LGW FLounge: Rammed
Nov 9, 2018, 2:51 pm
#16
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
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Ah but surely only by the merest whisker Ms. Gypsy! Actually the origin is quite old but very British: it relates to the phrase "ramming a cannon", where you (well, maybe not you precisely) would stuff the barrel with as much shot as you could before firing in the general direction of the French/Spanish. I think Indians use the phrase (e.g. rammed to the rafters) but not many others. I remember using the phrase in South Island New Zealand and not being understood.
Nov 9, 2018, 5:57 pm
#18
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold; FB Silver; SPG; IHG Gold
Posts: 2,985
Chocca
I've been there on a Friday afternoon/ evening and it was very busy. It's a nice lounge, but the food section is a bit cramped, so when the lounge is busy it can occasionally be a bit uncomfortable
I've been there on a Friday afternoon/ evening and it was very busy. It's a nice lounge, but the food section is a bit cramped, so when the lounge is busy it can occasionally be a bit uncomfortable
Nov 9, 2018, 7:06 pm
#19
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 4,282
To me, this is very bad planning of BA. If they had already planned to move so many flights including Intercontinental ones to LGW, they could have planned better in the lounge size (and offerings) when they did the renovation a couple of years back. This is what I guess happens when things are not planned properly and now capacity is not sufficient leading to bad experiences.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Nov 9, 2018, 9:46 pm
#20
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Kazakhstan
Programs: BA Gold, AirAstana Silver (much use as chocolate teapot)
Posts: 867
I've been there a fair few times on Saturday & Sunday mornings always found it nice & quiet. I go to my "usual" seat in the far right corner overlooking the runway every time.
Nov 9, 2018, 10:08 pm
#21
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: GYD
Programs: Azerbaijan Airlines Gold, Turkish Miles and Smiles, IHG Plat
Posts: 663
Nov 10, 2018, 12:53 am
#22
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Tokyo
Programs: BA Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 194
To me, this is very bad planning of BA. If they had already planned to move so many flights including Intercontinental ones to LGW, they could have planned better in the lounge size (and offerings) when they did the renovation a couple of years back. This is what I guess happens when things are not planned properly and now capacity is not sufficient leading to bad experiences.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Nov 10, 2018, 3:27 am
#24
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Brighton UK
Programs: BAEC-Silver, AMEX-BA Prem' Plus & Standard, Accor Gold, HH-Silver, IHG,IBIS On Business
Posts: 955
I think any lounge suffers from the occasional period of being viewed as very busy. Short of actually struggling to find a seat at all then it's a fairly subjective thing anyway. Going by the thread it seems to cope most the time and it's sensible to a degree to use space in the Club lounge which is busier more of the time than to have a massive F which has a comparatively lower footfall. I can understand the frustration of course but if it's only an issue from time to time then it's doing okay imo. Remember delayed flights often have a knock on with how busy a lounge of any kind is.
When we flew out of there the other it ended up getting quite busy but the airfield was draped in fog and airspace use had been slowed down to make allowances for this which meant some flights departing later than planned and therefore more bodies in the lounge for longer. It happens sometimes. Of course i'm referring to the Club next door as my heathen self isn't allowed in such hallowed places as the Flounge
When we flew out of there the other it ended up getting quite busy but the airfield was draped in fog and airspace use had been slowed down to make allowances for this which meant some flights departing later than planned and therefore more bodies in the lounge for longer. It happens sometimes. Of course i'm referring to the Club next door as my heathen self isn't allowed in such hallowed places as the Flounge
Nov 10, 2018, 4:09 am
#25
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
As an off-topic aside, the aircraft on the TPA route yesterday was VIIT which had the Panasonic IFE so a very pleasant surprise.
Nov 10, 2018, 4:44 am
#27
Join Date: Nov 2011
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 1,222
I think any lounge suffers from the occasional period of being viewed as very busy. Short of actually struggling to find a seat at all then it's a fairly subjective thing anyway. Going by the thread it seems to cope most the time and it's sensible to a degree to use space in the Club lounge which is busier more of the time than to have a massive F which has a comparatively lower footfall. I can understand the frustration of course but if it's only an issue from time to time then it's doing okay imo. Remember delayed flights often have a knock on with how busy a lounge of any kind is.
When we flew out of there the other it ended up getting quite busy but the airfield was draped in fog and airspace use had been slowed down to make allowances for this which meant some flights departing later than planned and therefore more bodies in the lounge for longer. It happens sometimes. Of course i'm referring to the Club next door as my heathen self isn't allowed in such hallowed places as the Flounge
When we flew out of there the other it ended up getting quite busy but the airfield was draped in fog and airspace use had been slowed down to make allowances for this which meant some flights departing later than planned and therefore more bodies in the lounge for longer. It happens sometimes. Of course i'm referring to the Club next door as my heathen self isn't allowed in such hallowed places as the Flounge
FLounge is a den of thieves and miscreants!
Nov 10, 2018, 7:41 am
#29
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Singapore
Programs: BA Gold. KrisFlyer Gold
Posts: 732
It was packed more full than a rammed, family-sized jar of marmalade when I visited on a Saturday afternoon a few weekends ago. My first ever time flying BA from LGW. Hate to say it, but I found it to be LHR's poorer sibling. From the underwhelming, understocked, pokey lounge, to the closed F desks, to the appalling boarding process, I will look to avoid LGW in the future. The Titan Airways flight was decent though!
Nov 10, 2018, 2:05 pm
#30
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, Subcard
Posts: 435
It was packed more full than a rammed, family-sized jar of marmalade when I visited on a Saturday afternoon a few weekends ago. My first ever time flying BA from LGW. Hate to say it, but I found it to be LHR's poorer sibling. From the underwhelming, understocked, pokey lounge, to the closed F desks, to the appalling boarding process, I will look to avoid LGW in the future. The Titan Airways flight was decent though!
Since the move to the south terminal I’ve found the BA setup pretty good. Club/First check in is usually always fast/quiet, the premium security lane is very fast (much more reliable than fast track at T5 with the exception of the wing) and the new lounges are better than the equivalent at LHR.
I do agree the gates and boarding process at LGW is not good enough and it’s a mass scrum even before boarding is called.