[IanFromHKG]

[quote quote=1106239]I don’t recall the Frankfurt lounge being shared by Lufty[/quote]

Thanks for your reply, cwoodward. I suspect it is my own recollection that is at fault – Lufty have plenty of their own lounges at Frankfurt! Perhaps I was conflating the lounge issue with the fact that CX and LH have a codeshare on the HKG-FRA route. I don’t recall a Thai omelette being on offer, and was a bit surprised about the Thai curry given the extraordinarily early hour, but I wasn’t going to complain!

Thanks also for explaining (up to a point!) how you got access to BA F Arrivals when travelling on other airlines. In my earlier post I was, of course, referring to current rules, not legacy perks – which must be wonderful. I was hugely disappointed when CX decided to give up on Lifetime memberships, not long before I would have qualified.

We are flying out tonight. The Memsahib seems deeply (and I mean *deeply*) unimpressed by the prospect of the HK$250 credit we will (if my research is to be believed) apparently be given at the Moon Thai restaurant at Chek Lap Kok by Lufty in lieu of lounge access. I don’t know what she expects us to do instead. Sit in the public areas, perhaps. Because that would be so much better than sitting in a Michelin-recommended restaurant where we could at least blow it on a decent glass of wine, obviously (ummmmmmm…..). But I can’t complain – she is utterly wonderful in pretty much other area and has worked like a dog to navigate us and our Offspring through the maze of health declarations, tests (before and after travel), certifications, timings, quarantine hotels, backup flights (because everything changes so fast) etc. etc. and, of course, the actual flights and car hire and places to stay. She has probably spent more time on all of that than we will spend on holiday! I’ll raise a glass to her tonight, if I get the chance 🙂

[Raffles99]

The Virgin Atlantic revivals lounge reopened two weeks ago at the same time as the departure lounge in T3.

The BA T5 arrivals lounge remains closed.

The three Plaza Premium arrivals lounges at Heathrow remain closed.

[Maaki]

I love arrival lounges when I arrive in the morning. My favourite arrival lounge is the one of SWISS in ZRH. When arriving from the US (in the morning), you can have a nice shower followed by an execellent breakfast. Besides the much better BC of SWISS (compared to LH), the nice area and the nice breakfast of SWISS are one reason to fly JFK-ZRH-MUC instead of JFK-MUC. The better timing (for me) with a late (21:00h) leave from JFK is another one.

[maxgeorge]

Re: Señor Viajero, above:
It was the Southern Sun Hotel at JNB, across the street from International Arrivals.

Gone for a while now, sadly.

I always use Arrivals Lounges, as I travel only for leisure, and have time on my hands.

BA’s in T5 which closed at 14h00, offered showers and good breakfasts, but the jobsworths would whip away the tucker at 12h30 sharp. Small separate Concorde lounge for F.

AA’s LHR Arrivals Lounge was excellent, but still closed.

The best of the lot was the Swiss arrivals lounge at ZUR, entry down in the main hall.

Biggest disappointment, given their very good departure lounges, was Cathay’s at HKG. As Mr Woodward noted, it was a pokey little place, always crowded.

The UA/Star Arrivals Lounge at SFO was very nice.

All, I believe, still closed. Covid, of course.

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ViajeroUK, cwoodward

[cwoodward]

Ian, I hope that all works out well and that you all have a great trip and as it’s Friday I will raise a glass to you all this evening. BTW the omelette only ever existed in my mind. We have though a trip to Koh Samui booked for September and if all works out I can actually have a Thai omelette all being well. Staying at Rocky’s Resort and as I recall that you are a lover of Samui it is well worth a look – we have been there often over the years, sometimes just for dinner when we have rented a villa.

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IanFromHKG

[Luc Jones]

Thank you for all the contributions. I’m based in Moscow & my stomping ground is mostly Russia and the ex-Soviet Republics where lounges outside of the regional capitals/hubs are rarely little more than a separate room (to make you feel important). Often you have to pay for most stuff anyway, so my expectations have been blunted, you could say.

I’ve yet to even see an arrivals lounge anywhere in this part of the world but I’ll seek ’em out now that I’m aware they still exist !!

Keep flying, everyone,

[AJDC]

I used to use the Virgin arrivals lounge at Heathrow often depending on what my schedule was like. If I could not get an early check in to my hotel room and I had a meeting before I could check in, I would go to the lounge, shower, change, have my clothes pressed, have a proper breakfast and then head out.

[Thomas]

Personally, I also prefer going home directly after landing but if I have to reach a hotel and, either I know that the room won’t be available or that the hotel doesn’t have a spa where I could at least take a shower and change, I would seek for an Arrival Lounge. I like the Air France one in CDG 2C (currently closed due to the pandemic); you can take a shower, get your suit pressed and eat a nice breakfast before getting to your meeting in Paris. Flying First on Lufthansa also offers the opportunity to use their bathtubs in Frankfurt and that is quite a relaxing luxury after a long-haul …

[GordyUK]

Not to buck the trend here but I ALWAYS use an arrivals lounge and am never in any desperate hurry to get to my destination, even if it’s home – to the point it irritates the hell out of me if they are closed or my travelling companions are moaning to just leave. The BA/T5 is nice enough, especially if in F. Few things nicer than a hot bath after a long flight IMHO. Just a shame the BA one closes so early so late morning arrivals are stuffed

[CathayLoyalist2]

Arriving into LHR T3 on CX 251 at 5.00am, or earlier, and to save the cost of booking the night before at a hotel the AA arrivals lounge in T3 was very welcome. Shower,shave and then breakfast before heading off for meetings. Equally arriving into CLK in HKG sometimes at 4.30am in transit to Singapore then the arrivals lounge was wonderful. a very early arrival would get you into the lounge, albeit land side , but arrive at say 6.00am and the queue was out the door with an hour+ wait.. I remember using the BA arrivals in T5 on one occasion I think and inadvertently plonked myself down in the first class section and when the attendant politely pointed out the business class section was “over there”, I offered sincere apologises at which point he said “there is no one else in here so stay put”. When I left I gave him 3 quid in coins with the quip “one good turn deserves another”

[SimonS1]

I would say there is a good chance that the arrivals lounge in T5 will be canned to save money, accompanied by some BA corporate waffle about how this is a response to customer feedback.

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ASK1945, GordyUK, esselle

[LuganoPirate]

Swiss had a very pleasant arrivals lounge at Zurich. Unfortunately it is currently “temporarily” closed!

[AMcWhirter]

Hello LP, it reminds me of when I travelled to Zurich to interview the Swissair executive in charge of ground services and so on.

It was around the time when BA opened its LHR arrivals lounge (before the days of T5).

I remember asking this executive if Swissair had any plans to follow the example of BA.

His response was in the negative and was along the lines of “from what I can see when travellers arrive at an airport they want to get out of it as soon as they can.” !

I did write about this for the magazine at the time.

[cwoodward]

In contrast to the above Swiss take on arrivals lounges it looking as though Cathay may have an arrivals lounge in Hong Kong once again by 2024

After closing its small Hong Kong arrivals lounge in 2018, Cathay Pacific is I am told hoping to have a new and upgraded arrivals lounge when the reconfigured and enlarged terminal facilities open and the third runway is operational but only if the new arrivals lounge can be a significant upgrade compared to what was previously offered. Cathay said ‘The previous lounge “wasn’t ideal for us: it was too small, and either wasn’t utilised, or in the morning, you’d often have to queue for at least an hour (for the shower).“The design, the equipment, and the food offering were not meeting our other standards, so if we were going to do that again we would need revisit what would be the right offering for our customers.

[CathayLoyalist2]

I used the CX arrivals lounge at CLK on my JFK-HKG sectors transiting to SIN. The flight often arrived before the lounge opened which meant no queue and few people. That said one hour later as CX they were out the door. Nothing beat after a 16 hour flight, a hot shower, a change of clothes and a decent breakfast.I hope they find a format that enhacnes what they had before becuase yes the arrivals lounge was small. The AA lounge at LHR that I used arriving from HKG on CX 251 was fine for me and again pretty much first in , in the morning.

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