Arriving LHR at 0900 on AA from ORD. Flying economy. Need to get to Paris. US citizens checking 1 bag each at ORD. Should be able to check all the way through I think. No status.
There are award seats on the 1235pm to Orly. Could book economy or Club Europe. From what I can tell it seems that booking Club Europe will cost me 4500 extra points and get me:
Lounge access at LHR
blocked middle seat
meal on board
free booze
Anything of consequence that I am missing. from the pics I saw club europe looks worse than domestic F in the US. OTOH its only 4500 miles. Assuming all goes well, how long do you think I might have in the lounge. Is there anything interesting to do in T5 if I fly economy instead.
You can get a shower if you want. I would estimate you should have a good couple of hours.
I would take up the CE Avios redemption in your circumstances without hesitation, unless you have another better use for the Avios.
In the absence of lounge access, you can go shopping or pay to eat and drink, although the food is likely to be better outside of the lounge, it comes at a price.
Arriving LHR at 0900 on AA from ORD. Flying economy. Need to get to Paris. US citizens checking 1 bag each at ORD. Should be able to check all the way through I think. No status.
There are award seats on the 1235pm to Orly. Could book economy or Club Europe. From what I can tell it seems that booking Club Europe will cost me 4500 extra points and get me:
Lounge access at LHR
blocked middle seat
meal on board
free booze
Anything of consequence that I am missing. from the pics I saw club europe looks worse than domestic F in the US. OTOH its only 4500 miles. Assuming all goes well, how long do you think I might have in the lounge. Is there anything interesting to do in T5 if I fly economy instead.
The short flight itself does not justify Club Europe.
Programs: BA Gold, A3 *Gold, BMI Gold, HHonors Silver, Priority Club Plat
Posts: 503
Quote:
Originally Posted by hindukid
Arriving LHR at 0900 on AA from ORD. Flying economy. Need to get to Paris. US citizens checking 1 bag each at ORD. Should be able to check all the way through I think. No status.
There are award seats on the 1235pm to Orly. Could book economy or Club Europe. From what I can tell it seems that booking Club Europe will cost me 4500 extra points and get me:
Lounge access at LHR
blocked middle seat
meal on board
free booze
Anything of consequence that I am missing. from the pics I saw club europe looks worse than domestic F in the US. OTOH its only 4500 miles. Assuming all goes well, how long do you think I might have in the lounge. Is there anything interesting to do in T5 if I fly economy instead.
Free booze is in Y too, although you'll get bubbles in CE.
Otherwise you have the limited benefits spot on, for such a short flight the main thing is the lounge I guess. Arriving at 9 with luggage checked through you should be in the lounge for over 2 hours. Personally that would be worth 4500 miles to me but that's your choice.
T5 has good shops and restaurants (Gordon Ramsey) if you prefer to spend £s rather than points.
From what I can tell it seems that booking Club Europe will cost me 4500 extra points and get me:
Lounge access at LHR
blocked middle seat
meal on board
free booze
You get free booze in ET, if that makes any difference to your decision making. If you have Avios to spare, definitely go for CE (mostly for lounge access, if you are a drinker and/or want a shower) but if you aren't terribly Avios-rich, you might want to stick to ET, in case you find a better use for them.
Programs: BA Gold, LH Sen, MUCCI, Junior Jet Club.
Posts: 6,590
If I didn't have access, I'd happily spend 4,500 Avios for lounge access arriving off an international flight (in economy...on American...arriving at 3am in the morning by my body clock) and transferring to Europe. Have a shower, coffee, bit of breakfast, glass of champagne, nick some newspapers, check emails on the free wifi and so on.
Can't really believe we're discussing this. The fact I'd get a slightly wider seat and a small salad on the flight is almost incidental.
"Knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing" springs to mind!
__________________ British Airways Club World: lie back and think of England in the original business class flat bed.
Wow. Lots of quick replies. Seems like a reasonable decision either way. I think I will just let the wife decide. Which means 99% chance we will be flying CE.
It will ultimately cost me Amex points as I am converting them to BA to redeem, but with 30% bonus that's not a bad conversion at all.
Another way to look at it: To buy Arrivals Lounge access at LHR for AA passengers flying Coach w/o oneworld Emerald status costs $90+(20%?)VAT per person. That's really the metric you should be basing your decision upon for whether it's useful to pay the extra Avios to get lounge access in T5. 4500 Avios plus CE flight benefits or $108 for the Arrivals Lounge.
Programs: HiltonH. Gold Starwood Gold BA BLUES! Mucci.
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~irrespective of the perceived cost of lounge entry, Aerowesty, it is not something you can do (purchase) at T5.
I would use the extra miles, for all the reasons listed, but also because if there is any flight disruption........ you tend to get looked after better.... IMHO.
