LochAwe

Mileage run GLA-LHR-GLA in CE earlier this month did indeed result in the promised 80TP, so now I'm Gold again. Yay. Means I'll be Silver next year again.

Got an email today telling me how wonderful the First Wing at Heathrow is: "a new and exclusive experience for premium customers travelling through Heathrow Terminal 5."

Check-in area & security, then a straight shot to the First Lounge / Concorde Room. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but that tells me that the First Wing "exclusive experience" is entirely land-side.

So unless a passenger is beginning their trip at LHR, they'll never see the vaunted First Wing unless they want to leave the terminal and come back in. Somehow I doubt even "premium finishes" in the "new, spacious security channel" would be worth that hassle.

"This is designed to be a seamless, intuitive and dedicated route for British Airways’ most valued customers to begin their journey in supreme comfort.”

AH! Finally we get to the meat of the issue. Not "many" or "some" of their "most valued customers," but their "most valued customers," period.

So those of us who are Gold or flying First but originating outside the Hallowed Halls of Heathrow ... what are we, chopped liver?

The First Wing description at the beginning of that email should have read "a new and exclusive experience for premium customers beginning their journey at Heathrow Terminal 5," not "travelling through Heathrow Terminal 5."

I guess complaining about such a first world problem is really petty, but when I fly BA and when my husband flies with me, we pay for it with our own money. This is my 2nd time to reach Gold, and he's Silver. All of my TPs were earned with personal spend, and most of his were as well, apart from roughly 4 trips GLA-LCY for business last year. That's a hefty chunk of change for us.

I just think it would have been a nicer gesture if BA had spent the money enhancing an area that customers living outside of London could experience as well. Maybe put an additional First lounge at the other end of T5 next to the overcrowded Galleries lounge; something like that. ::shrug::

I started to put "Grumpy Old Woman" as my occupation on my FlyerTalk profile. I guess I should have done so. I'm certainly living up to it today.

LondonElite

I think you may be reading too much into the email. It could also have said:

"We've finally given premium customers what they should have had when we sat down with HAL to build this terminal. Thank your lucky stars you won't have to endure the shambolic south security fast track any longer."

LochAwe

I'm not reading anything into the email. I'm quoting from it.

KARFA

The first wing is for landside to airside. However I would suggest that for those doing INT-DOM connections there certainly is merit in going landside (I often do so myself) - please see the T5 connections guide if you need more information on this. I "originate" outside London and I have already used it a few times both when starting my journey there and when doing INT-DOM connections. It is a definite and real improvement.

I appreciate you did a DOM-DOM connection, but as you would have had no security to do whatsoever that would have been a far more enjoyable connection experience than any first wing could deliver. I also expect that the number of DOM-DOM connections done at T5 is pretty minimal.

corporate-wage-slave

Dear grumpy auld woman, the First Wing works very well if connecting from overseas back to Glasgow, if you consider the mapping of it, it's nearly a direct route via the e-gates.

secretplantofightinflation

If Heathrow worked properly you wouldn't need to go landslide to transfer.

T8191

I guess going land-side for a cigarette before using the First Wing is a minority sport

Anyway, LochAwe, at least you have a direct connection to LHR. Some of us have to go via LGW/M23/M25, where the First Wing is an appreciated (if belated) addition.

LochAwe

That last trip was actually the first time I've ever done a DOM-DOM connection. I usually fly GLA-LHR-DEN or somewhere else in the States. Our last trip was in January, however, before the First Wing opened.

If it's easier to exit airside and go back in via First Wing when coming back to the UK; wonderful. I am going to AMS in a few weeks but as both arrival and departure are in T5, I wonder if it would be worth doing that. I'll give it a shot, and if it is, then I'll come back here and apologise for my grumpiness. Thanks to all for your insightful input.

KARFA

Have a read of the T5 connections guide.

For GLA-LHR-DEN there would be no point, but for DEN-LHR-GLA there would be.

Deltus

Nobody "begins" their journey at T5, unless they live in the Sofitel. I begin my journeys in south-east London, and "travel through" T5 on my way to somewhere more exciting.

So BA's wording is technically correct, and not a veiled attack on non-Londoners.

strichener

Unless BA have started taxi/train/bus companies then as far as they are concerned, you are indeed starting your journey at T5.

so3003

Int-Dom connections should be seamless through the connections area, and the very fact people discuss going landslide and essentially rechecking-in via the 'starting your trip in Heathrow' route because of the otherwise poor experience is ridiculous!

Am I correct in saying that by going landside after arriving into LHR, then going through First Wing (or alternative), "protection" for missed connections is lost in the event of a queue / other mishap?

(For what it's worth I connected at LHR yesterday and it was an absolute shambles - only 1/3 of passport desks staffed, security at a total standstill for 5-10minutes at a time, BA and HAL staff unable to cope with large numbers of passengers in the queue with tight connections at risk of missing their flights, security staff being rude towards passengers who clearly couldn't understand English...)

KARFA

No you do not lose protection and no you are not re-checking in.