[VintageKrug]

British Airways does not discriminate between upgrades, mileage or otherwise, when providing the services and facilities in connection to the cabin for which you hold a Boarding Pass.

[esselle]

VK, not quite correct. If you are on any form of INVOL upgrade, your meal order will be taken last, to ensure availability for “proper” pax.

[openfly]

VK, also not quite correct. If you have been upgraded from any cabin, by BA, due to oversales etc, you are not permitted to use the Concorde Room. You are still a J class Pax who happens to have an F seat. You may have an F-seat boarding card, but under those circumstances you cannot use The Concorde Room. It has happened to me, twice. Anyone who gets passed the desk in the Concorde Room with this sort of upgrade should keep quiet. Even though you are sitting in F you only get the Tier Points and Avios for the cabin that you booked in originally.
The only place where you get the benefit of this type of upgrade is on the aircraft by sitting in F. Esselle is correct. The passenger list is annotated with the fact that you are an ”INVOL upgrade” and you should have the order for your food taken last.

[VintageKrug]

I have been upgraded to F at check in and welcomed into the Concorde Room at T5 on at least five occasions.

Good point about the food order, I had forgotten that, though the order shouldn’t be taken last, it should simply be taken, alongside a second choice, and then the cabin crew member should return with an apology if first choice isn’t available.

And correct on the TPs and Avios, though that was rather a given.

[esselle]

VK. Trust me. INVOL means food order taken last.

Currently enjoying (!) long delay in T5. Rather be at home.

[VintageKrug]

I was invol last month. Food order was taken among the first in the cabin, though I delayed my supper until later in the flight.

[esselle]

VK
Perhaps they clocked you.

[christopheL]

VK

I’m sure you are always welcome into the Concorde Room.

If not, then BA has to be blamed because you definitively deserve it !

[VintageKrug]

Perhaps it’s wearing my “Upgrade Me I am VintageKrug” T-shirt at Check-In?

It goes so very well with my Havaianas and ripped jeans. 😉

[christopheL]

VK

Thank you for the tip.

I’ll ask my grandmother to sew a “Upgrade Me I am VintageKrug” message on one of my T-shirts . 🙂

[rferguson]

I just sent a text message to a colleague who is a BA ‘Lounge dragon’ asking about Concorde Room access for operational upgrades. She replied saying even she is not sure of the ‘official’ line. However when she has manned the entry to CR she has allowed upgrades in. For two simple reasons – only BA’s most important passengers tend to get upgrades to First. And secondly, the issue of ‘capacity control for all those upgrades’ is a non-starter. The CR is designed to accommodate passengers booked in First on BA flights. Whether you are booked or upgraded, you can’t end up with too many people in the CR than it is designed for as there is always a finite number of seats in First. So a full cabin in First is a full cabin. Whether with paying F passengers or upgrades, the maximum will always be 14. Also, as the thread starter mentioned most passengers will also only find out at te gate about their successful upgrade.

The same policy would apply for someone booked in World Traveller Plus or World Traveller and upgraded to Club. Of course they would not be turned away at the Galleries desk because they didn’t hold the proper ticket class. Again, the Club Galleries lounge is designed to accommodate a maximum number of passengers based on full flights in Club. You can not upgrade any more passengers than this number.

Re Meal Order for invol upgrades. The official way we are meant to do this it to start from the front of the cabin and work back. Regardless of card status/upgrade/staff passengers. This is obviously not to attract attention to other passengers wondering why their meal order was taken and we’ve ignored the person sat next to them. When we have completed the meal order we should collate the numbers in the galley and prioritise choices for card holders, then revenue passengers, then invol upgrades, then staff. If a choice is not available we are then to return to the passenger concerned and inform them.

[flying_cookie]

On the subject of whether letting upgrades into the Concorde room is standard policy or just a nice gesture by the lounge dragons… I have enjoyed several INVOL upgrades from J to F over the last three years or so, and have been able to access the Concorde room every time. In fact, several times – including yesterday – the check-in staff explicitly invited me to visit the Concord room explaining – in case I did not know – that access is to the right straight after security. This leads me to think the current policy is that it’s the boarding pass that counts.

Not that that matters much since, I have to say, the Concorde room is nice, relatively quiet and with better food and drinks, but frankly nothing to write home about.

[VintageKrug]

It’s a good policy, rf.

All that flitting around the cabin (which I have seen before, but that may have been staff travellers..?) makes it so obvious who is a “real” passenger and who is arriviste.

[IanFromHKG]

rferguson, I was interested to read your priority list for meals. You say this is for cardholders, then revenue, then invol, then staff. However, on my most recent BA CW flight, LHR to BOM, I was denied my first choice of starter. This, despite the fact that although I am not in the BAEC, I *am* a oneworld emerald – and I was on a revenue ticket. And, since the conversation between the crew about who to deny the choice to was held right in front of me – in my footwell, in fact – I can assure you that there was no mention of invol or staff or indeed any of these factors.

[handbag]

rferguson is correct. I would like to add, that conversation you heard should not have been not be held in front of you, but in the galley.

It is not unusual for there to be no invol or staff. There is also occassions when the cabin has more Gold Holders than the choice available.

[Author]

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