Obtaining QC / FLounge invites?

[wafliron]

My grandmother is shortly heading off on a "last hurrah" RTW trip that myself and the rest of my family booked for her (thank-you OW Explorer points fares ).

She has no status (as you'd expect as a long-retired 80-year-old) and is flying Y, hence no lounge access. I'd like to try get my hands on a few QC / FLounge invites which she can use to make the airport parts of her trip a little more comfortable.

Is there any way to legitimately obtain single-entry QC / FLounge invites / passes? AFAIK you can't buy them from Qantas, but I do know you can get them in a few roundabout ways, such as signing up for a HSBC Platinum Qantas card. I'm not willing to do the latter just for the two lounge passes, but are there any other similar tricks to legitimately obtaining some?

 

[deejo77]

I know they are sold on ebay however you run the risk of them not being 'true' passes - for the money they are asking its not worth the risk. You may be lucky and someone may gift you some from AFF or if they are in the lounge at the same time signing your grandmother in.

 

[Heleigh]

She must be one hell of a lady to traveller alone at 80, I hope I'll have the confidence.

Use the threads March 2012 / April 2012 / May2012 which are Aff'ers flights for particular months, list her flight No's and day of travel and maybe if there is an AFF travelling same date and flight No.; and have a guesting available. Now that you've started this one, also list the flights here as well.

You have an alternative in the use of Priority Pass lounges for a fee but you'll have to find out the locations to see if they suit any of her flights.

Hope this helps.

 

[ferni]

When is she traveling? I have a spare QC invite if it helps you - It expires end of may......

 

[wafliron]

I know they are sold on ebay however you run the risk of them not being 'true' passes - for the money they are asking its not worth the risk.

Yeah, I've seen those and did consider it, but similarly decided it wasn't worth the risk.

She must be one hell of a lady to traveller alone at 80, I hope I'll have the confidence.

She is At 82 she's in better shape than most people 10+ years her junior. It's a big trip too: MEL-xPER-JNB-CPT-JNB-DUR-JNB-xLHR-VIE-LHR-CDG-JFK-xLAX-MEL. She does have family / friends to stay with at most destinations though - I don't think she'd be up for it without that.

You may be lucky and someone may gift you some from AFF or if they are in the lounge at the same time signing your grandmother in.

Use the threads March 2012 / April 2012 / May2012 which are Aff'ers flights for particular months, list her flight No's and day of travel and maybe if there is an AFF travelling same date and flight No.; and have a guesting available. Now that you've started this one, also list the flights here as well.

Thanks for the suggestion. I did consider this, but I don't think she will feel comfortable with it no matter how I explain it. If I can't rustle up other methods of lounge access I might give it a try though.

You have an alternative in the use of Priority Pass lounges for a fee but you'll have to find out the locations to see if they suit any of her flights.

Good point - I hadn't considered Priority Pass. I'm eligible for two unlimited Prority Pass memberships myself - pity I can't assign them to someone else :-( I will use paid PP as a backup option though - thanks.

When is she traveling? I have a spare QC invite if it helps you - It expires end of may......

PM sent - thank-you.

 

[Leumas]

I know you mentioned she may not like strangers getting her into lounges (but she's comfortable travelling alone), but anyway, I'll be travelling through some of your airports in the next few weeks. You can PM me her routing and we'll see.

 

[medhead]

I'm in LHR twice in May. More than willing to help out. No need for you grandmother to spend more than minimum time talking to me. In terms of giving something for free (as a point of discomfort), my guest spots would only go to waste if not used.


Sent from the Throne

 

[grussellt]

She is At 82 she's in better shape than most people 10+ years her junior. It's a big trip too: MEL-xPER-JNB-CPT-JNB-DUR-JNB-xLHR-VIE-LHR-CDG-JFK-xLAX-MEL. She does have family / friends to stay with at most destinations though - I don't think she'd be up for it without that.





You could purchase an AA 30 day pass which would give her access to some lounges e.g MEL/PER if travelling QF and LHR/CDG/JFK/LAX. That's not too bad for $99. The terms are here https://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/airportAmenities/AdmiralsPasses.jsp#30-day-pass

 

[tyrolean]

Just be careful, as the QF Lounge passes are only valid for real QF Lounges. So MEL, PER, LAX? could be done with a QF Lounge invitation.
I once tried my pass in LHR and did not succeed (as it is a BA Lounge).

VIE has a lounge that you can access by paying cash (23 Euro)
http://www.viennaairport.com/jart/p...&content-id=1249344074300&reserve-mode=active

The flights in Europe are operated by BA?
You may think about upgrading them. Just look into then booking on ba.com and see if you get an upgrade offer. These are sometimes quite chap. You get Lounge access and a little more service which could be quite nice for you Grandma!

Especially for the Transatlantic Flight BA sells quite reasonable Premium Economy upgrades!
If you get no upgrade offer, try it agin at T-23h.

Save travels!

 

[UP4014]

It is probably worth joining her up to AFF and then going for the Qantas Club membership. It's important to never be stingy with your grandmother!

Matt

 

[drmikki]

For the non-Qantas lounges, you could also consider signing her up for a Diners Card and using their free access to lounges in JNB, CPT, VIE, CDG, LHR, JFK and LAX. Obviously check which terminals etc she will be at before signing her up Diners signed me up as a student with no income (and fee-free...) but I am not sure if they'd go for an 80 year old retiree post-GFC. From memory, supplemental card-holders also used to be able to get access, although that was about 10 years ago...

There isn't one in Durban as far as I know.

 

[wafliron]

I know you mentioned she may not like strangers getting her into lounges (but she's comfortable travelling alone),

It's because of all those nasty people hanging out on the interwebs, you see?! ;-)

but anyway, I'll be travelling through some of your airports in the next few weeks. You can PM me her routing and we'll see.

I'm in LHR twice in May. More than willing to help out. No need for you grandmother to spend more than minimum time talking to me. In terms of giving something for free (as a point of discomfort), my guest spots would only go to waste if not used.

Thanks for the offers, sincerely appreciated. I've got her sorted for MEL/PER/JFK, and she won't be in LAX long enough to benefit from a lounge, but JNB/LHR/CDG are still an "issue". Maybe I'll float the idea with her and get back to you if I get a positive response.

You could purchase an AA 30 day pass which would give her access to some lounges e.g MEL/PER if travelling QF and LHR/CDG/JFK/LAX. That's not too bad for $99. The terms are here https://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/airportAmenities/AdmiralsPasses.jsp#30-day-pass

Thanks for that, wasn't aware such a thing existed. Could be helpful for LHR/CDG, as per above. I'll check it out.

Just be careful, as the QF Lounge passes are only valid for real QF Lounges. So MEL, PER, LAX? could be done with a QF Lounge invitation.

Thanks for the heads up - had already noticed that luckily. QC will work for me at MEL, PER, JFK and LAX only, based on lounge ownership/sharing and also requirements for next flight to be on a QF flight number.

VIE has a lounge that you can access by paying cash (23 Euro)
http://www.viennaairport.com/jart/p...&content-id=1249344074300&reserve-mode=active

Thanks, will check that out too / let her know.

The flights in Europe are operated by BA?

JNB-xLHR-VIE, VIE-LHR, LHR-CDG and CDG-xLHR are all BA metal / flight number. The final leg of CDG-xLHR-JFK (xLHR-JFK) is AA metal / flight number.

You may think about upgrading them. Just look into then booking on ba.com and see if you get an upgrade offer. These are sometimes quite chap. You get Lounge access and a little more service which could be quite nice for you Grandma!

Especially for the Transatlantic Flight BA sells quite reasonable Premium Economy upgrades!
If you get no upgrade offer, try it agin at T-23h.

Interesting, thanks for the tip. How do you access such offers - just login to "manage my booking" on ba.com and see if anything pops up? Do these offers apply even though the bookings are all on points (the entire trip except the internal South African segments are a OneWorld Explorer points fare).

It is probably worth joining her up to AFF and then going for the Qantas Club membership. It's important to never be stingy with your grandmother!

Haha thanks. Luckily, thanks to some of my own scavenging plus the generousity of a few AFFers (thanks all!) I've managed to get her a couple of invites for the lounges where QC would allow access.

For the non-Qantas lounges, you could also consider signing her up for a Diners Card and using their free access to lounges in JNB, CPT, VIE, CDG, LHR, JFK and LAX. Obviously check which terminals etc she will be at before signing her up Diners signed me up as a student with no income (and fee-free...) but I am not sure if they'd go for an 80 year old retiree post-GFC.

Thanks for the tip. Not sure this one will work though - apart from the credit acceptance issues, grandmother is also philosophically opposed to credit cards... just don't mention that the points for her trip were earned thanks to credit cards :shock:

 

[grussellt]

Thanks for the summary. I hope she has a nice trip. Admirals Club (AA) also offers a 1-day pass at only $50.

 

[Leumas]

JNB/LHR/CDG are still an "issue".

I'll be going through JNB and LHR.

 

[tyrolean]

Sorry. I do not believe that BA offers payed upgrades for points bookings. On my payed booking I always received those offers (when I was not traveling in the highest class of service).

 

[wafliron]

I just wanted to take a second to post a massive thank-you to both Red Roo and Qantas.

After reading this thread, Red Roo PM'ed me and kindly offered to try to arrange lounge access for my grandmother due to the special nature of her trip. Thanks to both Red Roo's personal efforts and Qantas' willingness to facilitate this, she is now able to access Qantas lounges at a number of the airports she will be travelling through.

Terrific customer service from both Red Roo and Qantas, and I felt it deserved to be publicly acknowledged - so thank-you!

 

[wafliron]

I'll be going through JNB and LHR.

Thanks. I'll see how it goes and maybe get in touch a bit closer to the dates she's passing through those airports.

Sorry. I do not believe that BA offers payed upgrades for points bookings. On my payed booking I always received those offers (when I was not traveling in the highest class of service).

OK, no worries. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[dfcatch]

I just wanted to take a second to post a massive thank-you to both Red Roo and Qantas.

After reading this thread, Red Roo PM'ed me and kindly offered to try to arrange lounge access for my grandmother due to the special nature of her trip. Thanks to both Red Roo's personal efforts and Qantas' willingness to facilitate this, she is now able to access Qantas lounges at a number of the airports she will be travelling through.

Terrific customer service from both Red Roo and Qantas, and I felt it deserved to be publicly acknowledged - so thank-you!

Wow - that's super service.

Well done Red Roo

 

[strance]

a better outcome IMO, the kudos going to the right place

my interpretation of a guest spot is pax you are genuinely associated or travelling with

astonished people can dress it up any other way and with such a sense of entitlement

oh well each to their own !

 

[AirKat]

This is a great outcome. I think I posted about this issue before as my mother travels about once a year and I'd love to be able to buy (cash or points) lounge passes for her. It would be great if Qantas could consider this, maybe only for Gold and Plat etc I'm not sure. I will be P1 in a few weeks due to all domestic Y flying, hence my mother thinks I am the worlds greatest frequent flyer. As someone who spends a lot of time with qantas, it would be good to be able to share this on occasion with family and friends.