HELP DESK: Will I Have Lounge Access? Which, Access, Rules (2020-2022)
 

Hello all,

I would like to know if I can get the lounge access in London Heathrow with the followings

1. I have AA Platinum status through Jan 31, 2020 (not executive or anything more than that !
2. Travelling on an economy AWARD ticket connecting through Heathrow to Boston flying on British Airways ! (BA239 - Departure Terminal 5 it seems?)

According to my research, accessing the Admirals Club Lounge in Heathrow are in Terminal 3 need the followings

Admirals Club, Terminal 3

Qualifying AAdvantage® Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro and Platinum

Includes customers on qualifying departing international flights marketed and operated by American or a oneworld® airline (regardless of cabin).


If someone would please confirm the eligibility and whether I can get to terminal 5 to terminal 3 airside ?

Thanks

Lesfilles

If you're departing terminal 5 you'll have access to any of the BA Galleries Club locations (BA's business class lounges). In Terminal 3 you'll be able to access Qantas, Cathay, Admirals Club, or BA Galleries Club.

If you're departing terminal 5 you likely can't / won't be able to access Terminal 3.

Basically you're considered One World Sapphire and therefore get treated as a business class passenger regardless of cabin flown or whether the ticket is paid or not

Hi,

Hi,

You can transfer airside from T3 to T5 airside ( follow signs to flight connections and take the bus). There will be a security check at the flight connections point in T5.

There are 3 Galleries club lounges ( T5 A North, T5 A South, and T5 B)- There is not a lounge at the C gate concourse.

Regards

TBS

You can take an airside bus to T3 won’t be allowed to enter T3 since BP will be for T5

Long story short: At Heathrow, you can only enter lounges in the departure areas if you are departing from a flight from that terminal. In other words, if you are departing from T5, you can only enter departure lounges in T5. If you are departing from T3, you can only enter departure lounges in T3.

(There is an AA Admirals Club Arrival Lounge in T3, but available only to those who have officially entered the UK through the UK Border.)

There is airside transport from T3 to T5. Upon arrival, follow the purple Flight Connections signs to the bus pick up / drop off point. Go to your departure terminal on the bus. If you are arriving and departing from the same terminal, then still follow the purple Flight Connections signs.

Unlike other airports, Heathrow requires all departing passengers to pass through Security in the terminal where they are departing before entering the departure area. (I believe there are exceptions to this for inter-UK passengers, but I have no personal experience with that.)

What this means: You cannot be on a flight departing from T5, for example, and expect to use a lounge in the T3 departure area, even if you arrived in T5. As you do not have a boarding pass for T3, you will not be allowed past T3 security, not even if you have already passed security at your originating airport.

As an example. I fly Los Angeles to Düsseldorf, connecting in London Heathrow.

1. I pass TSA security in LAX, get on the plane and fly to LHR.
2. I get off the plane in LHR (usually T3), walk to Flight Connections and take the bus to T5.
3. I arrive in Flight Connections in T5, then follow the signage to T5 Security.
4. Pass T5 Security.
5. Find myself in the T5 departure lounge. From there I can sit in the main area with everyone else, or go to an airline lounge. As a Platinum, you can go to one of the two British Airways Galleries lounges (North or South).
6. Wait for my gate to be announced for DUS. (LHR announces gates just before opening the gates for passengers.)
7. Go to that gate, when announced, then fly to DUS.
8. Get off the plane, pass German Immigration where they stamp my passport, collect my checked luggage, pass German Customs and leave the airport.

Going home, I do the reverse. Security in Germany, then Security in LHR, then arrive in LAX where I go through US CBP (Customs and Border Protection ie US Immigration and US Customs).

You make it sound so lovely!

Now I’m the first to see flying as a transformative, almost spiritual experience but I had no idea that finding oneself in LHR was a thing. If passengers knew of that golden nugget, it might save fortune in self-help books ;)

You will 100% fly out of Terminal 5 on this flight and only have access to the biz class lounge. Not a bad lounge. Not the best, but not the worst. There is 0% chance you will fly out of Terminal 3. ZERO. Just be ready for an annoying line at the entrance of the lounge, and a somewhat underwhelming experience and crowded lounge. Unless...

...and, if it were me, and as I have done before: I would make my way to the 2nd floor (before security) and hit up the arrivals/galleries lounge (whatever it's called, I can never remember but frequent it) and hit up a shower, a bucks fizz, and relax for 30 min. Maybe score a 15min massage if available. Again, this is pre-security, and is often less crowded than the Galleries lounge past security. Don't let "no seating" discourage you. Often I see people standing in the Galleries lounge past security. This is moronic to me. Anyway...after that...I would...

...make my way to check-in at "H", bounce through security and relax at Fortnum & Mason Bar. Yes it's in the middle of the terminal, but almost nobody is ever there. Have yourself some decent caviar and champagne (yes I am advocating for spending money, rather than cramming into a crowded biz lounge with "sheople" (sheeple?)) Their service is fantastic and embarrasses any service you'll receive in any lounge (yes including Cathay in T3 in my many many many experiences). And compared to the First Class dining I've experienced in T5? You won't be disappointed.

The date of your flight is not stated. It depends whether your flight is before or after Jan 31, 2020.

Basically echoing what others have said but to add a few tidbits:

1) Your AA Platinum status, along with OneWorld carrier boarding pass in economy through business, grants you access to Business Class lounges at LHR for Oneworld carriers. This includes Cathay Pacific business lounge, American business lounge, British Airways business lounge, etc.

2) But your boarding pass specifically from LHR limits you mostly to Terminal 5, where your flight leaves from. Some airports like most US airports allow you to move freely airside between terminals, time allowing, and then go back to your departing terminal. Heathrow does not. Heathrow is also 5 miles wide and so even if you did have that option (more below), you wouldn’t want to. Going from one terminal to another at Heathrow is a s41t show, and I don’t know anyone who would elect to experience this wonderful event even if they could. Airside transport between terminals is also via crowded bus, likely standing, for 20 minutes, not the train, like landside transfer is.

Terminal 5 only has the British Airways lounges and some Priority Pass lounges, so you would get access to the British Airways Business Lounge. Galleries South seems to be the “main” / preferred lounge and the Biz lounge is at the top floor. Biz and first lounges in South access the same showers and there is often a wait where they give you a buzzer, so check there first if you plan to shower, before you go all the way upstairs to check in at the Biz lounge. Showers are on 2, in front of Concorde entrance

3) if you had some extreme need to go to another terminal from where you do NOT depart, you can get an escort such as a personal shopper escort, but it would have to be for a good reason, and they require minimum 3 hours connection time, and minimum 5 days advance booking of the escort. They would escort you all the way into the other terminal and then all the way back in time for your departing flight. I too have done this before, but I cannot imagine anyone needing to access T3 from T5, although the other way around happens a lot, as T5 has more shopping.

There are some incorrect answers in this thread..

there is nothing to stop a BA T5 passenger from using the airside connection to go to T3 and use the lounges there before returning airside to T5 for the flight

the confounding issues are (a) having the time to do it and (b) maintaining your BA ready to fly (aka conformance) status.

what you cant do is have a departing T3 flight and go and use the T5 lounges.

See just one of the many threads on the BA board on this subject especially post 3

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ding-pass.html

You CAN go into T3 departures/lounges with a T5 boarding pass, but I think you have to enter via Flight Connections Centre (you tell them you're going shopping). Original poster does not say where s/he is flying in from; if it's from T3, this wouldn't be TOTALLY crazy (you could use the superior CX/QF lounges). I wouldn't bother at all if you're arriving into another terminal as that would mean 2 bus transfers.

But for all intents and purposes, OP should just go to T5 for the BA lounges as everyone else said, unless there's a 3.5h+ layover and you want to explore.

Just a reminder that there is a Galleries Lounge in T5B and the Boston flight will likely depart from B or C. That lounge is much quieter then the ones in T5A. It is a good idea to read the thread on using the Tunnels to get back to T5A just in case the flight leaves from there. A lounge agent will usually be able to tell you the probable gate well before it is posted.

Plus 1 to terminal 5B. It’s very quiet and plenty of space to sit.

My understanding is Business Class passengers on BA, without OW elite status, cannot have a guest in a BA lounge. Isn't this still correct?
So, if that is still true, a OW Sapphire is treated BETTER THAN a business class passenger, regarding lounge access.