Concorde Room
Jan 5, 2019, 6:58 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: London
Programs: Don't even mention it. Grrrrrrr.
Posts: 968
Concorde Room
*apologies for starting a new thread, however I couldn't find an appropriate, recent one to use*
I've not been in the CCR since the refurbishment (tell me about it!). It looks good, including the Nikki Beach constructions on the terrace. However has it become extraordinary busy in recent times? I was in Saturday lunchtime and there was hardly anywhere to perch. I never remember it as busy as it was today - and the holidays are over. The bar stools were full, Nikki Beach was consumed with families spreading themselves out to establish their territory, the 'front' of the terrace was like a open-air hotel where various couples sleeping in the horizontal offering, and other areas were packed with people or their kit. The only space seemed to be in the boardroom.
I wonder if the configuration of sets of furniture adds to this perception. There were few spaces available for the single traveller, aside from the occasional seat in among the large grouping of families and other groups etc.
I've not been in the CCR since the refurbishment (tell me about it!). It looks good, including the Nikki Beach constructions on the terrace. However has it become extraordinary busy in recent times? I was in Saturday lunchtime and there was hardly anywhere to perch. I never remember it as busy as it was today - and the holidays are over. The bar stools were full, Nikki Beach was consumed with families spreading themselves out to establish their territory, the 'front' of the terrace was like a open-air hotel where various couples sleeping in the horizontal offering, and other areas were packed with people or their kit. The only space seemed to be in the boardroom.
I wonder if the configuration of sets of furniture adds to this perception. There were few spaces available for the single traveller, aside from the occasional seat in among the large grouping of families and other groups etc.
Jan 5, 2019, 8:35 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: London Stratford, E7
Programs: BAEC Gold! Thanks to FT
Posts: 3,379
Not been in CCR for years but if a party of 2 or 3 is taking up say 2 or 3 sofas of 2 or 3 I normally go up to them and ask quite loudly which of these 6 /9 seats is not being used and start to get ready to sit down and thank them very much once sat. ‘‘Tis normally Met with glares. Worse lounge for this was Iberia T4S prior to its refurbishment now there are lots of seats for one and two people.
Jan 6, 2019, 1:40 am
#4
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
It will be fairly busy at the beginning of your stay (not as busy as the morning rush, however) but it will gradually become quieter to the end of your stay, as the departures of longhauls progresses towards the end of the daily schedule. It gets very quiet after about 20:30 normally.
Jan 6, 2019, 1:56 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,535
I wouldn't say it's been either any busier or any emptier of late and for a while. It varies a lot depending on luck, day, time, and whether there are delays on the day or not (I'd say time and delays being the two highest predictors).
Jan 6, 2019, 2:08 am
#7
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Newcastle/London & Worldwide
Programs: BAEC Gold, Virgin Flying Club Silver
Posts: 818
I think it just depends on time of day, year etc .... I was in there 2 weeks ago and we were the only ones sat out on the terrace at about 1pm - plenty seats still available inside (although dining area was busy we had to wait around 5 mins for a table but nothing unusual / uncommon).
I dont find this pattern any different to previous years. I do prefer and afternoon / evening departure in F if possible as it always tends to be quieter.
I dont find this pattern any different to previous years. I do prefer and afternoon / evening departure in F if possible as it always tends to be quieter.
Jan 6, 2019, 2:20 am
#8
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
Posts: 63,809
The peak period for CCR is 10 hrs to 13 hrs when the incoming trans Atlantic passengers are transferring off to Europe and before the first wave of outgoing departures are heading West. Saturdays is the quietest day of the week normally but during school vacations it could be different. I haven't noticed it any busier of late, and the point that should be made is that usually a family group departs every 5 minutes or so, so usually a good spot will open up after a few minutes. The "spreading around" issue is an awkward one for CCR since you will find groups of 4 seats around, and a couple will generally take the whole group. And to some extent at CCR level I don't think that's unreasonable to have additional privacy rather than sharing space with randoms.
I'd be very surprised if the board room was the only space available, since it's actually very rare for CCR to reach 90% fill (basically it's only during irrops). The area inside but along the glass wall is unpopular, justifiably so, and rarely fully occupied - and usually there will be space somewhere in Concorde Dining. And it's rare that the high tables and bar seating are all totally taken, but some times it's tricky to take a seat directly facing another CCR user.
I'd be very surprised if the board room was the only space available, since it's actually very rare for CCR to reach 90% fill (basically it's only during irrops). The area inside but along the glass wall is unpopular, justifiably so, and rarely fully occupied - and usually there will be space somewhere in Concorde Dining. And it's rare that the high tables and bar seating are all totally taken, but some times it's tricky to take a seat directly facing another CCR user.
Jan 6, 2019, 5:31 am
#10
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Close to Heathrow
Programs: BA GGL, Gold for Life, CCR, VS Silver, HHonours Diamond
Posts: 549
I was in CCR on both Sat 29th and Sat 5th. The first week was from 12.00 to 16.45 and the second from 06.25 to 08.20 and during both visits I never thought it looked remotely busy. During the first week my wife and I sat at the end of the long sofa to the right of the bar and an old lady sat at the other end. There was plenty of room there and throughout the lounge. The second week I was on my own and had breakfast at the high table.
Jan 6, 2019, 3:23 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: London
Programs: Don't even mention it. Grrrrrrr.
Posts: 968
The peak period for CCR is 10 hrs to 13 hrs when the incoming trans Atlantic passengers are transferring off to Europe and before the first wave of outgoing departures are heading West. Saturdays is the quietest day of the week normally but during school vacations it could be different. I haven't noticed it any busier of late, and the point that should be made is that usually a family group departs every 5 minutes or so, so usually a good spot will open up after a few minutes. The "spreading around" issue is an awkward one for CCR since you will find groups of 4 seats around, and a couple will generally take the whole group. And to some extent at CCR level I don't think that's unreasonable to have additional privacy rather than sharing space with randoms.
I'd be very surprised if the board room was the only space available, since it's actually very rare for CCR to reach 90% fill (basically it's only during irrops). The area inside but along the glass wall is unpopular, justifiably so, and rarely fully occupied - and usually there will be space somewhere in Concorde Dining. And it's rare that the high tables and bar seating are all totally taken, but some times it's tricky to take a seat directly facing another CCR user.
I'd be very surprised if the board room was the only space available, since it's actually very rare for CCR to reach 90% fill (basically it's only during irrops). The area inside but along the glass wall is unpopular, justifiably so, and rarely fully occupied - and usually there will be space somewhere in Concorde Dining. And it's rare that the high tables and bar seating are all totally taken, but some times it's tricky to take a seat directly facing another CCR user.
Anyway, not a complaint, more an observation...
Jan 6, 2019, 5:26 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: London
Posts: 778
I am in the CCR usually once a week; sometimes more. My hours change as I don't have a regular flying pattern, but I have never - ever - had an issue finding a seat (even without considering the dining area). So, this seems to be a non-issue and a very unusual (and unlucky) experience reported by the OP...
Jan 6, 2019, 11:56 pm
#13
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: The Far, Far North
Programs: Alaskans fly everywhere on any aircraft going there!
Posts: 1,262
I was in CCR on both Sat 29th and Sat 5th. The first week was from 12.00 to 16.45 and the second from 06.25 to 08.20 and during both visits I never thought it looked remotely busy. During the first week my wife and I sat at the end of the long sofa to the right of the bar and an old lady sat at the other end. There was plenty of room there and throughout the lounge. The second week I was on my own and had breakfast at the high table.
Jan 7, 2019, 9:44 pm
#14
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: San Diego
Programs: Plat Pro AAdvantage, but defected to BAEC
Posts: 1,222
I was in the CCR on Sunday. We got there about 9:30AM and the sofa seating areas looked pretty busy, though the high top tables were sparsely populated. As we hadn’t had breakfast yet, we opted to go straight to the dinning area, but we had a few minutes wait before a booth opened up. After breakfast, we did a quick lap of the lounge and the only free sofas were the ones directly in front of the bar. We plonked ourselves down, but I decided to take a look out on the terrace. The “beach” loungers were all full, but one of the “cabana” sofas was empty, so I texted my wife to come out to the terrace. I felt a little guilty taking up the whole area, but I went to the loo a few minutes later and saw that the place had cleared out a lot as the next bank of flight were starting to board, so there were plenty of seats available. It looked a little fuller again as we headed to the tunnel to get to our gate around 11:30.
Jan 8, 2019, 12:28 am
#15
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 5,380
We were in there on 21 Dec from around 7 to 10am and there were not many free seating areas. The cabana style sofa groups on the terrace had been reserved with just bag or two, but then left unattended for ages, maybe they were dining or in duty free but that didn't seem reasonable to me. As soon as people got up from one area (eg a fireplace group) others swooped down on it. We found a spot close to the bar, sharing our sofa grouping with others, but of all our visits it was the least enjoyable in terms of seating, and quite seat-competitive!