lall

Ba.com eligibility policy to T5 arrivals lounge is not clear to me hence seeking help here.
My wife and I are both BA Gold.
Will be flying Orlando to Gatwick on BA (CW) in 3 weeks time, landing at LGW around 6.00 am then departing from same airport to MRU (CW) later in the evening, giving us over 13 hrs layover in London. Our luggage will be checked through from Orlando to MRU, so we intend to spend some time in London (around Kingston - not very far from LHR - and Oxford St), but need to shower beforehand.
Because BA has no arrivals lounge at LGW, and it would be practically impossible to enter BA departure lounge at LGW through flight connections and then come out and do immigration without hassles, one option that I am contemplating is to proceed to BA Arrivals Lounge at T5, have shower and breakfast there and then go to Kingston. We will be buying one day travel cards LGW-Zone 6 so travel cost is no issue.
My question is: will we get admission to T5 Arrivals Lounge? My travel agent thinks no. BA's policy on ba.com is as follows:

The Galleries Arrivals Lounge in London Heathrow Terminal 5 is available for passengers who are

• flying on a scheduled British Airways flight in First or business (Club World)
• a Gold Member of the British Airways Executive Club arriving on a British Airways long haul flight

Thank you in anticipation.

Emma Cocker

I can't help with your original question, but Gatwick to Kingston via T5 is going to be quite time consuming, even with a 13 hour layover. There is no direct connection between the two airports, so you will have to take a Southern Rail "service" to London Victoria, take the Circle line to Paddington and then take the Heathrow Express to Heathrow Rail station (not covered by a travel card, approx £15 per person I think) and then get from there to T5 by tube. From there, you'd have to take the Heathrow Express back to Paddington, take the tube to London Waterloo and then catch a train to Kingston. Best case scenario is 4 hours outward travelling, plus the time spent in the lounge, plus travel back. It seems a little long winded to me and with the way the trains "are run" there is the very real possibility of delays and/or disruption. It would probably be cheaper (and definitely less hassle) to get a day room at Gatwick to freshen up.

Oh and Kingston is actually not that close to LHR, especially by train!

You may well know all of the above already, in which case, good luck and sorry I couldn't answer the original question!

Globaliser

You may have meant railways only, but of course there is the National Express coach service - although that too is not covered by the Travelcard.

To make use of a Travelcard, the obvious route by rail would seem to be to get on the District Line at Victoria, and then change at Barons Court for the Piccadilly Line to T5. Much more straightforward than trying to get the Heathrow Express, and probably not much more time-consuming.

jerry a. laska

An older post:
Arrivals lounge entitlement at LHR T5 after landing at LGW?

I would say that you are entitled to access, although the staff member may be be puzzled by your LGW arrival.

bisonrav

If this works, your best route is a National Express Coach which will take you direct to T5 in about an hour.

It's not a particularly good idea though, best bet is to take a hotel room where you can sleep, shower, and eat and it won't cost much more.

golfmad

If it were me and I wanted to head into London I'd book a day room in a London hotel somewhere. Head there from LGW, get a shower and breakfast and you'll also have a base for a couple hours sleep in the afternoon if required. Perhaps somewhere around Victoria.

Technically, I think you should have access to the T5 arrivals but if you're intent on doing that I'd suggest you seek clarification in advance from BA possibly via Twitter. Keep hold of the response as you may have to contend with a different viewpoint when you get there.

Crofton138

LGW to LHR for a shower? I'd book into one of the hotels at LGW on a day rate and save a massive amount of hassle.

Emma Cocker

The trains are bad enough, not sure I'd ever recommend the coach :-)

I think it's probably half a dozen of one (etc etc) regarding timing, but at least with your suggestion it's covered by the travel card. It just seems like an awful lot of hassle, especially if Southern are having one of their 'special' days!

UKtravelbear

the coach is absolutely fine and takes an hour. It also avoids any issues Southern may be having (the publicity of which does not reflect the actuality i,e makes it appear worse than they are)

National rail states that LGW - T5 as 1hr 40 minutes and that includes using the Hex!

Airprox

ajeleonard

A day room at Gatwick makes more sense. Dump your stuff, have a shower and rest and then head out to whatever you want to do

Cap'n Benj

lall

Thanks Emma. But I still need as answer to my question, which i hope I got from the reply from jerry a. laska
By the way, i lived in UK for over 10 yrs and am quite acquainted with the tube and rail travel in and around London. Our flight lands at 5.45 am, and assuming we are out within 30 mins (we normally take less than 15 mins to clear immigration) then taking Thameslink from LGW to London Bridge and connecting to Green Park by tube (only 4 stations) which takes around 60 mins to reach T5 from London Bridge. So we should be in T5 around 8.00 am latest. Our flight departs at 21.00 hrs so that gives plenty of time.

The other option suggested here (National Express) is an excellent one and we did this journey (Gatwick South to T5) in June 18 around 7.00 am.

windowontheAside

I think it's possible but you might encounter issues with whoever's on the desk so it's far from guaranteed. Lounge staff aren't always aware of unusual interpretations of policy and I'm guessing they don't see this one much.

But that is an awfully long (in time) detour for a shower. Especially when arriving early hours on a TATL when you're unlikely to be feeling chipper.

National Express fares alone for two people would cost you more than a Yotel booking at LGW.

warakorn

I do not know the exact layout of LGW South. But at Heathrow it would be quite easy to get through flight connections (with a same-day boarding pass), go to the lounge and exit via the intraterminal train/immigration.
There is no way to get from LGW South Departures to the exit?
I remember there is a special door at STN Departures that leads you into the immigration hall.