LHR T5 Galleries access denied for additional child guest

[jamesatfish]

Be prepared, be very well prepared - there is no leeway at BA in T5!]

Exactly what I'm trying to do

What effect do you think your wife dropping back to SG has? AFAIK, WP's can only guest one into the BA F lounges, as can SG into the BA J lounge.

If I'm correct (often known to be not the case!), a WP and a SG could guest two into the J lounge but the F lounge would be out of reach if it's more than you and MrsJSF.

I was considering access to the F lounge rather than J hence the relevance of my wife's status in this instance. Last trip we were both WP so she had access to the F lounge in her own right and we only needed 1 'guest pass' for our daughter. I know we've got the fallback of the J lounge based upon status as well as class of travel (Club Europe).

At the end of the day it's not a big deal as we're flying into LHR with AA and can use their Arrivals Lounge for a shower etc before heading over to T5, but I just want to know where we stand according to BA's official rules before we arrive so there are no disappointments.

 

[oz_mark]

No, not at all. You are allowed one guest and in addition you are allowed one child. It is the extra not the base. Provide a link to any statement that your guest can only be older than 12. Because none as been provided so far.

WHich sentence using the words "in addition" are you referring to?

 

[medhead]

WHich sentence using the words "in addition" are you referring to?

I have nothing more to add. The family policy does not extinguish the 1 guest allowance.


Sent from the Throne

 

[tyrolean]

Exactly what I'm trying to do



I was considering access to the F lounge rather than J hence the relevance of my wife's status in this instance. Last trip we were both WP so she had access to the F lounge in her own right and we only needed 1 'guest pass' for our daughter. I know we've got the fallback of the J lounge based upon status as well as class of travel (Club Europe).

At the end of the day it's not a big deal as we're flying into LHR with AA and can use their Arrivals Lounge for a shower etc before heading over to T5, but I just want to know where we stand according to BA's official rules before we arrive so there are no disappointments.

The T5 F-Lounge is not worth making discussions. The difference to the C-Lounge is marginal.

My wife uses my Partner Gold Card - so I still do not face any problems.

 

[UP4014]

The funny thing is that my little ones are experienced enough already to work out that an airline that does this is really bad and it would scare them off the airline for life. I flew J on ANZ as a little kid - toddler- and the CC were incredibly nice. 40 years on I still have affection for the airline!

I'm the same, remember some very good flights with Ansett as a kid, with a crew member coming and sitting down next to me for a few minutes at a time and pointing out some geography along the way. I flew Ansett from then until the end. Oh for the good ol' days of friendly and professional service.

 

[TonyHancock]

Oh for the good ol' days of friendly and professional service.

From my experience it seems to be alive and well when you fly VA/DJ!

 

[UP4014]

From my experience it seems to be alive and well when you fly VA/DJ!

I think QF crew are good as well, even my recent AA experience was excellent. But the glory days of faux wood panelled baukheads, gold rimmed clocks on the wall in first class, and hostesses wearing hats gave the employees and airlines that extra touch of class which is lost on current airline management in Australia.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I have nothing more to add. The family policy does not extinguish the 1 guest allowance.


Sent from the Throne

correct. just an additional guest cannot be a child under 12 it would seem.

 

[medhead]

correct. just an additional guest cannot be a child under 12 it would seem.

1. You can't have an additional guest in the first place (in the context of this thread), so this does not make sense at all.
2. If you are referring to the base allowance of one guest, this statement is false; thus far you do not quote anything that supports this claim.


Sent from the Throne

 

[Stephen65]

I haven't read all 17 pages but couldn't the OP have had the 2 adults + their 2 child guests go inside, leaving the 11yo outside for a moment, then have one adult return outside to sit with the 11yo and then later rotate children and adults? Also sitting outside with the child would increase the chance of a kindly person guesting the child in.

 

[Paddy55]

I haven't read all 17 pages but couldn't the OP have had the 2 adults + their 2 child guests go inside, leaving the 11yo outside for a moment, then have one adult return outside to sit with the 11yo and then later rotate children and adults? Also sitting outside with the child would increase the chance of a kindly person guesting the child in.

I have read a number of the 17 pages and I'm wondering the same thing!

 

[medhead]

I haven't read all 17 pages but couldn't the OP have had the 2 adults + their 2 child guests go inside, leaving the 11yo outside for a moment, then have one adult return outside to sit with the 11yo and then later rotate children and adults? Also sitting outside with the child would increase the chance of a kindly person guesting the child in.

Well they did the first bit of that getting as far as the 11 year old being told to wait here. We have no idea what they intended to do after that.

In any case, apparently leaving the 11 year old as described in the OP constitutes abandonment by utterly evil parents. Presumably, that would also apply to what you propose, since the child would be left to wander around the airport and get burnt in a fire.

Edit: more seriously, IMO there is a very real risk that the staff would kick out one of the 8 year olds if one parent sat outside, on the grounds that the eligible member is not in the lounge with their guest.


Sent from the Throne

 

[Princess Fiona]

I haven't read all 17 pages but couldn't the OP have had the 2 adults + their 2 child guests go inside, leaving the 11yo outside for a moment, then have one adult return outside to sit with the 11yo and then later rotate children and adults? Also sitting outside with the child would increase the chance of a kindly person guesting the child in.

AFAIK it is not possible to rotate guests. The guest boarding pass and the status passenger's are scanned. Only one guest permitted per passenger.

 

[yo yo ma]

I haven't read all 17 pages...

OT: you can change your settings to 40 posts per page so it is only 5 pages!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Well they did the first bit of that getting as far as the 11 year old being told to wait here. We have no idea what they intended to do after that.

In any case, apparently leaving the 11 year old as described in the OP constitutes abandonment by utterly evil parents. Presumably, that would also apply to what you propose, since the child would be left to wander around the airport and get burnt in a fire.

Edit: more seriously, IMO there is a very real risk that the staff would kick out one of the 8 year olds if one parent sat outside, on the grounds that the eligible member is not in the lounge with their guest.


Sent from the Throne

we know exactly what they intended to so - they proposed the 11 year old wait outside 'while the rest of them went in to shower'. That is stated in the first post.

we then know the BA staff said the minor could not wait unattended and we discussed why BA staff might have this view (not being prepared to accept liability) and some of the potential circumstances in which this liability might arise (for example, a fire)

there was some discussion that it was not the parents leaving the child, it was the BA staff causing the child to be left. This is incorrect in law.

I then mentioned the headline in the newspaper would not be about how bad the BA lounge policy was, it would be that the parents left a child while they went to enjoy the spa (the BA site states there are 20 shower suites in the Elemis Travel Spa). Sensational maybe but that's what sells newspapers.

 

[eastwest101]

Pretty much sums it up MEL_Traveler except with the addition of people trying to get to the bottom of the actual terms and conditions of entry for the BA lounge in question - with a lot of hair-splitting and interpretation of poorly worded or "open to interpretation" terminology of the actual access policies of BA and whether the relevant QC and BA conditions of entry are applicable or even understandable.

 

[Paddy55]

In any case, apparently leaving the 11 year old as described in the OP constitutes abandonment by utterly evil parents. Presumably, that would also apply to what you propose, since the child would be left to wander around the airport and get burnt in a fire.

'Evil' = strong choice of words. :shock:

 

[eastwest101]

To be fair to medhead - I think he had his sarcasm hat on when he said that, that's how I read it anyway.

 

[Stephen65]

AFAIK it is not possible to rotate guests. The guest boarding pass and the status passenger's are scanned. Only one guest permitted per passenger.

Well that would knacker my plan then. I wouldn't leave an 11yo outside by themselves for more than a moment or two so in the OP's situation my wife and youngest child would have gone in while I took the other two to get fast food as a commiseration. Either that or hang around hoping someone might guest the third child in.

Edit: more seriously, IMO there is a very real risk that the staff would kick out one of the 8 year olds if one parent sat outside, on the grounds that the eligible member is not in the lounge with their guest.

Is it a requirement that the member be always present with the guest? When it comes to the QP this doesn't seem to be a requirement - I asked the QP dragons once about this and they were happy for my guest (who was travelling on a later flight) to stay in the QP even after I had left to get my flight.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Given that there are multiple lounges at T5, and people do regularly move from one lounge to another, what would stop this scenario:
1. Mum and Dad take the two youngest children into Galleries North; oldest child waits just outside (NB: not in the lounge reception area)
2. After 10 minutes, Dad exits, collects oldest child and proceeds to Galleries South, where he enters with oldest child.

Yes, it means the family is split over the two lounges, which is not ideal, but it means they all get in somewhere. It would be even more convenient if one of the parents was a WP; then you could split the family between Galleries First and Galleries South, both in the same 'complex' of lounges at the southern end.