Cap'n Benj

They won't get rid of the CCR while they offer an F product

For me it's much better than the GF, simply due to the scale and terrace space

rossmacd

I would agree there is a need for differentiation on the ground when travelling BA F, as the passengers don't have much to look forward to onboard. Considering how easy it is to achieve BA Gold (3 x QR Europe to Asia returns in J, and a handful of BA/IB puddle jumps), there does need to be some driscimiation to provide something resembling an F ground experience, however the quality of the existing provision has been debated to death, including in this thread.

dylanks

I've had my CCR card for about a bit over a year now. I do a fair amount of flying out of T3 to PHX, but I've still had at least a dozen CCR visits. Really, on a good day, all of these lounges are a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours, and on a bad day, they're too crowded or warm and less enjoyable. None of them make much of an attempt to be a place to be entertained like say the VS lounges (which is either a good or bad thing depending on what you want from a lounge), or a place for extreme luxury (e.g. an hour massage or some of the other perks found at a few select lounges in the world), but they're generally a much better place to spend time than in the terminal.

Overall I appreciate the CCR and enjoy my visits, and do prefer it over the other LHR BA lounges by quite a bit. Here are some very quick pros/cons (I've left alcohol out of the mix because that's not really a priority for me) from some of the recent larger OW lounge visits over the past year:

Galleries First T5 (cons)

• Often a queue for the toilets
• Often too warm
• Often crowded or takes a while to order a la carte food
• Fewer menu options than CCR

Galleries First T5 (pros)

• When not at peak hours, very pleasant and spacious
• Having a quick buffet to just grab what you need quickly is convenient

Galleries First T3 (cons)

• Often too warm
• a la carte food options are not prepared as nicely in the CCR, even when it's the same menu option
• fewer menu options than CCR
• gets quite crowded at peak times

Galleries First T3 (pros)

• Very pleasant when empty, which seems more likely than T5
• Same pros as T5

CCR LHR T5 (cons)

• Often too warm
• Gets too crowded at peak times
• Only 3 cabanas

CCR LHR T5 (cons)

• A shower and meal in a cabana is a way to avoid the problem of it being too warm
• Best BA food at LHR (some options are very nice like the current scallops and eggs benedict and recently the halloumi cheese with pesto
• Closer to most gates than GF, including the door near South security
• The boardroom is a great place to often work alone for a few hours with a nice view of the terminal, and usually the least warm place in the lounge complex
• Great place to meetup with some of the other FT regulars

CX T3F (cons)

• Not sure yet if it gets too warm, but probably because it's LHR
• Crowded in peak times

CX T3F (pros)

• Best atmosphere of any LHR T3 lounge (very modern and comfortable)
• Excellent food (has a surprisingly nice fish and chips last weekend)
• Empty during BA peak early afternoon longhaul time

JFK T7 CCR (cons)

• Overly warm
• Crowded in the evening
• No cabanas, fairly far walk for showers

JFK T7 CCR (pros)

• Solid food offering
• Comfortable and pleasant

LAX TBIT First (cons)

• Very crowded in the early evening

LAX TBIT First (pros)

• Solid food offering
• Pleasant and modern environment

HKG Pier First (cons)

• I cannot think of any, maybe a long wait for a foot massage?

HKG Pier First (pros)

• Solid food
• Modern and comfortable atmosphere

HKG Wing First (cons)

• Crowded at peak times
• Cabanas are not conducive for sleep
• Only 5 cabanas

HKG Wing First (pros)

• Solid food
• Excellent cabanas with large bath tub and shower options

AA ORD, LAX and JFK Flagship lounges (pre-renovation)

• An ok place to spend an hour or two, but really on par with (though much smaller than) BA's GC lounges at LHR and not particularly amazing. Generally pretty poor food, decent showers, etc.