NWIFlyer

You still have a surprise element you want to keep quiet though ...!

The point is the CX lounge staff are very capable of discretion. In my relatively limited experience they might say something along the lines of “The First section is that way”, so you may wish to think of a way of saying you know where you’re going, and hope your parents aren’t au fait with the lounge guesting rules.

All She Wrote

I'm not sure if you got what I meant (sorry if you did, I'm not trying to be obnoxious). The trip to YYZ is with my girlfriend in April, I was meaning I could use that trip as a test run to see how easily I can get someone through the security gate without having to physically hand them their BP. Then if it doesn't seem to work I can figure out an alternative for when I take my parents to YVR later on They're not familiar with the Cathay Lounge to my knowledge, although they have taken a trip or two with One World since I last flew with them so there's a possibility they may been in it have I'm not sure. I'm sure they'll buy me saying we can get in because of tier status though :P

NWIFlyer

I did, absolutely. Patently I need to make my explanations clearer as well .

The test run is relatively meaningless, I’m afraid, because the security scanners at T5 at least used to work differently to those at T3. T5, as an essentially dedicated BA terminal, is set up to recognise oneworld status eligibility for Fast Track. IME, T3 is not, so you’re not quite comparing like for like.

However, the T3 scanners certainly do recognise Class of Service so in your case it won’t make any difference - rest assured you will get through the auto barriers and won’t have to rely on the desk agent. That’s probably the least risky part of the whole operation. The advantage of the auto barrier is that you present the BP face down so nothing is visible, whereas the desk agent is very likely to look at it and potentially scan it face up.

All She Wrote

quakered

I agree with the others that the best you can hope is to keep the class of travel secret until booking in. The first time I arranged a holiday (round the World) in Second Class I hoped to keep the secret until boarding. When queueing at the Club World counter someone came round to check that we were flying Club - secret spoilt. Lady wife was almost speechless but I informed her that BA would not allow those over 60 to fly in the back on long haul due to the risks of DVT. She accepted this until be got the boarding when she spotted many people even older than us in the self loading cargo pens.

If you are planning a trip to Vancouver why not fly out in the A380? Same number of seats in First as the 747 but so much more specious and much quieter and smoother. If you want a trip down memory lane you could always fly home on a 747 and see how air travel has advanced in 40 years!

All She Wrote

Personally I'd much rather the A380 anyway as YVR is usually the 52J 747, although in First it doesn't really make a difference. It's due to the time of year we'll be going, the option to bring it forwards and fly on the A380 isn't there I'm hoping the check in experience may differ from your experience as the F queue is normally significantly shorter than CW, infant if you arrive early enough there's usually no queue at all

DeadManFlying

Sorry to hijack your thread All She Wrote but we, Mrs, Ms and myself are also going to YVR this July and due to circumstance Mrs and Ms DMF are going first and I'm slumming it in J.
I have a couple of questions the first can Mrs DMF guest me into the CX first lounge?
The second partly answered by KARFA is the distance to the BA A380 stand? Looking on Google Earth I can see the single BA 380 parked at a stand at the north side of the terminal
I've measured the distance but was wondering if there were any moving walkways as Mrs DMF is not as good on her legs as she used to be?

Thanks for any help you can give

DMF

rapidex

What a lovely surprise for your parents. I'm surprised this has not been mentioned yet, but where you want to seat them is 1A/K. These seats are blocked for Golds until close in, but often open up last minute as people with status often change their plans and flights. Just keep an eye open amongst the many other things you will be trying to watch on the day. The BA app may help here.

However it turns out have a lovely time. Your parents will be delighted, even if your secrecy plan fails somehow.

All She Wrote

If she's First / OWE she can guest you in yeah. See this thread for lounge access guidelines. I'm not too sure about the distance to the A380 stand specifically. I'll let someone else answer that one

NWIFlyer

oneworld lounge access rules allow for a guest on a F ticket (given this isn’t a US domestic itinerary or involving the various QR restrictions), so Emerald status is not required, you will be allowed in the F section of any of the T3 lounges including CX as a guest.

T3 distances can be comparatively long, but there are moving walkways if you end up at the furthest gates.

KARFA

I think the guesting question has been answered by NWIFlyer.

The BA A380s do normally park at the end of the pier which extends north west from T3. The other A380 gates are along the south side of T3 and very close to the lounges 1/3/5/7, but these are usually used by Emirates and Qantas, I have only ever once seen a BA A380 parked there. They are moving walkways all the way up the north west pier and last time I was there two weeks ago they were working. It is still a significant distance though so if you think the distance is an issue I would just book assistance and get the buggy up to the gate.

DeadManFlying

Thank you everyone for your help, I'm looking forward to our visit to the lounge before 9 hours of peace upstairs!
I am checking regularly to see if any avios availability becomes available but we booked the outbound for a Monday and at the next sale when I was able to book the price in first on the outbound was Ł6000
Mrs DMF does not want to use a buggy at the moment but that might change by July we will have to wait and see

And again All She Wrote sorry to hijack your thread and as rapidex says what a lovely present for your parents

DMF