Three British Airways airport lounges will reopen on Monday

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

• Stu N says:

  14 Jul14 July 10:50

  Excellent news, will get to use the Edinburgh lounge at the end of the month all being well.

• Hardpack says:

  14 Jul14 July 10:51

  The Aspire in Newcastle is a poor substitute for the old BA lounge. They have an Aspire+ area where Emirates put their J or status passengers I think, but it’s not that big. It’s a real shame

  • DAJ says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:06

    I totally agree but as the old saying goes, it’s better than nothing!

  • S says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:43

    Yes it’s crap! Absolute free for all, I’d rather sit in one of the terminal bars. In peak season it’s so packed they pretty regularly turn people away, I can’t see BA status holders getting in under those circumstances

    • Stu N says:

      14 Jul14 July 12:39

      What will generally happen is the airline will contract with the lounge to have sufficient capacity for its passengers so it will be even harder for people with lounge cards and walk-up passengers to get into the lounges.

      • Aisak says:

        15 Jul15 July 18:09

        Then, a new business opportunity will arise to use the former BA Lounge or any other space to set up a new lounge for those overflow passengers. It happened with no1 lounge at LGW south. Once more lounges opened, the restrictions for walk-up card holders was mitigated

  • Simon says:

    14 Jul14 July 13:45

    It’s the same situation in Belfast. The BA lounge had a bean to cup coffee machine, in the Aspire version I asked for an Americano and was told they only had instant!

  • Niall says:

    14 Jul14 July 14:34

    The coffee and pastry in the Belfast lounge was awful when I travelled a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was previously run by Aspire but all of the catering seemed to be BA. The reduction in quality was noticeable.

    While it’s sad to see, there is a positive… I don’t care so much about maintaining at least Silver status as I have done for years probably irrationally for the Belfast lounge access. Amex Platinum / Priority Pass options for Belfast to/from Heathrow now the same (Belfast) or better (Heathrow) than BA silver lounges.

    I’d expect a few people to be in this situation.

    • Simon says:

      14 Jul14 July 15:16

      I think before Aspire took the BHD lounge over catering came from Baxter Storey which while not tremendously exciting was much better than what’s there now! I got half a manky toasted sandwich last time I was in.

      • Niall says:

        14 Jul14 July 15:34

        Ahh that explains it! Thanks!

  • Stuart says:

    14 Jul14 July 17:49

    Aspire plus is still closed at the minute and last I checked the normal aspire was closed on a Tuesday too! Aspire plus also has a no kids unless business on EK rule

• Adam says:

  14 Jul14 July 11:00

  OT – Does IC Ambassador voucher still come via post or send digitally straight away upon enrolment? Want to upgrade today to book for this weekend.

  • Rob says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:10

    Digital.

    You also don’t need the voucher in your account, although it should arrive as soon as you upgrade. You should be able to book at intercontinental.com/ambweekend as soon as the upgrade is processed (and you can check pricing before you join). The voucher is only removed at check-in.

    • meta says:

      14 Jul14 July 12:13

      You can book Ambassador rate at any time. You don’t have to be a member. You only need the voucher by the check-in.

• Rob says:

  14 Jul14 July 11:10

  Does anyone know at what times do Club passengers get First lounge access at LHR T5?

  • Rob says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:22

    It varies by day, but I get a feeling that – from 19th – the Club lounges will be open for much, if not all, of the day and your chance of getting into Galleries First is low. Galleries North had to open this week to relieve pressure on Galleries South at peak times.

• James says:

  14 Jul14 July 11:12

  Great to see Aberdeen reopening!

• Bob says:

  14 Jul14 July 11:39

  Still won’t be using ba while they insist on passengers conforming to their preferred medical interventions; masks, tests, jabs etc. You think I would consent to someone shoving a rod up my child’s nose? To get a test result that is bs and perpetuating restrictions? Asymptomatic transmission does not exist as confrimed by study with sample size of 5 million people.

  • Rob says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:50

    I couldn’t care less what you stick up my kids noses, to be honest. Given my son’s active lifestyle, it will be about the 45th most painful thing he’s done this year. Pretty sure my wife and daughter would list it well below their monthly period pains too.

    It only comes as a shock to lazy men like me who sit around at desks all day and insist on medical treatment if they pick up a cup of hot tea.

    • Brighton Belle says:

      14 Jul14 July 12:07

      I fell off my chair… how true :-))

      • Stu N says:

        14 Jul14 July 12:35

        Excellent Bob, your ill-informed boycott of BA makes things safer for the rest of us. Keep it up!

    • Bloomers says:

      14 Jul14 July 14:08

      Well played Rob, excellent reply, though I snorted my coffee as I read it!

      • Lady London says:

        14 Jul14 July 20:26

        Bob you’ll have to do better than this if you really want to be a troll

  • jj says:

    14 Jul14 July 12:40

    Not really any mask wearing in Club to/from Menorca last week. Immediately after take-off we were offered a drink so the masks came off. And whenever our glasses approached empty, another drink was thrust into our grateful hands – so no need to put the masks back on until the final descent. No need for masks in the lounge as we were eating and drinking there, too.

    Two great flights, all in all.

  • John says:

    14 Jul14 July 13:02

    BA doesn’t insist on any tests.

    • Rui N. says:

      14 Jul14 July 21:53

      Nor masks, at least until Monday. Nor jabs.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        14 Jul14 July 21:59

        They do insist on masks when not eating/drinking?

  • Rui N. says:

    14 Jul14 July 17:21

    Source for that study?

  • VerdantBacon says:

    14 Jul14 July 20:02

    You mean you’re boycotting leaving the country right? As it’s not BA who want you to do tests.

    • Sandra says:

      14 Jul14 July 21:50

      Considering some of the things our son stuck up his nose when he was younger a Covid test stick would’ve been the least of our worries!

• Philip says:

  14 Jul14 July 11:46

  Aspire could expand into the old BA lounge area and create a larger Aspire Plus lounge in that space. It’s a shame that the airport stopped work on the building of its own lounge as would have thought that BA, Emirates, KLM/Air France etc would use that.

  • Philip says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:46

    This is at NCL!

    • Phil says:

      14 Jul14 July 13:30

      I think there’s still intention to complete it eventually, if and when airport can afford to do so. There’s no alternate plans for the space. Not holding my breath though. Maybe it will be cheaper for NCL to refit the old BA lounge for this purpose, but the upstairs area set aside for the lounge has much better views then the downstairs lounges

      • Stuart says:

        14 Jul14 July 17:47

        Issue is the location of the BA lounge as half the terminal can’t use it due to it being past a door of no return. Only way would be aspire plus to knock through

• Save East Coast Rewards says:

  14 Jul14 July 12:37

  Thanks for the update. Genuinely good news here, although I agree a massive downgrade for Newcastle on what we had.

  • Stuart says:

    14 Jul14 July 18:00

    Massive downgrade but suppose it has to be done, I’ve got a first redemption coming up but if I was a cash buyer would you go via Heathrow with no lounge access in Newcastle or go via klm / af / ek. Also flying down to LHR soon but only booked Economy down but business back as didn’t see the value of spending the extra money for an empty middle seat and a snack on board, for me the lounge is part of the experience

  • Tim says:

    14 Jul14 July 19:03

    Whilst it might not work for everyone, when I started to shift my business from BA to Star several years ago, as a BA gold of 10+ years, I started flying from Edinburgh even though I live closer to Newcastle. To be fair, I can walk to a station on the East Coast Main line, but I found my time was better spent on the 0640 train to Edinburgh in first, rather than on a crammed bus and metro to NCL. Even though it was an extra hour of time, it was more efficient, as I got work done plus a cooked breakfast. Plus always a pleasant trip in Northumberland. Also, since BA took over the BMI space, the EDI BA lounge was always better than NCL, as is the new Aspire lounge in EDI. When I had to fly with BA again for domestics or connections, I made EDI my default for BA instead of NCL, simply because the significantly higher frequency at EDI, plus to LCY meant my time was better spent. Again – that extra hour on the train – but in first and with a cooked breakfast – I didn’t view as being an extra hour of time. Out of EDI and into NCL is something I will continue to do. Although now that LNER plan to put later trains on from Edinburgh southbound, and an extra one in the morning, it might even be EDI out and in.

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