LHR / London Heathrow Int'l. T3 BA First & Galleries Club Lounges (master thread)
 

Hi all,

I am currently at LHR T3 awaiting my first flight in F on the 77W!! Very excited. And I wanted to get the party started with some time enjoying the usually-amazing BA Galleries First lounge. I arrived pretty hungry from my intra-Europe flight, ready for some lunch.

And....I am truly shocked at what I see on offer this afternoon at the GF buffet.

- pre-packaged cold sandwiches
- shelf-stable junk food
- cereal and fruit
- biscuits
- cheeses
- soup (1 option)

But NO hot foods, NO salad bar at all! Yikes! I just came from the Flagship Lounge, and I have to say that at least AA had several hot food options (gnocchi, steamed veggies, etc) in addition to the standard items.

Granted, there is a menu from which one can order a variety of sandwiches, pasta, etc. to be delivered to your seat. There is one salad option (Caesar). But it is SO much nicer to see the full spread in the buffet and then select a little bit of each, or mix and make your own. That is what I used to love so much about Galleries First lounges at LHR!

On this forum, it has always been standard practice to check in at the AA FL (and take care of any ticketing-related issues with the AAngels), and then head over to Galleries First to spend the balance of the time. But with the new BaxterStorey catering (which is the topic of some pretty hot tempers over on the BA forum), I am wondering if anybody has been just staying in the AA lounges???

It is a HUGE disappointment. And it must be an embarrassment to BA, don't you think?

I am strongly considering abandoning this lounge and heading back over to the AA Flagship...

I recommend you head to CX F instead.

Galleries First T-3 has changed its offerings significantly in recent days - perhaps partially in response to so many of us heading there instead of the Club and Flagship Lounge?

Hi,

At some times during the day there is no hot food laid out in GF but it might be available to order ( there was a sign saying this when I was last in -pre BS)

Regards

TBS

What DWFI said. :)

I usually fly out of LHR on the AA 51, which means a morning departure. At that time, BA T3F does have a hot buffet - in fact it did not have one prior to the BS contract, so for morning flights T3F has actually improved relative to the old catering.

That being said, the AA FL can get fairly crowded depending on your departure time, and is a lot smaller than T3F. The food there can be better or worse depending on the time of day.

Just go to the CX F lounge instead and enjoy yourself some noodles. ;)

No, it was due to a BA catering change a couple of months ago and applies to all of the BA lounges. Many of us have been quite disappointed.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...ay-2013-a.html

what else is on offer besides the noodles around 10 am? the last few times I've been there was early and left the lounge before 9 am.

btw, does anyone know what time does the elemis spa @ the t3 lounge start treatments?

cheers!

I'd hardly call that an improvement, under the old contract the full English breakfast would be provided promptly to your order and was always properly hot. The somewhat tepid buffet presentation is not really up to the old quality standard.

It took several complaints after the changeover to get mushrooms and beans available as well, but at least that was rectified.

Is the T3 BA J lounge still better than the T3 AC?

You do understand that to use the Elemis spa you must comply with the requirements below, right?

<Thread link>

Thanks for the correction. No fault of our own, entirely BA's - and sad! (Now that I think of it, the BA Galleries First lounge in T-5 was disappointing as well, compared to the "old days", iirc.) Gaack!

Not sure about all of the BA lounges in the US, but, last month, IAD still had the individual packages of various Walkers biscuits. :D

Yes.

The admissions are slightly more liberal than that... where you see "GCH" you can replace with "OW Emerald". I had the massage chair treatment in the arrival lounge just this Friday.


Here's a picture of what was on offer in the buffet as "Char Grilled Chicken" in the T5 Flounge last Sunday. Steamed chicken stuck in a salamander for a second or two on one side only, then placed in a catering tray with the singed side up to support the lie. Every piece in the tray was done that way. The picture shows an example of each side, though the singed side in the picture has a bit more color because it came into contact with orange gloop I had also sampled from the buffet. When I complained to the manager, she took down the "Char Grilled Chicken" sign and said, "Problem solved."

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...9/chicken.jpeg


Despite the above, sadly, yes.

Yeah, the car comparison is funny and apt, but the downgrade for the J lounge has also been significant, especially when it comes to the timing of hot food on offer, as even a cursory reading of the really long threads in the BA forum will attest. They have done a real number on the whole operation.

Notwithstanding the fact that it is not easier to create a major pile of food on your plate due to buffet, the quality of the food has degraded in a major way. I was in T5 GF the day after the changeover in May and the comments in the book were vitriolic. Things have somewhat stabilized since, but if you happen into GF at lunchtime you will know the difference. They still serve real, decent champagne, but haven't come across LPGS in T5 in my recent trips.

This could be due to inventory overhang, but it's possible the transition of catering providers in the UK did not impact US lounges. From a volume and cost standpoint they are a world away, I can't imagine what BA spends to run the GF lounges at LHR.