[Anonymous]

[NIGELPARKER]

Just returned from Hong Kong having flown out on the last flight on Christmas day.Arrived at Terminal 1 lounge 2.5 hrs before dep.to find staff clearing away what remained of the (very tired looking) buffet and having the choice of 2 barely chilled chardonnays (No champagne) at the ‘World Wine Bar’ .The tables hadn’t been cleaned and what staff remained were obviously very keen to be off home. Am I being unreasonable in expecting a decent service regardless of the time of year? Things were no better on the return journey .My partner and I arrived 3hrs before departure to be told that we were unable to be seated together.Despite our protests they refused to budge and advised us to ask on the plane if anyone would move. Thoroughly pissed off we got to the business lounge, which is shared with Quantas. I could not believe the state of the furniture – It really looked as though it had all come from a junk shop – the seats were dirty and had stuffing poking from worn corners or rips! What is BA’s problem? How can they expect to get return business when they offer such mediocre / embarrasing lounge facilities? On a more positive note, when we explained the seating problem to the lounge reception we were immediately seated together, so I really don’t know what the problem was at check in. Also the flights were very comfortable with excellent service, but I will not be using BA for future trips if I can possibly help it.

[Swindoneric]

I couldn’t agree more Nigel. The lounge in T1 is a disgrace, you can rarely get a seat in the lounge in T4 and at HKG it’s often standing room only. I’d guess that BA would claim that with T5 on its way, there is no point in investing in the existing terminals but they are a real shambles.
It’s a real shame that the Cathay lounges aren’t available for BA passengers in HKG as they are on a different level. Roll on T5….

[CBaker2]

Can’t comment on Hong Kong lounge as over a year since we were there and it did not stick in my mind. However, travelling first class, two lounges stick in my mind for being poor – Singapore, shared with Quantas, had very scruffy chairs and unexceptional food. Sao Paulo was very crowded (shared with too many others) and noisy and the only wine on offer was chardonnay.

[maxgeorge]

T1 departure lounge is fine, but why does BA close the arrival lounge at 14h00?
The last flight from LAX arrives after that, and 11+ hours, even in the new Club World, means a lounge is sorely needed.
The upstairs Finnair T1 lounge was disappointing: Finnair is a damn good airline, so let’s hope their move to T2 will improve things.
The new BA Club lounge at LAX is rather bland, nowhere near as nice as the old CathayPacific run one. The new First lounge is a huge improvement on the old shared lounge in the Bradley terminal, which was a disgrace.
The arrival lounge at OliverTambo(JNB) is in the Southern Sun Hotel, across the street, and is very nice. The BA departure lounge is comfortable, if somewhat small, and the staff most obliging.
I use OneWorld partner Alaska Airlines a lot, and their “Boardroom” lounge in SeaTac offers a very satisfying draught beer, something I sure could use at that appalling nightmare, LHR.

[VintageKrug]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience at the T1 Terraces Lounge.

Personally, I find BA has a very strong lounge product. In T1, I always recommend going up to the little mezzanine floor if using the Terraces, and of course the FIRST lounge in T1 is very good, only behind the excellent FIRST lounge at LGW (which is probably not long for this world, once open skies removes several longhaul flights to LHR).

It is certainly not unreasonable to expect decent service at any time of the year, though even those working on Christmas Day have families they want to get home to see, and I would imagine it was a very quiet travel day in general, with many food suppliers shut, and so I do not think it unreasonable to make allowances in this respect.

Champagne is provided even in the Terraces lounge, but only on request, so you would have had to ask for it, and it is brought to your table.

Was the Elemis Spa open – I find a quick shower pre-flight very refreshing – you can always share with you travelling companion 😉 – and if you were there 2.5 hours ahead of time, I am sure you took full advantage of the relaxing Zone R check in and dedicated fast track security, and perhaps had time for a complimentary massage treatment?

Please do note that Australia’s national airline is spelled Qantas, without a “u”.

On the matter of preallocated seating, this is a much discussed topic on sites like http://www.flyertalk.com – Silver and Goldmembers and those travelling in F, as well as those with special needs do get to pre-allocate, otherwise you really do need to check in online at T-24, and often you will find the best seats available to all comers then, including the emergency exits. In light of this policy, you really have to check in online to guarantee being seated together; if you do so you are likely to get some pretty good seats.

I appreciate it is not always easy to do this, especially when away from home, but them’s the rules and we can either fulminate against them, or work with them to our advantage.

The T1 Lounge is likely to be shut in just 12 weeks, as BA moves out of T1 and into http://www.ba.com/terminal5 where some of the largest most luxurious lounges in the world await. I think BA has stated it spent £400 million on the lounge fit out alone. There is even a fireplace in the Concorde Room!

With regard to capacity in T4, I have seen it busy, but do remember there are two BA Terraces lounges in T4, so you can always go for a stroll to the other one near Gate One, which is quieter and has better food selection. Again all this will be moot with the move to T5 and T3 imminent, although some flights SYD/BKK/SIN will stay at T4 until late 2008 before transferring along with Qantas to T3.

Despite this planned move, BA did invest in a thorough makeover of the Gate One Terraces lounge at T4 just last year, so they certainly are not dropping investment in T4 despite T5 being so ready in March 2008. It has great views of parked up aircraft, and plenty of seats.

The general appallingness of T4 is simply due to government and BAA shenanigans and underinvestment – when it opened it was a dream to use but with Heathrow now serving nearly 70 million passengers per annum, while being designed to cope with just 50 million, something has to give.

On the matter of Arrivals Lounges closing at 2pm, they are really meant as a stopgap for those who don’t have time or are not permitted to check in to their hotel rooms so early in the morning before perhaps heading straight form the plane to a meeting.

I know of no other airline at LHR – or indeed anywhere for that matter, though I am willing to be corrected – that offers such a comprehensive arrivals service to Business, FIRST and Gold card passengers.

A full service shower, suit pressing, massage, full English breakfast, free magazines and newspapers and business facilities (PCs with net access and printing) are all complimentary. Though to be fair Virgin has a pretty good revivals lounge at LHR.

In T5 there will be many more showers, the option of having a bath, and even a few day rooms for those needing a little longer to relax and rest in.

So it is annoying that it closes, but you can always either go to your hotel straight from the airport or book an earlier flight to ensure you can get to use it.

Finally I totally agree the Boardroom Lounge at SEA exceeds expectations for a US airline, and has great runway views especially as the sun sets. Terrific, friendly staff and worth a visit.

[fliesalot]

Have you tried the Lufthansa lounge in Frankfurt? Now that is a real joke! I always found the BA lounges to be way above average.

[MartynSinclair]

Interesting situation in BA Lounge Geneva airport today 15th July 2010.

Sitting next to me was Mick Hucknall and the Simply Red Band, who went out of their way to keep an extremely low profile, but did engage in quiet convesration with people who approached them.

The next table along were a BA cabin crew on duty, in uniform, playing cards (in between flights). At the bar area people were standing, because there were no seats left. I asked the lounge manager, a really delightful lady if staff took priorty over Exec card holders and customers flying club – her answer was that she didnt agree with this when the lounge is full, but the Purser pulled rank. There were 3 cabin crew and this was between 3 and 5pm.

If of course duty crew are permited lounge access, when the lounge is full, then I have wasted a post.

I would be interested to hear from any remaining BA crew on this forum about this.

[Binman62]

MartynSinclair
You should take this up with BA customer relations and the executive club. Cabin Crew on duty are not permitted to be in any lounge.
BA Board members, some senior executives and managers on duty with a First priority can use a lounge but not if it is busy. The staffs know who they are and will tell them that they cannot get in for that reason.
My last Gatwick experience resulted in me watching BA uniformed staff get themselves tea and coffee from the machines before vanishing back into their offices. I do not begrudge anyone a coffee or tea or even a seat in the lounge. What I think is happening is that with all the troubles of the past year management have been distracted by the cabin crew dispute, weather and volcanic disruption and are simply not enforcing the rules and regulations that exist. Everyone is tired and somewhat demoralised so taking on issues such as this, which seem petty and unimportant is not a priority.
I think it should be always a priority as it is about putting customers first and such petty lapses demonstrate a contempt for customers, albeit perhaps unintentional contempt..
I know BA staff who tell me that years ago such behavior would have gotten you fired. Now it is tolerated as managers have other priorities and have neither the time nor inclination to tackle the staff. To my mind simple rules such as not getting into lounges, not eating or drinking in uniform in a public area and no smoking in uniform in public; are in themselves pretty unimportant. However, there impact in terms of the image that results can be very powerful and that is why I would support them and any manger who tries to maintain them.

[VintageKrug]

Absolutely agreed, Binman62.

My understanding was that unless working and on lounge duty, or travelling as private individuals in regular clothes, BA Cabin Crew are specifically prohibited from entering the lounges and absolutely prohibited from using the facilities/catering therein.

There may be more to this than meets the eye, but it is certainly well worth reporting this incident (including dates and times) using:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/custrelform/public/en_gb

It is also feeble for the lounge manager not to have stepped in when specifically asked to do so (but she/he may have been non-BA/outsourced)?

As you suggest, MartynSinclair, it is just totally wrong that crew should be taking up space needed by passengers, and the GVA lounge is especially tight. I would posit that the crewmembers involved may well be BASSA types trying to push boundaries; exactly the sort of bad apples who need to be encouraged to hone their obviously top-notch customer relations skills elsewhere.

[openfly]

Gatwick lounges have a lot of BA staff passing through…mates of desk staff, managers etc.
Exec Lounge in Manchester often has staff in uniform sitting relaxing before the flight. Maybe the rules are not being adhered to…

[VintageKrug]

I have used the Gatwick lounges on about 20 occasions this year.

I have never once seen any uniformed staffmembers either relaxing in the lounge or using its facilities.

I have used the Manchester lounge a more modest four times, but have regularly travelled through that lounge over the past few years, sometimes weekly.

In 100+ BA lounge visits this year across the globe I have NEVER seen a uniformed BA staffmember relaxing in the BA lounge or using the facilities; they have their own facilities for that.

I find this very hard to believe.

[openfly]

VK…if you read my post again, I do not mention staff in uniform in the Gatwick lounges. I happen to know that there are a lot of staff using the lounges. You may think you are the worlds authority on British Airways, but please dont call me a liar.

[SimonRowberry]

Now, now openfly, no need for that.

I just wondered (and I’m not calling you a liar by any means, merely interested) how you knew they were BA staff if they weren’t in uniform?

Regards, Simon

[openfly]

Hi Simon,
I will leave you to keep wondering…..!

[Author]

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