peter h

Just got back from a great day in Beirut!

Got to thank @bisonrav for the tip about the alternative tour - and for the nudge to the other FT person - we met up at LHR where she orchestrated my first visits to the First lounge and the CCR, as well as introducing me to a pair of TP runners just off to HNL. She'd also booked the same hotel as me, so we did the tour together (sunny at the start and torrential rain towards the end!). Thanks too to @corporate-wage-slave for the Mezyan rec - we wouldn't have found it by ourselves, but the food was delicious!

We used the hotel taxi service a couple of times (Berverly Hotel - okay, but I'd try the Radisson next time), but Uber seemed the best option. the trip between the hotel (near the marina) and the airport was 20USD in Uber, 35USD with the hotel, and 50/70USD with airport touts.

Back on topic, we got to the airport at around 05:00 (for the 08:10 departure (BA advise arriving 3hrs before) and reached the lounges in around 40 minutes (but both of us were HBO). BA status gets you into the LAT lounge, but the place to be is the Cedar lounge (via my Priority Pass!) There was also a later disorganised security search at the gate area, so I'd recommend allowing some time for that, as the B12 gate area is pretty small for a fullish A321.

Apart from it being a tantalising taster of the city, I've got to praise the cabin crew. They had a day's layover, so we had the same crew on both flights - and they were great!

bisonrav

The tip for the alternative tour came from @ceej123 upthread, credit where credit's due there. I just realised that I went to the Meyzan too - didn't twig it was the CWS recommendation, but it was great, I had a massive and very delicious lamb couscous. Sorry about the weather though.

It really is a great destination, intriguing and charming, and I'd happily have spent a few days there so it's on the list for further investigation. Absolute bargain fare even without the shenanigans around the various offers, and I should imagine the double cashback will still be there.

peter h

Agreed, and apologies to @ceej123 ! It's definitely on my list of cities to revisit with more time. Most people we spoke to said that we should visit places outside city, so that was totally impracticable with only effectively one day there with the flights I took. The 08:10 departure is a pain, as well!

kingcole974

corporate-wage-slave

The restrictions on electronics were lifted several months ago, it's just Saudi Arabia left, so BEY is just like anywhere else now. But there are plenty of security checks still, so allow a bit more time than normal (but nothing like 3 hours if HBO) and probably best to ensure all electronics are fully charged up just in the unlikely event you are asked to switch them on.

Greenpen

Beirut seems to have been a popular destination for the 5000 Avios offer so here is the current guide to security when catching BA148:

Check 1. Case and body scanned just inside terminal to get to departures
Check 2. Check-in at BA desk
Check 3. Passport and boarding card check to enter immigration area
Check 4. Immigration
Check 5. Second case and body scan to enter main departure lounge/shopping area
Check 6 Gate security seems to select some passengers at random for swab, pat down and luggage examination
Check 7 Passport check of immigration stamps at top of airbridge
Check 8. Boarding card checked by cabin crew on entering aeroplane.

Seems like a lot but it was all running smoothly and I was in the lounge within half an hour. There were short waits at the subsequent check points but a couple of minutes only. Twelve minutes from Radisson Blu to airport by taxi with little traffic and the only slight hold-up being when three lanes became one just outside the airport where there was a police check (not stopping vehicles). Directed to Alheim lounge which is before gate. This is a pleasant enough place to eat breakfast and have a coffee; did not check booze availability. Food was good with a selection of a variety of suitable items for a breakfast together with some sweet things.

This was on a Monday morning departing the hotel at 05.28 travelling in Y but able to use Gold privileges.

EvilDoctorK

I'm on the BA148 tomorrow and got the 'please turn up at the airport at 0430' email just now .. I assume nothing on the above advice has changed really and we should allow a bit of extra time compared to our normal last minute dash but 3.5hrs is crazy ( will be HBO, economy with status , and with kids who I certainly don't want to get out of bed too early!)

corporate-wage-slave

The previous message was silly since the check-in desks typically would not be open then. Now it's beyond silly, that message should be switched off. If HBO you'd be fine at 90 minutes to departure, though you may need to factor in more time for the Cost Centres.

EvilDoctorK

Thanks for the update , as I read upthread I note your restaurant recommendation for the place I'm currently sitting in , Meyzan is indeed spot on, lovely lunch here !

I'll post my BEY departure experience for the record here tomorrow , but will probably plan leaving the downtown hotel around 06:00

EvilDoctorK

In case it's of any use to anyone my experience this morning for the BA148 ( 0800 departure ) was that 3h30 minutes would have been total overkill .. 90 minutes would have sufficed easily this morning even travelling as a family .. if I was travelling solo I would probably say you could cut it finer

We took an Uber from the hotel downtown ( Intercontinental Phoenicia) at 0600 ... got to the airport about 0615 , zero traffic at that hour and it's really not far

• No traffic delays getting into the airport at the vehicle checkpoints .. all waved through ( as seemed to be the case with any checkpoints I saw over the weekend )
• The first checkpoint in the terminal to access check-in was pretty quick ... maybe a dozen in line in front , through within a few minutes .... BA check in was deserted at around 0620 ( though the flight was pretty full, so maybe most people took the early checkin email seriously) ... so while we were HBO and didn't need to stop if you had a bag to check it would not have made any difference really to overall timings.
• There was a short queue of maybe 50 people at the entrance to immigration where they checked boarding cards and passports ( remember to pick up your pink departure card either just before or just after this check ) , just a couple of minutes
• After this check they weren't allowing people into the immigration queue until they had their cards filled out ( makes sense ) .. this took a few minutes to fill out for all of us .. but then there was no immigration queue at all really ( the Lebanese citizens line was a little busier ) .. so overall we were through into the Duty Free/Lounge area within 20 minutes of arriving at the airport
• Plenty of time to visit the impressive 'Cedar Lounge' with Priority Pass ...
• There were 8 flights leaving from Gates 1-12 between 0800 and 0830 this morning so was wondering if the check at the entrance to the gates would be more time consuming and we left the lounge about 0710 but there were two lanes open and it moved quickly ... no more than a few minutes at this checkpoint .. boarding was well underway by 0720ish when we got Gate 12
• At the entrance to the gate there was a guy looking at passports/boarding cards and gave a pat down to some passengers - there was a secondary search of hand luggage for some lucky folk, but we escaped that honour ... so got to the actual boarding gate around 0725

None of the boarding card checks at least can have been particularly rigorous since when we got to the actual gate we discovered some odd glitch in the BA app meant that one of the kids boarding cards was saved twice and the other one didn't have any boarding card saved at all in the app so this was picked up by the BA staff at the gate as they couldn't scan the 4 cards , fortunately I had previously generated it and there was Wifi at the gate so we solved it quickly enough by re-downloading it

goldwannabe

BA6501

The airport was indeed very busy this morning - yet 'only' 25 minutes from entering the terminal to being in the lounge, including baggage drop off. Arrived at 06:10 for the 08:00 departure. I was expecting significantly worse when I saw the queue to immigration was backed up well beyond the check-in desks.

Note that the 'new' immigration departure hall has apparently been inaugurated later this morning and may be in operation in the next couple of days.

BEYFlyer

Flew back to Beirut from London on the 5th of June. Immigration was a lot more "organized" (for lack of a better word). All the "old" points are now for foreign travelers and Lebanese travelers now have 4 or 5 new immigration points. That's coming into Lebanon. Not sure what the situation is like leaving the country (I will find out this Friday and let you know). Baggage claim continues to be a NIGHTMARE!!! At least half of the belts were empty but they decided to load 3 flights onto 1 belt... Go figure... So you are through immigration in a flash but have to wait a while for your bag to arrive...

ramzi

That's really great to hear. I'm eager to know what the situation is like for departing traffic, that has been the true nightmare the last couple of times I was there, but the new passport control area is supposedly open already.

Regarding baggage claim, I just have no words. I do everything I can to avoid checking a bag.

BEYFlyer