[Bucksnet]

BA has 2 flights to MIA, so 28 F seats daily.

[dutchyankee]

Absolutely, my American Half says a very big Thank You, and the same to you (if you are celebrating this day) and anyone else celebrating ‘Turkey Day!’ Not quite the same here in Belgium, but we survive!

[First-Pax]

3 flights next summer Bucksnet – so 42 F seats…

[Bucksnet]

Yes, it seems like BA is taking over one of the AA flights for some reason. Still not enough to justify their own lounge, but AA lounges in general need to be improved.

[dutchyankee]

It has nothing to do with justifying their own lounge as there are destinations with fewer flights than MIA, that have a dedicated BA lounge. It has to do with leveraging their relationship with AA, which is all fair and well, as long as AA improves their standard to that of BA. Until they do, BA should make a stance and use lounges that do meet their needs before forcing some AA/third world hell hole on us!

[VintageKrug]

It would seem, on the face of it, sensible for BA to operate its own lounges in many outstations, and subcontract those lounges to other carriers using the same model as the very successful No.1 Traveller lounges here in the UK.

BUT

….few US carriers have very luxurious lounge standards, especially outside hubs, so they wouldn’t want to pay for those facilities. And they wouldn’t want the to be BA branded

There are often very restrictive alcohol policies in the US which require a barman to serve, so no “free pour” facilities; having to employ someone adds cost. Plus licensing requirements can be onerous and expensive in other ways.

Rental on these airside spaces can be astronomical – think of how much BAA charges for floorspace.

MIA is something of a special case; the entire airport is run by the “vested interests” (wink wink) so there’s lots of politics at play – ever noticed how much construction has gone on at MIA over the past two decades….seemingly, it never ends. And the contractors don’t want it to end, either.

For many years, BA used the Club America lounges back in the days when these were best in class lounges; they’re not so good these days.

BA then moved into a new concourse (I think it was concourse A). It spent a great deal on a superb Terraces lounge, with showers and a separate F area (very similar to the SFO arrangement).

MIA then announced that it was closing that concourse, which forced BA to relocate, and made its lounge too distant for practical use.

Hence the current interim arrangement of the BA/Iberia Lounge in an old Club America location.

When I was there earlier in the year, I was lead to believe by the helpful BA lady that BA would be back in its old lounge by 2012, but that was at the whim of MIA management.

So that’s the other reason it’s not too sensible to spend a fortune on a local lounge in an airport where you’re aminority carrier; you may get shafted and end up not having access to your own facilities.

[First-Pax]

…I think you are referring to Vera in the MIA lounge VK – she’s an absolute delight and a credit to the BA groundstaff there.

Agreed about all the politics at the airport – but surely BA can just simply press for better standards in the current lounge until (hopefully) the new BA lounge is opened.

[LoungeLizard]

For VK, I believe you were fed Canard without the Orange on the matter of US laws.

Before the merger of NW with DL, the NW lounges had self-service for alcohol, and their lounges at DTW were perfect examples.

In NYC, the small former-NW lounge at LGA (still used for spillover from the beautiful new DL lounge) retains that self-service for alcohol — certainly at least the wine and beer, as I don’t drink whiskey or vodka or whatever — while the fancy DL lounge has bar servers handling the drinks.

I doubt that DL would still allow that, and I doubt that old NW management would have established that, if it was a matter of law.

[VintageKrug]

I think it’s done on a state by state basis – sometimes even by county – so of course there are exceptions, as you illustrated. Sometimes you can self-serve wine and beer, sometimes not “hard liquor”, sometimes neither.

Self-service is sometimes not available for legal reasons, and having someone man a bar isn’t without cost.

[LoungeLizard]

I do not disagree with your point that it can differ by State, and even by county (by the way, alcohol is still prohibited in some counties in the US, but that is rare, and it tends to not be in any place with a major airport with international service).

But, to simply deny that a US carrier is doing it by choice, and not by regulation (UA, and AA, and DL were perennial offenders at JFK), when other US carriers do not have the same policy, is unreasonable and incongruous.

By the way, the issue of poor (a gracious word) lounges in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo has been with us for decades. At least in China, which used to have horrible lounges for premium passengers even at major gateways, we are now seeing significant improvements.

If China can accomplish that, and if carriers like CX or SQ can continue with generally superior lounges, then so can AA, or UA, and therefore BA should not be migrating to the least common denominator. It used to be superior to that.

I think that was the common theme on this thread, and I hope that you would agree, relative costs aside.

[RichHI1]

I have found the BA lounge in T5 to be very good. My experience overseas has been far more run of the mill. We are seeing a lot of lounge consolidation by alliance and I would rather they cost cut there rather than on board service. I have not been to China for 2 yeArs but glad they are improving the lounges. Some US carriers have some good First lounges but generally they do not approach the standard of the T5 BA lounge or the Japanese carrier first class lounges at NRT or CX at hkg.

[Author]

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