British Airways to re-open three Heathrow business class lounges on Saturday

British Airways has announced it is re-opening its lounges from Saturday 4th July.

This has been enabled by the easing of lockdown, which allows restaurants, pubs and cafes to re-open from providing they take measures to reduce the spread of the virus.

The first lounge to re-open will be the Galleries First and Galleries Club lounges at the southern end of Heathrow Terminal 5.  These are the lounges on the First Wing side of the building – ie. to the right as you walk in.

It’s lounging, Jim, but not as we know it

As you might expect, British Airways is introducing some changes to how the lounges will operate.

Only the Galleries First, Galleries Club South and Arrivals lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5 will open on Saturday.  Galleries Club South is only open during the morning – from 12.30, all departing passengers will use Galleries First.

Automatic contactless lounge entry barriers will be installed from mid-July, reducing contact between customers and staff

You will be given a card to place on your seat when you leave, which will indicate to staff that cleaning is required. Seating areas and bathrooms will be sanitised after each use, and there will be a variety of sanitiser stations and distance markers around.

Food and drink, including alcohol, will be available via a new online ordering service called ‘Your Menu’. It works by scanning a QR code at your seat (single use paper menus are also available for those who cannot do so).  It will offer “separate morning and afternoon menus with a choice of hot and cold food or drinks which will be delivered directly to you.”

Showers will be available in the Arrivals lounge and will be cleaned after every use

The Elemis Spa will be closed

All newspapers and magazines have been removed

If you have a Gold card or are travelling in First, you will be pleased to know that the First Wing will also be open, to funnel you directly into the Galleries First lounge:

What about the Concorde Room?

A separate area will be available for those travelling in First or with a Concorde Room card (which comes with the top sub-tier of Gold Guest List status). This will be situated on the terrace area of the First lounge, which will now be called the ‘Concorde Terrace’.

Conclusion

This announcement is roughly in line with what we expected when the government announced that restaurants, pubs and cafes could re-open from Saturday.

This seems to be a measured and sensible approach to the situation, striking a compromise between offering a premium experience and passenger safety. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some changes – such as the new online table service and automatic barriers – to remain after social distancing measures are lifted.

You can read the comprehensive FAQ about the lounges re-opening on the British Airways website here.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.