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Moot point, because I can’t see them ever offering CCR to non-F access. It would be filled with “influencers” all day, every day. If you look at off-peak LHR-NYC return next year, F is about £600 more than J. Seems priced about right to me.
BTW LPGS is £485/btl at our local “posh-ish” restaurant (+ service). So around £90/glass. That’s how I used to convince my wife to book F anyway 😉
Well it is open to non-F for GGLs albeit this is a very hard bar to reach and then maintain. I wish they’d open it to Golds flying Club World only where there is no F cabin on the flight for a surcharge of say £100-£150, I think this would a fair compromise when there’s no F. I don’t think this would admit too many but I don’t have the numbers on that.
I like the reasoning to book F! I actually got a great deal last year, F only cost about £250 more than J on the outbound.
Am I a Bad Person for finding champagne, including the fabled LPGS, a little bit meh? I drink champage in F for the sense of occasion and because I’ve already paid for it, but, whenever I’ve had a £100+ bottle of still wine, it’s been truly memorable. I wouldn’t say that about LPGS.
Maybe I’m just a Philistine, though.
GGLs deserve it. It doesn’t detract from the exclusivity of the CCR/Chelsea lounges.
But my wife just flew to JFK – 72 Club Suite. Not sure the CCR could cope with just one flight….
Am I a Bad Person for finding champagne, including the fabled LPGS, a little bit meh? I drink champage in F for the sense of occasion and because I’ve already paid for it, but, whenever I’ve had a £100+ bottle of still wine, it’s been truly memorable. I wouldn’t say that about LPGS.
Maybe I’m just a Philistine, though.
Well it’s no longer LPGS anymore so you should go back and let us know if the new ones on offer are more to your liking!
GGLs deserve it. It doesn’t detract from the exclusivity of the CCR/Chelsea lounges.
But my wife just flew to JFK – 72 Club Suite. Not sure the CCR could cope with just one flight….
And how many of those 72 were golds? And did it have an F cabin? If so, under my theory they wouldn’t be eligible. And then would they be willing to pay £150 for access? I suspect very few would take it up.
As a lapsed CCR card holder, I’d value it at around zero. Maybe £20? Yes, i know it’s quieter and the quality of the F&B is higher, but I’d rather spend the money on a better hotel, a nice bottle of wine or something in one of the stores.
The great thing is we all have different equally valid views!
I use a lounge virtually every time I fly and I fly 40 to 60 times a year. I do not drink alcohol. So, maybe £20 a visit, a bit more if the flight is delayed.
I think the answer here possibly depends on what the baseline is and what we can put a £ value on.
Are we talking about how much we would pay for it over the Gold Lounge, the Club Lounges or as an alternative to just being in the terminal or using a paid for lounge?
The answer will of course depend on the value you put on the different options above, none of which have a monetary value at present apart from the paid for lounge which is definitely of a lesser value than the Club Lounges.
So as the Plaza Premium is ~£42.77 (£67.50 if you want to use it for more than 2 hours), the Club Lounge would have to be an increase on that. The Gold Lounge is a minor upgrade from that, so would again be an increase again.
So if we assume that someone in the CCR would want to be there for more than 2 hours, that Club is 20% better than PP, Gold is 10% better than Club, and CCR is 25% better than Gold the answer could be something like this:£67.50 +20% +10% +25% = £111.38
Obviously everyone’s % value of the increase each level of lounge offers is going to be personal, as is the amount of time you want to spend there, and so vary by person. I think the underlying formula theory is sound though.
Ten years ago, I’d happily pay £150-200pp given the quality of the food and drinks, plus 15-min massage, cabanas, etc. Now, I’d pay maximum £20, if that. Probably choose another airline and lounge to fly long-haul.
I think the answer here possibly depends on what the baseline is and what we can put a £ value on.
Are we talking about how much we would pay for it over the Gold Lounge, the Club Lounges or as an alternative to just being in the terminal or using a paid for lounge?
The answer will of course depend on the value you put on the different options above, none of which have a monetary value at present apart from the paid for lounge which is definitely of a lesser value than the Club Lounges.
So as the Plaza Premium is ~£42.77 (£67.50 if you want to use it for more than 2 hours), the Club Lounge would have to be an increase on that. The Gold Lounge is a minor upgrade from that, so would again be an increase again.
So if we assume that someone in the CCR would want to be there for more than 2 hours, that Club is 20% better than PP, Gold is 10% better than Club, and CCR is 25% better than Gold the answer could be something like this:£67.50 +20% +10% +25% = £111.38
Obviously everyone’s % value of the increase each level of lounge offers is going to be personal, as is the amount of time you want to spend there, and so vary by person. I think the underlying formula theory is sound though.
I did enjoy the maths, but the problem is that surely almost nobody who is familiar with it and paying their own money would pay £67.50 for the Plaza Premium?
Do people genuinely turn up early in order to spend as much time as possible in there?
Both valid points, maybe using the “up to 2 hour” PP price as the baseline would be better?
So:
£42.77 +20% +10% +25% = £70.57I think we have DragonPass or similar, but never use it (apart from for my son/friends). Paid-for lounges aren’t bad, apart from the clientele 😁 I actually quite like LPGS.
I wouldn’t pay for CCR either, but as a treat with all the other F benefits it fits well. All the other lounges are silly busy due to Covid putting everything on hold, BA Holidays 2x tier, etc. Hopefully this will calm down after March ’25.
I think we have DragonPass or similar, but never use it (apart from for my son/friends). Paid-for lounges aren’t bad, apart from the clientele 😁
I actually quite like LPGS.@lhar sorry, but you are barred from making any comments re wine/champagne following your comment yesterday that Whispering Angel isn’t a bad wine. You didn’t even catch a fish with that cast!
Do people genuinely turn up early in order to spend as much time as possible in there?
Not sure about “as much time as possible”, but… this afternoon I saw that there were issues with the M40 and M25. Knowing that I had CCR access, I decided to head to Heathrow a couple of hours earlier than planned. Coach was slower than usual, but not quite as bad as feared.
Unlike WFH, I’ve not got a second screen. It’s a draw on comfy seat, power sockets etc. And a big improvement on people bringing me drinks!
If I didn’t have any lounge access, I’d probably have cut it a bit fine with arrival time to Heathrow, and maybe been stressed if traffic got bad again. Knowing I had the CCR available, I went early, and all’s good! Galleries First isn’t bad, but CCR is quieter with more nice seats free and more staff around to bring more drinks whilst I work. Plus it was 8 minutes from stepping off the coach until I was in CCR, thanks to the first wing, which is certainly appreciated.
@lhar sorry, but you are barred from making any comments re wine/champagne following your comment yesterday that Whispering Angel isn’t a bad wine. You didn’t even catch a fish with that cast!
Fair play. 😁 Just going by what my wife said at the weekend; “it was better than the usual Rose”. But mainly went to 5B for a calmer lounge.
The great thing is we all have different equally valid views!
Oh I think you’ll find that some views, valid or not, are more equal than others 🙂
I think we have DragonPass or similar, but never use it (apart from for my son/friends). Paid-for lounges aren’t bad, apart from the clientele 😁
I actually quite like LPGS.@lhar sorry, but you are barred from making any comments re wine/champagne following your comment yesterday that Whispering Angel isn’t a bad wine. You didn’t even catch a fish with that cast!
People genuinely seem to like it. I find it watery and lacking any depth / flavour but others genuinely enjoy drinking it and will even pay to do so.
Do people genuinely turn up early in order to spend as much time as possible in there?
Londoners are fortunate enough to enjoy the results of a century of investment in public transport, something that has been denied to the rest of the UK.
I live 2.5 hours from LHR on a good day, but here’s always the risk of traffic jams holding me up by as much as two hours. Trains are even more unreliable.
So I aim to arrive at the airport 3.5 hours before my flight. Usually that means I have a very long wait, and a lounge is important.
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