Sixth Freedom

Welcome to FT sbthang. ^

To make the most of CE I would:

i) get to the airport perhaps three hours ahead of the flight

ii) use the business class bag drop if checking a bag
iii) proceed through fast track security

iv) visit both north and south lounges to see which you prefer - I personally prefer the north lounge because it has a nice terrace
v) check your cabin bag in the cloak room in the lounge (the north one definitely has one of these, I am not sure about the south)

vi) get to the gate about 25 minutes ahead of travel
vii) board as soon as you can

viii) sit back and relax!

David-A

Welcome to FT. You mention you are new to FT and BAEC, but you don't say if you are new to travel points.

Sorry if this is preaching to the converted, but one of the keys to enjoying a points life is firstly having enough points to play with and secondly having some diversification.

So, if you can print based upon �25k per month credit card spend, then I'd strongly encourage you (if not already) to built pots of usable value (not dribs and drabs) in various schemes.

Now Avios are terrific value for short haul. But other schemes could ALSO be of interest.

In terms of airlines, both other oneworld airlines (to avoid fuel surcharges on longhaul and/or their different structures of rewards charts) and also non-oneworld airlines, to give you access to Star Alliance or SkyTeam reward seats - for when there are no oneworld award seats available when you want to travel. (and letting you mix and match out and back).

Obviously check the rules of the schemes and do your homework before earning the miles, but the worst thing would be to end up with too big a pot in one currency but nothing in the others.

sbthang

Thank you for the very kind welcome corporate-wage-slave

Advice noted re: T5 - I'd also thought that about 90mins would be a nice amount of time to experience The Galleries. (does one in particular stand out above the others?)

I didn't know if there were time-limits in BA Lounges? (I paid for Virgin access @ LHR a few years ago and was politely informed "no longer than 2 hours stay" when we arrived...)

I've spotted Salon Riviera (and Salon Du Cap D'antibes in Terminal 2) on previous trips but have yet to visit them. I will certainly request "une coupe" for the good lady and myself before our return flight)

I did wonder what the 'Lounge Meetup Thread' was all about - I'll head on over there and check out what's occurring.

Slightly off-topic; I've just signed-up for the Amex Platinum Chargecard, which comes with Priority Pass membership (amongst other benefits) - on future trips through T5 (of which I hope there will be many), are there any other recommendations regarding Lounges to check out?

Thanks once again to all replies - it's very much appreciated.

Steve

sbthang

Great advice Sixth Freedom - sounds like a good way to get the bestn out of my first CE trip.

Steve

corporate-wage-slave

South Galleries Club is probably the best one to go for. North is a bit of a zoo, and B lounge, which is nice, but that may well require you to know about the passageways to get to your gate, which may not interest Mrs.sbthang as much as you.

There are no time limits for the lounges, but if you have bags to check in and don't have status with BA then you can't do that before 3 hours. Well that doesn't apply to you either, since Club Europe allows you to check in early. If you go hand baggage only and print / App your boarding pass, or you have status, then you can spend all day in there. But 90 minutes is about right I would say.

Priority Pass won't help at T5 or NCE T1. It does give you more options in LGW and some other locations in Europe.

sbthang

Thanks David-A.

Yes: totally new to travel points and all that entails.

That sounds rather interesting re: other programs - I'd honestly not got further than BA/Avios. I switched my spending cards to BA Amex (earned my 2-4-1 already on one card and working toward a second on my wife's card) but have just signed-up for an Amex Platinum Chargecard which I understand will give me more freedom with other programs.

In that light, I will look at both of the schemes you've noted (Star Alliance & Skyteam) and see which I should join.

Steve

Wong Jnr

Welcome to FT!
Unfortunately/fortunately, whichever direction you want to look at it T5 has no thrid party lounges so the priority pass can't be used.
You've unfortuantely missed the Amex platinum perk of getting a Cathy Pacific Gold card which does allow access to one world lounges.

Grande Annee

I definitely prefer the South lounge, although it is IMO becoming a bit shabby and in need of a refurbishment.

On the NCE route I have had some of the best CE service.

The champagne on board these days is cheap Monopole which is NOT good ......you may have to mix it with some OJ

Sixth Freedom

One other thing - I would take an A seat (window) or C seat (aisle) if you can.

This is because the A-C pair have a squeezed middle seat, which makes them seem a bit more special than the E-F pair, which feels just a bit like the seat next to you is empty.

tuff

As mentioned above there are no Priority Pass lounges at T5, although it still comes in useful elsewhere. When flying from LGW I usually pop into the Aspire lounge and get a stamp on one of their cards; five stamps = a free visit which makes a nice stocking filler/Christmas/Birthday present.

Make sure you sign up for all the other benefits with Amex, such as car hire, hotel status cards etc. You never know when you may need them!

nux

Not with the new short haul cabins.

By November I think all A320's will be refitted and some A319's.

Sixth Freedom

If you are right-handed and like a window seat, then an 'A' will cause your drink to be on your right.

If you are right-handed and like an aisle seat, then a 'D' will cause your drink to be on your right.

If you are left-handed and like a window seat, then an 'F' will cause your drink to be on your left.

If you are left-handed and like an aisle seat, then a 'C' will cause your drink to be on your left.

layz

I think it's only me and Sixth Freedom that prefer Galleries North. That is of course comparing the club lounges. Now I have access to the flounge it's the south for me! If I drop back to silver I'd go back to preferring the north lounge.

Why?
- The terrace
- On same level as security (just like CCR but at the other end)
- Showers (in Galleries South they're in the Spa area shared by all 3 lounges, so in my experience the wait is lower in North)

As you're new to this, here's some explanations:

The lounge CE gets you into is called Galleries Club (also used by silver cardholders). There's 3 of them in T5: North, South and B satellite. In the South complex there's also two other lounges Galleries First (GF or Flounge) this is for gold cardholders and those arriving in First class from another oneworld airline and the Concorde Room (CCR) which is for BA First class and BA's most frequent flyers.

You can go into a lower lounge (so someone in BA First Class can use any lounge) but not a higher lounge unless someone eligible can guest you.

Please note a CE ticket (without a silver or gold card) will not allow you to guest additional people into the lounge.

BA lounges are generally above average compared to the competition. Particularly for shorthaul business class there's few airlines that can offer better through their hub. Going longhaul then there's a few airlines with better lounges but BA is still decent.

The Club Europe product I'd say set your expectations low and you're more likely to enjoy it as then you won't be disappointed and will see which of the features of the product you do like.

I used to enjoy drinking Champagne but earlier this year they changed it to Monopole which I find to be undrinkable rubbish and I'm not even that fussy about Champagne, but this stuff is appalling.

I still like aspects of Club Europe. Even though I get lounge access with my status I still would always take CE on an Avios redemption if available.

I find the new seats comfortable. The legroom is rubbish but fortunately for me I can still fit in there comfortably and I like having a table blocking the middle seat, it's better than the little drinks table on the armrest of the older seats.

More attentive service is another CE benefit. With a smaller cabin and a dedicated member of crew (or two on busier flights) service is quicker and drinks refills are more proactively offered.

Drinks: if you prefer ale to lager then London Pride is available (the lagers are the same as economy - Heineken and Tiger). I believe the spirits range is slighly larger than economy too. Only had the wine twice and didn't like either so I steer clear of it now, but your mileage may vary I might have just been unlucky.

At the beginning of the year I said approx �100 (each way) was the most I'd pay extra for CE on a band 3 flight. Now with the reduced legroom and Monopole I'd value it at �80. It's because I extremely rarely get a bad crew and I've had some excellent crew which have made the experience worthwhile. If the crew were regularly poor (I've seen no signs of this happening) my valuation would probably fall to �20 each way!

IanAsiaTraveller

Steve

Welcome to the Forum. The BA short haul fleet is being "refurbished" in that another seat row is being squeezed in so seat pitch is being reduced throughout the aircraft. It depends whether your aircraft will be one of the "new" or traditional cabin layouts. If you can get it, row 1 will ensure you don't have a seat in front rubbing your knees but some travellers don't like this row as you probably won't be able to stretch your legs out fully (not in the window seats, anyway) because of the position of the bulkhead.

In T5 you have a choice of North or South Galleries lounges (plus another in a satellite IIRC) and you can always try them both. I usually find North is lighter and busier and South is darker and (sometimes) quieter. Have a great trip.

sbthang

Thanks Wong Jnr.

I had heard that there was an unpublicised Cathay Pacific Gold Card included in the bundle of Elite Programs that are granted with the card, but I didn't know if it was going to form part of the final package. Thanks for the heads-up.

Steve