BA business lounges

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  • Ausline
    Participant

    Agree totally with your comments AlexUpgrade.

    One comment why do they have to always check your card before you can gain entrance as your status is on your boarding card, and surely the BA staff on entering the F lounge in T3 and T5 could be a little friendlier.

    No chance of QF moving to T5 as it cannot handle the A380 and with QF poised to go double daily next year feel it will be a while. T3 is hideous at times.


    EU_Flyer
    Participant

    Thanks Ausline.

    Yes, good point. They always check and, I believe, have been known to deny entry if the card is not produced for some reason. It is a condition of being a FF that you present the card, if asked, to a oneworld airline rep but this seems like a somewhat officious practice that always causes unneccessary delay at the desk.

    VK, have you any thoughts??

    As for the Yangon Airways Executive First Lounge ClubHouse Cabana Hut….. they are always too polite to ask for boarding pass, let alone FF card. As a result there are 23 families, who have never even flown Yangon, in residence at the lounge. They do a mean goat curry though.

    BA. Take notice.


    Deleted User
    Participant

    Alex and Ausline, may I just reiterate, that the issue is the manner in which I was spoken to by the lounge staff and the fact that the duty manager from BA confirmed that the rule book the lounge staff use differs fron the rule book used by the rest of the company. I took the precaution of checking with British Airways Executive Club BEFORE I travelled, who confirmed I was allowed to use the arrivals lounge.

    The manner that I was spoken to by the lounge dragaons was unacceptable, irrespective of whether I was a holder of a gold card or not.

    I do agree with you that the T5 lounge complex is one of the best – however, certain members of staff though should learn to speak to fare paying passengers in a far less confrontational manner. A smile would not go amiss.

    My comments were made in the lounge book dated 8th October if anyone is passing though the lounge. I am sure BA will remove my commnets, irrespective of how true that actually were.


    KSHaggag
    Participant

    Hi CM !

    I do fully agree with you over the attitude of the BA staff ……you sometimes even on board fall on an excellent crew ( the whole bunch ) ,and sometimes on a team that hardly wants to work or perform its most basic duties …I started to feel this on various BA flights even in Club !!!!!!!!!!!….the crew also disappear for the majority of the period of the flight ..they just make appearance whenever necessary ……….!!!!..Gone are the BA days of consistency and supreme service ………..!!..I am saying it loud and clear to all BA crew members ..those who do not feel like working for BA ,can easily go ….other people can only dream of working for the airline !!!……secure jobs forever are something of the past in ALLLLLLLLLL businesses on earth ..why should BA be an exception then ??????????!!!….


    EU_Flyer
    Participant

    @CM,

    I do agree with you wholly. The way you were treated was totally unacceptable by any standards.

    I wonder whether former state owned airlines like BA and Qantas are still perpetuating internal cultures that encourage mediocraty without any real sense that the passenger is a customer, not to be merely tolerated but actually to be serviced.

    Whereas the check in staff are wonderful, I DO wonder why BA put some of their most apathetic staff where they come into contact with their most valuable customers- The Lounges!

    BA. You can do better and should.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    A few months ago I experienced some equally rude BA lounge staff at Heathrow. It is really quite bizarre when BA have gone to so much expense in creating the finest complex of airline lounges, certainly in Europe and probably in the top 10 worldwide, only to have them totally ruined by staff that quite clearly give the impression that they would like to be elsewhere and not at work. It is even stranger that BA managment seem unable to control these members of staff to at least be less confrontatinal.

    One of my complaints to BA management was that I saw a member of staff in civvies flash a yellow backed Heathrow ID and no boarding pass and was allowed entry into th earrivals lounge.


    skychai
    Participant

    With the withdrawal of their staff travel concessions, many BA crew who went on strike, now commute to work at LHR form all over Europe, having paid for full fare tickets to do so. Many crew now have silver Exec card status and some are heading towards Gold. So I guess you will have to simply get used to the fact that BA uniformed staff may be using the Exec lounges. They are entitled to do so, just like you.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    Skychai, its fantastic to see so many BA staff supporting the airline to the extent that they are able to achive silver or gold status. It shows that they are being paid well enough to afford the “full fare” you talk about.

    However, I am also aware of what a Heathrow ID card and a boarding pass look like. One needs at least a boarding pass to enter the T5 lounge – a staff ID confers no right to access the T5 lounge other than for work purposes.


    EU_Flyer
    Participant

    Frankly, I can’t see how BA CC who have lost their travel concessions can afford to pay to travel to get to work. They’d go broke and therefore be forced to resign. I suspect the suspension was just for leisure travel benefits but not for commuting.

    As for the attitude, this seems to pervade most customer service industries but it’s always the unprofessional minority that give the positive majority a bad name.

    That said, I feel that sometimes BA staff are ‘tolerating’ the customer rather than serving.

    Amazing how a warm genuine smile and attititude can even make “Im sorry sir, you have been downgraded from 1A to 56E” seem palatable. All in the delivery.

    Go on BA, give it a go.


    FlyingChinaman
    Participant

    Just observe how friendly the front-line reception staff at the LHR CX lounge. CX employs many locally-born Asian/Far Eastern personals.

    SQ lounge used to offer the same kind of reception to their FF.

    BA mangement CAN change all this by replacing at least half of the reception staff member from this group and banish the “dragons” to work in the shower-room area!!! Since the UK law makes it hard firing the sour puss (male or femal)!

    LHR caters to a large number of international travellers WHO are used to AND expect good service and it makes great business sense to have nice multi-ethnic staff members warmly greeting their MOST VVIP customers!!

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