safari ari

Except JL and CX are on two opposite wings of the second floor.

CX closes half their lounge in down time, I wonder if they could expand on the other side of the hallway where the entrance is and just take up that entire left side of the upstairs and move whatever is in that area to the JL lounge location. Not sure BA would be super onboard since they just redesigned their lounge. I think if CX designed and ran the lounge it would be pretty sweet, considering they also have the most flights of OW out of SFO. Or if the China Airways lounge is switched with JL then maybe expand into that space would cause less disruption.

RB211

Good point. I suspect that AA would like to enhance the Flagship experience at SFO (it's "least Flagship" endpoint), but I don't think they care enough to get into a OW lounge arrangement - you are right!

rb211.

camdentown

Recently travelled back form SFO last week in FIRST. I've been through the airport a few times and know the old lounge.
Here's what I think:
The recent refurbishment seems to have improved the Club section and its nice and light and airy, with a nice selection of food and drink.
The FIRST section is disappointing though. Its entirely focussed on pre-flight dining, it has no windows, and depressing music is piped through the room.
The seating is uncomfortable and using the dining table for your laptop the height is wrong. It's not a nice place to spend any length of time.
The dining choices were pretty poor . Given that its a long flight and FIRST passengers will get a much better meal on board, I don't
see much value in the pre-flight dining.
My big take away from this is that there is effectively no first class lounge any more - just an uncomfortable dark room .
I didn't enjoy it at all.
They do have premium drinks, but there's no menu and you have to ask the wait staff. There is champagne - poor quality NV, whereas the Club section has just prosecco and californian sparkling.
So from SFO , I think for first class and Gold card passengers, this is a significant reduction in quality.
Good flight back though, with nice crew and good catering - I even chose the beef , mentioning that I really didn't want it overdone, and it was pretty good.

abligh

I agree. Last time I went through SFO (GGL and in F) I sat in the main lounge which had (drumroll) windows rather than the F area which was entirely focused on serving food in the dark or something. I arrived early and it seemed lots of folks didn't have seats so I felt mildly guilty taking one of the main lounge seats but didn't really see why I should sit in the dark pretending I wanted to dine. Then there was a scrum when the entire lounge tried to board at once. If F had enough luggage space I wouldn't have bothered.

RB211

I generally agree with the recent comments here - although it is not a First area/section, it is specifically stated to be First Dining, which is why only those travelling in First can use it. I can see why they did that, the number of people crowding into the old First "lounge" (i.e. room) often made the main area more palatable, and that's saying something!

That being said, the tables are at the wrong height for working, and in fact I find them a tad too high for eating - I can still eat, but I do feel a bit like I did when I was 11 years old.
There is no natural light, and that's not a big thing for me for a short period of time, but if you want to stay in there a while some natural light, and being able to see the apron / taxi way would be nice.
I find the menu to be quite uninspiring. There is lack of choice, change is minimal and what they do have doesn't really appeal. The food is OK, but not as good as LAX Qantas First lounge food, for example. Yes, the lack of traffic does limit thing a little, but they could provide a little more choice with a simple dish or two, maybe an additional dessert.

If the First Dining were good, it would be a reason for me to upgrade when travelling from SFO... but right now there is little incentive. I pay for all my travel myself, so unless I'm on the 772, which I generally try to avoid anyway, I probably won't be doing many upgrades in that direction. I can "suffer" CW for 10 hours especially when I can sleep for about 5 of them on an upper deck window.

rb211.

PBAudit

A couple of questions. I usually fly United but have an early morning flight on American Airlines tomorrow, Saturday.

Question 1 - I checked Priority pass website and they indicated that the lounge opens at 5 am. However the British Airways web site states they open at 1:30 pm. I understand that British Airways disallows Priority Pass users before their flight. But I wanted to make sure that the lounge is open at 5 am on Saturdays.

Question 2 - Is there a post security connector from International terminal A to domestic terminal B? If so, how long is the walk from British Airways lounge to the end of the B gates?

Thanks..

econ

Yes, there is a airside connector between A & B. It's a >0.5 mile walk.

Don't know about the opening hours, I'm afraid.

PBAudit

Thanks, for information about the airside connector.

corporate-wage-slave

THere are two different markets here. The lounge serves Prority Pass passengers in the morning but then switches to a BA dedicted lounge in the afternoon. So two different types of passengers. Several BA lounges in the USA are now like this. I would take the PP hours as correct.

cyborg

I just booked BA 286 in F for November with departure time of 20:45. The BA SFO Lounge shows a closing time of 18:45 on the OW Lounge page. Is this accurate and am I going to be kicked out before boarding? Understand the current hours are quoted during PDT and my flight is during PST, so the flight time is an hour later. Will the lounge closing be adjusted accordingly?

Cheers,

-Cyborg

olouie

Yes they tend to adjust as flight schedules adjust.

For those going during PP hours the food and beverages are MUCH worse so just FYI. Nice place to sit but very basic snacks and self service drinks.

cyborg

Not doing a PP visit, but a paid F for the evening departure so I hope they do adjust the schedule in November. Still wondering if anyone has experience with lounge accomodating the later departure of 286.

Cheers,

-Cyborg

olouie

They will. Most of the winter schedule leaves later and the lounge will adjust hours. Its always been that way and I can't see them doing it differently now. F dining still not open however (at least since a few weeks ago).

cyborg

Had a wonderful experience at the SFO BA Lounge yesterday. The experience at the bar was outstanding; they poured The Botanist, my preferred gin for a martini and the two ladies tending bar were excellent (they were friends from Burma and one was a trainee). I actually enjoyed my time there more than the LH FCL/FCT from a "Bar" context. On another pre flight note the check in counters were fully staffed more than 4 hours prior to departure of 286 which was a nice surprise having read various accounts of the counters being closed until 3 hrs prior. I grazed lightly on the buffet and found the quality very good, but did not "Dine" Spoke to the chef while on his break and it seems they are mostly serving Sliders and Salmon made to order from the kitchen. I didn't indulge as the dinner service in flight was in my cross hairs ... and didn't dissapoint :-)
Cheers
-Cyborg

N1120A

Are they still boarding non-A380 flights directly from the Flounge?