[Kopite]

I’m flying business class out of T2 on Turkish this week.

The lounge choice seems to be:

Lufthansa Senator
United Club (not Polaris)
Air Canada Maple Leaf

What’s the best lounge for food and drink and not
crowded at 4pm ?

[MarkCymru]

You probably have less of a choice than you think. The Lufthansa lounges are in the main terminal, while United and Air Canada are at the B gates, which are quite a long walk. You wouldn’t want to walk to the B gates if Turkish goes from the main terminal. I haven’t been in the United one at LHR, but the level of service on the airline is generally mediocre at best and their US lounges feature things like tasteless apples wrapped in plastic (who knows…) The Air Canada one is nicer than the LH one, definitely (the LH is a bit better if you have an LH Senator card and can access the Senator part of it)

[Senator]

To add to all of this, there is also Singapore Airlines which is nice.

Contrary to the US, the United Club at LHR is very nice. The bartenders do a fabulous job with cocktails and the champagne offer is normally good. Beats the Lufthansa Business and to a degree.

It all depends as MarkCymru says on departure gates. If it’s B-gates, it’s not worth the trip back and forth.

If it’s B-gates, then both AC and UA will be reasonable quiet as many of the morning and early afternoon flights will have departed. The SQ lounge is also likely quiet before the rush.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Kopite

[BackOfThePlane]

@Kopite

You can generally (but not always) work out which gate you will be departing from based on the aircraft type. TK operate different aircraft type between Heathrow & Istanbul including the 777 and A321.

If your flight is on a 777 or A330 (basically, any wide bodied aircraft), chances are you will be flying out of the B gates. If your flight is operated by an A321 (ie narrow bodied) then you will probably depart from the main terminal.

As I say, nothing is guaranteed.

I also concur with @Senator that the United lounge at the B gates is great. Don’t be put off by their typical US lounges.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Kopite

[David]

The Lufthansa Lounge is very poor indeed but if your flight is from the main terminal it’s your only real option.

If you are flying from a B gate then Singapore is the best lounge imo but they have been restricting access to partner airlines unless you are a higher level FF. I wasn’t allowed to use it when flying Business class with Eva recently.

I’ve only used the United Lounge in the morning and they do an excellent breakfast so it is probably ok in the afternoon as well. I’ve found the Air Canada lounge to be ok – not outstanding but miles better than Lufthansa.

2 users thanked author for this post.

BPP, Kopite

[maxgeorge]

Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge has draught Guinness.

The Singapore Lounge is airier, often quieter, and has laksa.

Those are deal makers for me.

If you qualify, United’s F lounge, on a par with their much better Polaris Lounges, would be the place to go.

1 user thanked author for this post.

cwoodward

[EruditeSheep]

I have recently used the LH Senator lounge at T2, in conjunction with an SK flight to Copenhagen. As a Star Gold card holder, I would have had the choice of each of the other Star lounges, but couldn’t face the thought of walking to and from the B Gates. In the event, the Senator lounge (located at the back of the LH business lounge and requiring access via a separate QR code issued at the lounge check-in) was more than acceptable with good food, drinks and general ambience. The latter was especially the case for the “forest glade” area at the far end of the lounge. The front business lounge was quite busy but as far as I could judge didn’t have the same range of food offerings as in the Senator section.

1 user thanked author for this post.

DerekVH

[Senator]

@maxgeorge, I think the UA F-class lounge is long gone. United ceased operating their “Global First” on 20 JUN, 2018 and sometime around this time the F-lounges around the world were closed in favor of the Polaris Lounges.

It has long been rumored that LHR and NRT would get Polaris but so far nothing has come of it. I have sampled EWR, ORD and SFO and they are all good lounges despite the massive size.

Slightly off topic, but the overall standard of Star Alliance Gold lounges pale in comparison to One World Emerald I must say.

[maxgeorge]

Well, Senator, I’m sorry to hear that.

It has been a while since I used that lounge: peaceful, uncrowded, comfortable. Plus meals served to your table. And promptly, unlike BA’s Concorde Lounge.

The Polaris Lounge at LAX is also to be commended. As is the Bradley terminal Quantas Lounge, catering to One World First.

Star at NRT usually means the ANA Lounge. Not much cop.

[BPP]

David.
If you are following this. I am sheduled on EVA in ‘J’ late November LHR-BKK. It some 4 years since I flew with them so what’s it like now please? Quite looking forward to a direct flight for once.
I seem to remember the Air Canada lounge as OK food and comfort, but a bit gloomy.
BPP

[David]

I’ve had 2 return flights LHR-BKK with Eva in the last 6 months and they were excellent. I would say on the last flight of the 4 the service wasn’t quite as good as the previous 3, all rather rushed, but otherwise cabin crew and food excellent. In flight movies a bit limited.

On both occasions I was told I could only use the Lufthansa lounge at Heathrow as they now have a contract with them. It is a poor lounge, and a long way from the gates.

1 user thanked author for this post.

BPP

[BPP]

David.
Thanks for the prompt reply on this. I had noticed on the EVA website that the lounge options were apparently either United or Lufthansa which is now confirmed by your comments to be even more restrictive.
It does bother me that a Star alliance member can ‘discriminate’ like this, contract or not. My experience recently of Lufthansa Lounges (like the Airline) leaves much to be desired.
I am near the EVA office in Euston in the next couple of weeks so I will call in to ask the question.
Again, many thanks.
BPP

[David]

No problem. I put in a written complaint about the lounge as Lufthansa is really not up to standard. I was told by check-in staff that they’d been instructed to only send high tier FF to Singapore or Air Canada – though the Canada lounge closes earlier now anyway so you couldn’t stay until boarding. The United lounge isn’t open in the evenings.

1 user thanked author for this post.

BPP

[Author]

Posts