Singapore Airlines Changes Guest Access Rules for Lounges

In an effort to better align themselves with Star Alliance lounge access rules for elite passengers, Singapore Airlines has updated its lounge access policies to restrict guest access to only passengers who are on the same exact flight as the lounge-eligible primary passenger.


Singapore Airlines restricts lounge guest access

Prior, a Singapore Airlines premium class passenger or elite status holder could guest any additional person into the lounge, so long as that person was flying Singapore Airlines sometime that day. Effectively, a lounge-eligible passenger could be traveling Flight A, but guest a non-eligible passenger flying on flight B into the lounge. While primarily intended for business travelers, the practice of guesting in strangers became quite a common practice, so the rules with Star Alliance changed recently to restrict access to only the same flight as the lounge-eligible passenger.

While this hopefully shouldn’t have too much of an impact on day-to-day flights, this is definitely something to keep in mind, especially if you fly Singapore Airlines on a regular basis.

You’ll no longer be able to guest passengers not traveling on your flight into a Singapore Airlines lounge.

You can always check to see if you’re eligible to access the lounge by using our Lounge Access Wizard. This handy tool checks your elite status level and flight details to determine what lounges you’ll have access to along the route of your journey.

Bottom Line

This change was made for Star Alliance elite passengers over a year ago, and Singapore Airlines is now aligning themselves with this policy, and ensuring it covers all travel, whether the passenger is seated in a premium cabin or not. While the change is unfortunate and may impact some ability to guest in other travelers, it shouldn’t have an impact on most travelers.

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About Jamie Larounis

Jamie Larounis is a travel industry analyst and loyalty programs educator. His writing at UpgradedPoints.com and social media accounts @theforwardcabin share his experiences, musings, reviews, tips, tricks, resources and industry news with you, the fellow traveler. Among many projects, he also helps power the Frequent Traveler Awards, Loyalty Summit and Frequent Traveler University with sales and sponsorship support. Highlighting on his knowledge of airline customer experience, James was featured in American Airlines’ “Elevate” training program presented to all employees in 2016. Among several media spotlights, he’s spoken at Princeton University, and the New York Times Travel Show, been quoted in The New York Times, Travel and Leisure Magazine, The New York Post, The Fiscal Times, Skift, the BBC, the Washington Post, Forbes, New York Magazine, and Condé Nast Traveler, been featured on CNN and FOX News, and written for Forbes, InsideFlyer, and Road Warrior Voices/USA Today. In 2018, he was awarded the highest honor for exceptional customer service for Washington Dulles International Airport. Today, Jamie is the resident expert on American Airlines at UpgradedPoints.com, and provides travel industry consulting support to MeetSelect.com, a lifestyle membership service for influential individuals.

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