Champagne in the lounge and onboard
 

Champagne is on request in the lounge. And yes Rose champagne is available on board although not till after takeoff.

Yes - ask servers in the lounge who will bring it to you... usually quite a bit easier and quicker in B Gates Lounge !

On board, you can have a capful of Champagne before take off

I just had some rose champagne in CW. There was booze in it, so I was pretty happy about it.

Usually from about 90 minutes before departure. The B gates lounge is almost always preferable to the Club lounges in the main terminal building.

And you can easily move from there to C gates or even back to A if needed.

This is fine.

You're free to use any lounge, so check them all out if you wish. Personally i'd head straight to the B lounge and just stay there. If you then need to get to A or C, you can walk using the tunnels on level -2, or the tram (B to C gates only).

Just go to B and hang there, you will not be missing out on anything by not using the other lounges. You'll similarly get 90 minutes notice if its not B gates and need to change, its not a long walk back to A if thats the case, I'm going to say 10 minutes max dragging a carry on behind you

Have a look at the Guide:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...assengers.html

One thing to mention if you do use the A lounges is that you really have to try and spot the table clearers and get to them before they scoot to request champagne. They really don't seem to regard it as their job and to be fair they are clearing a lot a very large area.

So B gates all the way, and to simplify just walk to wherever. Transit takes as long as you wait, it gets in, it waits and heads on its way. It's always a nice experience too, a little bit of quiet in the tunnels below after all that hussle and bussle above.

don't think about it - go straight to B. Generally, though the gate is not posted, at check in - they will have a tentative gate. The walk back from B to A via the tunnel is a slightly surreal 15 min walk, and the people mover to C is only from one platform and therefore only alternate people movers.

its a great lounge, more space, less kids, tranquil and worth avoiding the hell of the North and South Galleries

just do it!

If you're in one of the A lounges (and as pointed out, there's no reason to be) order 2 glasses of champagne. The staff are excellent at avoiding eye contact, have zero pro activity and dreadfully slow at bringing said champagne.

I've always found that when you order a glass they bring two regardless.

I much prefer the B lounge, it a great lounge with good staff and a better chance of getting a spa session than in the A lounges. Head there through the tunnels (in the lift hit the button for the bottom level) and you'll probably beat the train. The only negative for some people is that there's no runway view, I do find watching the landings or take offs from the North lounge therapeutic before a long flight. If that doesn't bother you then there's really no downside to the B lounge.

In addition, it can be hard to locate a staff member sometimes for a refill, don't feel shy about going to the kitchen door and asking someone directly, they're more than happy to help and it will be quicker.

I'm surprised by the time estimates given here of 10 minutes or 15 minutes. It's more like 5 minutes to walk between A and B, and the same to walk between B and C (it's basically the same distance again). Add a little to this if you prefer to saunter.

If it really did take 10-15 minutes to walk each section of this, nobody would ever recommend walking from the C gates to immigration at the end of the flight to avoid the delay that can be caused by using the transit, or suggest that it can sometimes be faster to walk (which it can be).

There is a travelator going in the A->B->C direction, so really less than 10 mins from the B lounge to any C gate by foot. Going back to A is therefore marginally longer, but not by much. The tunnels are pretty boring, so it can seem like it's taking forever, but reality is that it's not a long distance.

If you really want a spa treatment, ask as soon at you get to the lounge. If they say they're full, ask them to check the other lounge. Invariably if I ask in the Galleries South lounge, they'll say they're full, but there'll be a space in the B lounge.

At your first staff interaction point (be it check in/lounge/wherever), ask what the planned gate will be. 99% of the time they will give you the gate info before it is officially published, with the disclaimer that it could change, so check the screens (which you should be doing anyway). If it's A10 (bus) it's less likely to change though (as the plane will be on a remote stand), so that would be the only reason really to just stick to the A lounge.

I'm going to time myself next time B lounge to gate X :-)

10 minutes is conservative B to A, but for a first timer better to over estimate rather than underestimate

The timings are in the passageway thread, but it's 16 minutes from CCR to C66 via the passageway, so anything involving B is going to be less, perhaps much less, than that.

It is all quite simple really - leave the lounge about 40 minutes before advertised departure - any T5 lounge - and you should make your flight with a brisk walk. Add a few minutes if you are supervising cost centres or spousal units.

It is all quite simple really - leave the lounge about 40 minutes before advertised departure - any T5 lounge - and you should make your flight with a brisk walk. Add a few minutes if you are supervising cost centres or spousal units.

Nail, head.

So who exactly do you ask? The lounge dragons? These are the only staff out in the lounge apart from the ones coming out to refill the slop.