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Bits: Qantas T3 lounge ‘soft opening’, Virgin Trains closing lounges?, REAL Transfers winner

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News in brief:

New Qantas lounge in Terminal 3 ‘soft opening’ due

If you are heading through Heathrow Terminal 3 soon, you will be spoilt for choice for good lounges.

The new Qantas lounge, which we previewed in this article last year, is due to have a soft opening in the next few days ahead of the official opening next week.

The lounge will be available to any British Airways passengers departing Terminal 3 who are flying in Club World, Club Europe or First Class or who have a Silver or Gold Executive Club card.

The choice for British Airways passengers in Terminal 3 is now laughably good.   You also have the excellent Cathay Pacific lounge which we reviewed here, the ‘OK’ British Airways Galleries lounge (review) and the ‘OK’ American Airlines lounge (review).  If you’ve got a Priority Pass you can add in the No 1 Lounge reviewed here and the Club Aspire lounge reviewed here – they are both very good as well.

Qantas has its work cut out if it wants to top the Cathay Pacific lounge – will it manage it?  We will find out very soon.

Is Virgin Trains culling its smaller lounges?

A reader dropped me a note to say that Virgin Trains is closing its lounge at Wolverhampton on 11th December.

The company hasn’t put it like that, of course.

A sign outside the lounge says:

“GREAT NEWS!  From Monday 11th December 2017 this lounge will be open to all our customers providing a warm and welcoming waiting area for everyone using the station.”

….. which, as a piece of spin, is pretty impressive.

I think Virgin West Coast has outstation lounges in Glasgow, Manchester, Crewe, Wolverhampton, Birmingham New Street, Birmingham International, Runcorn, Liverpool and Coventry.  I doubt the big cities on that list are at risk but I can think of a couple that could disappear if penny pinching was underway.

Virgin Trains Wolverhampton lounge

REAL Transfers competition winner

We have a confirmed winner of our competition last week in association with REAL Transfers

Chris C has won a return Mercedes E-Class transfer from anywhere inside the M25 to Heathrow or Gatwick.

Well done Chris.  If you are not Chris, you might be interested in one of REAL’s current promotions for a discount on your next booking.

For new customers:  new customers get 10% off bookings to any destination when they create an account online. The promo code will be sent to you via email once you have registered.

For existing customers:  if you’ve used REAL in the past you can get 15% off all transfers by using the promo code RT15LUX on the REAL Transfers website.  This offer expires on 31st December.

If you come to the Head for Points Christmas Party on 12th December (tickets on sale later this week) there will be another chance to win a transfer from REAL Transfers in our raffle.  We now have over £3,000-worth of prizes to give away …..

Category

Cathay Pacific and Asia Miles, oneworld alliance partners

Comments (94)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Lumma says:
    22 Nov22 November 05:37

    Is there a list anywhere of the BA flights that use T3? Now I’ve got silver status I would quite like to check some of these out

    • Genghis says:
      22 Nov22 November 05:47

      Here’s a few months old list from FT but a starter for 10
      https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1838106-list-ba-flights-t3.html

      • Rhys says:
        22 Nov22 November 08:31

        Thanks. I used the Cathay lounge on a trip to Lisbon earlier in the year and was very impressed. Tried looking for a list of BA departures but wasn’t easy to find. Also flew to Pula from T3 with the family and upgraded to CE on the back of the quality of the Cathay lounge!

        • Nick says:
          22 Nov22 November 09:26

          It’s incredibly easy to find, just go to the heathrow page on Wikipedia and flights are listed by terminal. One of the few thinks W is good at.

        • Rashad says:
          22 Nov22 November 10:04

          are you referring to First class lounge – then it is the Best in London

        • Richard says:
          22 Nov22 November 14:55

          Wikipedia no longer lists flights by terminal for LHR. Some sort of change to the Wikipedia system.

          Good routes from T3 (4000/4500) routes are Prague (several times a day) and Bilbao (1515 is a good time). Also IHG hotel in Bilbao is good for 15k points. As is Prague airport (15k) and Prague congress centre (15k). Marriott Prague airport good value for points too (10k). Marseille is nice – again 4000/4500 Avios, plus Lyon and Lux. On the inbound, the Bilbao lounge is not bad for an outstation with cava on tap. Prague lounge – I think – is poor. Further afield, Vienna, Warsaw and Budapest for next Avios band. Crowne Plaza in Bratislava is good for 20k IHG points (plus lounge access for Spire). Warsaw has a whole load of very inexpensive Hilton hotels. Budapest Hilton is lovely. Budapest is good for Accor properties. Gibraltar worth it for the landing alone! Prague to Brno to Bratislava is a superb trip – which can be done all on points very easily.

    • Anna says:
      22 Nov22 November 05:52

      You could check the departures page on the Heathrow website. I’ve been to Gibraltar and Prague from there, I think there are also a few other European destinations like Vienna and Barcelona.

    • Wally1976 says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:19

      We did Budapest from there recently and enjoyed the Cathay lounge 🙂

  • Rupert says:
    22 Nov22 November 06:00

    Re Virgin WCML lounges, you can also add Runcorn to your list.

  • Mits says:
    22 Nov22 November 06:13

    Does anyone know if Emirates F or J class passengers would be allowed access to the new Qantas lounge at T3? I am a huge fan of The Emirates Lounge at Heathrow, but it is nice to have options and to try something new!

    • Sam Wardill says:
      22 Nov22 November 06:27

      The press release says “Passengers travelling in tiered cabins on partner airlines with a QF code” have access. So I guess you only have access if flying Emirates with QF flight number on your ticket. I don’t know about the other way around.

      You would also have access if you are “Platinum One, Platinum and Gold members of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program” but presumably not unless flying QF, EK or O/W (but maybe even if not).

      I’ve never been in a Qantas international business lounge but the Qantas international first lounge at Sydney is top notch.

  • ee says:
    22 Nov22 November 06:27

    You can add Luxembourg and Budapest to the list. Am passing through Friday albeit briefly. My partner will be in for 4 or 5 hours though, trying out the F class lounges (only tried Cathay to date in T3)

  • the real harry1 says:
    22 Nov22 November 06:30

    I don’t think this makes them any/ much better than using the usual HFP routes to get a cheaper lounge pass – but might work somewhere, worth a look

    • the real harry1 says:
      22 Nov22 November 06:55

      or get the 10-entry Priority Pass, lounge passes as low as c.£12 each and 12-15 months in which to use them (can only be used by main cardholder)

  • Mark says:
    22 Nov22 November 06:30

    Is the Cathay Lounge in T3 better than the AA First Lounge?

    • gs says:
      22 Nov22 November 06:45

      I would say that even the Business class part of the CX lounge is better, not to speak of the First lounge.

    • AndyR says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:23

      The decor in the AA F lounge is pretty drab but I find the food good. I have breakfast there and then go to CX after.

    • Lady London says:
      22 Nov22 November 12:34

      I think the advantage of the AA lounge is showers. I am not sure if the new Cathay lounge has them

  • gs says:
    22 Nov22 November 06:46

    Will the Qantas lounge have a First section?

    • Rob says:
      22 Nov22 November 07:41

      I’ll tell you next week!

    • Ben says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:47

      No it will not. They have repeatedly said it will be a single, mixed class lounge.

    • Lady London says:
      22 Nov22 November 12:36

      I hope so. The Business Qantas lounge in Sydney has been very forgettable the times I’ve been there. It was the only time I regretted having let my Gold card lapse before the trip. The First Qantas lounge in Sydney must be in the top 6 in the world though if you catch it at the right time.

    • Scott says:
      22 Nov22 November 12:36

      Will have extra benefits for Platinum One member of QFF program. Bit like QF Singapore lounge.

  • Lewis Watson says:
    22 Nov22 November 07:39

    What’s soft about it? First class only? Quanta only?

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