First look at the new British Airways lounge at San Francisco International Airport

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• Will in SFO says:

  11 Jul11 July 05:53

  Direct boarding only if the correct gate is used. It certainly can’t be used for the 380 service as the 380 can’t squeeze round between the end of the terminal and the 101.

  In fact the gate(s) with direct boarding from the lounge are often occupied by VS and QF.

  • Rhys says:

    11 Jul11 July 08:06

    Should be available for the mid-afternoon 747 service. But yes, the A380 has different requirements…

  • Chris L says:

    11 Jul11 July 12:13

    I’ve only done this route once. It was on the 747 and they didn’t do direct boarding from the lounge, but it is true to say the lounge can accommodate it in theory.

• Alan says:

  11 Jul11 July 06:39

  Shame they removed the showers. I always liked to use them before the later flight.

  • Nate1309 says:

    11 Jul11 July 09:03

    +1

• David S says:

  11 Jul11 July 06:57

  Having no showers is a major disappointment since majority of the time flying back from US or Canada, we check out of hotel early and spend the day in the city exploring and get the evening flight. So like to have a shower before flying.
  Last week out of YVR, had to use the Plaza premium lounge since they had showers and BA lounge doesn’t and the food offering was also much better. Looks like the refurbishment just looks good superficially and aesthetically and not much thought put into it.

  • Andrew says:

    11 Jul11 July 07:29

    You can pop upstairs and use the Cathay Pacific showers.

    • John says:

      11 Jul11 July 09:26

      then you might as well just stay in the CX lounge. It’s probably better than the BA one?

      • Chris L says:

        11 Jul11 July 12:53

        The CX lounge is good and their flights depart quite late so it’s quite quiet for the earlier BA departure

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      11 Jul11 July 09:35

      Suspect there’ll be a queue!

      • CV3V says:

        11 Jul11 July 11:16

        I used the CX lounge in January while all the other BA passengers went and used the stand in lounge. Surprising how few people know about oneworld lounge access. We were the only 2 in the CX lounge i.e. had to point out the coffee machine wasn’t working, had to point out there wasn’t any champagne at the drinks area! 😉

    • Lady London says:

      11 Jul11 July 21:22

      IIRC Cathay and JAL lounges had considerably reduced opening hours on the two times I checked each? May not be open when you need for a BA flight.

    • David S says:

      11 Jul11 July 22:31

      Hi Andrew,
      That is what we did in SFO last time. The showers and food was so much better in the CX lounge.
      The CX lounge was not open in YVR till 2000, so couldn’t use it there.

• FCP says:

  11 Jul11 July 08:01

  Much better having a dedicated First dining area.
  Only been to SFO once but when I left, with my wife, the First class room was full of Gold card holders.
  Now, I like to use the F lounges as a Gold also, but, on this occasion we held F tickets but could not be seated.
  Directed into the main lounge. Asked a waiter if we could get champagne, he advised sure, but you need to be either Gold card holder or F passenger. Said ok, we are both.
  Seemed surprised we were not in the F lounge. I said it was full.
  Apparently the staff were supposed to reserve spaces in the room for all F passengers, but had not.
  F dining for F only suits me fine.
  Also gives a much bigger area for all other J passengers and cardholders.
  Seems a vast improvement to me.

  • Stu N says:

    11 Jul11 July 09:16

    We had similar issue at Seattle, the F lounge there is tiny and was full 2.5 hours before the flight…

    The F dining works well at Boston and Singapore.

    • Lady London says:

      11 Jul11 July 21:38

      I actually preferred the Business side of the Lounge in Seattle, far more than the First side. First is a tiny room that did not seem to have anything distinguished BC about it otherbthsn that you could reassure yourself you were only amongst First passengers and possibly Gold card holders.

      The Business side was much buzzier, felt no more crowded than the First side although it was busy, had far better coffer and a better choice of snacks. I regretted the time I’d spent feeling Elite on the First side of the lounge.

      Oh, and the additional thrill of being able to politely say “I AM in First, Seat 3K”, when the lounge Dragon called across to me as she saw me opening the door to the First side of the lounge ” No you can’t go in there, that’s the First Class lounge. The Business lounge is that door on the other side”. I must have looked scruffy or somerhing. Quite made my Christmas being abke to coolly retort oh yes i as m in First on this, my First and Last First. Then I spent about 15 minutes sitting in the First side of the lounge feeling Elite before I went to the Business side and stayed there.

• Neil Donoghue says:

  11 Jul11 July 08:03

  These new dining areas only available to F travelling passengers are really beginning to annoy me. The AA flagship lounge in Miami is the same. Fair enough, don’t open them to emerald members but what about GGL at least? I love eating on the ground and then sleeping all the way home.

  • Rhys says:

    11 Jul11 July 08:12

    It may be that the alliances don’t allow airlines to open lounges for ticketed passengers and their own frequent flyers only, ie. if they let G or GGL people in they must also accept oneworld Emerald.

    • Neil Donoghue says:

      11 Jul11 July 09:44

      That’s a good point! Flying F with BA is underwhelming but if we could start to see some real dining experiences outside of the CCR, it might be worth considering.

    • Chris says:

      11 Jul11 July 13:38

      There are first only lounges like al safwa and Concorde room. The there are exceptions for acces; my Concorde room card gets me into t5 Concorde room, BA are doing it outside one world status; which likely makes aa recognising ggl for flagship dining problematic as ggl is a one world emerald.

    • John says:

      11 Jul11 July 19:43

      Hi can I ask please if it is possible to depart Inverness and arrive back in to Glasgow on a ba 2 for 1 redemption. I have booked Inverness – Heathrow – Miami then New York – Heathrow – Inverness but would rather if possible return to Glasgow .

      Thanks

      • yorkieflyer says:

        12 Jul12 July 01:25

        yes, open jaw no problem

• sayling says:

  11 Jul11 July 08:44

  My wife and I will be flying F from LHR T5 to SFO 31/10, CW back from San Diego to T3 (leaving 15/11, landing 16/11) using our first 2-4-1. News of the SFO departures lounge refurb has got me wondering what our departure and arrival lounge options will be, if anyone gets a chance to advise (we’ll be in the Concorde room for the first flight, no worries there!).
  Both of us have BA Silver, may have AmEx Gold or BAPP at the time of travel, possibly Plat as a last resort.
  TIA if anyone has the time to help guide us.

  • Chris L says:

    11 Jul11 July 12:17

    From LHR T5 – you’ll almost definitely be departing from the B or C gates so the Galleries Club at the B gates satellite would be the best option IMO. If you’re on the A380 you’ll def be going from C gates. There is no lounge there but you can use the B gates lounge and then continue on to C gates or I believe you get some spending credit in the Starbucks at C gates – can’t remember the value.

    • Lyn says:

      11 Jul11 July 14:20

      Surely the Concorde Room would be the better option at T5 since travelling F?

    • Lady London says:

      11 Jul11 July 21:45

      …noting that as in Rob’s article a day or two ago Amex has now stopped dining credit on UKPlat issued PP,’s with one exception and that’s not at LHR so will exclude that Starbucks .

      • Jonathan says:

        11 Jul11 July 23:51

        The Starbucks credit (£15pp) was a gift from BA to those with a flight from T5C in lieu of a lounge there. It got culled a couple of years ago IIRC. The only PP dining credit that has ever been available in UK is the Grain Store at Gatwick.

  • Lyn says:

    11 Jul11 July 14:18

    Re your departure from San Diego – there may only be one possibility, the AirSpace lounge which is used by both BA and American. It was converted from the old American lounge. It’s adequate, but nothing special. However, if you happen to need help with anything, the American Airlines staff who will let you in to the lounge are wonderful – very professional and friendly.

    I suspect this may also be the Amex lounge. There is no Priority Pass lounge.

    Hope you and your wife enjoy San Francisco and San Diego.

    • sayling says:

      11 Jul11 July 14:58

      Thanks, Lyn!
      Doing the classic Pacific Coast Highway, though apparently in reverse! Airport choices were actually decided by the aircraft – A380 and B747, as my wife commented a while back about double decker planes. I initially booked the A380 upstairs, but a chance to upgrade to First came up (£1.40 + £35 change fee each – no brainer!), so snapped that up!

      • Lyn says:

        11 Jul11 July 15:28

        Well done with your upgrade, and on a long enough “day flight” to SFO to be able to really enjoy it.

        Perhaps the SAN – LHR might become eligible for an upgrade as well?

        • Leo says:

          12 Jul12 July 09:01

          The lounge in San Diego is very underwhelming. There’s no difference between what you get on a C or F ticket.

  • CV3V says:

    11 Jul11 July 16:47

    If you’re in F then at T5 use the Concorde Lounge and ask them what gate your flight will be from, the staff will know, its just not put up on the boards. The train from T5A to T5C doesnt take long.

• Yorkieflyer says:

  11 Jul11 July 09:39

  So the later A380 flight begins to look like a poor choice? No shower, no direct boarding and no access to arrivals lounge at LHR as it’s closed by time of arrival.

  • Will says:

    11 Jul11 July 14:35

    depends on priority and personal preference. Until the winter schedule change the later flight is a 380 so a much more comfortable flying experience. Once winter comes it is a mix of 380, 777-200 and the odd 777-300 thrown in.

    The 744 doesn’t always use the correct gate(s) for boarding from the lounge.

    Then there is the flight timing. I personally don’t like the later flight as it eats into too much of my day and you end up trying to force sleep at about 6pm PST following the meal service.

    • Will says:

      11 Jul11 July 14:36

      Should say “earlier” rather than later.

• Mark says:

  11 Jul11 July 10:25

  I counted 10 tables in the F dining area.

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