aks120

In all my flights as Gold I have never had an op up! My last chance is flying back to Vegas on Thursday before I drop down to Silver

I have found the Gold card very useful when I had to get rerouted and I do like the Flounge at LHR. The Flounge at LAX is pretty basic, I had never thought about going to the J lounge there but I guess I will see for myself if it is nicer on my next trip!

aks120

stueys

If you mainly towards the front I think that's spot on. Shame really

Globaliser

No. Menzies (who also operate the Shongololo lounge) is building a new lounge, whose main purpose appears to be to offer a smoking facility.

BahrainLad

The JFK F lounge is nicely finished but the F&B offering is very poor. One Thursday night a couple of weeks ago the sandwiches had run out by 1930 and I am sure that they are the same as the ones offered in the Club lounge.

For those Golds amongst us forced to travel WT+ on East Coast flights it's pretty annoying.

Land-of-Miles

I think the JFK F Lounge refurb happened some time ago at least unless anything additionally radical happened in the last 8 months the F Lounge was in full Galleries dress as long ago as November 2009 in my experience. Apart from being a bit quieter ad with slightly nicer free pour Champagne I don't see a big difference from the J side which is larger, airier and contains better catering (and all pre-flight dining)

I have never noticed any differential service as a Gold in fact on occasion I am pretty sure I am certain I have been treated worse than non status passengers in the same cabin. Certainly in irregular ops/lost baggage scenarios BA seems to care not a jot what colour my card is.

At LHR Galleries F is MUCH better than the regular Galleries and I don't really like the layout or style of the South Galleries Club Lounge. That said given that I don't often travel from LHR I am pretty sure I could have a very pleasant couple of hours in Plane Food with higher quality food and drink for much less than I pay per year simply to renew my Gold card, something I am thinking long and hard about this year as the Gold benefits evaporate further year on year.

One final thing in nearly 10 years now as a Gold (including 9 months of silver status) I have NEVER received an Op Up of any kind whatsoever, no matter how busy the flight I was booked on was. So I seriously doubt that Gold means that much to BA and consequently it is meaning a lot less for me.

Yahillwe

I have no idea what is going on with the CCR at LHR, but the lat 2 times I was there, late June and this past wednesday, the room was full. On the way out (June) I asked the manager (whom I know) the reason, he said school holiday. On the return same question he couldn't answer. There was a long line for the ladies room, so long that I used the men's.

Have no idea what is going on.

Savage25

I've flown a fairly even mix of all 4 classes, really.

clubman

Sounds crazy I know, but you may have a better chance as Silver...

Globaliser

I had one experience which I'm pretty sure was "unpublished benefit" rather than simple good fortune.

When I disembarked I accidentally left my toiletries bag on the aircraft because I hadn't checked the floor-level laptop drawer. I discovered this when I was having my shower in the Arrivals Lounge. The lounge receptionist phoned a number of different people to find out how it could be retrieved from the aircraft, which had by then been towed to the maintenance base. I heard her use the words "Gold card holder" when she was trying to persuade someone to drive over to the other side of the airfield to get it and bring it over to T5. It was all my own stupid fault, but it was then fixed for me in less than an hour, rather than having to go through the whole lost property business with no assurance of getting my medications etc back.

nobbyclark

I used both the T3 Flounge and the Galleries South on a recent trip. Whilst the Flounge had better food and drink, the other lounge had a better selection of magazines. Superyacht World, RaceTech and Polo et al in the former -all very lovely on your coffee table, but very niche; T3, Homes & Gardens, Golf International in the latter.

potakas

Had similar experience at DXB as Silver/First pax.

After I went through the passport control I realized that I forgot a gift on a shopping bag inside the wardrobe between 1A/K. I went upstairs to the departures to find a BA agent which she was much helpful (probably because of my 1A).

Capricorn70

... that's when you see the benefits of the extra shiny lil card I think. The one time I had a serious delay (snow storm last year) was also while I was a GCH - was treated nicely and efficiently before Silvers (they prioritised hotel room allotment accordingly) on landing at ORD. Not sure what happened to the Blues tho... hope they weren't left in the cold!

LeisureFirst

My point was simply that the benefits to which you referred were WT/WTP benefits. If you travel only in CW and F on longhaul (as I do, fortunately, being a leisure traveller) then the Arrivals Lounge benefit is irrelevant and I would guess you're unlikely to get a 50% op-up rate.

LeisureFirst

Are you sure about the sandwiches? I thought the JFK Flounge sandwiches were lovely. Do they have the same on offer in the Club lounge? I've been missing them for years if they do - much tastier than the pre-flight dining.

The JFK Flounge also had an endless stream of Veuve. I've never seen any champagne in the Club lounge, not even in the pre-flight dining area. Is it on request only like at LHR? Which one do you get? (Incidentally, I can't recall exactly what fizz I had the one time I was in the JFK CCR but it certainly wasn't anything special).

slate

My only op up happened in February from BOS to LHR - CW to First. My colleague didn't get upgraded and when I asked on her behalf I was told they were doing Golds first and I could always swap with her if I wanted.