New A3 lounge - ATH, extra-Schengen
Apr 13, 2023, 12:55 pm
#136
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,479
Folks, before we all suffer a sense of humour failure, perhaps we might move back on topic, which covers the facilities, food and drink within the lounge, not the logistics of getting there.
/mod
/mod
Apr 13, 2023, 8:10 pm
#137
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: Nectar Card
Posts: 1,093
The actual question is: why some people feel entitled to visit an area outside their scope of their ticket? There is a reason for schengen and non-schengen areas otherwise all passengers would mix.
And all that for what? A ready-made frozen pie in more 'premium' (?) space?
Some of you seem to know how to border force including airport operations better than the people doing those jobs.
And all that for what? A ready-made frozen pie in more 'premium' (?) space?
Some of you seem to know how to border force including airport operations better than the people doing those jobs.
Perhaps it's possible these folks are merely curious or interested (given the many positive reviews about the new non-Schengen lounge, as well as A3's own unending fanfare), or have unique and special situations (this thread has also covered folks wanting to go the other direction--with a detour to the Schengen side--due to different lounge hours).As for "ready-made frozen pie in [a] more 'premium' (?) space," well... this is FT? Folks are discussing all sorts of flying-minutiae. In fact, this is a thread about A3's lounge facilities, whether the food is palatable, whether it's worth visiting, etc. Some people seem to appreciate the ambiance of premium spaces: it's why architecture is a field, no? In fact a *A loyalist friend and I visited this week; having a background in interiors, she mentioned that the color palette was " well considered," then disapproved of some of the seating choices.
As for the facilities and food and such, I can report that there were more outlets than anticipated, they still have "fresh squeezed juices" and precut fruit in individual glass jars, and lots and lots of different types of sandwiches all with meat fillings (my friend is vegetarian and had to get creative). The juices aren't as cold as I like them to be, but easily solved by asking for some ice. I found the staff quite nice when we were there (afternoon). Did not see any pie but the ambiance was very much enjoyable: as others have said, would recommend.
Apr 14, 2023, 2:22 am
#138
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: London
Posts: 192
Hey there, I think entitled is quite a strong word? Such usage makes a lot of broad assumptions about the last five-or-six pages worth of fellow FTers, most of whom you (and I) presumably do not know. Perhaps it's possible these folks are merely curious or interested (given the many positive reviews about the new non-Schengen lounge, as well as A3's own unending fanfare), or have unique and special situations (this thread has also covered folks wanting to go the other direction--with a detour to the Schengen side--due to different lounge hours).
As for "ready-made frozen pie in [a] more 'premium' (?) space," well... this is FT? Folks are discussing all sorts of flying-minutiae. In fact, this is a thread about A3's lounge facilities, whether the food is palatable, whether it's worth visiting, etc. Some people seem to appreciate the ambiance of premium spaces: it's why architecture is a field, no? In fact a *A loyalist friend and I visited this week; having a background in interiors, she mentioned that the color palette was " well considered," then disapproved of some of the seating choices. As for the facilities and food and such, I can report that there were more outlets than anticipated, they still have "fresh squeezed juices" and precut fruit in individual glass jars, and lots and lots of different types of sandwiches all with meat fillings (my friend is vegetarian and had to get creative). The juices aren't as cold as I like them to be, but easily solved by asking for some ice. I found the staff quite nice when we were there (afternoon). Did not see any pie but the ambiance was very much enjoyable: as others have said, would recommend.
Perhaps it's possible these folks are merely curious or interested (given the many positive reviews about the new non-Schengen lounge, as well as A3's own unending fanfare), or have unique and special situations (this thread has also covered folks wanting to go the other direction--with a detour to the Schengen side--due to different lounge hours).As for "ready-made frozen pie in [a] more 'premium' (?) space," well... this is FT? Folks are discussing all sorts of flying-minutiae. In fact, this is a thread about A3's lounge facilities, whether the food is palatable, whether it's worth visiting, etc. Some people seem to appreciate the ambiance of premium spaces: it's why architecture is a field, no? In fact a *A loyalist friend and I visited this week; having a background in interiors, she mentioned that the color palette was " well considered," then disapproved of some of the seating choices.
As for the facilities and food and such, I can report that there were more outlets than anticipated, they still have "fresh squeezed juices" and precut fruit in individual glass jars, and lots and lots of different types of sandwiches all with meat fillings (my friend is vegetarian and had to get creative). The juices aren't as cold as I like them to be, but easily solved by asking for some ice. I found the staff quite nice when we were there (afternoon). Did not see any pie but the ambiance was very much enjoyable: as others have said, would recommend.The 'entitled' part was more about the fact that people turning up at security and border force expecting to be let in an airport area, not accessible by their ticket, and telling them how to do their jobs and how they should be let in because reasons.
I would also recommend.
Oops wrong thread
