA LHR T5 before BA flights - No "galleries" righ

This is ridiculous, all but a handful of BA flights, such as LHR-BCN, at LHR depart from T5. 'Galleries' is simply the renaming of the lounges from Terraces once they are refurbished with the new concept. i.e. kill the beach umbrellas and deck chairs and replace with artwork. One would expect all BA lounges to eventually be Galleries.

 

[el_rooto]

What about BA flights to SIN and BKK ex T3?

 

[serfty]

What about BA flights to SIN and BKK ex T3?

seems ok - it was emailed to me that the T3 Galleries lounge was an exception.

 

[el_rooto]

seems ok - it was emailed to me that the T3 Galleries lounge was an exception.

When BA ends LHR - BKK - SYD, will LHR-BKK move to T5? Will this cause issues for QF code share pax on these flights?

 

[oz_mark]

seems ok - it was emailed to me that the T3 Galleries lounge was an exception.

A little weirdness. T3 Galleries is an "associated lounge", and is specifically written up as such.

The Terraces and Executive Club come through as "partner lounges".

 

[Bundy Bear]

I would have expected to hear from Red Roo by now.

Virgin should jump all over this, as I am sure the reason why a lot of people flew with Qantas and BA was for the lounge benefit that was included, now you are better of flying with VS or Etihad and go direct to your destination and picking up the cheapest flight of the day for your travel inside Europe.

 

[ozmille]

When BA ends LHR - BKK - SYD, will LHR-BKK move to T5? Will this cause issues for QF code share pax on these flights?

I have a BA9 booked in April next year and that one is still scheduled to go from T3. Would be nice if it moved to T5 though, prefer the T5 lounges. Would be a pain for QP members though...

 

[dk4]

Does anyone know if this same issue impacts AAdmirals Club members? Have they been able to access BA lounges previously?

Unlike Qantas Club, Admirals Club members have not been able to access BA Club (business class) lounges. So, no impact.

(The only other airline-wide agreement that Admirals Club currently has for lounge access, is for its members to use Qantas lounges when flying Qantas. When Qantas started to rename its Qantas Clubs at International Terminals as Qantas International Business Lounges, this did not effect Admirals Club members' access.)

 

[docjames]

I have sent a PM to Red Roo requesting official confirmation/denial of this development.


I have to say, this thread illustrates some of the issues with Qantas at the moment, that they would make a change and not notify their loyal customers, or provide clarity. Or similarly, if it's not true, that they dont refute the claim.




Edit: Just reading that back, that wasnt a dig at the person behind Red Roo, but more reflection on the company. Upon re-reading, I realsied it could be interpreted as a dig at RR which was not my intention. I have modifed slightly to avoid confusion.

 

[notzac]

Virgin should jump all over this, as I am sure the reason why a lot of people flew with Qantas and BA was for the lounge benefit that was included, now you are better of flying with VS or Etihad and go direct to your destination and picking up the cheapest flight of the day for your travel inside Europe.

But what if a Velocity member wants to access a lounge on any of those intra-Europe flights? They can't, because Virgin don't have agreements with any European carriers (something that they really need to improve on IMHO). I'd still say that QF have the upper hand here, though losing access to LHR T5 Galleries is a pretty big blow.

 

[drron]

Re: [QP mem] Refused access BA LHR T5 [Confirmed: no "Galleries" Access for QP]

It's interesting... based on this, what's to stop Qantas redeveloping the SYD/MEL/BNE QP's in the future, renaming them "Qantas Premium Lounge" and saying that QC members are only entitled to enter "The Qantas Club". Sets a scary tone... But it does make VA lounge membership a little more attractive. It's certainly starting to close the gap (do VA Lounge members have access to DL lounges? The DL website seems to suggest they do).

But QF have already done this.Carved off some of the QP and called it the Business lounge.I as life QP and OWS on AA can not get access to the J lounges when travelling alone.

 

[thadocta]

Re: [QP mem] Refused access BA LHR T5 [Confirmed: no "Galleries" Access for QP]

mmmm. I wonder if QF will change the name of the QP in Australia and deny access to members here

Why not, they have removed all the other benefits (priority baggage, business class check-in) - makes you wonder what you are actually getting for your $400+ per annum.

Dave

 

[tuapekastar]

IMHO the QP, for the purposes of OWS lounge access, is the 'business lounge', just as it was prior to QF creating the separate J lounges in some ports. I have no issue with this, it is just a name and the QPs generally stack up just fine against other OW airlines' business lounges, and TBH, also against the QF J lounges.

 

[dk4]

But what if a Velocity member wants to access a lounge on any of those intra-Europe flights? They can't, because Virgin don't have agreements with any European carriers...

More to the point, what if a Virgin The Lounge member, wants to access a lounge in Europe? They can't. (Perhaps we should leave status based lounge access outside this discussion, as QF status based access to BA's Galleries is not effected.)

Virgin The Lounge (paid memberships) have access to DJ's domestic lounges and selected* NZ lounges.
*Location | Virgin Australia

 

[Flashback]

Luckily I get a 'free' full priority pass (unlimited access) membership as part of my AMEX, so why not continue traveling Ryanair & Co. for my intra-European flights

 

[simongr]

Re: [QP mem] Refused access BA LHR T5 [Confirmed: no "Galleries" Access for QP]

Why not, they have removed all the other benefits (priority baggage, business class check-in) - makes you wonder what you are actually getting for your $400+ per annum.

Dave

J check in has been reinstated.

For your $400 per year you get lounge access.

 

[medhead]

More to the point, what if a Virgin The Lounge member, wants to access a lounge in Europe? They can't.

and? Neither can QP members now, so no difference.

 

[Flashback]

and? Neither can QP members now, so no difference.

There is a difference in price though

 

[serfty]

But QF have already done this.Carved off some of the QP and called it the Business lounge.I as life QP and OWS on AA can not get access to the J lounges when travelling alone.

At least you have a lounge option. Those QP flying traveller from LHR to, say, Prague hove none.