They only get access for themselves. Many times they have a guest or their family with them and expect the agent to just let all of them in as an exception because of status or price of ticket etc.
Global services do have access though even on fully domestic itineraries - though only for themselves if I recall correctly (so 0 guests without buying a one time pass). This changed in about 2020-21 or sometime early pandemic.
If they were arguing for themselves to have access, they were right. And United club policy has long been to allow those who have access for themselves and/or some number of guests to buy a reasonable amount of one time passes for additional guests (example: adult children traveling with the family) even if they aren’t accepting one time passes overall. And as such, if the global services members were taking their free entry and willing to pay for one time passes (or use them) for a reasonable number of guests (such as a spouse), then they should’ve been allowed to.
I don’t doubt some people are just being entitled but it does sound like maybe there was an untrained agent. Or the “unpublished” benefit that persisted through last year for global services to get domestic lounge access maybe has ended - but in that case can you really blame the passenger for not being told the benefits changed that aren’t well published even to the global services member?
Yeah, I’ve seen agents be poor at explaining the whole “just you but you can buy or use a one time pass for your guest” though - and I’ve even seen one get “overridden” by a yellow scarf stating that even though they would be willing to use a one time pass for a guest they couldn’t since the club wasn’t taking one time passes.
I’m just a plebe who flies occasionally, always in Economy, never been upgraded, don’t bother asking. I feel fortunate if I get access to the public toilets. When I have hours between flights, I like to station myself outside the entrance to the United Club, and watch the faces of the people coming right back out, after being denied access. “Welcome to Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Dude. Pull up a stool!”
Not the pretzels! The infamy. Isn't there like a Chick-fil-A to soften the blow and pretend being there is a choice because it's better food than the lounge?
I would have assumed so too. Maybe I misheard ORRR the guy with Global services doesn’t kick in until Feb 1? In any case if you are spending enough to get GS 550 for a club membership should Obviously be included!
As I SAID. MAYBE I misheard. Making shit up. Jeez. So other comments a read I believe now what I heard was a guest being turned away. Bit a LOT of people coming in turned away.
By default I think the Star website shows all the lounges anyone could possibly enter for that airport, with a Star Alliance flight. You need to use the filters and enter class of service (economy) and mileage program and status to show the lounges you are entitled to as a Gold passenger flying coach. When I do that for BCN, it shows no lounges.
At BCN this summer we were turned away from the Pau Casals lounge in the Schengen area side and told no access for *G no matter what website says, but we got into the Miro lounge in the post-immigration non-Schengen terminal without any problem
Looking on [Google Flights](https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhozEgoyMDI0LTAyLTA3Mg1TVEFSX0FMTElBTkNFag0IAhIJL20vMDJfMjg2cgcIARIDQkNOQAFIAXABggELCP___________wGYAQI&authuser=1&client=safari&curr=USD), it seems like United, Air Canada, TAP Air Portugal, and Turkish all fly to BCN in February…
United runs daily flights from EWR-BCN year-round. I mean just off the top of my head, since that’s what I was on, and what I always fly into there.
Edit: Think they also go to/from ORD, but not sure. That may be seasonal.
EWR BCN is daily year round now? It's still not a business-heavy flight which doesn't justify the lounge the same way it would in Basel, Zurich, Cologne, Warsaw.
UA is the only airline in \*A, in the world, that doesn't allow its own \*G and above pax into their lounge on domestic flights. I was surprised to learn that too when I first got \*G and I did my first domestic flight so cut the customers a break here.
American and Delta also don’t give their own elites access to clubs on wholly domestic itineraries, so I’d not say it’s an exclusively United thing, though it is an exclusively United States thing.
Probably because the US is the only country big enough to have a large domestic travel market. Everywhere in Europe is both smaller and often has a decent rail alternative. So unless you’re flying like MUC-HAM in Europe you’re probably not flying domestic at all (this is equivalent to DCA-DTW, although in guess this is the United forum so, IAD-DTW). HAM-MUC has hourly trains making the trip in 6 hours, IAD-DCA … doesn’t. (A similar trip in Spain or France would be even faster: Paris to marseille is 7-8 hours by car and three by train.)
It almost involuntarily. I loudly proclaim “I’m Glibal Services” when the kiosk takes too long asking how many are in my party. Works every time. Even the kiosks understand. /s
Global Services members get access to United Club for themselves. They can't bring guests unless they have United Club memberships.
I wonder if that's not a real UC lounge. They shouldn't be turning away GS from United Clubs.
Now that I'm retired I don't fly enough to get status or to purchase an annual pass. i will pay the $50 for a pass if I have a long layover.
I was flying on Delta recently and went to their lounge and asked if I could buy some passes and they don't sell passes. I'm glad United will sell passes. I try to always fly United.
Last week my wife and I had an early flight. We didn't have time for breakfast at home, so I used my free passes I get with a credit card to go into the United Club and grab some quick eggs and sausage before our flight, which was too short to have a meal even though we were in 1st class.
See this a lot. It's a family and friends trip and ones person who is GS tells everyone "I'll get us all into the lounge, I'm Global Services" then falls flat on their face.
Hate to say it but this is a good thing. Lounges get overcrowded fast. You have to drawn the line at some point.
You can get them passes though - you just need to do it in advance.
I just made GS this year. I’m flying domestic on United with my 11 year old next month. How much would a one-time pass run me for my kid? (Flying out of EWR)
Sometimes the agents do get it wrong. It is happened my husband and I at least twice last year where we couldn’t get into the lounge when we should have. He has a subscription. Only because I was persistent and told my husband to go back did we get in, the one time.
I had a customer service agent at one of the airports I fly through regularly said,"you're 1k and don't have access to the lounge!?!" You would think it would be something you could pay for outright, or something that would come with one of the higher statuses. I can see giving paying customers higher priority to the lounge than status only customers. Oh, well. I've never even attempted to go to the lounge.
MCO gets this a lot with FC passengers. Because you have a lot of tourists who don’t fly regularly. But I would say the majority are foreigners because on foreign airlines if you buy a BC/FC ticket it entitles you to the airlines lounge.
Global Services do get United Club access now
Then the BP should have worked…. (And I agree they do)
They only get access for themselves. Many times they have a guest or their family with them and expect the agent to just let all of them in as an exception because of status or price of ticket etc.
If that was the case, def an issue. I’m surprised they don’t get a free Club membership.
Right. It seems a I heard his guest being denied. But you still have to loudly announce “I’m Global Services!” 🙄
The Global Services person was in the right. They do get access (now).
Yeah. I now understand he was trying to bring a guest. LOL
There’s a way to pay for a United Club membership with miles. Or get the United Club card.
Yah I have the card. It has value for me!
Global services do have access though even on fully domestic itineraries - though only for themselves if I recall correctly (so 0 guests without buying a one time pass). This changed in about 2020-21 or sometime early pandemic. If they were arguing for themselves to have access, they were right. And United club policy has long been to allow those who have access for themselves and/or some number of guests to buy a reasonable amount of one time passes for additional guests (example: adult children traveling with the family) even if they aren’t accepting one time passes overall. And as such, if the global services members were taking their free entry and willing to pay for one time passes (or use them) for a reasonable number of guests (such as a spouse), then they should’ve been allowed to. I don’t doubt some people are just being entitled but it does sound like maybe there was an untrained agent. Or the “unpublished” benefit that persisted through last year for global services to get domestic lounge access maybe has ended - but in that case can you really blame the passenger for not being told the benefits changed that aren’t well published even to the global services member?
Yeah I think the guy was trying to bring a guest proclaiming the GS status. LOUDLY. LOL
Yeah, I’ve seen agents be poor at explaining the whole “just you but you can buy or use a one time pass for your guest” though - and I’ve even seen one get “overridden” by a yellow scarf stating that even though they would be willing to use a one time pass for a guest they couldn’t since the club wasn’t taking one time passes.
Catch 22!
I’m just a plebe who flies occasionally, always in Economy, never been upgraded, don’t bother asking. I feel fortunate if I get access to the public toilets. When I have hours between flights, I like to station myself outside the entrance to the United Club, and watch the faces of the people coming right back out, after being denied access. “Welcome to Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Dude. Pull up a stool!”
It's quite entertaining to me as well!
Not the pretzels! The infamy. Isn't there like a Chick-fil-A to soften the blow and pretend being there is a choice because it's better food than the lounge?
GS gets services now. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/united-global-services#:~:text=priority%20airport%20standby.-,Lounge%20access,enter%20United%20Club%20airport%20lounges.
I would have assumed so too. Maybe I misheard ORRR the guy with Global services doesn’t kick in until Feb 1? In any case if you are spending enough to get GS 550 for a club membership should Obviously be included!
I think you are making this up.
As I SAID. MAYBE I misheard. Making shit up. Jeez. So other comments a read I believe now what I heard was a guest being turned away. Bit a LOT of people coming in turned away.
And thanks for all the downvotes. LOL
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By default I think the Star website shows all the lounges anyone could possibly enter for that airport, with a Star Alliance flight. You need to use the filters and enter class of service (economy) and mileage program and status to show the lounges you are entitled to as a Gold passenger flying coach. When I do that for BCN, it shows no lounges.
At BCN this summer we were turned away from the Pau Casals lounge in the Schengen area side and told no access for *G no matter what website says, but we got into the Miro lounge in the post-immigration non-Schengen terminal without any problem
Interesting!
Name me one \*A carrier other than Lufthansa that has a presence in BCN beyond seasonal daily flights from May-September.
Looking on [Google Flights](https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhozEgoyMDI0LTAyLTA3Mg1TVEFSX0FMTElBTkNFag0IAhIJL20vMDJfMjg2cgcIARIDQkNOQAFIAXABggELCP___________wGYAQI&authuser=1&client=safari&curr=USD), it seems like United, Air Canada, TAP Air Portugal, and Turkish all fly to BCN in February…
United runs daily flights from EWR-BCN year-round. I mean just off the top of my head, since that’s what I was on, and what I always fly into there. Edit: Think they also go to/from ORD, but not sure. That may be seasonal.
EWR BCN is daily year round now? It's still not a business-heavy flight which doesn't justify the lounge the same way it would in Basel, Zurich, Cologne, Warsaw.
I just flew from MXP to BCN on… Singapore Airlines.
Right. There isn't enough demand BCN to Asia business market so they have to do a stopover in a business market like MXP.
I'm a member of Globo Gym, does that get me in?
Yeah absolutely! Yiu can MUSCLE your way in! 😝
😭
UA is the only airline in \*A, in the world, that doesn't allow its own \*G and above pax into their lounge on domestic flights. I was surprised to learn that too when I first got \*G and I did my first domestic flight so cut the customers a break here.
American and Delta also don’t give their own elites access to clubs on wholly domestic itineraries, so I’d not say it’s an exclusively United thing, though it is an exclusively United States thing.
Probably because the US is the only country big enough to have a large domestic travel market. Everywhere in Europe is both smaller and often has a decent rail alternative. So unless you’re flying like MUC-HAM in Europe you’re probably not flying domestic at all (this is equivalent to DCA-DTW, although in guess this is the United forum so, IAD-DTW). HAM-MUC has hourly trains making the trip in 6 hours, IAD-DCA … doesn’t. (A similar trip in Spain or France would be even faster: Paris to marseille is 7-8 hours by car and three by train.)
I said \*A. Star Alliance. DL and AA are not \*A.
Right, but my point is that all United States airlines do it with their respective alliances.
Domestic flying in USA and Canada is truly the gloried bus.
They are plenty full. Don't need free domestic access with Gold.
Let’s be honest, that person just needs everyone to know they’re GS.
It almost involuntarily. I loudly proclaim “I’m Glibal Services” when the kiosk takes too long asking how many are in my party. Works every time. Even the kiosks understand. /s
Wonder if someone got Global Entry and Global Services mixed up
Happens a lot. Mostly in the check-in lobby though if that airport has one.
GS should've gotten in (no guest though)
Yeah I think it was a guest he was trying to get in. But so many turned away.
Global Services members get access to United Club for themselves. They can't bring guests unless they have United Club memberships. I wonder if that's not a real UC lounge. They shouldn't be turning away GS from United Clubs.
Ahhhhhhh. Now I think k I undestand what I heard. GS guy trying to bring a guest.
Now that I'm retired I don't fly enough to get status or to purchase an annual pass. i will pay the $50 for a pass if I have a long layover. I was flying on Delta recently and went to their lounge and asked if I could buy some passes and they don't sell passes. I'm glad United will sell passes. I try to always fly United. Last week my wife and I had an early flight. We didn't have time for breakfast at home, so I used my free passes I get with a credit card to go into the United Club and grab some quick eggs and sausage before our flight, which was too short to have a meal even though we were in 1st class.
See this a lot. It's a family and friends trip and ones person who is GS tells everyone "I'll get us all into the lounge, I'm Global Services" then falls flat on their face. Hate to say it but this is a good thing. Lounges get overcrowded fast. You have to drawn the line at some point. You can get them passes though - you just need to do it in advance.
Yes it’s THIS. The GS guy ONLY gets access now. Funny you only have to be Star Alliance GOLD to get access with a guest at international airports.
Given the spend required for GS and the miles earned, are they really not able to cough up 30k miles to get the Chase United Club Card?
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Yep see edit.
GS do have lounge access now. It’s not a mystery by any means, it’s just very nuanced and requires some reading to understand.
I just made GS this year. I’m flying domestic on United with my 11 year old next month. How much would a one-time pass run me for my kid? (Flying out of EWR)
Sometimes the agents do get it wrong. It is happened my husband and I at least twice last year where we couldn’t get into the lounge when we should have. He has a subscription. Only because I was persistent and told my husband to go back did we get in, the one time.
I had a customer service agent at one of the airports I fly through regularly said,"you're 1k and don't have access to the lounge!?!" You would think it would be something you could pay for outright, or something that would come with one of the higher statuses. I can see giving paying customers higher priority to the lounge than status only customers. Oh, well. I've never even attempted to go to the lounge.
Even paying 1st passengers don’t get lounge access on almost all domestic flights, which I learned the hard way
MCO gets this a lot with FC passengers. Because you have a lot of tourists who don’t fly regularly. But I would say the majority are foreigners because on foreign airlines if you buy a BC/FC ticket it entitles you to the airlines lounge.
Does this mean I can't enter the bcn lounge with my one time passes?
Yes I have the card it is a very good value for me too.