[Anonymous]

[Deleted User]

There have been many posts about the T5 arrivals lounge and I certainly consider it a superb offering for when eligible. The lounge is a great success but naturally with any success there comes growth problems.

1. The lounge staff are continually achieving the unparalled status of being the rudest BA public fronting staff I have ever encountered. The way they deal with rejected pax attempts to gain entry is simply unacceptable in any business.

2. The lounge offers superb facilities, but with BA achieiving a growth in the business market, the lounge appears to need enlarging at peak times.

3. Different departments witihin BA are advising passengers of different entry elebility criteria. The last few times I have used the lounge I have been witness to arguments and debate as to what pax have been told regarding entry requirements

4. Indeed I was previously one of those who was denied entrance, despite having an email from BA (with logo) confirming that my flight qualified for access.

Thanks to BA for providing this valuable benefit, but I do think that the product needs tidying up and eligibilty more clearly defined throughout the business – please do not direct me to the Exec Club pages, becasue quite clearly, these are not the only eligibilty criteria.

BA I believe also issue guest passes but I am not sure how these came about.

[Potakas]

Welcome back CMB, i am glad you enjoyed you flight on the upper deck!

I didn’t know about different entry requirements, i thought that if you were a Gold Executive Club member or you was travelling CW or First you suppose to have full access, have you understand what are those differences?

Regards

[Deleted User]

Hi – yes back safe and sound and freezing cold.

You are right about the entry requirements, but why are so many pax being told they can have access to the arrivals lounge when quite clearly this is not the case. I got caught out on this 4 weeks or so ago (eventually I was allowed in) and today there were passengers who were being turned away for what ever reason. Also, it is unclear about the AA arragement.

I have also seen pax hand over vouchers to gain entrance, not sure if these are comps from BA or being sold from some where.

As far as I was aware it was open to exec gold, CW/First including a BA sector, ask different departments, different answers are given.

Without question though, it is a great product.

[NTarrant]

At one time vouchers were handed out on certain flights to passengers in CW and F, I recall getting one once, I think when I came back from HKG a couple of years ago. But I thought the entrance criteria is clear enough, although I suspect there might be some flights which fall in to a “grey area”.

I always find the opportunity to have a shower after a long haul over night flight to be a god send. The showers are popular, when I came back from AUH last month I got to the lounge at about 0710, the person in front was asked to wait as was I but we went in within couple of minutes from each other. The people after us were not so lucky having to wait quite sometime.

As you say Charles, its a great product and I would be happy to wait half an hour for that shower. It is a shame that the staff on the door are not as welcoming as they could be

[VintageKrug]

Having previously been of the exact same opinion, my feelings were moderated when I sat down in the T5 lounge lobby (with the “All The Time In The World” Wall Sculpture) waiting for a travelling companion to emerge from the Spa and watched the chancers attempt to gain entry.

Nearly every third person was trying it on, misunderstood their entitlements (eg Gold card holder in Club World trying to get into the Concorde Room) or was simply misdirected.

I agree the tone of the interaction must improve. It is simply not acceptable to handle things as they are often handled.

Some of those on the reception desk (in BA uniforms) are grounded for health or other reasons, and as I think this means they only get their base salary without the additional (modest) flight pay they are used to, I can understand why they can seem frustrated and less customer-focussed than might otherwise be the case.

However, it doesn’t really stack up to be paying people to remain at home, while there is work to be done on the receptions which these employees are perfectly capable of doing. So I also understand why BA makes use of this otherwise wasted pool of resources.

To alleviate this, BA needs to:

1. Post clearer lounge access instructions in the Manage My Booking Page.

2. Post clearer lounge access policies at the base of the escalators to the main T5 lounges, which make it clearer which category of passenger should go to which lounge.

3. Should train its ground staff better on the lounge access policies.

4. Should train its ground staff better on hw to deal with such situations, while maintaining the respect due to ALL categories of paying customers.

5. Should ensure a refresher lounge access policy, possibly in Pam Ann style, is available for reception staff to watch each day, setting out the policy (including its more esoteric complex access policies eg inbound in F/same day connecting on Domestic = Concorde Room access) and suggesting ways to respond firmly, but politely to chancers.

6. Consider hiring a dedicated core of four or five desk operatives, one per lounge, supported with a rotating pool of ground staff, rather than relying on this rotating pool of people.

Respect is a two way thing, and while there should never be any excuse for making a customer feel at all uncomfortable, the amount of insults and aggression I witnessed from passengers directed at Lounge Dragons in that 10 minute period was not inconsiderable; I would imagine it is a very challenging job.

The above suggestions represent a real cost implication (tens of thousands of pounds) , and at present that is probably not a priority. Hopefully, once further reductions to the cost base kick in, and profitability returns, some inroads into these vitally important customer interactions will be made.

There are of course difficulties hiring security cleared staff (less of an issue airside), and I would imagine there are other union restrictions (as I recall BA recently reached a successful settlement with T5 ground staff, but I don’t know much ab out that).

Your post relates specifically to the landside arrivals lounge, where there is even more potential for even the general public to try and gain access.

Many people also forget their boarding pass (easily done as it’s never made clear you need it for access to the Arrivals Lounge) and others believe they can pay for access (not possible).

I have found the (outsourced) shower staff to be the most downtrodden, miserable and dejected individuals with whom I have ever interacted. I again have sympathy for these low wage people, who are doing a pretty tough job (cleaning toilets, and facing tired, possibly tetchy customers). Last December the lady in T3 looked so dejected I was actually quite concerned for her.

I still don’t see why we can’t some bright-eyed bushy tailed actor types on the reception and managing things like spa bookings (though the T5 Airside Shower booking desk is normally, by contrast, very good) who could actually leave them with a positive impression of BA. With online check in, these lounge access situations can often be the only human interactions with proper BA staff (although many believe the security is BA as well, which it is not) prior to boarding and it is vitally important BA gets this right.

[VintageKrug]

PS I don’t think these are “vouchers” as such.

I have received these, but they are normally just flyers setting out how to find the Arrivals Lounge, and the services available there. They might be Concorde Room Arrivals Dining area invitations for F pax, but you certainly won’t be denied access to the Concorde Room without a “voucher” if your ticket says you are eligible. Without your ticket/Gold Card they are worthless.

T5 BA Arrivals Lounge access is available to all inbound Club World and First passengers, and all Gold Card holders. The only exception to this is the early arriving Moscow flight for those flying Club Europe, where frankly you should be given a medal, rather than just a shower.

Those travelling First have the additional Concorde Room access, and can request the infinity baths, if they enjoy an infinitesimal wait for them to fill up.

No entry is permitted without your inbound boarding pass under any circumstance. No guests are permitted, as far as I am aware, and BA does not give out guest passes either.

The situation if inbound on another oneworld carrier, or a top tier with other oneworld partners, is less clear to me, and I would imagine this is where confusion might arise.

[AdrianHenryAsia]

My experience with the BA staff in both the departure and arrivals lounges has only ever been excellent.

On a handful of occasions when travelling in J I’ve asked to bring more than 1 guest into the First Lounge which the BA staff have allowed (My gold card allows me plus one guest in). Each time, I’ve asked politely as opposed to demanded and the staff have been accommodating and friendly.

In the arrivals lounge, I once wasn’t given a Concorde Room voucher when entering which the waiting staff required once we sat down – the politely went back to the front desk for us and got the required bit of paper without any fuss.

One of the things I am slightly confused about is why you need to show both your exec club card and your boarding card when your exec club status is clearly printed on the boarding pass? I have heard passengers complaining a number of times about this

[Deleted User]

I was specifically refering to the T5 arrivals lounge landside.

VintageKrug, I believe that you are wrong regarding the eligibilty to the lounge. It is not available all to all inbound Club as Club Europe are denied access, only Club World have access.

I can only confirm over the last few months to seeing pax passing over vouchers to gain access. I have no idea what these vouchers are, but they obviously do exist.

The reason I was given when asking about the need to show both the boarding and gold card was “there are alot of scams about”.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

CMB

I believe if you read VK’s comments again, you will infer that First/Club means CW and the stated éxception’ for CE Moscow reinforces that.

[VintageKrug]

There are indeed plenty of scams about, but perhaps best not to set them out here…!

I was indeed referring to Club World/First; no shorthaul flights get Arrivals access (even with a Gold Card) with the sole exception of the single early morning Moscow flight. I have edited my post to make that clearer.

As I set out, the “vouchers” are not “vouchers” but simply invitational guides to the location and facilities of the Arrivals Lounge; they do not permit access without an eligible ticket/Gold Card. There is a “voucher” system in place for the Concorde Dining Room within Arrivals, but that is handed out at the Arrivals desk itself.

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ecbenftlnge/public/en_gb

[flier74]

From the Ba website I gather that:

*BA Gold Card holders arriving on a Longhaul sector in any cabin
* Any FIRST or Club World Passengers

can use the Arrivals Lounge in T5 Landside.
I suspect if “all the others” could use it it would be getting too crowded at times and I think this is a fair enough policy.
As for the Arrvials Lounge cards which should be given out in FIRST and Club World into LHR they are for information purposes only so eligible Customers can find out where it is, yet you still need to show your F/CW boarding pass or your Gold Card and boarding Card so Lounge Staff can verify that you are indeed eligible to use thie Lounge.
I always found the Lounge Staff in T5 I have come across courteous anf driendly but I guess there is always one ro two who spoil it.

[SCF]

Do you think they would serve champagne that early in the morning?

[VintageKrug]

Champagne is served whenever the lounges are open, however there is no alcohol in the Arrivals lounges at any time of day.

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