Switching terminals in LHR for lounge use
Jan 23, 2020, 7:05 am
#91
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 345
Drifting a little off-topic, but given how welcoming CX is to oneworld Emeralds at its lounges in HKG I would be surprised if they impose blanket restrictions on an outstation lounge. The risk of going through the aggravation of extra security checks specifically to visit the CX F lounge in T3 is that they will declare a short-term capacity issue and choose to give priority to their own J/F/Marco Polo elite level customers at just the moment you want to enter. It's rare but not completely unheard of.
Feb 20, 2020, 5:50 am
#92
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Cardiff
Programs: qatar airways platinum
Posts: 734
If you had loads of time at Heathrow terminal 5 is it possible to transfer to terminal 3 and use the lounges there. I am talking in excess of 7 hours. However, my first class flight is from T5 and I would enter security through T5 . Can you use the spend over £250 shopping option at T3?
A few Finn air passengers seem to transfer from T3 to T4 just to use the qatar lounge, but apparently there is absolutely no chance of doing this from T5 to either T4 or T3 ?
Feb 20, 2020, 5:57 am
#93
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
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Posts: 2,992
Feb 20, 2020, 6:21 am
#94
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Cardiff
Programs: qatar airways platinum
Posts: 734
Feb 19, 2022, 12:04 pm
#95
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 24
Any COVID era experiences?
Hello, now that t3 lounges are reopened, anyone have experience if the transfer still works the same way as prior to COVID? Going to have a long layover arriving and departing terminal 5 international, would love to see Cathay first lounge even if it involves a couple hours of transfers. (I know lots of people think it’s not worth the time, but this is probably my only year as one world emerald, probably my only chance to ever check it out.. and who knows with how Cathay is doing if they will ever return to their precovid state). Thank you!
Feb 19, 2022, 12:15 pm
#96
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Hello, now that t3 lounges are reopened, anyone have experience if the transfer still works the same way as prior to COVID? Going to have a long layover arriving and departing terminal 5 international, would love to see Cathay first lounge even if it involves a couple hours of transfers. (I know lots of people think it’s not worth the time, but this is probably my only year as one world emerald, probably my only chance to ever check it out.. and who knows with how Cathay is doing if they will ever return to their precovid state). Thank you!
Feb 19, 2022, 1:07 pm
#97
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Mexico
Programs: BAEC Gold / Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,550
Yes it all works the same as pre covid. If arriving in to T5 just follow the signs for flight connections T2/3/4 and get the T3 airside bus. Then when you want to come back get the airside bus back to T5. You will end up going through security at T3 and when you come back to T5 so there is some extra hassle there too. Of course make sure you leave T3 with plenty of time to get back before your flight.
Also the Qantas lounge is worth a visit, especially if you like gin and squid
Feb 19, 2022, 1:30 pm
#101
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The CX First Lounge isn't all that much at LHR, at least compared to HKG ones, but I'd say a reasonable step up from BA lounges. So if you're willing to put in the time and effort, great. Does anyone know if sit down dining is still there or is that restricted meanwhile passenger numbers are still a bit lower?
Also the Qantas lounge is worth a visit, especially if you like gin and squid
Also the Qantas lounge is worth a visit, especially if you like gin and squid
Hi,
I belive ( per the lounge thread) that sit down dining in CX F lounge is still there ( menu is more limited than pre covid though)
Regards
TBS
May 12, 2022, 6:29 am
#102
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Scotland
Programs: TK Elite (*G), BA Gold (OWE)
Posts: 95
Change to rules?
Another data point which shows a possible change in allowances.
I had a 6 hour layover at LHR this past weekend, arriving on QR in Terminal 5 and connecting on BA to INV from Terminal 5. Given the long layover, I was keen to spend some time in the CX and QF lounges in T3. Via Flight Connections, I arrived into T3 by bus, and attempted to go through the transfer security to enter the terminal. When my boarding pass was scanned, it gave an error message to the lady scanning, saying that I was departing from T5. I explained that I wanted to visit the lounges in T3 and that I understood that I would have to reclear security for T5 to catch my flight. She wasn't aware of this being possible so she phoned her supervisor, who phoned the terminal manager who denied me access to the terminal. I ended up eventually speaking to the supervisor, explaining that I had done this before without trouble, but she insisted that the terminal manager said this was not allowed, apparently due to too many people doing this and subsequently missing their flights. She said it was essentially a BA issue that because my BP is for T5, there would be nobody taking "responsibility" for my presence in T3.
I further spoke to the BA agent at the transfer desk to try to see if there was some way to get in, and he further spoke with the terminal manager and security staff, and again said that it was not possible, and this change had been put into place pre-Covid and any time that myself or others have been allowed through was due to a lenient terminal manager.
As there is conflicting information from my previous experiences and others on here compared to what I had on Sunday, I asked who I could write to determine what the actual rules are regarding access. The security staff said it was a BA issue and to write them, and the BA staff said it was a security issue so I'd have to write Heathrow itself.
Does anyone have any further info or who is actually correct to contact? Or whether the rules have changed or if we have just been lucky over the past few years switching terminals?
I ended up spending my layover in the BA First lounge, which is heaps better than the last time I visited there about a year ago, with some tasty cahmpagne, so all was not lost.
I had a 6 hour layover at LHR this past weekend, arriving on QR in Terminal 5 and connecting on BA to INV from Terminal 5. Given the long layover, I was keen to spend some time in the CX and QF lounges in T3. Via Flight Connections, I arrived into T3 by bus, and attempted to go through the transfer security to enter the terminal. When my boarding pass was scanned, it gave an error message to the lady scanning, saying that I was departing from T5. I explained that I wanted to visit the lounges in T3 and that I understood that I would have to reclear security for T5 to catch my flight. She wasn't aware of this being possible so she phoned her supervisor, who phoned the terminal manager who denied me access to the terminal. I ended up eventually speaking to the supervisor, explaining that I had done this before without trouble, but she insisted that the terminal manager said this was not allowed, apparently due to too many people doing this and subsequently missing their flights. She said it was essentially a BA issue that because my BP is for T5, there would be nobody taking "responsibility" for my presence in T3.
I further spoke to the BA agent at the transfer desk to try to see if there was some way to get in, and he further spoke with the terminal manager and security staff, and again said that it was not possible, and this change had been put into place pre-Covid and any time that myself or others have been allowed through was due to a lenient terminal manager.
As there is conflicting information from my previous experiences and others on here compared to what I had on Sunday, I asked who I could write to determine what the actual rules are regarding access. The security staff said it was a BA issue and to write them, and the BA staff said it was a security issue so I'd have to write Heathrow itself.
Does anyone have any further info or who is actually correct to contact? Or whether the rules have changed or if we have just been lucky over the past few years switching terminals?
I ended up spending my layover in the BA First lounge, which is heaps better than the last time I visited there about a year ago, with some tasty cahmpagne, so all was not lost.
May 12, 2022, 6:34 am
#103
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Gold, BA Silver, Hertz President's Club
Posts: 486
Another data point which shows a possible change in allowances.
I had a 6 hour layover at LHR this past weekend, arriving on QR in Terminal 5 and connecting on BA to INV from Terminal 5. Given the long layover, I was keen to spend some time in the CX and QF lounges in T3. Via Flight Connections, I arrived into T3 by bus, and attempted to go through the transfer security to enter the terminal. When my boarding pass was scanned, it gave an error message to the lady scanning, saying that I was departing from T5. I explained that I wanted to visit the lounges in T3 and that I understood that I would have to reclear security for T5 to catch my flight. She wasn't aware of this being possible so she phoned her supervisor, who phoned the terminal manager who denied me access to the terminal. I ended up eventually speaking to the supervisor, explaining that I had done this before without trouble, but she insisted that the terminal manager said this was not allowed, apparently due to too many people doing this and subsequently missing their flights. She said it was essentially a BA issue that because my BP is for T5, there would be nobody taking "responsibility" for my presence in T3.
I further spoke to the BA agent at the transfer desk to try to see if there was some way to get in, and he further spoke with the terminal manager and security staff, and again said that it was not possible, and this change had been put into place pre-Covid and any time that myself or others have been allowed through was due to a lenient terminal manager.
As there is conflicting information from my previous experiences and others on here compared to what I had on Sunday, I asked who I could write to determine what the actual rules are regarding access. The security staff said it was a BA issue and to write them, and the BA staff said it was a security issue so I'd have to write Heathrow itself.
Does anyone have any further info or who is actually correct to contact? Or whether the rules have changed or if we have just been lucky over the past few years switching terminals?
I ended up spending my layover in the BA First lounge, which is heaps better than the last time I visited there about a year ago, with some tasty cahmpagne, so all was not lost.
I had a 6 hour layover at LHR this past weekend, arriving on QR in Terminal 5 and connecting on BA to INV from Terminal 5. Given the long layover, I was keen to spend some time in the CX and QF lounges in T3. Via Flight Connections, I arrived into T3 by bus, and attempted to go through the transfer security to enter the terminal. When my boarding pass was scanned, it gave an error message to the lady scanning, saying that I was departing from T5. I explained that I wanted to visit the lounges in T3 and that I understood that I would have to reclear security for T5 to catch my flight. She wasn't aware of this being possible so she phoned her supervisor, who phoned the terminal manager who denied me access to the terminal. I ended up eventually speaking to the supervisor, explaining that I had done this before without trouble, but she insisted that the terminal manager said this was not allowed, apparently due to too many people doing this and subsequently missing their flights. She said it was essentially a BA issue that because my BP is for T5, there would be nobody taking "responsibility" for my presence in T3.
I further spoke to the BA agent at the transfer desk to try to see if there was some way to get in, and he further spoke with the terminal manager and security staff, and again said that it was not possible, and this change had been put into place pre-Covid and any time that myself or others have been allowed through was due to a lenient terminal manager.
As there is conflicting information from my previous experiences and others on here compared to what I had on Sunday, I asked who I could write to determine what the actual rules are regarding access. The security staff said it was a BA issue and to write them, and the BA staff said it was a security issue so I'd have to write Heathrow itself.
Does anyone have any further info or who is actually correct to contact? Or whether the rules have changed or if we have just been lucky over the past few years switching terminals?
I ended up spending my layover in the BA First lounge, which is heaps better than the last time I visited there about a year ago, with some tasty cahmpagne, so all was not lost.
May 12, 2022, 1:06 pm
#105
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,997
Well yes there aren’t any domestic departures in T3 and no biometrics equipment - but since you aren’t departing from T3 I don’t see it matters.