After a quick flight from Manchester to London, we had a 1hr40min connection at Heathrow. The good news is that we were arriving and departing from Terminal 5, so the connection was as convenient as it'll get at Heathrow. We could use the British Airways Galleries First Lounge thanks to my oneworld Emerald status. As…
Continue reading: Review: British Airways Galleries First Lounge London Heathrow
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
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QR seems to be stingy with lounge access as well. If I'm correct, they send oneworld passengers who aren't on QR metal to the Oryx lounge.
For those of you who fly all the time it must be frustrating to be exposed to these types of places. I have been in UK on several occasions and the British absolutely fail at exceptional service. I suppose you should be grateful the lounge didn't burst into flames.Good report Ben
Transited Heathrow in July and was in the Concorde Room - you are 100% correct in your estimation that it is unimpressive. Went over to the Galleries First Lounge and found very little differentiation between the two.
Helpful report, as always...Even Lunch at 12 noon would be early in British terms, so 10.30 is still very much Breakfast!
My "home" airport these days. Didn't see it in your photos but I really like the terrace area at the far end, through the glass doors, with the big couches and fireplaces overlooking the Tarmac. Sitting there, JW Blue in hand, great space to chill out.
Interesting review and I personally enjoyed the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle prior to our F trip to Beijing very recently, using Avios and a 2-4-1 but I find it interesting that you compare the T5 lounges to Cathay and Qantas. Can you please compare it to the American Lounges? Any American lounges, on any American international carrier? That might provide a balance viewpoint.
Might be a bit biased with this being my 'home' lounge, but it definitely beats all AA Clubs in the US. And you can access it with a cheapest LHR-MAN/GLA ticket...
As John said, terrace is pretty good and I think you could've had the BA Burger [more gourmet style than fast food].
Also, there is a breakfast menu with egg benedicts ect, didn't have to go for buffet only.
I think BA gets beat up quite a bit for their F experience, and it's not all completely warranted. I think it's all about expectations. I have to say that I had a pleasant experience in the CCR at LHR. It's quite a busy lounge, given BAs large F inventory, and individual service does suffer a bit because of that. I did not come in with expectations of visiting the LH FCT, and found the service to be unmemorable, but adequate. Interestingly I liked this Galleries F lounge with its buffet, as it felt like I could get what I wanted without bothering a server and having to wait. The CCR at JFK was more memorable (as opposed to the utterly forgettable Galleries F lounge at JFK).
This review pretty well matches my experiences, although I've heard a number of recent reports that the BA Galleries First lounges in both T5 and T3 have become quite dirty and tattered. I know the T5 one does get very crowded at certain times or during delays.
Hey Ben, I arrive into T3 on Qantas First then connect onto BA club Europe to Istanbul T5. Can I access the lounge?
Flying in on Qantas in First doesn't give you access to the BA first class lounge on your connection, but if you are a OneWorld Emerald, then you can access it based on status. In any case, you will have to first take the inter-terminal transfer bus from T3 to T5, then reclear security, and then you can access a lounge. If you are not OneWorld Emerald you should have access to the BA Galleries business class lounge.
You seem to go out of your way to always moan about British food. For a start, we do proper bacon and sausages for breakfast. And we keep scones (biscuits) for afternoon tea on BA, with jam and cream, not for the breakfast buffet with some weird savoury sauce. 🙂
I was signed into this lounge recently by a Gold Card friend, we were peasants from Club World. He likes the great view of the apron and runway end you get from one area, it’s usually the morning departure blast off point and great fun to ID planes with FlightRadar while you eat.
Buffet was ok but it was not clear a la carte was on offer. The Eggs Benny on their way to the better informed looked good.
So sorry we’re not to Lufthansa First Lounge Frankfurt Standard.