madfish

I know different LA have different half terms but this week is not half-term where I live. If it is half term for some of the south east then it may be busier but suspect the Thursday would have less of an impact than the previous Saturday/Sunday.

simons1

I'm in Sussex and h/t is the following week.

greyt

I'm in the No 1 lounge at the moment. People are currently being told there is a minimum 45 minute wait for hot food.

Within two minutes sitting at the bar I saw two separateBA passengers order champagne - until they were told it was £8 a glass!

I checked in at the first class checkin desk and was warned there about the lack of free champagne and that BA were getting "a lot of feedback" and may be reviewing their offering.

Dicksbits

45m wait for a bowl of stew at an airport is a joke. I'm sure that's just to cover themselves, in the usual British way. It'd either come much sooner, or not at all.

greyt

It really was 45 mins. At one point I heard the bar staff try and get some stew for someone that had been waiting for ages - he said something to one of the servers indicating that it was just by the door and would take less than a minute to get. I couldn't hear the response but it was a No.

For me no champagne is a disappointment - but I am more surprised that the only water offering is filtered tap water. Just like the champagne it is not a premium experience.

On a positive - the staff are much more friendly and approachable than either of the BA lounges ever were.

FrancisA

How often did you speak to the staff and what happened to give you that impression?

Whilst the food offer at LGW was never the post-T5 experience, drinks were often better and the reception staff in both the GF and terraces were consistently excellent. Indeed I'd say they were the best I've encountered in any lounge in the world.

My reference point is using the LGW lounges on average once a month for the last ten years.

Prospero

Further to yesterday's housekeeping notice, several recent posts have been moved from this thread into the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...ov-2016-a.html thread.

Please keep this thread clear for reviews of the No1 Traveller lounge and associated discussion.

Thanks for your assistance.

Prospero
Moderator: BA forum

jp-mco

This is good news. I hope they do the right thing and reconsider this ill considered 'enhancement'.

twoclubs

Went through LGW for the first time today and glad that is was an off peak Sunday.Full enough and wonder how they will cope when it's busy.

Felt really sorry for the BA staff who have to bear the brunt of off unhappy premium passengers.

Apart from the champagne thread simple things like the absence of crisps and biscuits .

The reminded me of unhappy hours in Delta lounges

Only 2 toilets and no ur--ls meantt that was the first time I can remember having to que for the cloakroom .

Will try and avoid LGW this year.

Gorey Voyager

Last Monday the 5th January I arrived upstairs at the BA First lounge only to find it closed. Downstairs a single handed young BA guy (the one in the photo) handed me the pass for the No 1 lounge saying the BA lounge was closed without further explanation.

I would make the following observations

1.The No 1 Lounge management were taking this BA win seriously- their CEO, UK GM and a host of others were on hand to meet and greet-. The lounge was well stocked with food, impressively laid out and there was a real effort to show people around. Regrettably there was no one on hand from BA to offer any explanations.

2. At 7 am last Monday Gatwick was not busy, unusually no queues at Fast Track security, but the No 1 Lounge was already teeming. What will it be like in a few weeks time with the early morning rush plus all the Caribbean flights with premium seats full of Gold flyers plus the recently announced NY flight with 78 premium seats?

3. I was informed the move to S Terminal will take place on November 21st (good date to avoid flying) and the BA lounges have closed now so that Virgin can refurbish them before they move in as they transfer over. They have scored a big win here as there is no sign of them closing their current S Lounges, leaving BA exposed. Can it really take 11 months to refurbish a couple of lounges?

4.The BA First lounge always had a good atmosphere and I suspect most would recognise the following descriptors as really positive BA values - 'a haven, welcoming, friendly, relaxing, good food, a decent glass of something pre-flight, quiet, helpful staff, personal, discrete'.
It would not be possible to summarise the No 1 lounge in this way- they have a very different 'walk in' market of by definition Economy passengers which they service very well

5. I think BA have missed a trick by not pre warning at least their regular users and seeking to engage them. There was nothing I could find in the Exec club newsletter, and the BA staff in Jersey at the exec lounge (anyone using this would have passed through the Gatwick lounges) on the 6th knew nothing about it including the station manager .

6. In all, I can only conclude BA have left themselves exposed and we have 11 months of Lounge misery ahead-there seems completely inadequate capacity let alone the service and brand expectations of any regular First lounge user. I hope it is not too late for a contingency plan.

7 I use the lounge every fortnight so will update any significant issues

GV

Swampz64

Currently in a moderately busy No1 lounge, it's all a little odd with proactive staff actually serving and assisting customers! Fish finger sandwich is the perfect start to the day, just need a glass of bubbles....although the Bloody Mary is nicely spiced.

There is a notice on the check in desk reminding BA GCH it's one guest only.

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the British Airways board, it's good to see you here Gorey Voyager, you'll find that there are quite a few Islanders on here too. Please continue to post your experiences about this, and indeed other BA related matters.

I was there on day 1 too, albeit in the afternoon when it was very quiet. I think we are seeing a pattern here where the lounge peak seems to be around 11:00 hrs.

I agree with many of your points, and you have a good one there, there is a monthly newsletter and it would have been a good and very easy opportunity to at least inform the Golds and above what was going on. There was / is a small reference on the the Gatwick information on BA.com.

Welcome on board, at least you found this forum!

hungry

In Manage My Booking on the BA website, under the Lounges tab of my outbound flight (flying Feb 11) it still states:

"Lounges

British Airways Terraces Lounge

Location: After Security, the Lounge Pavilion is located in the Departures lounge. (Lounge access is subject to capacity restrictions.)

Catch up on work before you travel, enjoy a snack or simply unwind in a relaxing area away from the busy airport environment."

This is very poor. Officially I still haven't been informed about the lounge situation (by BA). When I booked the trip I wasn't told, and their website is still showing it as business as usual !

I am most annoyed that when I booked the trip there was no clue about the planned work, if so I'd have chose one of the alternative numerous LHR outbound flights instead. And when I called up and explained the situation and asked to re book to LHR because of the lounge they were less than helpful, flatly refusing because of the fare rules.

What I am most upset about is the fact me and the Mrs are taking my parents. They haven't even flown in the last 25 years and never in business class at all! It might be their last flight ever.. We wanted to give them a really special experience and this lounge fiasco has put a whole damper on the trip. We are really dissapointed.

ringingup

If they haven't flown in 25 years and they've never been in a lounge, they'll be very happy about No1. I a way, I think there is more to be impressed by if it's your first time in a lounge.

Raffles

If you'd taken them to the BA lounge it would have put a damper on things. No 1, on a quiet day, is a huge improvement.