Access to Admirals Club or BA lounge in Heathrow

[VernaF7449]

Since I am an infrequent international passenger I have a questions about Heathrow and my ability to get into a lounge.

 

I am flying Boston to Heathrow on AA (I am Advantage Gold, got upgraded to business class) then I will go to T1 for my BA flight to Lisbon (Economy). My cruise companion is traveling Chicago- -Heathrow on AA (she is Advantage Platinum, still waiting for her upgrade) and we are arriving close together. We have a very long layover (7 hours) and it would be nice to get into one of the lounges.

 

From what I gather, Admiral's Club in T3 is not accessible to us as a layover if we are departing out of T1 - is that true? Is the American Arrivals lounge also not accessible to us?

 

With our combination of my business class on AA, and my friend's Platinum status, can we get into a BA lounge in T1?

 

Thanks in advance.

[FlyerTalker]

Try THIS PAGE for info on AA club access guidelines.

 

Seems as though you get the arrivals lounge because of your business class ticket. Also Admiral's Club access as well (use it at your US airports!). Your friend as a oneWorld Sapphire would also get AC access. Seems the arrivals lounge is only for business and first ticketed passengers.

 

As for the BA lounges, I can't speak to that. Hope this is at least a little bit of help to get you started.

[fbgd]

You can use the BA lounge in Terminal by virtue of:

 

1) The fact you are connecting having arrived off a same day oneworld flight in Business Class flight.

2) Your friend's AA Platinum status. This allows her to bring you in as a guest.

Either of these would work in their own right.

 

You correctly assume you cannot use the Admirals Club in T3 as it is in departures in a different terminal to the one you are departing from. You aren't missing much though. It isn't that good.

 

You will be able to use the AA Arrivals Lounge as a Business Class passenger but your friend won't be able to if her upgrade doesn't come through. AA Platinum doesn't give you access to the Arrivals Lounge and you can't guest her in as a Business Class passenger.

[Globaliser]

Seems as though you get the arrivals lounge because of your business class ticket. Also Admiral's Club access as well (use it at your US airports!). Your friend as a oneWorld Sapphire would also get AC access. Seems the arrivals lounge is only for business and first ticketed passengers.

If you have a choice between using the AA arrivals lounge and the BA departures lounge, you will usually be better off using the BA departures lounge because the facilities are better. However, you should check the BA website to see exactly what facilities there will be when you travel, because BA is withdrawing from T1 this year, and most T1 flights have already moved elsewhere.

You correctly assume you cannot use the Admirals Club in T3 as it is in departures in a different terminal to the one you are departing from. You aren't missing much though. It isn't that good.

Thinking ahead, if you depart from T3 and your friend is an AA Plat/OW Sapphire, then the better departures lounge to use is the Cathay Pacific lounge, which is accessible by OW Sapphires (plus one guest). The AC at LHR is a real dump. Its only advantage over the CX lounge is that it has windows, but the CX lounge's advantages more than make up for that.

[VernaF7449]

Thanks!

[Globaliser]

However, you should check the BA website to see exactly what facilities there will be when you travel, because BA is withdrawing from T1 this year, and most T1 flights have already moved elsewhere.

Just had some time to look this up for you. The BA website says in places: "At Terminal 1 the Terraces Lounge at Gate 5 will become our international departure lounge." This is the lounge that used to be the domestic lounge. It has all the facilities you'd expect, including lots of Internet downstairs, and showers upstairs. The upstairs has a huge window looking out onto one of the runways.

 

Also, don't forget that champagne should be available on request, even though it's not put out on the bars.

[SelectSys]

...The AC at LHR is a real dump. Its only advantage over the CX lounge is that it has windows, but the CX lounge's advantages more than make up for that.

 

This is something I never thought of - just go to another OW lounge. Does it matter what carrier you are flying on? I would think that CX would just send you to the Admiral's Club if they saw you were flying on a AA ticket. I used to go to the BA club at LGW on AA tickets but this is because AA didn't have a lounge.

 

You're right, the general Admiral's Club at LHR is a dump - dark, beat up furniture, typically messy, etc. The only positive thing you can say is that sitting in the Admiral's Club beats sitting out in the general T3 departure lounge/zoo. Can't comment on the Flagship Lounge as I don't fly first.

[fbgd]

This is something I never thought of - just go to another OW lounge. Does it matter what carrier you are flying on?

 

Nope. Oneworld Business Class lounges (in departures) honour anyone flying on a oneworld airline in Business Class or who is Sapphire status.

 

Now at LHR you have the option of going to the JAL lounges. I'm going to give them a try when I fly CX out of LHR in a few weeks if they are open.

 

Can't comment on the Flagship Lounge as I don't fly first.

 

It's a dump ;)

[greatam]

This is something I never thought of - just go to another OW lounge. Does it matter what carrier you are flying on? I would think that CX would just send you to the Admiral's Club if they saw you were flying on a AA ticket. I used to go to the BA club at LGW on AA tickets but this is because AA didn't have a lounge.

 

You're right, the general Admiral's Club at LHR is a dump - dark, beat up furniture, typically messy, etc. The only positive thing you can say is that sitting in the Admiral's Club beats sitting out in the general T3 departure lounge/zoo. Can't comment on the Flagship Lounge as I don't fly first.

 

By virtue of your Plat or EXP status, you can access other OneWorld lounges. Golds don't have lounge access. HOWEVER, it is up to the lounge dragons whether you get in. BA is sometimes stingy with access, even as an EXP on a coach OneWorld ticket. They have used "capacity controls" a couple of times to deny access-LHR and JFK specifically.

 

I have had fairly good success using CX lounges all over the world, a couple of times when not even on a OneWorld ticket (Hong Kong specifically).

 

And I can and have walked into many of the LAN lounges worldwide.

 

Another big reason I fly AA and maintain top tier status-lounge access worldwide.

[Globaliser]

Now at LHR you have the option of going to the JAL lounges. I'm going to give them a try when I fly CX out of LHR in a few weeks if they are open.

That will be interesting - I look forward to hearing about them.

 

The other thing to remember is that it's likely that by September - and by January 2009 at the latest - the BA/QF lounges at Terminal 3 should be up and running. So there is likely to be another good alternative to the AA dumps by then.

BA is sometimes stingy with access, even as an EXP on a coach OneWorld ticket. They have used "capacity controls" a couple of times to deny access-LHR and JFK specifically.

I'm surprised to hear about JFK and LHR. I know that there have been problems at Miami, but that's been due to the relative sizes of the AA and BA operations and the widespread knowledge that the BA lounge is much more desirable than the AA lounge there (or at least the old AA lounge).

 

But at JFK, aren't the only other T7 OW operators CX and QF? And I thought that they both use the BA lounges anyway - which are pretty big. And similarly, there's been no real overlap between BA lounges and AA operations at LHR. So if you've been being refused at these airports, you probably have a legitimate complaint.

[TRacanoUK]

Since I am an infrequent international passenger I have a questions about Heathrow and my ability to get into a lounge.

 

I am flying Boston to Heathrow on AA (I am Advantage Gold, got upgraded to business class) then I will go to T1 for my BA flight to Lisbon (Economy). My cruise companion is traveling Chicago- -Heathrow on AA (she is Advantage Platinum, still waiting for her upgrade) and we are arriving close together. We have a very long layover (7 hours) and it would be nice to get into one of the lounges.

 

From what I gather, Admiral's Club in T3 is not accessible to us as a layover if we are departing out of T1 - is that true? Is the American Arrivals lounge also not accessible to us?

 

With our combination of my business class on AA, and my friend's Platinum status, can we get into a BA lounge in T1?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

1) Your business class ticket will def. get you into a lounge in Chicago. It will also give you access to an arrivals lounge in Heathrow, but this might not be the same as the regular departure lounge (I'd go to the arrivals lounge and just wait till your travelling companion gets in--see below).

 

2) Your travelling companions's AA Platinum status will get him/her into ANY ONEWORLD operated lounge in Heathrow plus 1 guest, provided he/she are also flying a One World airline (which it sounds like you are). So through that you'll have access at T1.

 

I hope this helps! 7 hours is a long layover--I'd try to see if you can standby for an earlier flight once you get in!

[Globaliser]

2) Your travelling companions's AA Platinum status will get him/her into ANY ONEWORLD operated lounge in Heathrow plus 1 guest, provided he/she are also flying a One World airline (which it sounds like you are). So through that you'll have access at T1.

The pedant in me just wants to reiterate, for clarity, something that's been stated earlier in the thread. Under the airport operator's rules, you can only access an airside departure lounge in the terminal from which you are departing Heathrow. The lounges themselves are responsible for policing this, so the lounge dragons cop the flak from passengers who want to use a lounge in a different terminal and are refused.