T5 – what it’s like right now

[jj]

It’s the Friday afternoon before half term, and the press has been reporting Terrible Things at Heathrow.

Very pleasantly surprised. No obvious queues at Economy or Club desks, but I am Gold (thanks, double tier points!) so sailed through to a serene First wing. All staff were cheerful and chatty, so a first rate experience.

The First lounge was surprisingly unbusy and, again, the staff were all much more cheerful than on previous visits. Very happy with the food and drink on offer, and our flight is leaving on time with no queues anywhere despite being full.

All in all, a very positive experience. Don’t believe the naysayers; travel can be enjoyable, and BA usually delivers.

I’m interested to hear the experience of others as the season develops.

[Gary]

Only have the fortune of T5 Plaza Premium F&B, and not sure it’s meant for human consumption despite the gorgeous views. Was through bag drop/security in 45 mins and staff were chirpy. I had to ask one of them “where is everyone?”.

[masaccio]

I know people rave about the Upper Class thing at T3 but I think the First Wing tops it by miles. If you are minted enough to fly in decent cabins you will be dropped at the end of the drop off area by your limo next to the First Wing and there is zero mixing with the riff-raff.

[pbcold]

Very busy this afternoon in F lounge this afternoon but still an excellent experience and now enjoying a very decent chicken dish as we head towards FCO.

[kebl2555]

North lounge was busy but still just about possible to get a table. Food and drinks were just about being restocked in time after they ran out and toilets could’ve been a lot cleaner. Overall not bad but room for improvement. Perhaps a few more staff needed just to keep it maintained. In future, I have an Amex Platinum now so are there any better lounges than either North or South in T5 I could access?

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[astra19]

Seems rather quiet honestly today. Currently in an almost empty CCR.

[polly]

V g yesterday afternoon. Got the 4yo g’ kid in and his mum, tables cleaned regularly, food sure tasty chicken rice etc. champers self serve, v happy bunnies head into Dublin…good experience in GalleriNorth, meant to say. Queues long to get in at one point.

[MattB]

My wife and MIL flew CW yesterday morning from T5, said it was incredibly busy everywhere but thankfully security queues were OK.

Lots of people wandering round looking for seats in GN, and breakfast rolls weren’t great (not sure how you can get it wrong),but the service onboard was apparently fantastic and a lot better than our previous flights.

[jj]

MattB wrote:

…but the service onboard was apparently fantastic and a lot better than our previous flights.

Our CE flight to Athens on Friday also had fantastic service. The crew were professional, cheerful and friendly, and continually worked the cabin checking for anyone who needed a top-up. I was doubtful that two crew could manage a large cabin, but they worked like Trojans to keep us all happy.

First rate.

[Nomad]

Security and bags drop went relatively ok during early morning. T5 Plaza Premium F&B were below mediocre. Felt sorry for people who paid for that on the door

[The real Swiss Tony]

I’d be interested to know more about what’s so wrong with the F&B offering at the PP lounge.

Am flying out of T5 next weekend and owing to the vagaries of bank holiday traffic, may find myself with some extra time to kill. Having enjoyed the lounge on my last visit, I thought it might mix things up a bit from Galleries, but perhaps I just need to forget that.

[ecugkq30]

Just bumping this thread from yesterday…am flying early-ish this coming Sunday morning and wondered how T5 is looking. Am staying over at the T5 sofitel the night before so will probably do bag drop the day before we fly so there is less queuing in the morning. Any tips from those going through this week?

[PeteM]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

I’d be interested to know more about what’s so wrong with the F&B offering at the PP lounge.

It feels like it’s gone downhill in the last 6-8 month to me too – the F&B offer is now a fair bit better in the BA J lounge. Only the cheapest alcohol is now free in PP (the white wine is truly awful) and the food seems to somehow manage to be both oily, dry and unappetising. Breakfast in particular is a real disappointment, where only last year it was still better than BA. It’s also getting a lot, lot busier than it used to be. I used to be a fan but now generally avoid it, unless we need to guest a whole load of people. The T2 PP feels similar on the F&B front.

Let’s hope the T3 lounges survive the mediocrity attack!

[blueskiesahead]

How is check in for club in T5? .Will be hitting T5 at 3pm tomorrow. Don’t mind packing for hand luggage , but would rather check in unless huge queue. Thanks !

[slidey]

PeteM wrote:

It feels like it’s gone downhill in the last 6-8 month to me too – the F&B offer is now a fair bit better in the BA J lounge. Only the cheapest alcohol is now free in PP (the white wine is truly awful) and the food seems to somehow manage to be both oily, dry and unappetising. Breakfast in particular is a real disappointment

I agree with this. I used to like the PP lounge but the last time I was in there the quality had dropped off a lot.

The most disappointing thing tho was the BA lounge had gone from the great bacon rolls to nowhere near as nice bacon muffins. Why would they do such a thing!

When are plaza premium going to re-open the arrival lounges? They cant still be closed cos covid?

[The real Swiss Tony]

Thanks for that datapoint. Disappointing, but helps with the strategy!

[jj]

Another data point: on the day that the press has been predicting airport carnage, T5 arrivals was a picture of serenity at around 1030 this morning. Although our flight was slightly delayed due to forecast thunderstorms, we landed to find a queue of less than 5 minutes for passport control. Baggage was slightly slow but, surprisingly for a short haul flight, priority bags arrived first.

Once again, the crew were great. Maybe I’m just lucky, but I am currently enjoying an extended run of exemplary BA experiences with the only real trauma in the past 12 months being a champagne shortage on a flight to the Canaries in the spring.