Is a T5 departure just for CCR worth it?
 

Looking at redeeming a BA Amex 2-4-1 in F to the US. We want to go to LAS but as this departs from LHR T3 we wouldn't get to use the Concorde Room. We are wondering if it is worth flying to SFO instead and then take a domestic flight to LAS.

Do you think it is worth it just to use the CCR rather than CX Flounge? We are BAEC Gold so will probably get to visit the CX F lounge anyway at some point, but we've never been in the CCR.

Just to throw something else into the equation - if we were lucky enough to get the A380 to SFO would this clinch it over a direct 747 to LAS?

Any advice much appreciated!

Honestly, I think it would be nuts to take a connection in the US in order to visit the CCR. The CX F lounge, in my opinion, is better than the CCR hands down :D

Thanks for the quick, honest reply :D. Would you take a connection to fly on the A380 instead of 747?

No worries :)

If using a 2-4-1, then no I would take the most direct route to my destination, in your case this would be direct to LAS.

If I was on a cash booking, I would be more tempted to book a 'TP and aircraft efficient' route, so I may do this. However, if I was on a cash booking, I certainly would not be on a BA aircraft, for this journey I would be using AA, in J.

Totally agree. I also wouldn't go out of my way just to fly the A380.

It depends really... which LAS flight and I assume in F? If you don't mind connecting, the earlier SFO flight will arrive hours before the LAS direct, and probably even your internal domestic before the later BA275..

No offence to the other responders above, but I'd strongly suggest you try either the SFO, LAX or SJC options in F using your 2-4-1 voucher before taking the direct LAS flight.

LAS sees the oldest B744's on that route with poor inflight entertainment. The A380 is a huge step up (but getting 2 reward F seats to the West Coast in it will be tough) and the B789 in F is suppose to be excellent as well. (The CCR visit is just a bonus on these routes)

If you are going to splash that much avios and £'s on an F reward flight, at least pick aircraft that are worth it. Go with LAX, SFO or SJC and only as a last resort at the direct LAS flight.

Pilot37

I've been to the CCR quite a few times now and tbh it really doesn't do that much for me. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to include it in a trip...

The place is worth a visit, if only for bragging rights, but not worth (imo at least) spending lots of additional time and money on...

I like the dining area and the cabanas, but even if the choice was identical flights from T3 or T5, I would probably choose T3 and go to the CX F lounge, which I absolutely love (and not forgetting to pop into the AA International F lounge to grab some jelly beans and choccies !!).

As for aircraft, F on the A380 is highly spoken of here, but of course 1A in the nose of the 747 offers a unique experience :)

In summary: CX F > CCR, A380 = 747 (maybe)

The food in CX F lounge is way better than the CCR. Restaurant staff are way more attentive.

One catch, for the noodle bar which most OW Emerald passengers want, you need to go into the CX J lounge. You can return to the F section once you have eaten. Toilets are shared between both F and J sections.

For the CCR alone, no, I would enjoy the CX F lounge, and pre-book a visit to the Elemis spa if you want. On the plus side, the T3 fast track is reliably fast in the late morning-early afternoon (which is when I typically use it for flights to PHX).

For the onboard experience, as others have said, the A380 and 789 are much nicer than the 747 in F. However, adding a connection will increase your flight time by at least 3 hours and cost more Avios.

I guess it would overall depend on how often the OP gets to fly in F, which planes they've flown F before, and the duration of the journey. If you're going to LAS for a long weekend, I wouldn't waste the time connecting, but if it's a 2 week holiday, then there's no rush to get there as quickly as possible.

Not only would I, I do! LAS is one of my most regular trips and I always take the A380 via LAX if heading directly to/from Vegas - this is a good win or me, I avoid T5-T3 connections, I avoid T3, I avoid the B747, I get to fly on the A380 and I can use the CCR.

I am not a fan of T3, and whilst the CX Lounge is very nice, I wouldn't base a trip to T3 around it! It is now a few years since I took the BA275 to Vegas.I hate the T5-T3 transfer.

As others have suggested, this is really only a question you can answer, and entirely comes down to your attitude towards flying. I fly all the time, and wouldn't dream of going out of my way to fly on the A380 or to the visit the CCR, even on a non-work trip. However, if you love flying and this is a special, infrequent opportunity to try out First Class, then I think changing your plans would make sense. Indeed, I'd capitalise on the opportunity to spend 2 or 3 days in San Francisco as well, a city I adore (and certainly compared to Las Vegas!)

As an aside, whilst I thought that the CX lounge in T3 was better than the CCR when I first tried it, I've now revised my opinion. In particular, if you're a lover of good wine and food, I think the CCR wins out clearly, mainly due to the improvements that I believe have been made to the CCR dining options and food quality in recent months.

In 2015, I wanted to go to Arizona on holiday, but there was no Avios availability to Phoenix anywhere near the dates I wanted. I ended up flying from LHR to LAX, drove to Arizona, then returned from LAX via JFK. I ended up experiencing the A380, AA Transcon and the upper deck of the 747 all in the same holiday. I enjoyed it very much.

In January I decided that I would never do the T5-T3-T5 connection again after it went a long way to ruining an F trip. I've stuck it out for 4ish months and have relented and doing the connection again this Saturday. I've decided to try it again over connecting in the US.

Slightly off topic, as I won't be flying F any time soon :(, in J would you prefer an old 747 in seats 62A/K, or on the A380? Is the old entertainment system really that bad? Just that I can find no real recommended window seats on the A380!

I would do 747 upper deck in preference to any J seat on the BA A380. I always have stuff to watch on my own ipad so onboard IFE is not so much of a deal breaker for me.

Sorry I forgot to mention it is F - added that now.

I think it would be BA275 as I have been tracking availability on these 2 routes and there is rarely any F seats available on BA271.

We would probably spend a night or two in San Francisco, but we've been before so weren't planning to head back so soon.

I just found a short review I wrote for a friend of my trip to LAX:

"I enjoyed all three of my AA First and BA Club World flights. In order of preference, I think I'd have to rank them:

1. AA 321T Transcon First Class. The IFE was amazing - 15.4 inch screen and Bose QC headset. The seat was nice - one seat each side of the aisle on an A320 - though I think the BA Club World seat is the same size and more comfortable (better padding). Service was good - cappuccino/espresso machine on board. The AA Flagship Lounge (their top tier lounge) was nothing special.

2. BA 747 Club World. Not much to choose between the 747 and the A380. The 747 makes it into second place because the 747 upper deck cabin felt more spacious than the A380 upper deck cabin (I had 62K, an exit row seat). The IFE was terrible. The service was very good, probably the best of the 3 flights. The BA lounge at JFK was nice.

3. BA A380 Club World. Much better IFE than the 747, but not as good as the AA A321T. Very quiet. Nice, big loos upstairs (far bigger than on the 747 or A321T)."

I had seat 62K on the 747 and seat 53K on the A380.

I would do it in this order if I had the option.

SJC 787-9 IN F (its really nice)
SFO A380 IN F (I like the big seats)

Then finally 747 in F to LAS on the old tatty plane.

Thanks. And very good point, that about the iPad... until Trump decides to ban those on flights from the UK too :mad::rolleyes:

Hi OP,
How long are you thinking of going for? More than 3 days in LAS is more than enough for me :) I still have a soft spot for the nose of the 747 but you're going to get some old birds.

Perhaps a little road trip is in order? We did Route 1 from San Diego to SFO with several stops along the way, and then flew Virgin America F to LAS using their upgrade process 6 hours before check in, a bargain. We'll be on CA road trip number 5 in Nov. So many great places to visit...

After a lot of searching for our own trip, it does seem like there is very limited availability in F to the west coast. Flexibility of course is key!

Yes, I would. Especially if the 747 is an old one.
But I like very much the travel part so for me a connection is almost a plus :p



PS. I am a not very frequent traveler, just 3/4 LH and 5/6 SH a year

I've done plenty of F to LAS on the "old tatty plane" and if you can live with the older IFE you could be on any jumbo... I liked F on the BA271

From my memories of doing a tatty old plane, the F IFE screens are fine. It is the J screens which are horrible and around 8 inches wide and barely can make out whats happening on screen.

However, I'd pipe up on diff if its LAS vs LAX. Immigration. Arriving around lunchtime without GE into LAX, meant that we were running to catch our plane to HNL having given ourselves 3.5 hours to connect. Took 2.5 hours in immigration. Got GE now, but without that I would be flying anywhere but LAX (not flown to MIA though, I heard can be just as bad). Never landed at SFO so can't comment.

I've come through LAS on VS immigration which was fine and fast, same terminal as BA. Not sure if time of arriving makes much difference.

That would also be my take on it.

Having visited a few of the so called top F lounges in the world I personally wouldn't go out my way to visit any of them again....some really get over-hyped. However if I had the chance and the desire to visit one for the first time I probably would as long as it didn't drastically change my travel plans....which does seem to be the case here.

Don't listen to us and do what you want. :D

Thanks for all the replies, really appreciated! It seems there is no right answer here so will have to think about it a bit more. Planning to book in a few days so the pressure is on :D.

Just some additional info...

- the holiday will be 2 weeks with a few days in LV and the rest a road trip (mainly Utah and Arizona)
- a couple of days in SF would be ok, but we visited in 2013 as part of a California road trip so weren't planning to go back so soon (although the US govt decided to shutdown :mad: so we didn't get to visit Alcatraz so could do that I guess)
- we have never flown in F before, only ex-EU's in QR J and have an upcoming J with IB. I think we would only be able to do F with a 2-4-1 voucher. We can earn 1 voucher per year quite easily but would need around 2 years to save up the required Avios.

Based on the responses I don't think we'll choose a T5 departure just to visit the CCR as it doesn't seem to be a resounding winner over CX F lounge. We've been in the CX J Lounge and love it (more than the BA F lounge) so I think CX F lounge will be fine :D.

I am now more torn on the aircraft choice aaahhhh :confused:.

Ideally we would prefer to fly to LAX and then use Avios on AA or drive to LV but availability in F is as dry as a bone. SFO seems to have better availability (although usually only weekdays). Will look into SJC too as the 789 would be nice.

Thanks again for all the help!

ugh, the indignity. :d

I would take the a380 and CCR as its your first time in first
i reckon based on what you have said you will look forward to it more and you may have a case of "if only" if you take the 747

good luck with whatever you decide

Bear in mind that a connection in the USA also involves clearing TSA. This can be anything from bad to worse depending on time of day, airport and terminal changes.

At LAX you have to get from TBIT to T4 (and then bus to the small terminal). At SFO it's a fairly long trek to get from International arrivals over to the AA gates. (And if you have to check in, terminal 2 is about as far from the international terminal as you can get at SFO). SJC is probably the only airport where the distance isn't punitive, but you're probably looking at a four hour connection. PHX is by far the easiest option--but that also leaves from T3.

Value is in the eye of the beholder, of course. But I certainly wouldn't make CCR a priority over CX F in T3. 380/789 vs. 744 has some merit, but if it means making an International-Domestic connection at a US airport, I'd personally not see the value in it.

I've stuck it out for a couple or so years, my only sojourn to T3 was an inbound MIA. I'm still to be convinced to use T3, it just frustrates me.

Surprised nobody has mentioned this but as a BA Gold, the benefit of flying through LAX with a reasonable connection time to enjoy it, is that you get to use the superb Qantas F lounge, which definitely beats the CCR for food. It has a kitchen and menu overseen by the guys from Australia's Rockpool restaurants. Also the airside connector from TBIT (where you land and the lounge is) to T4 is only a 10 minute walk, quite easy.

So if you add CCR, A380 and QFlounge, that might well be tempting.

Though this does assume that the Qantas lounge will let you in when connecting to an AA domestic service. There have been multiple reports whereby they have denied this, despite the OW policies to the contrary.

Not saying this should be discounted only that access shouldn't be assumed.

No oneWorld carrier flying on the SFO-LAS route.

If you take WN at least you will get a free piece of baggage. If you take UA or B6 or VX you will have to pay for baggage...

SFO is congested and famous for delays - make sure you have enough time to connect in SFO (I assume you will fly on 2 separate tickets).

We just did a couple of week in California followed by a drive into Las Vegas and home from there four nights later.. Did F out into LAX on the 380 and club upstairs on the 747 home. Had an amazing trip but managed to skip the CCR on the way out !!

On a closely-related topic if the OP is planning to route via SFO.

Is the new CX Lounge in SFO comparable to that in T3? Is it accessible available to people flying ex-SFO on BA flight? - is it available to people connecting to AA domestic flights?

I've never been a fan of the F "Room" in SFO and actually choose to sit in the main lounge. WHile it does the job it's certainly not the greatest BA lounge i the system, feeling more 'domestic' than a premium international lounge to me.

Aim for the A380 for sure. The LAS route First won't feel as "First" due to dated plane.

Wouldn't worry about CCR too much. If you depart T3 then CX lounge is great. If you depart T5 then you get CCR.

Here's some F A380 routes - https://www.iflya380.com/a380-airlin...tml?origin=LBA - so you could get to LAS via Vancouver (you'll need an ETA doc to pass through airport), San Fran or LA (if you can get it - which I doubt, as its First is very popular).

No, not even in the same league. I'd argue the CX SFO lounge is the worst oneworld lounge at SFO. It is loud, crowded, and has worse F&B options than even the Admirals Club. They have the over rated noodle bar with freeze dried ramen but that's it.

Regardless it is not available for domestic AA departures as AA departs out of T2 which does not have an air-side connection to the international terminal.

You'll have access to the Admirals Club in T2 however.

As for oneworld lounges in the international terminal the BA one is by far my favorite. It's a bit on the small side but the staff is fantastic and the beverage options are great. No food to speak of.

The JAL one is dark and dated but tends to be less crowded and quieter than the CX one.

I greatly enjoyed flying on the 747 upper deck (LHR-PHX so I think also the same older plane as the LAS route). My experience was that the 747 upstairs, even though I wasn't in 62A/K, was fantastic. Being 4-across instead of 8 made it significantly quieter and tranquil. And we had two attendants for 20 of us so service was always quick! And right at the bottom of the stairs was the little 'between meals snacks' galley. It did get very warm up there though, so bring a pair of light pajamas (shorts & light T-shirt is my recommendation).

Does anyone know what type of 747 is on the IAD Route- I have 64k reserved for a few weeks time and was curious as to its quality. I have relatives who are in WTP too on same flight - how is that?