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Old Sep 8, 2018, 7:36 am
  #391  
 
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Greetings from a very busy Aspire lounge in Bristol Airport. And the plot thickens. I asked the desk agent what the entry requirements were and without looking at any paperwork (bearing in mind the large number of airlines that use this lounge) he said, and I quote, "I'm afraid you need to be Silver, Gold, oneworld equivalent or flying Club Europe, and travelling on a BA flight today"! With that clarity Flyertalk would not need to exist. Now one person's anecdote with one agent versus another person and probably another agent. All I can say is that today there are BA status passengers in the lounge en route to Florence and Málaga. We can say that CE is a definite for lounge access, and status possibly so.

So I can't explain this unless your email has indirectly caused a reprogamming here in Lulsgate Bottom. There is another lounge in BRS, Aspire Plus, they are on either side of Brunel's Pub. Another factor is that Swissport run both the lounge and BA's ground handling in BRS, so BA would not have negotiated a new contract with the lounge, it would be a feature on the ground handling menu, which is slightly unusual, but not massively so.

I'll put a note in the UK lounge guide, but clearly other anecdotes would be helpful, even if flying KLM (etc) it would be good if people aksed. It is a Priority Pass lounge.
KLM is definitely fine; back in my Skyteam Elite Plus days there were no questions asked. Status and business class passengers should (in theory) get access to the AspirePlus lounge... how come you're not in there? I did investigate further with the Swissport airport manager at BRS (prior to receiving the above email from BA) who told me what BA told me in the above. I'm not sure if BA are just going along with what the Swissport guy said in the email to try and appease me or what. Anyway, I may try again next year if a BACF destination takes my fancy.

Welcome to North Somerset by the way, I do hope you were able to enjoy a pleasant stroll on the beach here in Weston Super Mare before your trip to Lulsgate!
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 7:46 am
  #392  
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Originally Posted by Schwann
Status and business class passengers should (in theory) get access to the AspirePlus lounge... how come you're not in there?
I'm on the Orange one today, with a Priority Pass, so this is my lot! But the lounge is certainly popular today. I've seen some BA passengers enter today, watching the yellow tags.
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 11:14 am
  #393  
 
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Originally Posted by flyalways
Do not understand this response. If the OP wants to go to transit area before leaving the airport s/he
can go with the onward boarding pass. OP should be able to use all the lounges etc. Then every
hour there is a escort service to exit the airport from Transit area. One thing to note is that if
there is a LHR short checked luggage then OP will have it unattended at the belt till the exit
is made to airside...
The poster wants to arrive in lhr on day 1 , but will leave lhr on day 2

As they do not have a boarding pass for a flight departing lhr t5 on day 1 when they arrive from ams the will not get into airside departures where the lounges are. They will get into t5 departure area after around 5am on the day they depart from t5 so can use the lounges that day
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Last edited by scottishpoet; Sep 8, 2018 at 11:27 am
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 11:24 am
  #394  
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@flyalways I think maybe you aren't familiar with the layout of LHR? The OP would not be able to go in the airside departures area on day 1 as they don't have a flight departing that day. International arriving and departing passengers are segregated as they are in other UK airports. Access to the airside departures ares in T5 is only given when a passenger has a flight departing T5 on that day, which on day 1 the OP won't have.

@scottishpoet is entirely correct with his answer. When the OP arrives in to T5 on day 1 the only route available is out through immigration to landside.
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 11:43 am
  #395  
 
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Originally Posted by scottishpoet
The poster wants to arrive in lhr on day 1 , but will leave lhr on day 2

As they do not have a boarding pass for a flight departing lhr t5 on day 1 when they arrive from ams the will not get into airside departures where the lounges are. They will get into t5 departure area after around 5am on the day they depart from t5 so can use the lounges that day
Hmm...So if the ticket is sold by BA to a customer (BA to BA transfer with such long layover), are they required
to exit the airport and get a hotel ? What does one do if they can not afford a hotel ? What happens when
one misses the only daily connection if you arrive late and do not have visa to UK ?
I always thought that airports allowed people to stay in transit areas for less than 24 hours...maybe I
was wrong to assume that ???
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 11:52 am
  #396  
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Originally Posted by flyalways
Hmm...So if the ticket is sold by BA to a customer (BA to BA transfer with such long layover), are they required
to exit the airport and get a hotel ? What does one do if they can not afford a hotel ? What happens when
one misses the only daily connection if you arrive late and do not have visa to UK ?
I always thought that airports allowed people to stay in transit areas for less than 24 hours...maybe I
was wrong to assume that ???
T5 airside (like every other UK airport I can think of) is closed overnight.

If you buy a ticket with an overnight connection you need to sort out your own accommodation - this happens everywhere usually and isn't unusual to LHR or the UK.

Hotels around LHR are not expensive - my hotel which was along Bath Road on Friday night was Ł47.50 and I have booked other ones for less in the past. Failing that one could sleep on the seats in the landside area of the terminal which does remain open overnight.

If when travelling on one booking your inbound is delayed and you are unable to be rebooked on to an onward flight that day the airline is bound to offer duty of care under EC261 which includes a hotel at no cost to the passenger for the night.
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 12:12 pm
  #397  
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And if all else fails, you are allowed to sleep in the Arrivals area, landside by Giraffe, but they go out of their way to make it an unattractive experience. Looking at a list of Europe's 100 biggest airports by passenger numbers, about two thirds of them close overnight. Airport number 92 (LCY) closes for half the weekend!
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Old Sep 15, 2018, 11:24 am
  #398  
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Question First Class Lounge Access Terminal 5

Hi All
I have a family member flying first class on American Airlines into terminal 3 in Heathrow
and then connecting to terminal 5 to a BA flight in business class
Can they use the Galleries First Class lounge in term 5?
from what I have read in this forum it seems as if they qualify
Thank You

Last edited by 777 global mile hound; Sep 15, 2018 at 11:30 am
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Old Sep 15, 2018, 11:36 am
  #399  
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Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound
I have a family member flying first class on American Airlines into terminal 3 in Heathrow
and then connecting to terminal 5 to a BA flight in business class
Can they use the Galleries First Class lounge in term 5?
Yes, that is OK for First Lounge access, tell the family member to retain their First boarding pass and show both to the First Lounge agent.
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Old Sep 15, 2018, 11:46 am
  #400  
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Greatly Appreciated ^
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Old Sep 17, 2018, 2:11 am
  #401  
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Family member refused access this morning to Galleries First
was told no good for arriving First Class passengers connecting to business class flights
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Old Sep 17, 2018, 2:15 am
  #402  
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Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound
Family member refused access this morning to Galleries First
was told no good for arriving First Class passengers connecting to business class flights
I'm afraid that's not correct, the agent got it wrong, though there is a grey area if it was 2 separate reservations. That's even a oneworld rule, not just a BA one. You could ask the family member to contact the South Lounges manager but one of them tends to avoid over-ruling agents in their presence.
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Old Sep 17, 2018, 2:19 am
  #403  
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Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound
Family member refused access this morning to Galleries First
was told no good for arriving First Class passengers connecting to business class flights
if the family member arrived today on BA F and was connecting on to any BA flight in any cabin they should get access to the CCR rather than GF (not that the agent was correct of course in the GF).

If they arrived on any other oneworld F it would be GF access.
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Old Sep 21, 2018, 2:04 pm
  #404  
 
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Flying in to LHR T5 from SEA in J with a scheduled arrival time of 12:40 and departing on a 15:05 flight to CDG in Y same day - there doesn't seem to be enough time to go to the Arrivals Lounge - will we be allowed lounge access?
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Old Sep 21, 2018, 2:27 pm
  #405  
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Originally Posted by Skyline
Flying in to LHR T5 from SEA in J with a scheduled arrival time of 12:40 and departing on a 15:05 flight to CDG in Y same day - there doesn't seem to be enough time to go to the Arrivals Lounge - will we be allowed lounge access?
Yes. Keep your inbound boarding pass, just in case there are any queries.
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