-
We are leaving LHR on a cheapest economy cash BA flight to Brussels.
Two days later we take QR flight Brussels – Doha – Adelaide in Business paid with Avios. Off airport hotel overnight in Doha as it’s a 22 hour layover.
Then we leave from Perth to London, via Doha again but a shorter transit time (still not great at 13 hours or so) again paid by Avios in business.
We have silver BAEC status, and
Priority Passes through…
Amex Platinum.Question is, which are the best lounges should we aim for in all those locations? (LHR, don’t even know the terminal yet. Brussels – just for departure. Doha, pre-departure to Adelaide. Adelaide – an arrivals lounge? Perth – pre-departure. Doha – for a loooong transit. LHR upon arrival?)
What would you do?Brussels you won’t have a choice. It’ll be the Diamond lounge in the non-Schengen area.
I feel like there has been some discussion recently about lounge access at DOH on avios bookings. But at the very least, as BA Silver you will have access to (confusingly) QR Gold lounge, which is perfectly nice but not “wow”.
Sounds like Brussels need to pull their socks up, Mr/Mrs Salad!
And thanks NorthernLass; I’ve read those “can I, can’t I” threads too so I will stride confidently to The Garden Al Mourjan and work my way from there to QR Gold 😉You may have to tell the door staff several times that you are BA Silver, not QR Silver! I showed them the little blue dot on my digital membership card and also explained I was OW Sapphire and they eventually gave in!
In Doha you will get Al Mourjan lounge access on an award booking. No real preference for me on Garden vs OG. Comparatively QR Gold isn’t worth visiting imo. QR sometimes offer the ability to pay for Al Safwa which could be worth it for a long layover.
No arrivals lounge in Adelaide as far as I know.
If your Doha-London leg is on Qatar unfortunately you don’t get access to an arrivals lounge. If it’s on BA you can access the T5 arrivals lounge, but generally I would prefer to get home ASAP after a journey of that length as the arrivals lounge isn’t that great unfortunately.
Not sure about Brussels or Perth.
I like the original Al Mourjan – they have upgraded most aspects a lot and, perhaps owing to the newer Garden version, it is now pleasingly quiet and civilised. I actually prefer it to Al Safwa. The status lounges sound very moderate in comparison. Adelaide airport is very basic, but you’ll get through e-kiosks with zero wait if you have a UK passport and luggage is delivered super quickly.
The last time I passed through Doha I noticed the main spa (not the Dior one) in the Garden lounge had opened but I didn’t have time to look round. Might be worth checking it out. I haven’t seen any reviews online yet.
I find the solo seats on the balcony side near the back of the quiet half of the Garden lounge very private and comfortable.
The best showers are the ones in the poorly advertised quiet area behind the restaurant on the main (lower) floor of the original Al Mourjan lounge.
Thank you everyone; very kind of you to reply.
I had misunderstood the Al Safwa vs Garden Al Mourjan positions and thought that the Garden was the premium offering but I’ll check out ways to get into Al Safwa now. Sounds like I’ll be very happy with The Garden if that’s what I’m allowed; particularly armed with JDB’s tips!
I now know that the BA to Brussels leaves from TN5 so I’ll check out the multitude of threads & reviews already available for that.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
