F Lounge Access at LHR with 2-3 hr connection time
 

Hi everyone,

My SO and I are flying to EU for a much deserved break. We will fly in BA F to LHR then BA CE to Rome. So it’s T5 then T3 and the connection time is 3 hours.

coming back we will again connect at LHR, T3 to T5 this time with only 2 hours and 20 mins connection.

will we have some time for lounge access? If so, which lounge? We are flying in F for the TATC leg. No status; Canadian passports.

also want to do some shopping at T5 on the way out from UK, any time for that?

On the outbound you will have ample time to spend some of it in the lounge - T5>T3 isn't the easiest connection ever but nor is it the worst, probably would budget around 45 minutes for the connection (it's possible to do it in less), leaving you with a good hour to enjoy the lounge. You will not have access to the T5 lounges without a flight departing from T5 therefore you'll have to use the T3 lounges on the outbound flight (of which there are several very good oneworld choices). The widely acknowledged best lounge is the CX F lounge and given you'll have access I'd recommend heading straight there. If you're interested in trying them all you could also take a look into the QF lounge (which is very new) and BA's Galleries First lounge (although personally I'd skip it entirely, nothing special).

On the return flight you'll be slightly tighter for time but should still get chance to glance into BA's Concorde Room at T5 briefly (again you won't be able to use the T3 lounges on the return flight, only T5), which is where you should head if you have an F flight departing from T5.

Enjoy!

on the way out as your LHR departing flight is from T3 you will have no access to the airside departure area and lounges at T5. You can use any of the F lounges in T3 (BA/CX/AA) or the QF lounge - personally I would use the CX F lounge. You will need to show your inbound F bp as well so keep hold of that.

on the way after arriving at T3 you use the airside transfer buses to T5. once through security you can use the lounges in T5 including the CCR

have a look at the T5 connection guide (see my signature) which may help you

Oh and you should have some time for shopping on the outbound flight if you're willing to sacrifice lounge time, T3 has some great shopping choices, albeit with a very premium skew (think 5th Avenue / Bond Street-type designer shops mostly), unfortunately you won't have access to the T5 shops on the outbound flight (there's a way to request to be escorted to shop in a different terminal at LHR, but I'd think with a three hour layover it possibly isn't worth the hassle).

Agreeing on the advice given in the previous posts, there is one possible detour to recommend en route to CX F lounge in T3. The rather newly opened QF lounge, close to the CX lounge, has an eccelent gin bar, suitable for a short stop before indulging in what many FT posters agree is the best OW F Lounge in T3

Thank you everyone!

So we will try out CX F and QF (gin bar!) lounges on the outbound flight and try to get a stroll in the Concorde for return.

just to explain / expand for the poster - the BA "First" lounge in Terminal 3 (on your outbound) is fine, but not really a "true" first class lounge in the sense that the Concorde Room in Terminal 5 (on your return) is. The "First" lounge concept is actually for "First" passengers but also for BA Gold and OneWorld Emerald status holders (regardless of class of travel) and whilst that is the 'top tier' BA/OneWorld frequent flyer level, it's not exactly hugely exclusive (FYI - the "real" top tier status holders on BA actually get Concorde Room access...) - so the overall feel of the BA "First" lounges is not quite that of a true first class lounge and they can be relatively crowded (at Terminal 5, at least; Terminal 3 is a little better as fewer BA flights depart from there)

Agree. Frankly, however, this doesn't really justify why T3 GF is so relatively poor given there's no CCR in T3 and BA has more F passengers going out of T3 than CX (who manage to operate a very nice F class lounge that also admits OWEs). There should be a mini-CCR in GF T3 I think. Going slightly off topic now though!

Talking about going off topic...

How s F going to help us in terms of clearing security and getting thru to the lounge quickly? Is there dedicated lane for everything? If so, starting at what point? I don’t expect a RR to pick us up at the plane but... I hope we can at least expediate the process somewhat

Are you saying your Rome flight is T3? I'm flying to Rome next week and it is showing as being from T5.

you're right - other OneWorld airlines do operate "First" lounges which are also top-tier status lounges for those flying lower classes - just at LHR (Terminal 5 in particular) the volume of passengers does crowd the lounges quite badly at peak times - seems worse than some equivalent OneWorld lounges (i.e. Cathay in Hong Kong, but maybe that's just me or something I observe at LHR Terminal 5 is where I end up most frequently on my own travels...)

the point I was really trying to make is that BA "First" in Terminal 3 at LHR is not equivalent to Concorde Room in Terminal 5 - whilst it has the same access rules, Cathay First at Terminal 3 arguably comes a lot closer partly by reason of being quieter (e.g. because many BA and other OneWorld status flyers through Terminal 3 who would actually have access don't know about it....keep it to yourself or everyone will desert the BA and AA lounges!!)

BA's Rome flights are currently from T5, and will be in November, according to BA.

Doc Copper