Been cruelly forced into BA GF T3 today 😂 as the Qantas lounge has a power outage and is shut. Am self medicating with Lanson Extra Age.

There appears to be new chairs since I was last here?

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8c4e91e86.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ac4f46b16.jpeg

Does anyone know what the other lounges CX and QF charge BA/IB for passengers entry?

You could add in the fact that the QF lounge doesn't open until 8am, and the restaurant part until 9am, so people on early flights aren't going to entrench themselves elsewhere.

I had breakfast in the Centurion lounge today. Hot options were restricted to shakshuka (very tasty) and British cooked breakfast items, these were a step above the quality in T5 Flounge IMHO.

Afterwards, Cathay F lounge wasn’t too busy and I managed to get a window facing lounging seat. Didn’t seem as many AA pax as usual, unsurprising given there were only c90 on the AA101 to JFK (25 in J, c65 in W and Y).

no idea, why

After coming from T3 to T5 for my onward flight, looking forward to a CCR visit, I discovered my flight was from T3.
Anyway, QF dining isn't open during the afternoon, so fish and chips in the CX F lounge.

Better menu than the Chelsea lounge at JFK to be honest.

Tried some of the potato wedges and veggie curry in the business lounge and very nice :)

Got time to check out AA, BA and QF after 5pm?

I went for dinner at the cx yesterday and think it went down after covid, as well.. The menu I recall being more luxurious and divers. Now they have fish and a burger. Same with the ccr. It used to be way better.
Had a brilliant afternoon at Helsinki just now. The sauna and the a la carte dining with the locally inspired dishes is top notch together with great whiskeys and the chance of a cigar afterwards.

Indeed. This was late last year. A sadder looking battered fish you would struggle to find. I haven’t bothered with dining in the CX f lounge since.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c61978b84.jpeg

dear me! Looks more like battered cat and cat sick than fish! 🤢

My fish was a better shape than that. Chips burnt my tongue though (although fish that is too uniformly shaped is more akin to fish sliced and pressed from blocks rather than a fillet dipped in batter).

Not sure if the have vinegar and/or ketchup. Would make it slightly less dry, although the Laurent Perrier champagne helps a little.

Not overly full in F, but a lot of Asian passrngers in the business side, possibly for the Hong Kong flight?

Liked the veggie samosas in the F lounge.
Flapjack pieces are rather moreish in the business side.

AA F lounge still closed. Doubt that's going to open again to be honest.
Business Lounge has nearly as many staff as pax, but not really any AA flights in the afternoon.
Still got Jude's chocolate ice cream though.
Pasta, rice, veg and one of their favourite onboard meals, chicken cacciatore.

Yeah I can’t think of any more overhyped airport lounge than the CX lounge in T3. It’s fine. Nice views. Nice mocktails. And I hear the actual cocktails are decent as is the champagne. But the food? Had some very disappointing dim sum baskets that had been under the heat lamp too long. Dan Dan noodles? Pfff… And it’s massively overcrowded at certain times since the AA F lounge has been closed.

Glad you took one for the team and had the fish and chips so I don’t have to!!!

Question about the Qantas lounge - Is the gin bar closed, or just open certain times now?

LcS

Once upon a time for the first few years after opening the F section was genuinely better than the CCR. No longer, however.

Also I can name one - the Centurion Lounge in the same terminal! It's a Priority Pass lounge with premium alcohol.

Shush,

I have always liked the serenity of the BA F lounge in T3. A glass of wine before boarding suits me fine. I am quite happy for others to prefer the Cathay or Qantas lounges.

Last I was there (which, IIRC, was last September), the gin bar only opened when the downstairs dining area was open (previously, they would serve gins from the gin bar at all times) and only the one standard gin (gordons?) was available from the upstairs bar. Even when open, the gin bar is only a shadow of its former self with only 5 or 6 gins on offer nowadays.

BA F lounge:

Salmon and dill fishcake. One bite and very dry with a weird fishy taste.
Maple glazed carrots. Semi-crunchy, but carroty taste.
Rogan Rosh nice enough. Probably like most of their curry typed dishes.
Mashed potato still made from a packet, looks like it's been out a while, but edible.
Pork and apple pie. So-so. Not the best one they've had by far.

Some of the fruit scones are a decent size though.

Weird smell in there though. Bit like someone's being wearing the same skiddy underpants for a while ;)
(Sniffing around , seemed to be the Laksa)

QF gin bar open all day.
Restaurant at 5pm (9am-12pm? and 5pm-???)

Upstairs, not much to eat. Tomato soup, salad, same old curry type stuff / smoked paprika chicken and beans?, and half baked potatoes.

I was in the non-F in T3 last weekend and I couldn't work out what was different for ages. Once it did, I quite liked them. Not as 'armchair-y', but they take up less space so you feel less wedged together, I think. So guess they've done it in both.

We were in LGW F on Saturday, and I went into the J lounge to see the difference. It was... More food on buffet in J, you had to table order it in F, and it was Prosecco on self pour in J vs Champagne in F. Sounds like the same in F in T3. Might have been a BA burger on the table order in F.

They used to be MUCH MUCH better, back before they changed the lounge operator (Sodexo? Compass?). I noticed it right away when we went in afterwards. It used to be absolutely delicious, and after that, it was just ok Dan Dan noodles.

In the QF lounge at present and it took barely over 2 mins between ordering my squid to it arriving. About 15 mins quicker than last time, so either they did a batch or an order change.
Quite a few people in the restaurant, and reserved tables -I assume to make sure F pax don't have to wait etc.?

That’s really sad – every time I go I am hoping it might have reopened. For me, it was the best lounge in the entire airport – not sure why … I liked the personal service, the menu, the staff and the crisp, white tablecloths, I think.

And ice cold Moët, and a great close up view of widebodies parked right in front.

(The view is similar from the Admirals Club but the drink offering is just too disappointing).

Will be in T3 next month. 0800 for. 1105 departure any recommendations for the place to head for breakfast ending with a G+T. Was thinking Quatas then CX?

I have my doubts it can compete with CX F and AMEX CL in terms of food.

I never tried QF's a la carte before, but from what I gather it's good. It's what I would do.

We went to Amex CL last trip and it was a one-and-done. Quite mediocre compared to the other options, IMO. Probably bottom of the T3 list for us.

Cheers.

Totally disagree with you!

As, apparently, did all the people who made the CL very crowded 😀

But to each their own in T3.

Cheers.

Cathay lounge every time for me, very classy.

The QF lounge is not for me, far too bright and I just don’t like the ambiance

Depends on what you want. Hot british breakfast options are limited in the CX lounge, but there's obviously other things to choose from, and a decent bar. Qantas has a bit more hot selection but CX sausages are slightly better IMO. Agree that Qantas is very bright and doesn't have the ambience of Cathay. YMMV.

If you want to finish on a G&T, I would go for QF at the end: at that time, the downstairs dining area and gin bar will be open for QF10,so you would have a better choice of gins than in the CX lounge.

Quick question for the T3 lounges. Any of them have meat pies? Perhaps, I'm in the minority here, but I found those pies, both the beef and pork ones, fabulous in BA's T5 lounges.

PS - IMHO, better than the Mackerel on the menu, but it could be because I've always preferred land animals over the sea ones.

Pork and apple pies in the BA lounges, but they're not very good.
Didn't see any anywhere else, although there could be menu changes throughout the week etc.

You will have the same menus/choices in BA T3 lounges as you get in the BA T5 lounges.

Usually a nice pie in BA’s J lounge. They can vary a bit but are generally excellent.

it’s the same pies in the ba lounges in T3. I do quite like them too :)

Great! It's the first dish I'm heading for when I past through LHR again in a couple of weeks.

Agreed. The ones I had (both pork & beef) were delicious, hot and really good with some of the gravy poured over it. After the first one, I went straight back and placed 4 of them on my plate, which had gotten some strange looks, not that such things would bother or deter me.

T3 Centurion Lounge’s food has been consistently very good over several visits in 2022, better than anything I have seen on offer in a BA lounge anywhere (with the small exception of the quite tasty meat pies you find on Sundays)

Anybody know the times for a la carte dining in Qantas this Sunday?

the Perth flight leaves at 11:50

Anybody know the times for a la carte dining in Qantas this Sunday?

the Perth flight leaves at 11:50