Ok my parents had a different experience. On Good Friday they were booked on BA559 at 1730 local, they werent feeling well so decided to head to the airport after checking out of their hotel shortly after 1100. They arrived at FCO just before noon and were quite happy to sit in the airport until check in opened but saw the BA desks attended so they went over and their bags were accepted and boarding cards issued and travelling Club Europe they went straight to the lounge for what they described as 5 hours of bliss. A totally unexpected bonus for them. I was surprised at this but glad it made their experience a lot better.