SuperCargo

Especially if you don't want to have to sit on the floor whilst you eat.

Crampedin13A

Yes I left early a couple of weeks ago as it was just too crowded and that was in the F section. Plus when did the having to get a beer from the bartender start?

aircrashsurvivor

Thanks all
the flight is now delayed till 23:40 even better lol
will have a nice meal at home and get to the airport for 22:00-22:30 and just make our way to the gate. With nexus and CW manage to clear security in about 10 mins usually
that lounge seems a total waste of time now. Shame really as it was one of the best outstation lounges and made travel on BA very enjoyable
On a side note I flew AC J and used their new signature lounge at Toronto a few months ago and it was outstanding
the best food I’ve ever had at any airport any airline any class
going to be hard to not travel east any other way

mrow

Totally agree re the AC Signature Suite. I was very impressed. I thought the quality was outstanding, especially given that it is a business class lounge.

Crampedin13A

I prefer it to the CCR at Heathrow

SuperCargo

The AC Signature Suite, combined with better on-board catering, schedules, and hard product (assuming you’re not on the A350), makes one ask why anybody in their right mind would pay for J on BA instead of AC, unless they’re obsessed with getting Avios. This is why I went from BA Gold down to earning 10-20 tier points per year. I’m happy to burn my Avios on BA YYZ-LHR, but forget about paying cash.

aircrashsurvivor

This is all we are doing now. Using a 2/4/1 voucher and avios once a year and paying cash for AC..... for 10 yrs we paid for CW and F out of London to YYZ but it’s over for us
it’s just not a priority route in any regard

Crampedin13A

I would give the new BA J seat on the 350 a go while it is still on the route. It's excellent. It'll be gone for years after April though when we can expect the return of the oldest 772's and unreliable 789 scheduling. As far as the BA lounge is concerned I'm done. It's less crowded in the terminal and tbh I don't really eat or drink much in there anyway as I try to get to YYZ within less than 2 hours of the flight

aircrashsurvivor

Ok so we are sitting in the “new refurbished” BA lounge at YYZ and to be honest it’s very nice !!! Quiet clean although relatively empty: im not convinced there are enough comfortable seats for a full CW cabin on any one aircraft let alone if both are overlapping: there are other seating options but they are stools, all alcohol has to be served
there is really nothing to eat , a few snacks crisps and the like but no actually food. Maybe earlier there was. Staff are pleasant but then again no one could compare to the Ba staff especially Rose of years gone...... it’s small but there are only about 25 of us here. If the CW cabin is full and anyone is guesting or silver forget it. We didn’t wander over to the F side
we fly back on the A350 and are quite looking forward to that
so. A grade of B but it’s empty. If it were full we would have left.

BA235

I found myself back here last week. We were fortunate enough again to be able use the F/Gold side when no First cabin is currently being operated. I was impressed. In the hour or so we were there (prior to the 92) there were no more than a dozen people in the lounge at any one time. The lady manning - staffing, I should say - the bar was charming, as was the young man serving the dining tables. I recalled him from the last time we were here, in the previous incarnation of the lounge. And, funnily enough, he remembered by name my husband; we surmised they share a common family heritage. Regardless, he was excellent as, again, was the food. Much better than I was expecting, and much better than the GF slop on the outbound. The menu was, I think, similar to that posted upthread by TBS.

So, despite the Toronto Tales of Woe posted here (with some justification it would seem) once again I can luckily report an exemplary experience in the Toronto lounge. The rest of Pearson, not so much ...

TravellerFrequently

I have no plans to visit Toronto again until well into next year but it does sound as though some stability and comfort has been restored.

Not before time.

Well I do not know what has been the reason for the changing and often poor arrangements for the last few years, I hope now that premium and status passengers will have somewhere reasonable to use before the flight.

stevie

I was in the F section a couple of weeks ago and was very happy with my experience.
Nice food, good wine, and a great view onto the apron to watch planes go by.
One of the more pleasant North American lounge experiences I have had.

Cheapskate22

To echo the more recent comments, I’m not sure what all the complaints are about up-thread. Have travelled this route 3x in the last month and think the F lounge is one of the nicest on the network. Table service with very good food (especially the duck), lots of natural light, it’s never been overcrowded, and is generally a relaxing place to spend an hour or so before the flight.

All the hyperbole about ‘the worst route on the network’ is just nonsense, the lounge is significantly better than the new JFK F, LAS, SF, PHL, BOS lounges imo. And then you have the A350 to fly on.

Crampedin13A

I'm certainly glad that it's not overcrowded all the time then. Considering there being no F on 92 last 2 times I've been through the 350 must be attracting a much larger amount of Golds to the route than previously because when BA ran the lounge in it's present location I never saw the amount of people in the F/Gold side that I do now even when the 17F 777s were in use on the route.

mmxbreaks

The staff are good too - and they'll actually come and offer you things.

The only downside, for me, was the food. It looks the part - the full table setting and so on - but the fish I had was a rubberised slab from the microwave that I daren't not eat.

Still, I was happy in there with my G&Ts before heading to Club Suite (where the staff took 1hr40mins to serve a drink, go figure, so the Plaza Staff > BA staff in this regard).