Plaza Premium loses management of the Cathay Pacific lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3

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• Riku says:

  6 Dec6 December 04:55

  I was in the CX lounge last week. The woman at shower reception could not understand what a “razor” was and some pantomime was needed (turned out she knew the word “shaver” but not razor).. In the dining area an order for earl gray tea bought out a green tea and latte. By mistake I asked for bircher muesli, not looking at the menu since I didn’t know it had changed. The look from the waiter was similar to asking him if he could change the oil in my car (perhaps he didn’t know that the menu had changed and items might be different and people might have a memory to remember items from previous visits).Since he was the one that turned earl gray tea into green tea and latte perhaps the concept of “memory” is an unknown concept to him.

• Alan Wan says:

  6 Dec6 December 05:07

  I recently dropped from BA Gold to Silver and visited the CX business lounge last Thursday. I ordered Dan Dan Noodles and dim sum and they were excellent as usual. I was there at around 11:30 and the buffet food offerings looked decent although I never ate anything else. There were cold sandwiches and desserts in the fridge and hot food included chicken straggonaff.

  Now what was a really pleasant surprise I was expecting only Prosecco – which I don’t like. But there was Laurent Perrier NV champagne. Personally I found this much better than the champagne on offer in the CX first lounge the last time I visited in October.

  • Klaus-Peter Dudas says:

    6 Dec6 December 05:23

    I had LP in first on Monday too, was nicer than the old stuff indeed. Food was really good too.

    • Andrew says:

      6 Dec6 December 08:22

      It used to be Moet (hidden behind the bar in business lounge, displayed in an ice bucket in First lounge). So LP is an improvement.

  • Neil says:

    6 Dec6 December 08:28

    Fantastic update, cheers for letting us know Alan.

• Mark says:

  6 Dec6 December 06:05

  O\T
  Advice please. Landing at Joburg next week at 7.55am and self transfer flight to Dar Es Slamm is 10.30. Is that enough for disembark, luggge immigration and check in for my flight or should I change it for later. Later is much more expensive! Anybody know joburg well enough ? Thanks

  • Rivo says:

    6 Dec6 December 08:31

    Immigration at JNB can be a nightmare both entering and leaving the country. It can take an hour to get in and nearly as long getting out. I would want to give yourself at least 3 hours.

  • Prins Polo says:

    6 Dec6 December 10:02

    Should be ok I flight is on time, you can also consider bidair priority arrival service (was around £35 last time I used it) and they will escort you through arrivals/immigration quickly. Morning queues at JNB at unpredictable, flying in J/F I was sometimes the first one to get to the immigration desks and sometimes it would take me solid 40 minutes to clear immigration if a couple of flights land at the same time.

• Nigel the Pensioner says:

  6 Dec6 December 06:50

  Thank goodness then for the AmEx lounge in T3, although the San Francisco offering is a little sterile inside, but nonetheless, great, to table service. They also give you a welcome pressie of some very high quality ear buds and a free subscription to Reese’s (audio) book club. Tables are also reserved for Centurions!

  • Ben says:

    6 Dec6 December 09:34

    And by any chance are you a Centurion card holder?

    • Tom H says:

      6 Dec6 December 12:39

      Ha!

  • In Bilboa Often says:

    6 Dec6 December 15:13

    I bet you my black Bentley Nigel – the Amex lounge won’t be anywhere near as good as Cathay First lounge.

• Michael C says:

  6 Dec6 December 07:28

  Was told by the barman in Cathay T3 business lounge ten days ago that they had “just” changed management, and was everything ok? V generous with the champagne, also offering to make us cocktails.
  Found the noodle bar had even more options than usual, all of it delicious.

• beepee says:

  6 Dec6 December 08:02

  OT: Amex + BP: The app is awful, took ages to work at the pump, it will only accept some of my amex cards, and after using it the £10 credit never appeared. I’m surprised BP are trying to promote their app when it is so very rubbish

  • Heathrow Flyer says:

    6 Dec6 December 08:19

    Strange. I’ve used it on three different occasions at three different petrol stations and have never had any problems. I’ve always just authorised £31/£32 just in case.

    I was actually amazed at just how fast it was! Would even be tempted to use it without the credit going forward – if the BPstation was offering fuel at a competitive rate of course.

  • Craig says:

    6 Dec6 December 08:24

    I have also found the app slow, but both times I’ve used it the email from Amex has arrived. Just waiting for the credit now.

    • Craig says:

      6 Dec6 December 08:26

      Odd, I seem to be able to reply to comments but not start one?

      • Graeme says:

        6 Dec6 December 08:38

        I’ve had the same problem yesterday and today. I post a comment but it doesn’t appear – four times now.

      • Craig says:

        6 Dec6 December 09:10

        It’s not IP address, email or browser related, I’ve tried multiple of each!

  • Gill says:

    6 Dec6 December 08:30

    I was expecting a poor experience given some of the comments but aside from the app being very slow, the process was simple and my offer redeemed mail dropped by immediately.

    • Peter K says:

      6 Dec6 December 08:51

      The only problem I’ve had was when I turned up at a garage, started BPme app, unlocked the pump, then no fuel came as they were closing the petrol station. Lights in the store started going off and so I lost that chance to save the £10.

  • Rich says:

    6 Dec6 December 08:48

    Used it for the first time yesterday and it worked flawlessly. Email & notification instantly.

    I’m not sure why people are messing about trying to authorise £31 or £32. Assuming credit limit is’t a problem, just choose the default option – full tank, which authorises £100 – and use the Mk 1 eyeball to stop when you hit £30?

  • Andrew says:

    6 Dec6 December 08:49

    It’s terrible. A similar offer has been available to Visa customers for months now on the BP App and it refuses to work every single time.

  • The Lord says:

    6 Dec6 December 11:24

    No problems for me, quick and easy to use. Selected the full tank option and got an email straight away from AmEx confirming the £10 offer

    • Sussex Bantam says:

      6 Dec6 December 12:32

      I must admit – I’ve changed my mind a bit. Had a terrible time with it to start with but now I’ve found a petrol station with strong 4G coverage and it has worked first time every time.

      Only had one credit so far though – but that’s not really the app fault.

      • Nick says:

        6 Dec6 December 18:20

        Isn’t/wasn’t there a rule at petroleum stations that you can’t use mobile phones?

      • Shoestring says:

        6 Dec6 December 18:29

        You can use them, just recommended/ advised *not* outside. Heaven knows the risks must be so minimal that they’d be immeasurable. Nobody has ever caused a petrol pump to burst into flames by using a mobile.

        But in any case, BPme says leave your mobile in the car.

      • Tom1 says:

        6 Dec6 December 21:20

        Used for second time tonight on iOS app.

        Anyone else find that it only accepts three digits for the security code instead of 4 for amex? I just left the 4th number off and went through fine – but the Amex security screen enforced a two factor authentication which I don’t think I’ve ever had to before.

        Only received email on the second use, not first.

• Roger1* says:

  6 Dec6 December 08:39

  Thanks for the updates on LHR T3 lounges. I rarely fly BA First from T3 and find I’m soon flying to Cape Town in BA F. (I’m BA silver.)

  Accepting that I should probably avoid AA and BA lounges, whch F lounge should we use: CX or QF? Thanks.

  • Andrew says:

    6 Dec6 December 08:44

    QF Lounge is just a shared Business/First facility. So if you want a First lounge then CX is your only option, other then the dire BA or AA First lounges. On the latter – LHR is due to get the AA Flagship makeover soon, which will improve things a lot. Oh and the AA Arrivals lounge at T3 is fantastic – much better than BA T5 – there’s even mini bottles of Moët in the fridges which are hard to avoid popping in your bag!

    • Neil says:

      6 Dec6 December 08:50

      CX all the way if you are flying BA F – Worst case scenario, don’t be afraid to try both. Both have very different feel and offer completely different things. Qantas has a brilliant Gin bar while the dumpling in Cathay are a personal favorite.

      • Alan says:

        6 Dec6 December 09:04

        Agree with F I’d go CX. Last T3 trip though I managed AA, BA, VS, No 1, Aspire, QF and CX all in the one afternoon! 😀

    • Andrew says:

      6 Dec6 December 09:10

      Alan, how did you manage to go into VS and One World lounges – did you hold a Virgin and a One World ticket?

      • Alan says:

        6 Dec6 December 09:14

        I was VS Gold at the time and spoke very nicely to the lounge reception staff 🙂 They checked and said not a problem at all – had a fantastic meal and popped out to the viewing deck. Didn’t go for spa treatment though as thought that was perhaps pushing it!

    • Roger1* says:

      6 Dec6 December 09:33

      Thanks to Andrew, Neil and Alan for great T3 advice. I feel a lounge tour coming on!

      Oh, yes. The AA Arrivals lounge is already ‘reserved’ in my brain. 🙂

  • David says:

    10 Dec10 December 19:14

    I find the BA first lounge at T3 is not as bad as everyone makes out. Go try them all before you fly and make your own judgement.

• Barry says:

  6 Dec6 December 08:39

  O/T Shop Small
  Anyone know somewhere in central London where I can stock up on stamps? Thanks!

  • Colin MacKinnon says:

    6 Dec6 December 10:07

    Why bother? Use https://www.philatelink.co.uk – that’s what we do!

    (No connection, but obviously a true “small business” !)

  • bsuije says:

    6 Dec6 December 15:21

    Daunt Books (e.g. on Cheapside) are on the Shop Small map (search by business name to see all branches). They might sell stamps?

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