Oneworld Lounges: What to Know Before You Go

The most effective methods to make a visit extra nice is to chill out in an airport lounge earlier than your flight. Should you fly American Airways, Alaska Airways, British Airways and different Oneworld Alliance airways, you possibly can select from as much as 620 Oneworld lounges. Nonetheless, you will have to get entry to Oneworld lounges via Oneworld elite standing, a qualifying ticket or a lounge membership.

Here is all the pieces you could learn about Oneworld lounges — from learn how to get Oneworld lounge entry to learn how to discover one on your subsequent journey.

Kinds of Oneworld Lounges

Oneworld boasts that vacationers can entry as much as 620 airport lounges. Nonetheless, entry varies by lounge kind. Here is an summary of the three primary varieties of Oneworld lounges.

• Oneworld elites on the Sapphire and Emerald ranges.

• Enterprise- and first-class passengers touring on any Oneworld airline.

For instance, nearly all Heathrow Terminal 5 Oneworld lounges are operated by British Airways. Nonetheless, an Alaska Airways MVP Gold elite standing member can entry Sapphire-branded Oneworld airline lounges, as MVP Gold corresponds to Oneworld Sapphire elite standing. You don’t even must be flying Alaska to make use of these lounges.

Along with airline-operated lounges, Oneworld is growing a community of Oneworld-branded lounges. As a part of Oneworld’s twentieth anniversary in 2019, the alliance introduced it could start rolling out Oneworld-branded and managed airport lounges. Up to now, solely one in every of these is at the moment in operation.

The Oneworld lounge at LAX is not branded with any specific airline emblem. As a substitute, it is merely referred to by Oneworld because the “Los Angeles Enterprise Lounge.” This lounge is usually accessible to Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald elites and business- and first-class passengers flying on any Oneworld airline.

The ultimate grouping of Oneworld lounges consists of lounges that are not really tied to Oneworld. As a substitute, Oneworld airways companion with these lounges to offer entry to their premium passengers. Meaning you possibly can solely entry these lounges for those who’re flying on a selected Oneworld airline.

Let’s circle again to the instance of Heathrow Terminal 5 Oneworld lounges. Along with the British Airways-operated lounges, Qatar Airways companions with the Membership Aspire Lounge to offer lounge entry for its business- and first-class passengers, in addition to Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald elites flying on Qatar.

That signifies that an American Airways Platinum (Oneworld Sapphire) can entry this lounge when flying on Qatar Airways however not when flying on British Airways. Alternatively, this passenger might entry the Sapphire-branded British Airways lounges in the identical terminal.

Learn how to discover Oneworld lounges

The simplest method to discover Oneworld lounges and entry guidelines is to make use of the Oneworld airport lounge search device. Simply enter a metropolis identify or airport code within the search bar, choose the airport identify and click on “discover lounges” to generate a listing of the Oneworld lounges accessible at that airport.

For example, when utilizing this device you will see that Tampa Worldwide Airport solely has one Oneworld lounge, an Admirals Membership that is accessible to Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald elites and business- and first-class passengers touring on Oneworld airways.

In the meantime, 15 Oneworld lounges can be found at London Heathrow with a variety of entry insurance policies and restrictions.

Learn how to get Oneworld lounge entry

Vacationers usually have 3 ways of accessing Oneworld lounges:

Take into account that all of those Oneworld lounge entry strategies usually require that you’ve got a confirmed ticket on a flight marketed and operated by a Oneworld airline departing on the identical day.

Oneworld provides three tiers of elite standing: Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. Though Oneworld Ruby vacationers do not get lounge entry, Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald elites usually get entry to Oneworld lounges when flying on Oneworld airways.

• Oneworld Sapphire elites can entry Sapphire-branded (enterprise class) lounges.

• Oneworld Emerald elites can entry Sapphire- and Emerald-branded (enterprise class and top notch) lounges.

Undecided which Oneworld elite standing tier you may have? Listed below are the Oneworld elite standing tiers for some common Oneworld airways:

Observe that American Airways AAdvantage and Alaska Mileage Plan elites usually do not get Oneworld lounge entry on flights solely inside North America.

The opposite major method to get Oneworld lounge entry is by flying in enterprise or top notch on a Oneworld airline. Usually, you possibly can entry any Oneworld enterprise class or Sapphire-branded lounge when flying in enterprise class on any Oneworld airline. Oneworld first-class flyers may also entry any Oneworld lounge labeled with top notch or Oneworld Emerald branding.

Along with getting Oneworld lounge entry, you may additionally get entry to particular non-Oneworld lounges when flying in a premium cabin. For instance, Royal Jordanian business- and first-class passengers can entry the Thai Airways Royal Orchid/Silk lounges in Bangkok.

The ultimate approach of gaining Oneworld lounges entry is through lounge memberships. A number of Oneworld airways supply a lounge membership that enables entry to its lounges in addition to some companion lounges.

Along with practically 50 Admirals Membership lounges, American Airways Admirals Membership members can entry greater than 60 companion lounges, that are largely Oneworld lounges. These embody Japan Airways Sakura Lounges in Tokyo and Frankfurt, choose British Airways lounges in Europe and The Qantas Membership places in Australia and New Zealand.

Likewise, Alaska Lounge+ members can entry greater than 90 companion lounges along with Alaska’s 9 airport lounges. This consists of entry to Admirals Membership places when flying Alaska or American Airways, Qantas Membership when flying Qantas and different companion lounges just like the Cathay Pacific lounge in San Francisco.

Vacationers may even entry some Oneworld lounges through Precedence Go. This lounge membership is a advantage of many premium bank cards and grants entry to over 1,300 lounges worldwide, together with a number of Oneworld lounges. Nonetheless, entry could also be restricted. For instance, Precedence Go members can entry the British Airways lounge in San Francisco, however solely between 5 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. every day.

Oneworld lounges, recapped

Step one to having fun with Oneworld lounges is discovering the easiest way so that you can entry them. That might be via Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald elite standing, a business- or first-class ticket on a Oneworld airline or perhaps a lounge membership.

Subsequent, you will wish to use the Oneworld lounge search device to search out which lounges can be found in your subsequent journey. Then, take a detailed have a look at the entry coverage for every lounge to make sure that it is not a contract lounge solely accessible to passengers of sure airways.