An opportunity to use London City’s First Class Lounge – and be driven to your plane – for FREE

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• Andrew says:

  5 Dec5 December 06:10

  Sadly timings don’t work for Mrs A, but looks like some Sunday flights to Rome, in March at least, are operated by Stobart Air, so a good chance of a better seat, too.

• Adam says:

  5 Dec5 December 06:13

  ‘We know that a lot of Head for Points will jump at the chance of giving this a go, even if a trip to Rome hadn’t been on their bucket list at the moment’. Seriously – going for an unnecessary trip just to visit the lounge?

  • Ryan says:

    5 Dec5 December 06:57

    That’s not how I sold the trip to the Mrs 😉

  • John says:

    5 Dec5 December 07:55

    There are lounges it’s worth going on a partially unnecessary trip to visit, but I don’t think this is in of them.

    • John says:

      5 Dec5 December 07:55

      *one not in grrr

    • Shoestring says:

      5 Dec5 December 11:17

      Yep but LCY is often used on TP runs and add the 2 things together and it might well bring forward somebody’s plans

  • Julian says:

    5 Dec5 December 11:01

    I would have taken this up if the flight was to a relatively interesting place on BA’s European network that I have not been to before (Rome is interesting but I have visited it more than once) and ideally also if the destination had been available as an Economy Avios redemption, unless of course it is a requirement of London City’s flight booking website that the flight itself is booked in to Club class outbound and/or is a cash booking on the main BA website (i.e. not an Avios redemption) in order to qualify for this offer (as I suspect it may well be)?

    But on the same subject is there a useful list anywhere of the most impressive Club class lounges on a worldwide basis that a BA Club Class ticket will get you in to? And that list may well of course very considerably from the most impressive lounges that a Priority Pass would get you in to…….

    Surely some club lounge or other must actually offer things like decent fresh fish or meat meals plus smoked salmon or strawberries, raspberries and mangoes rather than BA’s T5 totally miserable chilli and baked potato or only orange or apple as the choice of fruit.

    • David says:

      5 Dec5 December 11:07

      I’d say HKG is the best selection. 4 x CX lounges and a QF one – each on it’s own is better than any BA lounge I’ve ever been to…

      • Julian says:

        5 Dec5 December 11:17

        Does a BA Club redemption get you in to any of the above HKG lounges?

        There are numerous Club lounges round Europe that are totally underwhelming. Usually the selection of alcoholic drink is perfectly fine and varied but its the poor choice of hot or cold food and the apple and orange only fruit offering plus the lack of any canapes etc that lets the whole show down.

      • John says:

        5 Dec5 December 13:29

        A BA Club (i.e. business class) redemption will get you into the Qantas HKG lounge as well as all the Cathay Business lounges.

    • Ryan says:

      5 Dec5 December 11:45

      I booked a £74 economy one way. No class requirement, just that is is booked via their booking portal.

      • Julian says:

        5 Dec5 December 12:51

        Personally don’t think i can justify doing an Avios redemption in to Club rather than Economy short haul on BA these days unless redemption availability in Economy is already exhausted on the days I want to travel on. Seat pitch is now no greater than in Euro Traveller, seats are no wider and on LCY routes there is also no middle seat being kept free to give you extra room.

        Also having done the north and south lounges at Heathrow T5 several times I think I have exhausted any nominal modest thrills they provide and its a pain having to turn up at the airport a whole extra hour earlier to get the most out of what the lounges have to offer. There is always slightly more thrill in trying out any new Club lounge (as with this LCY allegedly First Class one) but most of them don’t serve food up to even Michelin two knife and forks standard (let alone anywhere near Michelin Rosette standard).

      • Chuck says:

        6 Dec6 December 00:33

        @Julian ‘don’t serve food up to even Michelin two knife and forks standard’ are you for real ? why do you imagine they are going to get restaurant quality dining in a ‘free’ lounge ?
        I ate at AA Flagship First recently, Krug was lovely but the food (as expected) not so much.

    • Ant says:

      5 Dec5 December 17:43

      I feel very lucky that the three PP lounges I use every two weeks (Aberdeen, Basel and Billund) are excellent, and in the case of the last two, the same as the BA lounge for that airport anyway.

      I think a list of the best PP lounges in Europe would be great!

  • Lady London says:

    5 Dec5 December 11:33

    Er………. you are an HfP reader, aren’t you?

  • Rob says:

    5 Dec5 December 11:51

    It is more about changing the destination of a weekend break you were planning anyway, I think!

    Remember that – purely due to reader request – we once did an article on all of BA’s Terminal 3 destinations so people could plan trips which let them try the new Qantas and Cathay Pacific lounges.

    • Julian says:

      5 Dec5 December 12:44

      Can’t complain at all about Rome itself except that I expect quite a few HfPers will have been there.due to its significance as a short break tourist destination.

      But at least that means that for those who haven’t been there they have a number of hours to book a ticket rather than the seats all being gone in just a few minutes as I’m pretty sure would have happened had any destination at all served from London City by BA and/or any other airlines been allowed as a possible route option.

      • mike says:

        5 Dec5 December 13:29

        Julian, methinks you have too much time on your hands. just saying…..

    • David says:

      5 Dec5 December 18:35

      Another reason I’m trying out AA’s PE product in March 🙂

  • Myer says:

    5 Dec5 December 14:26

    +1 it really is most sad!

• Tatiana says:

  5 Dec5 December 08:30

  I wanted to go to Rome next year and flying from LCY preferably as we live nearby, so I jumped on the opportunity – thank you Anika 😊

• Ben says:

  5 Dec5 December 11:30

  OT and Urgent: My Halifax Clarity had fraudulent transactions against it last week. I called up and they were very quick to reinstate the spend and cancel the card. Unfortunately we leave for a month away today and that card was my “travel card” and I (maybe stupidly) have no backup. Just my current account, BA Amex and Gold Amex.

  The exam question: Is there anywhere in LHR T5 that I can pick up some form of pre-paid travel card that will make things cheaper for me?

  I’m so used to not thinking about small bank transactions and not carrying cash.

  • EwanG says:

    5 Dec5 December 12:51

    @Ben. What have you said to Halifax about your impending trip? I would be pushing them to come up with a solution, such as sending to your overseas. Could you get them to provide the new card number and add it to Apple/Android Pay if you have that?

    • John says:

      5 Dec5 December 13:37

      Is it Halifax’s fault that the card was used fraudulently?

      Which bank will tell you a card number?

      • EwanG says:

        5 Dec5 December 14:42

        My point being that card replacements happen all the time, there will be a standard process and SLAs. Is there anything Halifax can do in terms of offering great customer service to help their customer out? Perhaps they won’t be able to help but if you don’t ask then there is no way of knowing. Fault is irrelevant.

  • Julian says:

    5 Dec5 December 13:09

    Not sure why you only have the Halifax Clarity card as its not the best deal for withdrawing cash in the EU as interest is charged from the moment you withdraw.

    So its generally sensible to have a Metrobank account too as they offer completely fee free cash withdrawal EU wide. Speaking of which if your trip is in the EU you can walk in to any Metrobank branch in the UK with a couple of forms of ID (say driving licence and utility bill) and an account will be set up and a debit mastercard on that account issued to you there and then before you leave the branch. You should then be able to move funds to that new account almost straight away using a Faster Payment from your current bank account. No free credit period but you avoid all of the usual 3% foreign exchange rate rip off in other EU countries.

    Also speaking personally I also have a Halifax Clarity Mastercard (very mean limit of just under £2,000 they refuse to increase), a legacy foreign exchange rate fee free in EU Nationwide Cash Reward Visa card with a better £6,000 limit and a Lloyds Rewards Avios exchange rate fee free card (for a few more months in my case) plus basic Blue Curve card on which transactions are exchange rate fee free or only at 1% depending on the circumstances (depending whether its the weekend or not and whether you are over their exchange rate fee free limits).

    But still the risk of the loss of wallet or mobile phone is always there and card issuers who will ship you a replacement card outside the country of original issue are still infuriatingly few and far between. For that reason I always split up my cards between two different places in my luggage or clothes when I’m travelling so I don’t lose them all at once.

    • Chuck says:

      6 Dec6 December 00:42

      Rob, or Mod, I can’t believe you deleted the reply to Julian’s ‘ two different places in my luggage or clothes when I’m travelling’ I PMSL

  • John says:

    5 Dec5 December 13:44

    Amex has a 3% forex fee for overseas spend. So £100 will cost you £103. Any “travel” prepaid card will cost just as much extra or more.

    Do you have any other credit card for places where Amex is not accepted? If not, then does your current account debit card charge you a per-transaction fee?

    If there is a fee per transaction then your cheapest option is just to withdraw cash and minimise the number of times you do that. If there isn’t, then it will also have a 1-3% forex fee, so just pay with that.

    Or if you live in London go to bestforeignexchange.com and exchange cash.

    • Julian says:

      7 Dec7 December 11:59

      No 3% Fx Fee on the Lloyds Avios Rewards Amex card for overseas use until such time as they cancel my current card and replace it with the lower earning Avios only Mastercard product.

      Trying to find which overseas retailers would accept Amex has been quite a fun game.

  • Alan says:

    5 Dec5 December 23:36

    Was your Halifax card part of the BA data breach? If so I’d seriously contemplate sending them the bill for the increased costs you’re facing as a result!

  • Joseph Heenan says:

    5 Dec5 December 23:37

    If you’re stuck with just a choice of the BA or Gold amex then go for the gold as the two MR per £ for foreign spend is the better earning rate.

    If you have an iPhone (or anything with Apple Pay support) then Monzo/starling both let you sign up and instantly add the card to Apple Pay, and are decent for foreign spending. (You’re limited to the standard contactless £30 per transaction unless the merchant supports Apple Pay.)

• Lady London says:

  5 Dec5 December 11:38

  The Post Office sells a loadable card that I think can be in FX. Not sure if the mini-post office at Heathrow will have it though.

  Doesn’t Tesco have Visa gift cards in various denominations, on their gift card racks alongside the gift cards for other retailers?

  • John says:

    5 Dec5 December 13:35

    Visa gift cards have an activation fee (e.g. pay £53.95 for £50) and likely have a 3% forex fee, so might as well just use one’s regular credit card or even debit card. Many UK bank debit cards charge a per-transaction fee so best to withdraw the daily limit in cash. Also, some visa gift cards can only be used online.

• Anna says:

  5 Dec5 December 15:30

  Isn’t the new BA lounge in Rome supposed to be rather nice as well? I’m looking forward to trying it at Easter.

  • Rob says:

    5 Dec5 December 17:27

    Good point, I’d forgotten that – but, yes, it is.

    • meta says:

      5 Dec5 December 20:37

      And also the new Premium Plaza lounge with made to order pasta and pizza.

• Nori says:

  5 Dec5 December 16:00

  Flying BA0001 to JFK on Sunday. I can now use the First Class Lounge. Great timing! Do I just ask for it when dropping my luggage?

  • Genghis says:

    5 Dec5 December 17:31

    If you pay the dosh and then you’ll end up back at the terminal. Waste of time.

  • ChrisC says:

    5 Dec5 December 19:41

    You annot use this lounge and car service if you are on the CWLCY service.

    You can get a meal at Piloits restaurant though. They usually give you a letter at check-in with what you can have.

    • Nori says:

      5 Dec5 December 22:12

      Got it! Misread it. Thanks for clarifying it. At least I can get a meal 🙂

      • Nick_C says:

        6 Dec6 December 06:57

        I tried to get breakfast at Pilots in May but left after coffee and OJ as the service was so slow.

        Just as well as the food on BA001 was very good and plentiful. You will get a substantial first course on the way to Shannon. It was (excellent) vegetarian sushi or fruit kebabs on my flight.

      • ChrisC says:

        6 Dec6 December 07:35

        Not had a problem the couple of times I’ve been to pilots.

        Though given Nori is flying on Sunday it may be quieter than the rest of week as it’s a lunchtime flight.

        I just wish they’d do a different starter – the vegetarian sushi and fruit bruschetta has been on the menu for ages with only limited variation.

      • Nori says:

        7 Dec7 December 02:19

        Thank you! So looking forward to my flight. Without HfP I could only dream about it.

• Kathy Briggs says:

  5 Dec5 December 23:23

  Thanks Anike – Me and the Mrs are off for an impromtu re-visit to Roma next year… from our (already) fave airport

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