Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Terminal 3 (Image Credit: Cathay Pacific)
Cathay Pacific has reopened its business and First Class lounges at London Heathrow Terminal 3.
These have long been regarded as some of the best lounges at London Heathrow and certainly the best option for passengers flying on Oneworld alliance airlines at Terminal 3.
Currently, the lounges are open from 05:30 to 17:30 from Monday to Saturday and from 07:00 to 17:30 on Sunday. These should no doubt change when evening flights to Hong Kong restart.
Cathay Pacific has had well documented problems operating flights to and from Hong Kong with strict local quarantine requirements for its crews. The airline has also come under considerable political scrutiny in Hong Kong.
Whilst Hong Kong and much of Asia is likely to remain closed to visitors for some time due to “zero COVID” policies, the reopening of the lounges is welcome for all Oneworld flyers from Terminal 3.
Cathay Pacific’s Oneworld alliance partner Qantas also reopened its own lounge at Terminal 3 late last year.
Qantas London Heathrow Lounge (Image Credit: Qantas Airways)
Qantas has reopened its lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3.
The highly regarded joint business and First Class lounge has been closed since Qantas first suspended scheduled passenger flights from Heathrow at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This does provide a welcome additional lounge option for eligible passengers of British Airways and other Oneworld alliance member airlines when flying from Terminal 3.
British Airways Lounge – London Gatwick South Terminal (Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has once again relaxed its lounge access rules for the Christmas and New Year period.
One of the biggest irritations for Executive Club members when travelling with their family on holiday is that cannot bring their whole family as guests into the lounges.
BA has sought to address last Christmas by allowing Gold cardholders to bring up to five guests into the Galleries Club lounges at Gatwick and Heathrow. It has now become a regular occurrence over Easter and the summer holidays.
BA has, once again, relaxed access lounge access rules for all BA lounges from Friday 14 December 2018 to Sunday 6 January 2019.
However, unlike last Christmas, the rules appear to have been relaxed for selected members on an invitation only basis. This is most likely for Gold cardholders with a very high number of annual tier points.
If you are a Gold member of the Executive Club it’s worth checking your e-mails to see whether this applies to you.
Unfortunately, if you have not received an invitation, then normal lounge guesting rules will apply.
A gentle reminder that it is not within the control of the lounge staff to flex the rules. Please do not pressure staff into doing so.
Qantas Singapore First Class Lounge Reception (Image Credit: Qantas)
Qantas has announced it is to open a new First Class lounge at Singapore Changi airport.
The airline has operated a joint business and First Class lounge at the airport since 2013. It used to operate separate business and First Class lounges jointly with BA, before the airlines decided to operate separate lounges.
It is to begin work a new First Class lounge in April 2019 and the new lounge is expected to open in late 2019. The new lounge will have seating for 240 customers.
Lounge features will include a cocktail bar, a la carte pre-flight dining and shower rooms. Qantas will work with its long standing chef Neil Perry and designer David Caon to design the lounge.
Qantas will also expand its existing business lounge to increase overall lounge capacity for 800 customers.
This does reverse a trend for Qantas to open joint business and First Class lounges, where it has also done at Hong Kong and London Heathrow Terminal 3.
This news does highlight the importance of Singapore to Qantas. It has this year reinstated flights from London Heathrow to Sydney via Singapore. It has also reinstated a former codeshare with Air France from Singapore to Paris and recently announced a new codeshare with KLM to Amsterdam.
Etihad business, First Class and The Residence passengers continue to have access to the lounge. As do Gold and Platinum members of the Etihad Guest frequent flyer programme. Etihad economy passengers can also purchase access to the lounge.
No1 Lounges is now selling access to passengers of all airlines departing from Terminal 4 on its website for £45 per person.
This move has been expected for some time. Etihad has had well documented financial problems of late. It had already been selling lounge access to economy passengers. A radical reshaping of its route network and fleet has been expected. However, the effective handing over of its lounge at London Heathrow is a significant move. It shows that nothing is off the table.
Whilst Etihad is at pains to emphasise that facilities will be reconfigured in the coming year, it is a simple fact that the lounge will be busier.
Having experienced third party lounges operated for both airlines and on a pay-per-access basis, it can be problematic. When the schedules of participating airlines and periods of peak passenger demand collide, they can become extremely crowded. Even simple things, like not having to queue to get in, cannot be taken for granted.
The House is open from 06:00 to 21:00 daily. Passengers must be over the age of 12 to access the lounge.
Lounge facilities include a tendered bar, a dining room with table service and a la carte morning breakfast and all day menus, and shower suites.
The lounge is located in the departures area, near the SkyTeam lounge, opposite Gate 10.
It follows the design aesthetic of BA’s recently refurbished Aberdeen and Rome which a minimalist Scandinavian feel.
The lounge has been enlarged. It is described by BA as having an “opulent” First bar, a new “boutique” pre-flight dining area and a quiet work area.
One genuinely new feature is a dedicated wine room with a wide range of wines available to taste. This could well make its way over to Heathrow when BA refurbishes its lounges there in the coming years.
Passengers travelling on British Airways from New York JFK Terminal 7 who are BA Executive Club Gold cardholders and Oneworld Emerald equivalents are eligible to use the lounge. Passengers ticketed in First Class can use the Concorde Room which is not being fully refurbished.
The lounge is also available to First Class passengers of ANA when flying on ANA from New York.
The next lounge to be refurbished is the expansive Galleries Club lounge which is now underway, leaving parts of the lounge partially closed. This is expected to be complete in 2019.
Despite its name, ticketed First Class passengers have access to the Concorde Room. This means this lounge is effectively for British Airways Executive Club Gold Cardholders and Oneworld Emerald equivalents, of which there are a very substantial number on this route.
It is fair to say that for a lounge branded as First Class it did underwhelm a little. However, given the length of the refurbishment the new lounge should be a big improvement.
Unfortunately, no press images are available at the moment. It is understood that BA’s regular press photographer is flying out to New York this weekend so hopefully a full set will be available next week.
The lounge has been enlarged and it is described by BA as having new zones including a dedicated wine room, an “opulent” First bar, and a quiet work area. There is also a new pre-flight dining area.
British Airways Lounge – London Gatwick South Terminal (Credit: British Airways)
For as long as we can remember one of the biggest complaints about the BA Executive Club is the rule that allows Silver and Gold Executive Club members to bring only one guest into the lounges.
The biggest irritation is when an Executive Club member is travelling on their family holiday and cannot bring their whole family into the lounge.
BA has sought to address this in the past 12 months by allowing Gold cardholders to bring up to five guests into the Galleries Club lounges at Gatwick and Heathrow over Christmas and Easter.
BA has, once again, relaxed access lounge access rules from today, Saturday 14 July, to Sunday 2 September 2018.
However, there is good news and bad news.
The good news is that the rules appear to have been relaxed for all BA lounges.
The bad news is that rules have been relaxed only for members of the “Gold Guest List”.
The Gold Guest List is an Executive Club tier above Gold introduced a little over ten years ago. It is not that widely publicised. You have to earn 5,000 tier points in one year to become a member and 3,000 tier points in consecutive years to retain membership. Its benefits include access to a dedicated customer service telephone line, additional Avios redemption benefits, additional lounge guests, and a Hilton Honors Diamond membership.
Given the change of policy for the summer it’s not certain how this will be applied over Christmas.
This is one of a number of measures BA has introduced for families including “status hold” for new parents. If you’ve travelled through Terminal 5 recently you may have noticed a new family check-in area at the North side of the terminal. Certainly from anecdotal experience, even for the most frequent flyers, it is the experience when travelling with their own family that has the greatest influence on their perception of the airline.
BA London Heathrow Terminal 5 Arrivals Lounge Breakfast Buffet Area (Image Credit: London Air Travel)
When London Heathrow Terminal 5 opened a little over ten years ago, one of the promised benefits for premium passengers was an improved arrivals lounge experience.
Readers may recall long queues for showers at the old Terminal 4 arrivals lounge and a long route to the departures area for the equivalent lounge in Terminal 1.
And on the opening day of Terminal 5, one of the few things to go right was the opening of a vastly improved arrivals lounge.
Designed by David Davies & Stuart Barron the bright, spacious lounge featured scores of shower rooms, an Elemis travel spa, and a wide selection of seating.
Let’s take a look. But first, a quick primer on the lounge:
Lounge Location and Access Eligibility
The lounge is located on the first floor of the arrivals area of Terminal 5.
When you have collected your luggage and cleared customs, look for the signs to the lounge and take a lift to the first floor and then follow the signs.
The lounge is open from 05:00 to 14:00 daily.
Passengers arriving from a BA long-haul flight in Club World or First Class are eligible to access the lounge, as well as Gold Executive Club cardholders if arriving from a long-haul flight. (I understand American Airlines Advantage Executive Platinum cardholders should also be able to access the lounge if travelling on a flight covered by the American Airlines & BA transatlantic joint-venture.)
The lounge does not fall within Oneworld alliance lounge access rules and no guests can be brought into the lounge.
Note if you are arriving on a BA long-haul flight at Terminal 3 you can use the American Airlines arrivals lounge.
If you’re not eligible to access either lounges, Plaza Premium also offer paid-for arrivals lounges at Terminals 2, 3, and 4 (though I’d skip the lounge at Terminal 3).
Lounge Facilities
Lounge facilities include:
– Staffed luggage storage area
– Breakfast buffet offering a Full English and continental breakfast
– A wide range of seating at tables and benches, and armchairs.
– Private shower rooms with Elemis toiletries
– Elemis Travel Spa
– Business centre with PCs, printer and photocopier
– Concorde Breakfast Room with table service for First Class passengers
South Beach, Miami (Image Credit: London Air Travel)
Here are details of two temporary lounge changes affecting BA passengers flying out of Miami and New York JFK in July 2018:
Miami
BA’s designated lounge at Miami airport is the Premium Lounge which it shares with other Oneworld alliance members such as Iberia, Finnair and Qatar Airways.
This is located on the fifth floor of Concourse E in the Central Terminal. This lounge is temporarily closed for repairs from Monday 2 July 2018 for approximately five weeks.
If you’ve ever visited the lounge you would know that whilst it is certainly spacious, the decor does scream “1980s office lobby”. I was told well over a year ago by a member of staff that the lounge was due to be refurbished, but there seems to be no sign of this happening yet.
Whilst the lounge is closed, BA passengers can use the American Airlines Flagship® lounge near Gate 30 of Concourse D in the North Terminal.
This is a relatively new lounge. By any measure, it will be a significant improvement with much more modern decor and a better choice of food and beverage more suited to pre-departure on an international flight. Like the Premium Lounge, it does have showers. Under Oneworld alliance lounge access rules, eligible BA passengers have access to this lounge in any event.
Whilst Concourses D and E are interlinked, it will be much longer walk from the lounge to the BA departure gates. Note that if the BA flight is departing from Gates E20-E33 there is a train to these gates on level four of Concourse E, as per this official map.
(From experience of flying into and out of Miami many times over the years, the only thing that can be said with any certainty is that each time it’s different so the best advice is just be prepared for it not to be the same as before.)
As part of this, the Elemis travel spa and showers in the Galleries Club lounge are closed from Saturday 7 July 2018 to Monday 30 July 2018 for refurbishment, so there will be no pre-flight showers available.
The Galleries First lounge appears to be still closed for refurbishment and there are no showers in the remaining BA lounge at JFK Terminal 7, the Concorde Room, which is for First Class passengers and Concorde Room cardholders only.
