British Airways Terminal 5B lounge refresh: details of Phase Two revealed

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• Andy says:

  6 Oct6 October 09:41

  I know people involved with the construction. As well as the live cooking station, they have something called hot and cold food display plates. Essentially the plate can hold cold food, and then hot food, all on the same equipment. Ideal for changing the menu throughout the day, pretty snazzy and saves a lot of important space in the lounge.

• Gareth J says:

  6 Oct6 October 10:30

  So is the kids play area now closed also? We were planning to head to B to entertain the kids before we fly, but don’t want to drag them all the way up to the lounge if it’s closed.

  Frustratingly it seems like the main soft play in T5 is also always closed these days, but nothing online about it, still happily says it’s open.

  • Adam says:

    6 Oct6 October 13:01

    It is still open today and the construction is near It but not blocking the play area.

• Dan says:

  6 Oct6 October 10:59

  Was in the Galleries south lounge yesterday. What a dpressing dump. It has all the charm of a Weatherspoons at 3am in Sunderland. The lounge is dark, carpet is FILTHY and the furniture battered. We left after having a coffee and waited at the gate.

  • Londonsteve says:

    6 Oct6 October 11:19

    Which actually suits BA quite well. You consumed very little, cost them next to nothing as a consequence and promptly vacated your space for someone else in an overloaded lounge.

  • lumma says:

    6 Oct6 October 12:48

    So it has the charm of an empty pub?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      6 Oct6 October 15:08

      Wish it was anything like empty the place is a packed zoo

• Swad Wolf says:

  6 Oct6 October 11:03

  We flew Club World to San Jose (CA) three weeks ago. Onboard service on both flights was great (friendly efficient crew and nice food) but we were very disappointed with the lounges in T5.

  Had to queue at the bottom of the stairs for the main lounge and when we were finally allowed up we were told the lounge was full and that we must go to the lounge at satellite B. Why couldn’t they tell us whilst queuing?

  The BA person who spoke to us reminded me of an old-style nightclub bouncer in her manner. No word of an apology and we had to virtually force our way in when my wife politely asked if she could just get a glass of water before leaving to go to the B lounge.

  As expected, once we got to the other lounge it was absolutely packed with nowhere to sit down but obviously at this stage they know you won’t bother heading back to the original lounge so the ‘bouncer’ had done her job. Food looked very unappetising and I never understand why they have curry as a pre-flight meal. I love curry but not before a long flight.

  I’ve always been a big fan of BA and enjoyed the lounges in the past but sadly this experience seems to be typical of the drop in standards.

  • Qrfan says:

    6 Oct6 October 11:44

    Why are you normally a “big fan”? Whilst 5b is normally quieter the rest of your experience sounds very normal for BA. Shabby furniture, basic food offering, largely disinterested staff. BA basically don’t care because if you were a frequent paying club world customer you wouldn’t be in there.

    • G says:

      6 Oct6 October 12:01

      The F&B offering in the ba lounges stinks. Poor quality drinks and food… gets worse and worse

  • Clayton says:

    6 Oct6 October 12:00

    There are boards on the “ground floor” of the lounge complex ( the F & Concorde floor) that show you occupancy levels that would’ve told you Galleries South was full ( of there’s 3 people on the sign it’s a sign that it’s at, or very near, capacity)

    For your own future reference. They are put on that level so that you see if GC is full without having to go up another floor or queue pointlessly and can go to GC North or T5B if you’re on a long haul flight.

    You can always approach the staff positioned in the lobby / current shower area or walk up to the F lounge desks and ask them the status of GC & they’ll invariably have a check and tell you if it’s worth waiting around or you’re better trying the 9ther lounges

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      6 Oct6 October 13:03

      And it’s worth adding in my experience north is always quieter

• Spaghetti Town says:

  6 Oct6 October 11:09

  I am travelling to NYC in Club in mid November.

  Which lounge would people recommend for a morning flight? Is T5B generally the quietest?

  • willmo says:

    6 Oct6 October 11:14

    yes, T5B will almost always be the quietest at any time of day.

    • Spaghetti Town says:

      6 Oct6 October 13:26

      Thanks. Is there any reasons to visit the two club lounges in Terminal A at all?

      • Rob says:

        6 Oct6 October 13:53

        Your flight departs from 5A …. ‘cos nothing justifies the walk back in my view!

      • RoyH says:

        7 Oct7 October 07:32

        And after a couple of recent visits to both the A north and B lounges, I found the food offerings (and choice) far better in A than B.
        Loved the comment about the Whispering Angel dispensary looking like a cheap nail bar – they captured the essence of the wine perfectly!

  • Qrfan says:

    6 Oct6 October 11:51

    In my experience, yes, though if you’re concerned about lounges you’re far better off getting American from T3 for future NYC trips if you’re not using a 241.

    • David says:

      6 Oct6 October 12:27

      or Iberia from Madrid for the lovely T4S lounge

      • Numpty says:

        6 Oct6 October 19:20

        Was there last weekend, great lounge, and so quiet!

    • Spaghetti Town says:

      6 Oct6 October 13:27

      On 241!

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      6 Oct6 October 13:27

      Breakfast in the cathay 1st lounge is worth the inconvenience of the otherwise pretty grim T3.

      And the schlep to the more remote gates will get your steps in ahead of the flight!

      • Qrfan says:

        6 Oct6 October 14:27

        Qantas lounge, Cathay lounge and also the fact that American airlines boarding isn’t the **** show that BA always is.

        • Chrisasaurus says:

          6 Oct6 October 14:37

          Not always true it was a mess yesterday- crowded gate awaiting crew and by the time they called boarding over the quiet PA system groups 2-9 were already forming an impenetrable barrier

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    6 Oct6 October 14:34

    What status do you have?

    • Qrfan says:

      6 Oct6 October 15:18

      Either gold or silver depending on various things but I’m always in flagship business so I think always group 1 or 2?

• LittleNick says:

  6 Oct6 October 11:25

  It would be good if BA offered the option (like Qatar does) to access the Concorde room for a fee if flying Club World where there is no first cabin and BA member has high enough status maybe Gold, would maybe somewhat alleviate the club lounges and they’d make some money

  • LittleNick says:

    6 Oct6 October 12:32

    Just realised this wouldn’t help with GC lounges so maybe silvers flying club world can then access GF but that might lead to overcrowding there

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      6 Oct6 October 13:32

      Sooner or later it would help with GF but not much – and while I don’t fly in first, I could argue that at some stage you have to draw a line and make it a bums in first class seats only lounge given the premium that pax are typically paying.

      The real issue is that there needs to be more space or fewer elites in both GF and GC

• His Holyness says:

  6 Oct6 October 12:02

  It wouldn’t surprise me if it starts off quite well with live cooking before they end up putting some pulled pork in a bun like at the Swiss lounges.

  • David says:

    6 Oct6 October 12:28

    They have to do something with all the mice they catch !

  • Matarredonda says:

    7 Oct7 October 10:22

    I so dislike pulled pork!

• James17uk says:

  6 Oct6 October 12:33

  I can deal with everything but the toilets. They’ve been designed by someone that has NO interior design experience whatsoever and thinks that caravan all-in-one sink toilet units look good. Secondly they aren’t easy to clean and are usually filthy. The staff, some who don’t even speak English have little interest in creating a premium experience. I wonder if those in charge of the BA lounge strategy have even left the country before to witness what others do.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Oct6 October 15:11

    Not sure why you needed to reference the spoken language of cleaner in a lounge but it’s plainly obvious the toilets weren’t designed but rather just lowest cost industrial installs you’d expect at a manufacturing site, in fact most of them have nicer toilets these days.

    • Alex G says:

      6 Oct6 October 15:44

      Presumably because he wanted to communicate with them but was unable to do so.

      Strange thing to comment on.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        6 Oct6 October 16:17

        More than can you clean the toilet ie your one job?

        • Bagoly says:

          6 Oct6 October 18:30

          There is also the question of whether the lounge manager can communicate with them, and from the other side, whether they are really being paid the minimum wage – without the ability to speak the local language, it’s a lot easier for unscrupulous gang-masters (and it’s multiple layers of outsourcing) to take advantage of them.

  • Numpty says:

    6 Oct6 October 18:27

    It’d be nice if they could empty the dead flies out of the light fittings. They’re easily the worst lounge toilets / showers in any lounge I’ve ever been to. And it’s so easy to fix – checkatrade!

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