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Bad news - BA's NCL lounge reportedly to close permanently

Bad news - BA's NCL lounge reportedly to close permanently

Old Apr 28, 2022, 7:36 am
  #256  
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I was pointed in the direction of the aspire plus last week as well. Not sure if it is all BA passengers with lounge access, or related to status/cabin.
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Old Apr 28, 2022, 7:38 am
  #257  
 
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Originally Posted by KARFA
I was pointed in the direction of the aspire plus last week as well. Not sure if it is all BA passengers with lounge access, or related to status/cabin.
OWE/Economy here.
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Old Apr 28, 2022, 7:49 am
  #258  
 
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Gold/CE last week and was directed into Aspire Plus, along with my Bronze/CE wife + daughter.
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Old Apr 28, 2022, 7:58 am
  #259  
 
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I asked the receptionist on my way out if it was permanently reopened and she said "Oh no, only when we're busy". Didn't have the nerve to enquire about the selection criteria.
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Old Apr 28, 2022, 8:09 am
  #260  
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Yes, I reeally would not get too excited, it's just a somewhat nicer seating area. It is used by BA passengers when the rest of the lounge gets full, e.g. when the Emirates flight is running through. If the main lounge is quiet then everyone is in there.
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Old May 25, 2022, 10:53 pm
  #261  
 
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Was a absolutely hideous experience in the aspire lounge on Tuesday really miss the great BA lounge.

Impossible to get any food or drink as just a revolving queue of paid entry folk getting booze and going to back of queue to drink it on the way back to front of queue for more booze.

Was really dirty as well, I did manage to get a table but was covered in filth and GnT debris for at least the first half hour I was there.

Was about 45min queue I reckon.

Im not going to bother with the lounge in future, leave home as late as possible instead!
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Old May 26, 2022, 2:10 am
  #262  
 
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Originally Posted by demig
Was a absolutely hideous experience in the aspire lounge on Tuesday really miss the great BA lounge.
Although my experience last month was not as bad as demigs described above, I was not impressed when I visited before a mid-afternoon BA flight. Although the staff were friendly, the lounge seemed understaffed for the number of people using it, and I echo the comments about cleanliness/empties being left around.

Part of the queueing issue is that in the Premium section of the lounge (which as cws says is being used as an overspill) the bar/food service area isnt being used. If youre sat here, you need to go through to the main service area for refreshments, which though not far at all, was wedged when I was there. Food, especially, simply wasnt being replenished as it was being (rapidly) consumed. If alcohol is your thing, the selection is very limited - I asked what red wines were available and the response was words to the effect of we have only got one, and Im not sure what it is.

The calm and quiet of the BA lounge, and the facilities, is very much missed. By contrast, the Aspire - at least when I was there - was a bit of a zoo.
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Old May 26, 2022, 11:12 am
  #263  
 
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Cleaning has clearly improved somewhat as on my last trip through NCL the custodian / janitor chap over-enthusiastically cleared away my half-eaten sausage stottie and cup of coffee while I was in the main lounge getting a juice. He was very apologetic and offered to get me another but given that we were boarding in 5 minutes or so I declined his kind offer.
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Old May 30, 2022, 6:38 am
  #264  
 
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Another data point.
CE / gold silver seemed to be directed to the plus section this afternoon.
Food & drinks available from the main lounge, however quite a few people were using the fridges in the plus section (no idea who's pax they were).

It was a bit of a godsend to get a seat somewhere with some peace and quiet to be honest as the main part of the lounge was like a zoo.

It's an incredibly poor offering at NCL now.
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Old May 30, 2022, 6:52 am
  #265  
 
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Please keep your feedback coming to BA. Its too late to bring back the old lounge but feedback on the new offering needs to be made in the hope that some improvements are made. Point out how the standard is nowhere near what we had when there was a dedicated lounge. You might even get some Avios out of it. BA seem to be going through a phase of showering people with Avios for any problems encountered.

Two possibilities I see: BA could look at moving to the new airport lounge whenever they get it built or Aspire could look at expanding into the area occupied by the old BA lounge. It would be great if we got our exit to the domestic pier back.
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Old May 30, 2022, 7:09 am
  #266  
 
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The so called 'plus' section has been mentioned a few times on here. Sometimes used, sometimes not. Sometimes BA allowed, sometimes just in the 'zoo' area. It would be good to get some clarity on the situation. I've been very unimpressed so far.
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Old May 30, 2022, 7:17 am
  #267  
 
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Originally Posted by northeastflyer
The so called 'plus' section has been mentioned a few times on here. Sometimes used, sometimes not. Sometimes BA allowed, sometimes just in the 'zoo' area. It would be good to get some clarity on the situation. I've been very unimpressed so far.
It seems like the plus area is being used as overfill for airline status passengers at the moment to give them a slightly better experience away from the busy main lounge. The main drawback is the fridges are locked and no food so you need to go into the main section for that.

However, Emirates actually pay for plus and so I believe other passengers cant use it at this time and when the main lounge is quiet they wont have this section open. When Emirates is using the lounge I assume the full food and drinks offering is available.

Yesterday I had only intended to drink water in the lounge. The fridge with water in it was locked but they accidentally forgot to lock one of the beer fridges so many of us just used that rather than go through to the main area.

Please feed back to BA. I dont know how bad the situation will be when plus reopens as a pay to enter section and well be relegated to the main area.
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Old May 31, 2022, 3:52 am
  #268  
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No avios for me, but that wasn't really what I wanted, but this is my response from my recent complaint about NCL:

We're very sorry the Aspire lounge was busy when you recently travelled from Newcastle. We understand how frustrating this must have been, especially as there is no longer a British Airways lounge available. I appreciate why you wanted to bring this matter to our attention.

We don’t underestimate how important our lounges are to your experience on your trip, so I'm sorry the service didn't meet your expectations. I’ve shared your comments with my colleagues in the relevant team to guide us as we improve our service.

Thanks for taking the time to let us know about this and once again, please accept our apologies for this experience. We hope to welcome you on board in the near future.
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Old May 31, 2022, 4:15 am
  #269  
 
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Originally Posted by KARFA
No avios for me, but that wasn't really what I wanted, but this is my response from my recent complaint about NCL:
That is very much the electronic equivalent of "it's going straight in the bin, as we have no plans to change anything at NCL"!
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Old May 31, 2022, 4:36 am
  #270  
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Originally Posted by efincomputer
That is very much the electronic equivalent of "it's going straight in the bin, as we have no plans to change anything at NCL"!
Seriously, what do you expect them to write? The point about writing in that kind of context is not about obtaining an immediate solution but rather about accumulating data on passenger dissatisfaction which may lead to the issue being revisited at some point.
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