One of the perks of being a Star Alliance Gold customer (see here for the various airline elite status levels that equal Star Alliance Gold) is the ability to use lounges throughout the Star Alliance network. Airline lounges are a great way to relax and enjoy a layover instead of being in the terminal and having to pay for all food and drinks.
Aegean Updates Lounge Access Policy for Guests
Another benefit of this perk is the ability for the Gold customer to bring in a guest to the lounge – as long as that guest is traveling from that same airport that day. Up until now, there was no requirement for that guest and the Gold member to even know each other before entering the lounge so it meant that Gold members have long been able to bring in anyone they wanted.
But, Lufthansa made a move last month that showed that this will change for their whole group (Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian) as of May 3, 2021. This new change says that the guest must be on the same flight as the Gold member that is guesting them in.
Now, Aegean has followed suit as well with their version of the policy going into effect as of May 3, 2021 also. Here is what it says, “We would like to inform our Gold members that they can visit Star Alliance Lounges with a guest of theirs, only if they travel on the same flight, as of 03.05.2021. Until that date, the access is allowed even if Gold members and their partners travel with different flights of Star Alliance.”
Now, the Star Alliance lounge policy currently still shows this “You are entitled to bring one guest travelling on any Star Alliance flight departing from the same airport on the same day.” My guess would be that, since the Lufthansa and Aegean policies go against the Star Alliance policy, that the general Star Alliance lounge policy will be updating to reflect the new terms of these airlines in the coming months.
Currently, United’s policy on guests into the lounge matches the general Star Alliance policy.
Will this matter that much? Probably not for most since most people are guesting in their travel companions. However, I have used this current guest policy several times when I transit major airports in Europe since I sometimes meet up with friends who are also transiting and do not have lounge access. So, I will miss it for that but otherwise, not so much.
My guess is that the eventual face on this policy change will be the desire to not be mixing too many different flights/people into a lounge but is more likely just a cost-cutting move.
